WhenIfinishthedishes, I head through to the lounge, where Kiki is lying on a chintz couch watching TV, a red heart cushion wedged behind her head.
‘What are you watching?’
‘Hi-de-Hi!It’s hilarious.’
It looks a bit dire to me; some guy is wearing an adult nappy and dancing around a motel room with a lot of canned laughter going on. I glance around the room as I haven’t been in the lounge yet, and it’s ... vintage. The TV is a silver box with an aerial poking out the top. There’s a pile of VHS video boxes stacked next to it. The top one features a svelte Jane Fonda poured into a black-and-red striped leotard. I think about my beloved Netflix and fall into a momentary swoon of future nostalgia.
Kiki swings her legs down to make room for me. ‘Do you wanna watch too?’
I shake my head and think about escaping to my room in case Sebastian’s decided to come back. It’s doubtful he has, butI can hope. I really do feel a lot better after talking to him. The pressure of his warm hand on my knee was somehow grounding. But the thought of him popping up at work is not. He’d better not turn up in my toilet stall while I’m peeing!
Kiki snaps her fingers at me. ‘Earth to Jadey. Are you all right?’
I blink. ‘Yeah, it’s been a long day.’
‘I know exactly what you need: a little home pampering.’ She clicks the TV off with a huge remote and bounces up excitedly from the couch.
‘I do?’ I say nervously.
‘Yes, we can do the thing we talked about last week. I’m glad you finally came around to my way of thinking. It’s going to look ace!’
Grasping my elbow, she gently but firmly guides me into the kitchen. I have a bad feeling about this, but Kiki is a force of nature, and she’s so enthusiastic that I don’t have the heart to say no. But what the fuck did ’80s Jade agree to?
‘Sit tight while I go and get all the supplies.’ Kiki runs off towards the bathroom. She’s back moments later with towels, gloves, and a big orange box saying ‘Home Perm’ on the front. It displays a woman with poufy hair.
Oh no no no!
‘Uh, can I think about it some more?’ I hedge.
Kiki frowns. ‘It’ll only take half an hour, and it’s the perfect time to do it—while Rach is out, I mean. She said she didn’t think it would suit you.’
I’m with Rach.
‘But your hair is so dead straight. It could use a little body,’ Kiki continues emphatically. ‘I mean, look at it.’ She picks up a lock of my hair between her finger and thumb and releases it, and it falls limply back onto my shoulder.Just the way I like it.
Before I know what’s happening, a towel is flung over my shoulders, and my hair is being sectioned and rolled up tightly into long, thin colourful rollers. Aargh, that hurts!
As quick as she’s rolling, Kiki is talking nineteen to the dozen about her job, various customers, music, and movies, which is distracting me from the hair torture.
‘There’s a new movie out tomorrow calledThe Breakfast Club. I really want to see it,’ she says.
‘Oh? What’s it about?’ I already know, but I want to hear her take on it.
‘A bunch of American high school kids with nothing in common who get sent to detention and end up making out with each other.’
From already having watched it, it’s a pretty fair assessment, I have to say.
Now Kiki reads the instructions on a spray bottle of chemical solution. ‘It says to apply and check after ten minutes to see if it’s curly. We want it to be permanent after all and not drop out after a day!’
I squeeze my eyes shut as Kiki begins squirting the foul-smelling stuff on my hair. Permanently curly! I hope this turns out OK; otherwise, it’s going to be a cringe fest tomorrow at work. Strangely, the person who I’m most worried about laughing at me is Sebastian rather than Ash.
Yeah, admit it, you want to look good for him, says my ego.Not a curly-headed freak...
Half an hour later, I’m dutifully hanging my head upside down while Kiki blow-dries my hair with a hairdryer that looks like a traffic speed gun and boasts one setting: loud.
‘Now flip your hair back, and we’ll see the final result.’
With a hair toss Farrah Fawcett would be proud of, I shake back my mane, and I feel it settle around my shoulders.