Joe came to the apartment the next afternoon. Val had managed to stay in her room claiming jet lag. He popped his head around the door.
“Come on lazy bum. Move it! I have a couple of very needy ladies who are waiting for my golden hands to make them look sensational. Without me, they dare not venture out into the world.”
“Joe, oh my love, I’m so happy to see you. It’s been so long. Give me a couple of minutes. I’ll be right out.”
He’d tried not to show how shocked he was when he saw her up close. She looked so frail; there were dark circles under her eyes. She sat on the kitchen stool sipping a cup of tea.
“Well, do you think you can do anything with me?”
“Precious, I know exactly what I’m going to do. A few highlights round your face and one of my brilliant scissor jobs, and we’ll have my Val back before we can say poof. You have to be ready to make an entrance with me. There’s a hot new club that’s opening tomorrow night.”
Val laughed. He was exactly the same.
“As you would say, my love, it looks like nothing has changed but the date. But honestly, I don’t know if I’m up to that.”
“Of course you are. This new place used to be a church. In fact, the queens that own the place are even calling it The Church. How’s that for creative thinking?”
He mixed the bleach for her hair, filling her in on the scene around town. She finally asked if he had seen Karen.
“I see her when she’s in town, but that’s not very often. She really took it very badly you know, with the Sharon thing. Did you know her body washed up on the Florida coast somewhere?”
Val didn’t answer. When she had arrived in London and asked Sydney where she should send the rent, he told her Karen paid it in advance for six months. And on top of that, she’d opened a checking account for Val with a five thousand-dollar balance. She never once tried to reach Val. Sydney told her it was part their deal. She didn’t know what he meant by that and really didn’t want to. Joe broke into her thoughts.
“Well anyway, last I heard she bought a house on some island in Greece and spends most of her time there. She’s into photography now and meditates. She’s trying to levitate or you know, something far-out like that.”
They both got a kick out of that. As far as Joe was concerned that was the end of the Karen chat.
“Okay, precious, it’s time to hit the shower and wash the bleach off.”
Val was still in the shower when Anne appeared in the hallway, dressed up and leaving for cocktails with friends. She kissed Joe, paid him, and thanked him for coming on such short notice. She asked him to tell Val she wouldn’t be back until after ten. She had purposely not spoken to her. Used to living alone now, she wasn’t sure if she liked, what she considered, this invasion into her private life. Val was thrilled when Joe told her the news.
“Now I can have an evening alone. Thank God. I’ve been living alone and it’s outrageously hard to live with my mother again. We’ll probably end up killing each other. I just know it.”
“Darling, downers are not allowed today. We only want up, up, up. That’s orders from headquarters.”
He was snipping away at her hair, loving every moment it took to create one of his masterpieces.
“Talking about downs, Joe, can I get some?”
“I think that could be arranged. What do you want?”
“I’ll give you my laundry list when you’re through.”
They both laughed. She from relief. Joe was her only connection in the city.
“Just have to blow you now, precious.”
“What would I do without you? I love you, Joe.”
“Well, top of my list is a request to see if you can get your mother to change your dog’s name. You should see her on First Avenue telling Joey the poodle to do his poo poo in the gutter. Okay, gorgeous, it’s time for you to look at the new and sensational Valerie Rhodes!”
Val ran to the mirror and was thrilled. Joe had given her a long version of the Shag, a hairstyle Jane Fonda had made popular in the movie Klute. The blonde highlights lit up her face. She shook her head and her hair moved, then fell magically back into place. He really was a genius with his scissors.
She made out her list of goodies and he said he’d come for her around ten the following night.
Alone and feeling halfway decent, she took a lude. Every so often she got up and looked in the mirror. It had been a long time since she had liked what she saw looking back at her.