Lover in the Window

Grand Opening

November 5th, 2020.

"Eli invest in me because he believes in my dreams, and yet after all he's already done - I find another reason to love him."

-Raven Rivera

"I can't believe we've actually done it." Eli wraps his arms around Raven and places his lips to hers. "Today is the big day."

"Look how wonderful it all is. I couldn't thank you enough. Now this has to be the last gift you give me." Raven chimes and shoulder bumps Evelyn.

It's well into the afternoon when Raven walks over to the front door and turns her OPEN sign on. They'd spend a couple hours prior to that celebrating with a few glasses of wine - Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. Eve pops the top, spewing bubbles, and takes a drink from the bottle. Eli and Raven use proper glasses which they ting together before Eli takes a sip. Raven's glass is empty on account of her having a little baby inside of her but they still kept the old tradition alive even though she couldn't have a sip.

"Are you excited about going back to work Rave?" Evelyn asks her. She smiles and runs her fingers through her hair, looking out of the window at the empty parking lot.

"I am. Even though sometimes it feels like a drag at my old job, this will be much different. My favorite part is the pink room."

"The pink room?" Evelyn laughs. "What's that?"

"Eli adds a girl's room in the back. We didn't have accommodations like that at the old place. My girls would be fucking jealous."

"Show me."

Raven gave her a tour of the pink room at the back of the salon. Eli strolls behind them casually while he has his hands tucks behind his back like he is waiting for orders. A large grin on his face as his future wife shows off her new place. He feels accomplished and proud and high on life because everything finally feels like it is coming together.

"I'm going to run to the store real fast, we need some food. We killed everything again." Eli says.

"Make sure you get everything for tacos. We have to have our taco Thursday." Evelyn suggests. " Don't forget the Doritos and sour cream and I think we're out of taco seasoning too. And Raven only likes the soft tortillas so don't forget those."

"Duly noted," Eli kisses Raven and gives Eve a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He walks out of the pink room.

"Literally, I'm going to have to borrow this room from time to time." Evelyn says as she cranks open the shower door. The room still had that fresh car smell, and the paint still glistened against the sun.

"It's all yours," Raven gestures around her. "I'm going to do my best to make the most of it, but even on good days business can be slow."

"When does things typically pick up?"

"Big occasions there is usually a lot of business. School proms or dances, Christmas, Easter, etc. The primary customers are haircuts, dyes, whatnot."

"I understand that. You should hook me up, girl."

"Anything silly ass. Are you being serious?"

"Yeah, I'll always be the first customer."

Raven seats Eve on one of the comfortable leather seats in front of the mirror. Eve wants her hair thinned, dyed, and curled. So that's what Raven did. It takes about thirty minutes to trim the split ends and add a layer of brown, another ten to curl her hair. Eve feels like a new woman and Raven feels satisfied with her skills.

"There you go. My first customer."

"Thanks Raven. You're amazing. It looks fantastic. I'm sure you'll have every customer in New Falls trying to get in here."

"I hope so. Thanks for saying that," Raven flops her hair out of her eyes. The little bell on the door rattles and Raven and Evelyn look over at it. There are three girls standing together, looking around at the room.

"Do we have to schedule an appointment or do you take walk-ins?"

"Both are fine," Raven says nervously.

"Show time," Eve grins. "Get it girl."