Bitter Cuts (5 page)

George lifted Olivia off his
cock and turned her around, laying her down by his side and kissed
her deeply. He got on top of her and pinned her to the bed by her
wrists as he positioned himself between her legs. With a long, hard
and wet kiss, he entered her, and he could feel her mouth tighten
up and loosen as he pushed himself completely inside. Olivia moaned
as she moved her mouth away from his and moved her hands to his
chest in order to pinch his nipples. George continued to fuck
Olivia faster and faster, and through the lovemaking, he lifted her
legs more into the air and finally place her ankles on his shoulder
blades. Olivia worked her clit in circles, bringing herself to
climax again as George fucked her harder and faster, approaching
his own orgasm. He thrust his cock deep inside her as the two
moaned in synchronus pleasure, harder and faster, in and out as
Olivia tightened her pussy to draw George's come from him. With
several more deep drives, and a few more moans, the couple shivered
and burst forth in simultaneous climax. George slowly moved his
cock in and out of Olivia until all his come had been drained, and
the two slipped into a semi-coma of pleasureness, spooning one
another on the soft bed, falling asleep quickly.

George's cell phone rang loudly,
jolting him out of bed. It was about three in the afternoon, and
George fumbled around for his phone.

“George Bitter here,” he
said. “No, Alexis, I will be there today,” he said, continued the
conversation. Olivia, just starting to wake up, only heard one part
of the conversation. “I know you say you can run it just fine, but
I don't trust you with the shop, not even for a day. No, it's got
nothing to do with that, it's that you've been stealing from me. I
know because I know, that's how. You can expect me in an hour.”
George closed up the phone and threw it on his crumpled clothing on
the ground.

“Something wrong at the
salon?” asked Olivia, startling George a bit.

“That woman always tries
to get a mile from an inch,” he replied. “Fuck her. I think I
scared her enough that she'll be okay at least through the rest of
the day.”

“If you need to go in, by
all means, go,” replied Olivia. “I'm not that crazy, clingy type of
girl … you don't have to stay here and cuddle me all
day.”

“I really should check
things out down there,” he said.

“Then do it. You've been
in the dark for too long. Take care of what you need
to.”

“You want a ride back to
the college?”

“I'd like to just hang out
around here for a bit if you don't mind. Kind of check the place
out.”

“And why should I trust
you?” asked George, with a smile.

“Because … although I just
fucked your brains out,” replied Olivia, laughing. She rose from
the bed and kissed George softly. “I think you know I'm the only
girl in L.A. who wouldn't fuck you over.”

“I do believe you are,”
said George. “Well, make yourself at home, then. I'll be back
around seven or eight. You want to catch dinner then?”

“I'll be dressed and ready
for Paolo's,” she replied. “I think it'll be nice to see the look
on his face when he picks up on the two of us.”

George smiled. “It's like he's
got a sixth sense about love, isnt' it?”

“Yeah, he really does,”
she said. “Get out of here, go do what you need to. I'll see you
back here tonight.”

“Alright,” he told Olivia
before kissing her. “I'll see you soon.”

“You better, or I'll hunt
you down like a dog,” she replied, blowing him a kiss as he walked
out the door.

Olivia went to the walk in
closet and sorted through George's clothing before picking out a
light blue dress shirt. She held it in her hands and pressed it
against her face to relive the lovemaking through his scent. Olivia
put on the shirt and went into the living room, where she sprawled
out across the sofa.
Now this
has been a day to write home about
, she
thought,
not only do I pass my
boards, but I land the guy of my dreams. How could it possibly get
any better?
As Olivia started to doze
off, she was thinking about going back to work the next morning,
but not really dreading it, either, as she had over the course of
the past year. She didn't feel like she'd slept her way up; she
meant what she told George before she made love to him. However, if
this afternoon's little romp brought her nicer treatment on the
job, she wasn't about to turn that down, either. Olivia fell asleep
with the television on, and dreamed of George's return and their
night together.

* * * * *

Olivia walked into Bitter Cuts
about thirty minutes before the salon opened. “Alexis, I'm so sorry
I'm late. I'll get to cleaning right away.”

“We've got someone else to
do that now, I'm sorry to say,” sighed Alexis, as she headed
towards the back office.

Olivia was confused, “Someone
else?” she asked, as she followed her into the back part of the
salon and found George waiting for the two of them. “George, what's
going on? Am I out of a job?”

“No, sweetie, I am,”
replied Alexis. “Seems like my brother's decided to give you my
job. Now how did that ever happen, as if I couldn't figure that one
out for myself.”

“That'll be enough,
Alexis,” said George, sternly. “Olivia, as the new manager and head
stylist of Bitter Cuts, you kind of need to know a little bit about
what's going on. In exchange for me not pursuing criminal or debt
collection charges, Theo has agreed to take over your duties, and
will release his shares of this company to me. Furthermore, …
Alexis, don't you have something to add here?”

Alexis rolled her eyes, but
could see that George's patience with her was running thin, so she
composed herself and straightened up. “You've been promoted, and
I'm signing my shares over to you,” she said, handing a portfolio
to Olivia. “You're not just a manager and a stylist – you're part
owner now.”

