A Chapter of Accidents

An accident and its far-reaching consequences.

A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS

 

Britney sat up in bed and thought to herself, that she felt like a change of some sort in her life. She yawned and stretched, and then pushed her hair out of her eyes, and got out of bed. She was wearing a pair of red checked pyjama pants with a thread of glitter, and a glittery top with long sleeves in the same colour of bright red. Britney went into the bathroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was long dark and curly, and had plenty of volume, but for some reason the last hair dye hadn’t gone on so well, and her hair had become matted like a bramble bush. Now, Britney wanted to do something about the appearance of it. It wasn’t that she was dissatisfied with her look, but a change was as good as a rest, and she had found that some of her companions at the company where she worked, had made efforts to copy her hair style, and that was something Britney wasn’t able to accept. So, she sat at the kitchen table, and as she was having her meagre breakfast of a smoothie and dry toast, she came to a conclusion. On that day she would visit a different hairdresser, and see what ideas someone else had to offer. Britney had heard about a hairdressing establishment out of town, where the innovative people who wanted a new and different look were able to find it. Britney got into her car and drove out of town to a small village that didn’t look as if it had anything to offer. The hairdresser’s was called ‘Crowning Glory’, and announced itself to be unisex. The girls’ side was decorated in pink and the men’s side was painted in pale blue. Britney parked her small car in the car park between the salon and the road. The front door was left ajar, so that nobody going there for the first time would feel embarrassed by having to ring a bell. Britney pushed the door open enough to allow her to enter. The reception area smelled of expensive perfumes, which were agreeable to the delicate noses of the clients.

The receptionist, who was called Wiley, according to her name tag on her overall, asked Britney, “Good morning. What treatment would you like?”

“I only know one thing, and that is, I’d like a change done to my hair, if that’s possible.”

“I’ll send you over to Eric. He’s the best one to deal with your problem - if you have one,” Wiley said to Britney.

Eric was a young man of around thirty, and was quite perfect in the eyes of the female general public. Eric was slim, and moved as if he were dancing on a stage. Wiley spoke to him as he finished with a more than satisfied customer, and pointed out Britney. “She doesn’t know what she wants. Only that she wants a change.”

Eric gave Britney a strong hard look, and said, “I’ve got just the job for her.” He left Wiley standing behind the reception desk and walked over to Britney, “Hello, I’m Eric, and I’m going to make you a miracle.”

Britney approved of Eric, his haircut and his manner. The first thing was to wash her hair, and get her into the chair facing the mirror, where she would be able to see what he was doing. Eric combed Britney’s hair over her face and began cutting it so it reached just over her shoulders. He worked away over her hair till it had lost the frizz. Snipping away he went on, till he told Britney to look in the mirror. “Now I’m going to give your hair a silver wash, which should last for a month or more, but not up to the scalp. I’ll leave roots natural, and then it will give it a better shade. Your hair won’t have a block colour look. Britney sat in the chair watching Eric at work, but at the same time anxious to see the result. The colour was washed and rinsed again and dried. Eric’s hands fluttered all over Britney’s head, and she felt relaxed, and enjoyed her new look. When it was all done and she was ready to leave, Britney saw one of her work companions waiting in reception. She ran to the Ladies, and waited till she thought enough time had passed, for her to leave and go home. Britney went to the reception and asked, “Do you know that woman who is with Eric now, or is she new here, like me?”

“She’s new, like you. But don’t worry, Eric creates new colours and cuts for different customers.”

 

Britney went outside and got into her car. Before starting up, she took a good look at her new cut and colour, and smiled at herself in the mirror. She started up, and a Jeep went into the back of her. The first persons to see Britney’s new hair, were the ambulance men, the driver, and the paramedic. The receptionist ran out, and said to Britney, “You look as if you had your hair done to go to hospital.”

Britney smiled weakly. What a waste of time and money!  I went through all that for going to hospital. Would her work companion suffer the same fate on leaving the hairdresser’s?

 

Joanne was a mystery to her work colleagues, the reason being that her make-up was always perfect. Joanne spent a lot of time and money on her face and hands. Her make-up was permanent, and so were her nails on both fingers and toes. Everything about Joanne was artificial. Her teeth had been recently covered up by veneers, and when she looked in the mirror she felt like the most glamorous woman on the earth, which of course was a fallacy. Joanne had no money worries, because she lived with her father and his second wife, who both thought she was wonderful, apart from that Joanne was generous to them, as she gave them tickets for shows and paid for their summer holidays. So, as far as Joanne was concerned, everything in her small world was fine. YouTube was Joanne’s favourite on the internet. She had learned a lot from it since she had started watching it every evening. All the latest in hair, make-up, and nails, was well received by her. Joanne’s bedroom and bathroom resembled a beauty clinic. Her nails were the part of her body that attracted the most attention. In order to use the computer, she kept them short and acrylic, and looked quite natural. They grew underneath, but never broke on top. Over the years she had dyed her eyebrows and eyelashes, outlined her lips, and eyes, permanently. Whenever she had a new boyfriend, she played it cool, and didn’t get too intimate until she felt she was safe from any criticism. Joanne knew Britney from old, and she would never have copied her friend’s hair, not like some of the other women and girls where they worked.

