"you say it's because of my age, girl, but age ain't nothing but a number"
*
a story of which a mother of two finds herself entangled with her son's best friend, jungkook.
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The noon sunlight filtered through the windows, casting a warm glow on the polished wooden floors while soft strands of R&B music permeate the space.
In the background, there was a symphony of buzzing clippers, humming hair dryers, and the gentle melodies of conversation envelops us, harmonizing with the vibrant energy that pulses through the salon.
The tantalizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee that danced through the air, intermingling with the earthy aroma of shea butter, coconut oil, and other natural hair care treasures.
While parting a customer's hair, section by section, the sweet scent of coconut oil fills the air. I dip my fingertip into a jar of hair gel, its cool texture gliding through my fingertips as I outline the path for the first cornrow.
The comb glides effortlessly through her thick coily hair, leaving a neat path in its wake. As I weave the strands together, my fingers dance with purpose, intertwining them like the threads of a tapestry.
"Jada, girl, you really ate this shit up." Kimberly, my friend and a regular client of mine gasped as she craned her head around as I finished the last cornrow, a smile etching on my lips as she lifted up her phone to see different angles of the hairdo. "The box braids you did last time had all my cousins in Houston asking where I got my hair did. I can't even imagine what they'll all say this time."
As the finishing touch, I used some oil on her scalp as the other ladies discussed and gossiped.
"I been telling Jada— she gotta make Natural Essence into a franchise or some shit. A store in Queens won't do. Everybody gotta see your work." Nadia said from her seat under the hair dryer hood with curling rods in her permed hair. The other ladies under the hair dryer hood nodded their heads, collectively 'mmhm'ing showing their consensus.
"Ya'll gon buy a new place for me? It takes a lotta money to just start a whole franchise of stores. I'm good and comfortable with this lil store right now, ya'll." I chuckled.
"I mean, you did this shit all by yourself, no?" Daniel gestured to our store as he was cutting a little boy's hair into a taper fade. "And you got me now so we start lil by lil, that's all,"
At first when I started renting out this building in the heart of Queens for Natural Essence, I struggled with keeping up with rent payments. The amount of profit I was making per week wasn't proportional to the rent I was paying every month, at one point, I'm sure I was losing profit just to pay the rent.
I decided to explore the idea of bringing in a sublessee who could not only contribute to the financial burden of Natural Essence but also help me foster business growth. Daniel was the owner of a flourishing barbershop and he used to cut hair at home before he called me up one day in regards to a flyer outside my building that was seeking out for a sublessee.
The beauty of this arrangement was twofold. Firstly, having Daniel's barbershop situated in the same building to my own hair business opened up a variety of diverse business opportunities.
