Rude Bastard

As soon as Kira left, the admiration and smile on Nico's face fell and he looked at Lina from top to bottom.

"Hmmm…. Ok.. Ok.." He circled Lina and scanned her clothes from the glasses she wore to the shoes on her feet.

'Why do I get the feeling of a vulture circling a carcass in the desert?' Shaking that weird thought out of her head, she extended her hand to Nico with a smile.

"Hi, I'm Lina Yang. So you are just Nico, no last name?" She asked as she knew that some people might get offended if you call them with their first name on your first meeting.

"I don't think that you are from around here, are you?" Nico just left her outstretched hand hanging and asked with a rude tone.

"What a rude bastard!" Lina muttered while retracting her hand.

"Better rude, than fake." He obviously heard what she just said and answered her back.

Embarrassed at being caught calling him rude, she gave an awkward smile.

"Yes, I've just returned after a very long time." She answered his earlier question.

"No wonder you don't know who I am." He said with a proud look on his face.

"Wow, someone's too full of himself." This time she said it to his face.

Nico just raised his eyebrow and started laughing but soon his laugh faded.

"You surely have balls. Talking to me in that tone. You do realise that I am the one who holds the fate of that gorgeous mane of yours, right?" His eyes glowed dangerously as he reminded Lina of the most important point.

Nico waited to see the expression on her face change and it did.

Lina had completely forgotten the reason she was here.

'Will he make me bald just because I told him off? Why is such a grownass man so petty?'

Her expressions changed from fear to contempt and finally stopped at a cocky face.

"Heh.. You think you can scare me? Don't forget who my godmother is! Try to mess with my hair and I will just have to mess with yours." Lina pointed at his steel grey hair and made a buzzing sound which gestured a trimmer.

'This woman surely has some balls!' Thought Nico and once again he started laughing. This time it was a hearty laugh and even a few tears rolled out as he held his stomach and laughed.

"I know that I am funny, but not this funny!" She glared at him.

"Do I really have to get my hair done with this guy? He seems weird." Lina turned to the mirror and touched her hair.

"Relax! I won't fuck up your hair. I just said that to see your reaction and let me tell you, you are one entertaining chick!" He said while examining her hair.

'First he was hostile and now he's too open. Are all guys this weird these days?' She just watched as Nico played around with her hair.

As she was still in her thoughts, he made her sit in the seat and started combing her hair.

"Woah! What do you think that you are doing? I still haven't decided whether I want to risk my hair in your hands." Pulling her hairs away from him, she stared at him vigilantly.

"Do you have any idea how many women want me to do their hair? And here you are, instead of letting me work you are hindering me. Ungrateful!" He huffed and tried to take her hair back.

"Are you serious that you won't mess with me?" She held her hair close and asked once again.

Exasperated looking at her guarded behaviour, he sighed.

"I'm sorry, I just act that way whenever I see a new client. Some clients think that they own us just because they pay for our services. I don't like it when people think of me as a pushover." He explained his earlier behaviour.

"So I just act bossy when I see new people. But your answer was completely different. Well you did use the 'My aunt' card, you even threatened me. That was a new one and because of that I won't mess with your hair. Happy?" He took a deep breath after his speech.

"You like me because I threatened you?" She asked, to which he nodded.

"Are you a Masochist?" She asked and looked at his reaction.

"Girl! Seriously what is wrong with that brain of yours? I say that I like you and you insult me again." Shaking his head, he once again assured her and this time Lina let him touch her hair.

*Sniff sniff*

Nico just lifted her hair up and sniffed it.

"He even is a pervert!" She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Will you relax! I was just smelling the shampoo." He then put his head to her nose.

"We use the same brand." Nico smiled happily at finding something common between them.

After all this weirdness, Nico finally looked at Lina with a serious face.

"So tell me what did you have in your mind before coming here?" He questioned her.

Lina excitedly explained what she had imagined and waited for his response.

"Can you do it?" She asked nervously.

"Don't doubt my skills, love!" He just gave her a smile and brought out all the things that he would need.

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Outside in the waiting lounge,

Kira had gone to deal with that troublesome customer from earlier.

"Where is Miss Liang?" She asked the receptionist when she couldn't find her.

"Madam, She left soon after making an appointment but she threatened to post about today's episode on her social media." The receptionist was nervous because this rich young lady was a huge influencer on social media.

"Don't worry, just keep the cctv footage ready in case she does pull some tricks." Kira answered then walked to speak to a group of clients.

"Madam Kira, who was that pretty young lady that you just escorted?" Asked a plump middle aged lady.

"Yes, Madam. I heard her calling you aunt. Are you related?" Asked another lady from the same group.

"Oh-ho. She is my Godchild. Thank you for waiting so patiently, we are giving complimentary massages today because of the commotion caused here." Bidding her goodbye, she left the group and walked to her office on the next floor.

"God child? Is she the daughter of the person that I am thinking about?" Answered one of the ladies.

Kira had not specified anything, but the ladies had a faint idea of who Lina might be.

"Are they back?" The plump lady looked excited.

"Hush.. Don't spread out anything. We'll hear the news pretty soon." Answered the lady who had been silent the entire time.

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Parking lot,

Miss Liang who had stomped her way out after getting an appointment, stood next to her car and dialed a number on her phone.

The call was answered right after two rings.

"How's my darling doing today?" Came a man's deep voice.

"Daddy! I was insulted today! Tell me what should I do?" She yelled at the phone with an aggrieved voice.

"Oh baby, what happened?" Her father asked with concern and a hint of anger.

After she recalled the entire episode, she made a sobbing noise when she was clearly not crying.

Hearing his daughter crying, the man was obviously pissed.

"How dare they humiliate my daughter? What's the name of this salon? Daddy will shut it down for you!" He declared even though his daughter was the one who had caused a scene.

"It's Cecilias's, daddy. But can you just hire the stylist named Nico for me. He's the best in the business." She went on and on about Nico's magical prowess.

"What did you say the name was?" He questioned after a long pause.

"Cecilia's. What's wrong daddy?" Miss Liang finally felt that something was wrong with her father's voice.

"Cecilia's.." He repeated.

"Yes, Cecilia's ! Now when are you going to make that salon bankrupt for me?" She asked with exasperation.

"Baby, the fault was yours to begin with. Why would I do such a thing to that store." The anger from his tone had now completely disappeared.

"But daddy…" She was confused at the sudden change in his words and was stunned.

"No more discussions on this matter and I don't want you to do anything else to that place. Just leave it alone." He knew that he had angered his daughter and hence added another sentence to calm her down.

"Why don't you take your friends for some shopping. I'll pay the bill. I still have some work to do. Bye, pumpkin." He hung up before she could answer him.

She stomped her feet because she knew that she could not go against him.

----

On the other side of the phone, Daddy Liang held the phone tightly in his hands and whispered.

"Cecilia.."