Roxanne stared at Scarlett in the mirror as she worked through a hair treatment. As much as the mix of lavender and coconut was relaxing, Roxanne still felt on edge about the way Scarlett had been acting around her. The woman had barely made eye contact or spoken a word. Roxanne didn’t know why, but there was something familiar about Scarlett that didn’t sit well with her and she wasn’t the type of woman to sit back on a salon chair and keep her mouth shut.
‘So how long have you worked here at Hair Envy, then? My mate here says you’re part of the furniture,’ Roxanne said, keeping her eye on the woman in the mirror.
‘Since I was sixteen. Left school, started as a junior and worked my way up. The place has had three owners since then, Arabella being our third,’ Scarlett replied, nodding and smiling at Arabella who was in the chair next to Roxanne.
‘Third time lucky, eh?’ Arabella giggled before drinking back prosecco from the flute in her hand while the young stylist, Leanne, curled her hair.
‘You’ll be the best,’ Roxanne replied with encouragement. ‘This place needed someone like you and you deserve it after a shitty year at Her Majesty’s pleasure.’
‘You were in the jail?’ Leanne asked. ‘Jeezo. So what for?’
Arabella didn’t answer, she seemed embarrassed and Scarlett didn’t push. But Roxanne wanted to see Scarlett’s reaction.
‘Och come on, just tell them, minor drug offence and attempted robbery. You’re lucky you didn’t get a couple year up your arse,’ Roxanne laughed, drinking back the last of the prosecco from her flute and holding it out to Scarlett for her to refill.
‘Oh my god, Arabella!’ Leanne exclaimed, her eyes wide. There was a hint of a smile teasing the corners of her mouth but she didn’t let it out.
‘That’s where we met, in the jail,’ Roxanne said.
‘Okay so if we’re sharing offences, then why don’t you tell Scarlett and Leanne here why you were inside… for ten years, may I add,’ Arabella hiccupped and giggled.
Roxanne sighed. ‘It sounds worse than it actually is. But basically, I got sent away for drug dealing. And… now, I’m not proud of it,’ she mocked, ‘but I done someone in because they owed me money. I mean properly done them in.’
That was it, the look on Scarlett’s face that Roxanne had been waiting for. Disgust, hatred. She pretended not to notice for the time being. But that was when it clicked in Roxanne’s head, where she knew Scarlett from. It wasn’t just the way she had been looking down her nose at Roxanne. There was something else there that Roxanne could see in her eyes. A hatred.
‘Okay, it is as bad as it sounds. But I’m a changed woman now. Honestly.’
Scarlett hesitated, her hands hovering in Roxanne’s hair before she dropped them to her side and excused herself. Roxanne eyed her as she walked away. Arabella seemed not to have noticed, like the bubbles had gone straight to her head.
Roxanne watched Scarlett leave and knew that this was the only opportunity that she was going to get to have it out with her, while it was still fresh in her head.
‘Just going to the toilet. Too much fizz,’ she said as she got up from her seat. Again, Arabella didn’t pay much attention as she chatted to Leanne about hair styles and make-up.
Crossing the floor of the salon, she headed straight for the bathrooms. Pushing through the door, she came face to face with Scarlett, whose face matched her name, eyes glistening against the light.
Roxanne closed the door behind her and slid the lock across. She turned to face the woman who so clearly had a problem with her.
‘Right, are you going to keep pretending that you don’t know who I am? Or are we going to get this sorted right now?’
Scarlett kept her stance steady. She didn’t falter or take a step back. Instead, she raised her chin and looked Roxanne in the eye. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever come face to face with you, not after your trial. And I certainly didn’t expect to find you here. Hearing you talk about it the way you do just brings it all back. But you’re the reason things went so wrong for my family. I always vowed if I came across you, I’d fucking kill you myself. I never actually thought it would happen.’
Surprised and frankly a little taken aback by Scarlett’s nerve, Roxanne raised a brow and nodded. ‘Go on then, you seem like a big brave lassie. Say it out loud.’
‘Johnnie was my brother, the guy you battered, almost killed for the sake of a measly twenty quid.’
Roxanne searched her memory for the face of the guy who was the reason she’d ended up in prison. Scarlett was right; he had owed her twenty quid which in itself sounded ridiculous. However, it hadn’t been the first time he’d taken the piss out of her. He’d attempted to run a side business of his own off the shoplifting ring Roxanne and Jake had had on the go at the time. He’d tried to sell some of the goods and keep a larger percentage than she’d agreed with him. That had got her back up. Of course it had; it would get anyone’s back up if they thought they were getting screwed over. But Scarlett had used the past tense when talking about her brother. That wasn’t right.
