"How did I get myself into this mess" I ask myself as I change the water again. I had no idea a beauty parlor could get this dirty.
"When you're finished the windows, you can wipe down and disinfect the tanning bed." Susan barked from the other room.
"Shore ting Bozz" I answer.
"I don't need any of your smartass back-talk either." Susan retorted. She was trying to sound dictatorial, but I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Yazz Bozz." I answer back with just as big a smile.
It all started off so innocently. A bet. Some trivia question. I never lose at trivia. The actor that was playing the wounded cop on "E.R.," was he known before as a cop on "Adam 12," or as one of the paramedics on "Emergency?" In my mind I can still see him in the cop's uniform. I was wrong. Damn. I hate it when that happens.
I like to bet although I never bet money. My father taught me never to bet something you can't afford to lose. When I worked in a mine I would see other miners playing poker for pay checks. I knew that most of the miners had wives and families and that some of them would have to go home to tell their families that "daddy didn't get paid today.
I use to bet with my brothers. The loser had to make the winners bed. Raising the stakes meant the loser had to do the winners chore, sometimes for a whole week if we were feeling particularly lucky. Big stakes were usually never wasted on games of chance, but were reserved for tests of abilities like golf, chess, or higher averages in school.
At my office I would bet "batches of cookies" with my coworkers. There again, I seldom lost. I had a reputation of providing the most cookies and brownies and cheesecake at the office. I always had the goodies brought to the office and I would put them on the table for all to enjoy. It got to the point that whenever any food arrived for mass consumption everyone would ask around to see what the wager was and who my latest victim was.
I had bet with Susan before too. She was an old friend and didn't work at my office. Instead, Susan was the proprietor of an fairly upscale beauty Salon/Spa. Instead of baking, we used to bet services. I had won my share of haircuts and remember wondering what else she had to offer that I could take advantage of. Hers' was a full service salon but there was an unwritten rule that stated that any payment of debts had to be payable by the actual person doing the betting. Services provided by an employee were not acceptable methods of payment.
Most of the other services offered by the salon where also not things usually associated with the male gender; as a rule "we" don't much go in for eyebrow plucking or dye jobs.
"Slave for a day." That's what Susan had suggested. "Anything the winner said... 24 hours... no questions asked... done to the letter!"
Unusually high stakes for her. My immediate response was to contemplate how I would spend my winnings. What could I have her do for a day? Let's see... she could be my chauffeur and have to drive me to wherever I wanted to go... better yet, myself and a date. Drop us off in front of the restaurant. Pick us up in front... no fighting for parking stalls or walking for blocks in the rain. What about a nice little romantic dinner at home for me and my date... with a waitress to serve us our every course... and to clean up the dishes... and to cook.
I could just imagine it... "Maid... you may now clear away the dishes."
"Yes sir." She would answer. "Yes sir..." "No sir..." "As you wish sir..." Ahhh... it would be great.
"Done!" I answered, snapping back to reality. "Slave for a day."
Well, today is that day and it's "me" who's washing windows, cleaning out the toilets and wiping down the tanning bed.
We had agreed on having a Sunday as the payoff day and she had phoned me at home Saturday night to tell me to show up at her salon bright and early (6:00 am) the next morning. "Wear loose cloths" was the only other thing she had said. I had to wait till 6:30 before she arrived and she immediately sent me to get her a cup of coffee at the local Donut shop down the street. When I returned with the coffee, she politely but firmly informed me that I had been late and, since I had not followed her instructions "to the letter," it would cost me "big-time."
When I protested that I was here waiting before she got here, she showed me the tape from her security camera, complete with time stamp, showing me arriving and trying to enter the locked front door. The time stamp was unmistakably 3 min. after 6:00. What could I say?
"You may start with the floors." She had said curtly.
All morning she sat in the center of the salon in one of the hydraulic chairs barking out orders and reading. "Change the CD!" "The window cleaner is under the sink." "You missed a spot on the floor." "The CD needs changing." All the time she sat there smiling and revelling in the experience. I could see she was enjoying the power.
"Don't get used to it," I said under my breath, "from now on, the gloves are off"
She never asked me to do anything I might not have asked her to do but she was ruthless in her requests. "Just getting even for all the times she lost." I told myself. When I was on my knees waxing the floor right under her she playfully stretched out her legs and rested them on my back, as if I was her footstool. I looked up and saw such a smirk that I had to break out laughing.
"Silence slave!" She said in mock disapproval.
Susan was a very astute business person, having taken over an older, established salon and, after renovations and a name change, turning it into "the" happening place in the city. She had made a lot of money from the salon but never flaunted it. She still drove her same 1997 Jeep Wrangler with the winch in the front and the dent in the passenger side fender. She dressed nicely but never for show, sometimes coming to work in jeans and a suit jacket. She had a way of making whatever she wore look right out of Vogue.
Susan was early thirties, about 5'4" and maybe 130 pounds although she looked much smaller. She worked out almost everyday in the gym across the street and had recently taken up the sport of body sculpting, so most of her 130 pounds was pure muscle. Her hair was long, coming down below the back pocket of her jeans and at the moment was a rich red. "One of the duties of a salon owner is to advertise your services." She had once said to me after I commented on her then newly blackened hair.
It occurred to me that I never knew what her natural hair colour was, having seen it almost every color there was.
I was kept busy all morning cleaning, waxing, deodorizing, sweeping. By 12:30 she was having trouble finding things for me to clean. You could eat off the floor and I was particularly pleased with the staff room. As clean as any establishment is out front, the back is usually paid the least amount of attention by the regular cleaning staff.
"Slave..." (since she first arrived she never called me by name) "Get yourself cleaned up. I want you to run an errand for me."
I had a quick shower to clean off the sweat from the mornings activities. When I went to get my clothes I found my sweats gone and in their stead, a new set of thin white cotton pants and a white tee-shirt. I laughed to myself at the efforts Susan was going to remind me of my status, but in the back of my mind I pondered the fact that she had been in the room while I was showering. It seemed odd that she would do that.
The errand, I was later to find out, was to run to a local restaurant for some take out. Not just "a" restaurant but "the" restaurant. It was owned by a friend of hers and the place usually didn't open this early on a Sunday. But all it took was one quick phone call from Susan and I was picking up arguably some of the best Calamari in the western hemisphere. I wondered if Susan had this arranged with the restaurant before hand; she seems to have everything else arranged.
Anyway, on my return Susan is still in her hydraulic chair, lying back listening to the stereo. She almost looks asleep.
"There slave!" She says sitting up and pointing to the coffee table in the waiting room.
I unpack the food and fetch a couple of plates from the staff room. She informs me she would like a glass of white wine and that there is a small bottle in the refrigerator. "A little early isn't it?" I ask.