33 Cecilia's
"What do you mean by I can't use the room? It's already been half an hour and that customer still hasn't come. I'm asking you to let me use her slot. Why is that so hard for you to understand?" Spoke a shrill and loud voice.
Lina who was about to push the door to enter the store paused and tried to peep through the glass door.
She saw a short young lady holding onto a stunning sea green designer bag yelling at the receptionist.
"I'm sorry Miss Liang but this slot was booked in advance and we just can't give it to someone else, even if that customer hasn't arrived." The poor receptionist explained the store policy.
"Plus we had informed you the same thing when you came here previously. You need to book an appointment if you want to avail our services in the private room."
The lady called Miss Liang just scoffed at what the receptionist said.
Please follow our rules and don't cause problems for the others who are patiently waiting for their turn." This time she was a little rude because this Miss was asking the same questions for every five minutes repeatedly and was disrespectful earlier.
By now Lina had decided to enter the store and pushed the door and walked in. She lowered her head and looked into her phone to not attract any attention. After all this problem was caused because she was late.
"What's the commotion here?" A new lady entered the waiting lounge from the inside of the salon.
'I feel like I've heard that voice before?' Lina looked up to see the lady's face but she couldn't, as her back was turned to Lina.
The receptionist bowed to her respectfully and explained the situation to her in a whisper. She then turned to face the young lady who was causing the commotion with a gentle smile.
Lina finally saw her face clearly when she turned around.
"Miss Liang, I appreciate the interest that you have shown in our salon but you still have to wait for your turn." She spoke with the same smile but her words were stern.
The young lady called Miss Liang felt humiliated and wanted to answer back when she was interrupted.
"Aunt Kira?" Lina, who had stood up from her seat, attracted the other customer's attention.
The gentle smile that she showed Miss Liang blossomed into a genuine smile and the lady walked to Lina.
Pulling her into a big hug, she let Lina go only after Lina patted her back indicating that she was suffocating.
"You still like to kill people with your hugs?" Lina asked playfully to which she received a knock on her head.
"Nana baby, you've grown into such a beautiful young lady!" She gushed while looking at Lina.
"Aunt Kira you haven't aged since the last time I saw you." Lina complimented her beautiful skin.
"Aww baby, such a sweet mouth but horrible sense of time. It's already 12:30 now. You are an hour late to your appointment. Should I tell Di that you still have the habit of sleeping late?" She teased Lina.
Kira Irving was her mother's close friend and confidant. Hence they were still very close even without meeting for so many years.
Miss Liang, who heard that Lina was the customer who was late, waited for her to be told to go back because she had missed her appointment.
"My good aunt, please spare me! I know I'm late, so I'm willing to wait for the next available appointment. So it doesn't bother the others here." She spoke the last statement softly.
"Nonsense! Why would you do that? Come now, I specially asked my top student to style you." She started dragging Lina to the private rooms inside.
"Stop!" Before they could enter the room, Miss Liang rushed to them and glared at Kira and Lina.
"Why does she get to keep her appointment even after she is late?" She pointed her neatly manicured finger at Lina.
"Miss Liang, I have already mentioned this. If you want to use our services, please make an appointment beforehand." Kira spoke with a stern voice now with no sign of that gentle smile from earlier.
Cecilia's had two options, one where the ladies can come and just wait to get their turn and get styled in a general room with everyone else and the other where they opt for a private room and have the room and a stylist all to themselves.
Lina and Miss Liang both wanted to use the same vacant private room.
"But her time has already ended. Are you going to push back on someone else's slot to accommodate her?" Miss Liang challenged Kira with her eyebrows raised.
Immediately, the women waiting for their private room started murmuring of the salon going against their own policies.
Lina felt distressed for Kira and squeezed her palm to let her know that she was fine with not using the private room.
'I'm not so picky. I can just wait for a seat in the general room. I don't' want Kira to get in trouble because of me.' Just as Lina was about to speak up, she heard Kira speaking to the receptionist.
"Since many people are thinking that I am being unfair, how about we just use my private room. I'm sure no one else has a problem with that right?" She looked at all the women waiting and was only answered with gasps.
"Who is this little girl? Madam Kira even opened her own room for her!" The ladies discussed Lina's identity while Lina and Kira walked away.
'Why am I getting this preferential treatment? Of course it's because of this' She looked at the card in her hand.
She thought of what Mrs. Ping had said while giving the card to her.
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"Cecilia's?"
Mrs. Ping nodded her head.
"It's your mother's salon. She started the business when she was still in college and it bloomed to be the luxury salon that it is now." She explained.
"That card in your hand belongs to your mother. It shows that she is the owner of the place. She placed it in my care, to look after the place in her absence but now it belongs to you." She smiled.
"Me?" Lina pointed to her nose.
"Yes. Cecilia's already has a great general manager, you just have to keep in touch with her to be on top of matters at the salon." She explained.
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'Now I understand! That great general manager must be Aunt Kira!' She looked at Kira with surprise.
She was led to a private room which had an electric lock on it.
"Put the card in" Kira instructed.
The card was read and a string of words appeared on the screen.
*Welcome, Miss Cecilia*
Kira typed a few things on the keypad and looked back at Lina.
"Now put your fingerprints here." She pointed at the fingerprint scanner and Lina pressed her fingers on it.
*Welcome, Miss Lina*
The words on the screen changed to show her name now.
The door soon opened and they entered to see an amazing scene.
One side of the room was just a mirror and a few seats were placed there. Lina noticed all state of the art new and latest equipment present here.
"Cool!" Was all Lina could say.
"But did it really need such an elaborate lock system?" She found the card plus fingerprint lock to be a bit excessive.
"You can never be too careful." Kira answered and smiled.
Soon a young man in his twenties entered the room.
"Madam, you asked for me?" He looked at Kira with respect and admiration.
'So this must be the top student she mentioned earlier.' Lina tried to guess who he was.
"Lina, meet Nico. He is going to do your hair today." Introduced Kira.
"Nico, this is Lina, my Godchild. Treat her with care." She warned him.
"Absolutely, Madam." She added that extra statement because Nico was known for his short temper and foul mouth.
She knew that Lina liked her privacy and hence did not speak any further about her identity. She then left the two alone and went to see what the situation outside was like, after they left.
