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talking in the middle of his conversation with his two companions, causing the men to fall completely silent. Instead, the two strangers looked everywhere but at me. It was as though they weren’t given permission to look at me, and that doing so would’ve turned them into stone. “You’re very welcome, Hanley.”
    Glancing at the men, I waited for an introduction that never came. Unsure of why I expected one in the first place, I shook my head and deleted the thought. “I don’t know how I can repay you.”
    “Don’t concern yourself with that,” Elias assured me with a dimpled grin. “As long as you enjoyed your meal, that’s all the thanks I need.”
    “I did.” Feeling awkward, I glanced at the men again. “Well, again, sorry to interrupt, but thank you.”
    “It was a welcomed interruption.” He gave me a wink so subtle, I barely caught it before I turned and walked away.

TWO
    SINCE IT WAS SUNDAY, the shop closed at six. Skylar and I wanted to have dinner at one of the places in the plaza across from the mall, but all of the restaurants on the strip had an hour or more wait time. When I suggested Romo’s as a place to eat, she balked at the cost of the meals there. It wouldn’t have been the best time to tell her we'd eat there for free, because she would’ve wanted to know the reason why, and I had an inkling there was a long history of bad blood between Elias and her. It was obvious she wasn’t ready to disclose the reason; the topic of Elias would be off limits for now.
    We decided to get takeout from a deli and eat it on the hood of her car while we got to know one another.  
    Skylar poked at what was left of her teriyaki salad with a fork. “I don’t remember much about my father. You would think I never had one with the way my mom is. He left us before I was born.”  
    Taking a moment to pause, she sighed wistfully. “He sends me money every once in a while. It’s enough to travel when I want to. It’s never steady enough to keep me from working or to help my mom. I have to help her out since she works off straight commission in a franchised salon. We're all we got and my mom doesn't take good care of herself. She doesn’t make as much as she should because she only has three steady clients, and sucks at doing hair.” She chortled to herself. “They’re going to fire her soon, I just know it.”
    I reached up and fingered one of her curls. Her hair was a little different from yesterday, more gray than purple, but striking with the front half up in two small victory rolls and the back half down in big curls. “She did okay with your color.”
    She rolled her eyes and puckered her lips, stained with fire-engine red lipstick. “It was green, Hanley. You have no idea what I had to do to fix her fuck up and get my hair this color. It almost killed my hair. It’s naturally a shitty red shade.” She touched a strand of mine as it hung limp and straight. “I bet your hair holds a curl really well.”
    “Being that it’s naturally really curly,” I remarked, “it does when I don’t damage it too much with the flat iron.”
    “Maybe tomorrow, before you go into work, you can stop by my house and I can show you how to do your hair and makeup. I would love to ombre your hair, too, if you’re not too chicken to try some color.” Returning to her salad, she clicked her heels on the bumper. “I’m easy on the rules, but if Claudia saw you like you were today or yesterday, she would’ve sent you home.”
    I balled up the wrapper to my turkey sandwich and tossed it into the plastic container that once contained my Cobb salad. “She would?”
    Skylar nodded. “Some people take their job way too seriously.” She stuffed a piece of grilled chicken in her mouth and surveyed the parking lot. “What about you? What’s your story?”
    I fished around in my purse for a stick of gum, offering a piece to her. She declined my offer. I stuck the strip in my mouth, allowing it to melt and