Lion's Pride

Chapter 24

D . a . n . i . e . l . l . e

"GIRL, THAT MAN WAS NOT LYING WHEN HE SAID THAT YOU HAD SOME BEAUTIFUL HAIR." Tanner, the handsome and flamboyant hairdresser assigned to me yelled as he gushed over the wild mane of curls I carried on my head.

Out of all the hair technicians in Houston, he is by far the best and I give all my gratitude to Jah'eim for knowing that not just anybody would be able to grace my head. I had seen Tanner's work all over instagram and he's done the hair of many famous artists and actresses. He had good taste so going into this little glam makeover, I had an ease of mind from the start. Tanner wore a black fedora over black and ombre brown jumbo box braids that complimented his very light skin tone. A fitted blood red tux over his body but instead of the matching jacket to go along, Tanner opted for a gray Cardigan with cocaine white gator boots matching his Gucci belt. I smile.

"Thank you love. I'm mixed with a bit of everything at this point. With the way life is going, my hair can sometimes be the last thing on my mind." He had finally finished thoroughly washing my hair and now we sat with a style dilemma. There is a mirrored vanity in front of me, our reflections beaming back at the both of us under the fluorescent lights. In a flash, the entire hotel room had been turned into a glamorous dressing suite before my eyes. Racks of designer clothes here, purses, matching heels and jewelry there. I couldn't help but to think, Kane never once allowed me this kind of luxury...

"You do have some split ends and need a trim but don't worry, I think I have a plan." I almost sigh in relief.

"So I can fix this, right?" I cock an eyebrow.

"Of course." He laughs before taking a small golden rat tail comb and a larger than I've ever encountered, bottle of oil. I grin in relief, leaving him to do his job. For a couple of short minutes, I close my eyes and feel as Tanner focuses in on getting naps out of my head. He parts here, adds the oil to my scalp there, and does the process all over again. Soon enough, he is finished and my scalp feels the best it has in a long while. He then looks at me through the mirror again with a smile, both of his hands on either of my shoulder blades.

"Any idea of what you want? I was told to not let my intrusive thoughts win and actually give you some input." Tanner puckers his lips. I tussle my hands in my soft mane, feeling around as if an idea was going to pop up out of somewhere magically or something.

"I don't know... I just want to look presentable." I sit back in the elevated chair almost defeated. I knew a thing or two about styling but for big events such as tonight? No clue. Just when I thought that all is lost and I'd be staying in just because of my hair not being perfect, Tanner snaps his fingers just before giving jazz hands.

"How about you just go bone strait and I can trim the ends? It's not a lot, maybe 2 inches. You'll notice how much bounce you'll get back with your curls when you go back to natural." He suggests.

"I've never done that before..." I think to myself. If I was to get any strait hair, it would always be because of a wig. I adored my curls, much contrary to the popular opinions of today.

"Just know that I got you girl." He simply says before going to heat up his expensive wide flat irons. "I'm gonna get you all the way together and all eyes will be on you."

"How long have you been doing hair? It must have took a while and a lot of hard work to get to where you are now." I decide to make small talk with Tanner so that there wasn't an eerie sort of silence aside from the bustling of people around in the room. Jah'eim and his entourage were in the master bedroom, drinking and conversing. Every so often I'd hear a bit of laughter come from one of the men, internally smiling in return. I hadn't talked or seen Jah'eim in a bit and I can finally admit that I miss his behind. Not that I'd ever tell anyone that. His cocky laugh, the random glances between us and even the banter. I missed him as whole to be honest and I never thought I'd be saying that. Good grief he's rubbed himself off on me!