‘And thanks to you, he’s dead.’
‘What do you mean, thanks to me? I didn’t fucking kill him,’ Roxanne said. ‘Whatever the hell happened to him had nothing to do with me. I’d have been in the jail before he died.’
‘You didn’t kill him with your own hands, but he died of a drug overdose last year. An overdose that was caused by an addiction that you fed before you went to prison.’ Scarlett’s eyes were wide, her voice growing in anger.
‘Look love, if he died last year, it’s fuck all to do with me. Your brother was a druggie long before he met me and long after I went to jail.’
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed as she stared at her. Roxanne took Scarlett in. Her face, her voice. Then she remembered the moment she was sentenced ten years ago. A member of the public from the gallery had called out to her, saying it was what she deserved. That she was scum.
‘If I remember rightly, you gave me abuse from the gallery that day at court. You were brave that day as I was led away in cuffs. But now we’re standing here, I wonder if you’d have the balls to take me on? If you don’t want to end up with your face caved in then I’m telling you right now, back off or I’ll do something that could land me back in the jail. Don’t push it.’
Roxanne stood face to face with Scarlett. Was Scarlett stupid enough to push Roxanne on this subject? Dealing in drugs, whether you were the runner or the addict was a business in which there was no room for empathy. Both parties knew the risks.
Scarlett didn’t say a word, but instead stared through Roxanne. Maybe she had more balls than Roxanne had given her credit for.
‘I’m here to spend time with my mate. She’s your employer. Don’t do something that will not only put your job at risk but will make your life a living nightmare.’
Turning her back on Scarlett to leave, satisfied that she’d taken the hint, she felt a force push hard against her back, slamming her against the door face first. Fingers snaked around the back of her neck but they weren’t quick enough. Roxanne used all of her weight and pushed back against Scarlett, spinning so quickly it caught her off guard and caused her to fall back.
‘I fucking warned you,’ Roxanne hissed, rushing forward and shoving Scarlett so hard that she fell through the doorway of one of the toilet cubicles. Grabbing her by the throat so she was half suspended over the toilet seat, Roxanne punched her in the ribs with her free hand, revelling in the sound of the air leaving her lungs. ‘Your brother was nothing but a coke junkie and if it wasn’t me it would have been someone else supplying him.’
Scarlett fought against Roxanne’s grip but it was apparent that she was too strong for her. She gave up quickly when Roxanne struck into her ribs another once, twice, three times.
‘Don’t ever challenge me like this again, or next time you might not be so lucky. Oh and while we’re on the subject, no one ever gets to call me scum and gets away with it.’
Scarlett kept her head down, coughing and spluttering against the blows Roxanne kept on giving. She was careful to stay away from anywhere above the neckline. She didn’t want Arabella seeing evidence of a beating. Stepping over Scarlett, who had dropped down onto the floor now, Roxanne pulled on the handle for the flush and listened as the room was filled with the sound of water gushing through the pipes.
Fixing her clothes back to a presentable fashion, Roxanne washed her hands and dried them in the fancy Dyson hand-dryer, creating more noise which masked Scarlett’s splutters. Then she calmly unlocked the door and stepped back into the salon. Her fist throbbed from the blows but she hid the fact from Arabella.
‘What do you think?’ Arabella said, spinning in her chair to show off her new hairstyle. ‘You like?’
Sitting back down in her own chair, Roxanne smiled and lifted the flute that Scarlett had refilled before having the shit beaten out of her. ‘You look like a proper entrepreneur. Here’s to freedom, new business ventures and happiness. Cheers.’
‘Cheers,’ Arabella lifted her own flute and raised it in the air.
Roxanne smiled. This day had been unexpected. After just a couple of hours of freedom, she had met Cole Woods who had thrust a business venture in her direction, and had her own past thrust in her face. But there was one thing she knew for sure. She was back, she was free and no one was going to put her back inside. She would make sure of that.
‘So, when am I getting to meet the lovely Jake then?’ Arabella smiled.
‘Why not later on tonight?’
Arabella was giddy, like a kid on Christmas morning. Roxanne almost felt sorry for her. But business was business.