 

Britney sent messages to all those she trusted, telling them about her accident with the Jeep ramming into her from behind. Joanne at that time was without a boyfriend, and went to visit Britney, who, having been hospitalized for a couple of days, was now at home lying on the sofa, when Joanne turned up.

“I have to say your new hair colour is very flattering. Here, I’ve brought you a present,” Joanne said, handing Britney a wrapped packet.

Britney opened it, to see all the nail products it was possible to imagine. Joanne had used her imagination, and thought giving Britney a manicure might be the best present to cheer her up.

“I don’t do manicures, but in half an hour my manicurist will be here to give you one with the products I’ve got you. Well, what do you say?”

Britney said to Joanne, “Thanks a lot. I might just as well do something with myself while I’m here. By the way, what was Sadie’s hair like? She went to ‘Crowning Glory’ the same day I did, and rushing off, is what made the accident happen.”

“Sadie’s never said anything about you and her going to the same hairdresser’s. So either she never saw the accident, or she prefers to forget it,” Joanne said.

The doorbell rang and Joanne got up to answer it. A few seconds later Joanne and the manicurist entered Britney’s living-room. “Britney, this is Alberta, my manicurist, who’s going to give you one, this afternoon.”

Britney got up from the sofa with Joanne’s help, and sat down at the dining-table. Alberta covered the table with tissues and towels, and with the products that Joanne had presented to Britney, began to give her an acrylic manicure. One by one, Britney’s nails on hands and feet were filed down to wafer-thin depth. The cleansing took place, and then the acrylic was placed on, and then also filed. The process continued until Britney’s nails were long, shiny, and bright red base, with shaded black on top. Britney was very happy with the result, and said so to both Joanne and Alberta “What a lovely present. Thanks a lot, both of you.”

Joanne and Alberta left Britney ensconced once again on the sofa, with a large mug of tea and a couple of biscuits.

 

They got back into their cars and drove off in different directions.

 

Joanne and her family had a dog called Moxie, who was a golden Labrador mix, and was lovely and cuddly, but the down side was that Moxie was rather disobedient. Shortly after visiting Britney, Joanne took Moxie out for a walk, but as they were walking quietly to the park, he saw a cat and ran after it. Joanne dropped the lead, and went to pick it up, when she tripped over it, and fell on her wrist.

She rang the hospital on her mobile. and her father too, who picked up Moxie and took him home.

Joanne was taken to hospital, where she was admitted immediately. The nurse on duty in the A&E, said she’d have to remove the varnish. Joanne explained her nails were acrylic. The nurse said not to worry, and a male nurse came with clippers to cut them off. When the nails were removed, the surprise was, that Joanne had a raging fungus under them.

“How long have you been wearing acrylic nails?” asked the nurse.

“Ever since I left school, and that’s a long time,” Joanne replied.

Joanne had scans carried out on her wrist, to find out what the damage actually was. She felt rather ill, and wondered what she would say to Alberta.

 

After six weeks, when her acrylic nails had been cut back to her natural ones, and the plaster was removed, Joanne went back to work.

 

One afternoon when work was done, she went to see Alberta, and discovered that the nail salon was closed. There was no sign on the shop front, so she went into a nearby café and asked the waitress, “Do you know anything about why ‘Alberta’s’ is closed now?”

The waitress, who from the look of her nails had been a client of the missing Alberta, said, “One of her clients complained that she had caught a fungus from Alberta’s nail salon. Would you like coffee or tea, or maybe a fruit juice?”

Joanne felt it was her duty to get a drink, and asked for a mango juice. The waitress poured her the drink and served it with ice and a straw.

“Can it be proved that the client was right in stating that it was Alberta’s where she had caught the fungus?”

The waitress stared at Joanne, and asked her, “Are you some kind of reporter?”

“No, I’m one of Alberta’s oldest clients, and first of all, I’ve been in hospital because I broke my wrist, and then I was still in plaster and bandages at home, so that’s why I’ve been out of circulation all this time.”

The waitress said, “I’m sorry about the wrist. Alberta just cleared out one day, and there are still old clients looking for her.”

“Have you thought it might be the competition?” Joanne asked.

“There’s no competition around here, as you can see. No, it’s all quite a mystery.”

“Where do you get your nails done now?” Joanne asked.

“I go to the large department store at the shopping centre outside town. It’s a bit far, but they do a good job. I’ve got a few of their business cards. Here, take one,” the waitress said, handing Joanne a card. Joanne stood staring at the card, before putting it inside her handbag.

 

For several weeks Joanne sat and thought, and looked up information on the internet, and went in for a ‘Nail Art’ course.

And so, from spending money on having her nails done, she was well paid for doing other people’s. The accident had turned out to be a good thing for Joanne.

 

Joanne took Moxie to a canine beauty parlour every couple of months, where he would get his fur trimmed and his claws cut. Moxie wasn’t all that struck on having beauty treatment, but Joanne, being childless, thought it was the best she could do for her fluffy friend.

