Behind The Shade

This week was proving to be a good one. There seemed to be no drama in Jasmine’s life these days. Omma had stopped talking about college—for now, at least. Her band had just two more rehearsals before the competition, and...

Her phone rang. Khaleed’s name flashed on the screen, and she smiled despite herself.

"Hey," she answered, trying to keep the smile off her face and failing. Since going out with him, they hadn’t stopped texting and calling each other. For someone with such a hectic job, he always found time to talk to her.

"Hi, Jasmine. How are you doing today?"

"I'm good. How are you?" she asked.

"You know...the usual."

"Yeah...wanna grab lunch?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Hello?" she asked again after a pause.

"Yeah, I’m here... I was just surprised, is all."

She giggled. "Surprised enough to go silent on me?"

"Yeah, but I’m sorry—I can’t." Khaleed was surprised she’d offered but, regrettably, couldn’t accept.

"It’s fine. Some other time, then."

"Yeah. I actually called to hear from you and to let you know I’ll be going out of town for a few days."

"A business trip?"

"Yes, but I’ll still call and stuff. Just thought you should know."

Awww, how cute, she thought. They weren’t in a relationship, so he wasn’t obligated to tell her his schedule, but she appreciated it anyway.

"Thanks for letting me know. And you don’t have to call me every day. We’ll talk whenever you’re free. Are you leaving today?"

"I know I don’t but I want to. And yes, I’m leaving today."

"Be safe."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later."

"You promise? You won’t forget, like you did the other day?" he teased, referring to when she’d forgotten to text him after their date and had fallen asleep instead.

"I will call. That was a one-time thing, Khaleed."

He chuckled. "Alright then, bye."

She smiled as she hung up, heading out to greet some new customers who had just walked in.

"Good afternoon, I’m Jasmine. What can I help you with?"

"Hi, I’m Jamie," said a beautiful brunette with a pixie cut, smiling. Jasmine liked her immediately. She was as polite as she was cute.

"This is Cassie. A friend recommended we get our nails done here."

"Hello, Miss," Jasmine said with a smile. Cassie only nodded in response.

"I’m glad you came to us. Right this way." Jasmine led them to the nail station.

"Miss Cassie, this is Anna. She’ll be doing your nails," she said, introducing Jamie’s friend to her coworker. Jasmine deciding she would do Jamie's nails herself.

"What kind of design do you have in mind, Miss Jamie?"

"Miss?" Jamie giggled. "Call me Jamie."

"Alright, Jamie."

Jamie pulled out her phone and showed a couple of pictures. She recognized one as a design she’d done the previous week for a regular customer.

"I did this last week for Miss Scarlett."

"Yeah, I know. She’s the friend who recommended you."

"Oh wow. I won’t disappoint, then."

"I’m sure you won’t. Why don’t you surprise me?"

"Okay, get ready to be surprised," Jasmine joked, and they both laughed.

"Can’t wait!" Jamie said, genuinely excited.

Jasmine pulled out her personal nail kit, as she always preferred to use her own tools, and set out the things she needed.

"You want me to pick a color, too?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

As Jasmine worked, she glanced discreetly at Anna, who seemed to be getting along well with Cassie.

By the time she finished, Jamie was fawning over her nails, taking videos.

"Can I have your Instagram handle, please?"

"It’s TheStudio’sJay," Jasmine replied. Jamie followed her, tagged her in a post, and Jasmine followed back, liking and commenting. Jamie’s caption read, The baddest mani-pedicurist in town, which Jasmine thought was a bit exaggerated but appreciated anyway.

"Thanks for trusting us."

Jamie happened to be a social media influencer with a huge following. As Jasmine walked over to check on Anna’s progress, Jamie followed behind.

"I see you’re almost finished, Anna. Thanks for sitting, Miss," she said to Cassie.

Jamie wiggled her fingers at Cassie. "Aren’t they beautiful?"

Cassie’s eyes widened. "They’re cute," she admitted. "But my nails are sexy too. Anna is simply the best."

"I know, right?" Jamie gushed.

"We’ll be coming back, that’s for sure," Cassie said, addressing Jasmine for the first time that afternoon.

"Please do, and thank you again."

They paid at the reception, and Jasmine handed them complimentary gift bags containing acid-free nail primer, lint-free wipes, top coat nail polish, and cuticle oil.

"Goodbye, ladies. We hope to see you again," Jasmine said with a smile.

Jamie hugged her unexpectedly. "You’ll be seeing me again. Bye, girlie!"

Jasmine watched them leave before heading back to clean up her workstation.

Anna came over, waving her phone excitedly. "I can’t believe Jamie Williams was at our salon!"

"You know her?" Jasmine asked, curious.

Anna gasped. "You don’t?!" She launched into an animated explanation, complete with hand gestures. By the end, Jasmine learned Jamie was a prominent influencer and Cassie’s father owned the prestigious Hadi Holdings.

No wonder her coworkers had been whispering. She’d done a celebrity’s nails without realizing it. Jasmine chuckled to herself. That’s what she got for not being a social media person.

"That’s nice. A friend of mine works at Hadi Holdings," she said.

"Really? That’s cool," Anna said, wiggling her brows playfully.

"Go clean up your space," Jasmine said, shooing her away.

With nothing else to do, Jasmine called her best friend to see if she was home. After confirming, she grabbed her bag and sent Dylan a text to let him know she was done for the day. Closing and opening the store alternated between the two of them unless the boss stepped in.

"See you tomorrow, guys," she said to her colleagues

"See you!"

"Bye," Anna called out, only half paying attention as she scrolled through Jamie and Cassie’s social media pages.