When the broken wrist and the nail fungus were history, Joanne took Moxie for his routine beauty treatment. The owner of the salon was a young woman called Tiffany. In order to get a dog the treatment or even just a trim, it was of the utmost importance to have an appointment.

The best time for Joanne was Saturday afternoon and so the two of them, Moxie and Joanne, one Saturday afternoon when the weather was better, arrived at Tiffany’s for his grooming session.

The salon was in a shopping centre and was always busy, especially on Saturday afternoons. It looked like a ‘who’s-who’ in the salon that afternoon, as it seemed as if all the possible breeds of dogs were present. Moxie was on his best behaviour, and didn’t try showing up Joanne by whining or barking, thanks to a tranquilising pill he had taken before leaving home. The vet had given him some on his last visit, in an attempt to keep him quiet when in the surgery.

A standard poodle walked out of the treatment room. The sight of the dog caused a silence among the owners of the waiting dogs. The poodle’s coat had been dyed a soft sugar pink, and then blow-dried, so that it was most unreal-looking it was possible to get. Joanne knew that Moxie couldn’t be dyed pink, but perhaps some other colour.

For the next half hour, dogs were leaving the treatment in all kinds of colours, with pink being the most popular. The male white dogs were dyed pale blue. Some of the dogs who were cinnamon colour, had a red rinse to enhance the natural shade.

Moxie was taken away by the person who would shower him, and get him ready for whatever he was going to have done. Moxie’s claws were hard and strong, so they had to be cut back. The fur that was on his pads and had managed to get in between his claws, was cut down.

Tiffany asked Joanne, “Would you like to give Moxie a light colour rinse to heighten the colour a bit, without a permanent dye?”

Joanne saw that Moxie was behaving himself, and said, “What about a nice shade of blue, an in-between shade - neither navy blue nor baby blue?”

“Fine. I’ll go and mix something up for Moxie, and see what you think before application,” Tiffany said, before going inside her private sanctuary where she kept all her secret sources used in her treatments. A little while later, she called, “Come and see what I’ve made for Moxie,” and showed Joanne a plastic bowl that contained a strange looking blue paste.

Poor Moxie had no idea what was happening to him. Instead of being blow-dried as per usual, he was being made wet again, with an unpleasant mess. He was standing up in a harness so that he couldn’t escape. Tiffany said to Joanne, “Why don’t you paint his claws, now that they are short? After all, you are now a professional nail artist, aren’t you?”

“Fine by me. What colour would go with the blue of his coat?”

“The nail varnishes are over there on that trolley. As you can see, there are a lot, and I’m sure you’ll find one that matches,” Tiffany stated, getting down to her next canine client.

Moxie stood shivering a little, waiting for the dye to take. Joanne began preparing his claws, as if he were a human client. They were filed, bevelled, and buffed. Once the desired surface had been acquired, the primer was painted on, followed by two layers of blue varnish. Finally, glitter was added. Maxie’s coat was showered and blow-dried, and fluffed up.

“Moxie, you look like a different t dog!” exclaimed Joanne.

“Let him look in the mirror,” Tiffany added.

The dog wasn’t at all interested in any of that, and deep down inside, he wondered what the dogs he met daily in the park would say.

 

‘Miracles Achieved’ was a well-established clinic for those who had suffered at the hands of hairdressers, make-up artists, tatooists, and nail artists, over a long period in the name of beauty. The people who made their way there, had used and abused all kinds of products without any thought of any repercussions. Dogs were welcomed, due to the fashion of some who had their pets’ fur dyed to match their own clothes, or the colour of their cars.

 

Moxie wasn’t without company. Joanne’s father, on seeing the blue Moxie, had called her a lot of names, and none of them were nice ones. He’d said she was cruel to Moxie, and should feel ashamed, making fun of the lovely dog. Moxie was lucky, because Joanne’s father cut back his coat little by little, till there was only a hint of blue. The claws had the varnish removed, and although he still had a bit of an odd look about him, he was beginning to be more of his old self again.

 

Joanne took Moxie to ‘Miracles Achieved’, and there were a lot of ladies who were prepared to take a rest from being artificially beautiful in every way, to go back to their natural selves for a short time, before embarking on another beauty regime. There were no hair extensions to be seen, no false eyelashes, no false nails. The general idea was a beauty detox, and a clean up in the physical area, too.

 The dogs got on pretty well together, and were well looked after by a group of young boys and girls, who took them out for long walks - something that for the majority rarely happened.

 

At ‘Miracles Achieved’ they all met up for one reason or another: Britney who had decided to enter the beauty business; Alberta who had not been careful enough and had caused a fungus to appear on a clients’ hands; Joanne who wanted a rest and then go back home and continue working for herself; Tiffany who created some ideas of dyeing dogs’ coats, that were quite out of the question for their audacity.

The slogan of “Miracles Achieved” was, that nobody went away dissatisfied and wanting their money back.

 

Moxie and several of the other dogs, not only got on well, but had relationships that their owners didn’t have. When the puppies arrived (which of course was the ultimate in accidents) it meant that certain of the ladies had to have a rethink about how they were going to make money out of the puppies.

 

Britney’s car accident faded into insignificance.