Olivia looked through the papers
briefly and then looked over at George and smiled. “Thank you,” she
whispered in his ear, and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
Olivia looked back at Alexis and extended her hand. “I'll take good
care of the place, Alexis,” she said.

Alexis didn't want to accept it
at first, but after sensing George's disapproval, she shook
Olivia's hand. “I know the place will be taken well care of, that's
the important thing. Good luck, Olivia,” she said, as she took a
box into her arms and left the back office.

Olivia smiled at George and sat
down behind her new desk. “You must trust me an awful lot to let me
run your salon.”

“Well, it's part yours
now, and yes, I do trust you,” he replied. “Besides, if you screw
around with my money, I'll hunt you down like a dog.”

Olivia burst into laughter
before jumping up and giving George a great big hug. “You're not
just a hero anymore,” she said, “You're a dreamweaver and a dream
come true.”

George and Olivia kissed deeply.
“So, you think I could drop by and take you to dinner tonight?”
asked George.

“Don't you think we're
past the asking for a date part?” replied Olivia.

“Just trying to do this
the right way,” he said.

“You have been out of the
game a while, haven't you?” she asked. “I'd say you're doing a
pretty decent job so far.”

“Then I'll see you after
work?”

“I'll see you then,” she
said, waving goodbye to him. She sat back down for a minute and
leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling, thinking about
her wonderful new beginning in the same place she'd wanted to leave
behind only a couple of days ago.
Looks like I've got some work to do before things get
busy,
she said to herself, as she went
out into the main part of the salon. Olivia caught only a glimpse
of Alexis walking out the door as she made her way to the front
desk.

T-Man approached Olivia's
workspace, and Olivia braced herself for one of his usual bitchy
remarks. “We're not going to have problems with this new
arrangement, are we?” asked Olivia, going on the defensive.

“Olivia,” he replied, “I
just wanted to say I'm sorry. I've been a real asshole to you all
this time. Sometimes … most of the time … when Alexis and I get
paired up, she tends to bring out a side of me which isn't so good.
I just want to apologize for anything I've said or done to hurt
you.”

Olivia was taken back by his
words, as they were quite humbling and very unexpected. “Thanks,”
she told him, patting him on the shoulder, “I really appreciate
that, T-Man.”

“It's Theo now,” he
replied. “Kind of has a better ring to it, don't you
think?”

“It does, Theo,” she told
him. “I think it's one of the smartest decisions you've made in a
long time.”

Theo smiled and was silent for a
minute. “I've got to get to work,” he told Olivia. “There's a lot
of towels backed up from yesterday.”

“Wait a minute … let me
help you out,” Olivia replied, walking up to Theo. The two of them
headed to the laundry room. “At least until business starts picking
up today.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “You
know, maybe we could get coffee sometime, kind of start things over
a bit?”

“I think we could do
something like that,” she said with a smile. “That's really nice of
you to offer.”

“Well, by the looks of
things, you and I might be family one of these days.”

Olivia looked down and blushed
before breaking into a huge smile. “You're not yet allowed to
embarrass your boss,” she told him. “Come on, Theo, let's get to
work. If you do a really good job, and are super sweet to me, Santa
might just bring you a hot farm boy for Christmas.”

* * * * *

As Olivia was doing the books one night, she
closed her laptop and began to reminisce on what a wild and crazy
ride the last two years had been. She was now running the shop, and
the salon had exploded with success, bringing in four times the
money after Alexis was gone, and about ten times as much when word
got out that the shop was under new management. George was so
impressed with her management and styling skills that he eventually
signed over his shares to her, making her full owner and proprietor
of the salon. It was even rumored among Hollywood's finest that
Bitter Cuts was the place to go to get a great style and hide from
the paparazzi. Olivia even saw some of her work walking down the
red carpet at Grauman's Chinese Theater during film premieres.

Theo was eventually allowed to return to the
floor as a stylist, and he was a kinder and better one, having had
a dose of humility in his life. His penance was paid in full when
he showed the ropes to the new assistant at the shop, and helped
her study for and pass her cosmetology boards. While women liked
Theo when he played the bitchy, catty gay friend role, they really
fell in love with him as he developed and nurtured his kinder,
gentler side. And so did Noah, that cute little waiter and aspiring
actor, who just happened to hail from a little town south of Boise,
Idaho.

Alexis quickly found work again after her
departure; Jenna opened up a little place in East Los Angeles that
catered to a more, well, culturally diverse crowd than perhaps
Alexis was used to. She worked there for a while, but sadly, she
wasn't as open to life lessons as her twin brother, and the little
snob quickly ran back home to Minnesota, and started working at her
father's company. Olivia heard she was doing pretty well for
herself, and figured a rat always finds its way back to the top of
the sewers.

Olivia found Zack and Susan online, and
began to keep in touch with her childhood pals a little more. The
couple from Wisconsin came out to L.A. one summer to visit George
and Olivia; they had been dying to go to Disneyland. During the
visit, Zack and Olivia got some closure on their past, and became
friends again. He told Olivia although he was crushed when she
turned his proposal down, if it wasn't for that, he'd have never
met the most beautiful woman God ever put on the face of this earth
– his daughter.

As for George and Olivia, their relationship
continued to go strong, and the two spent many happy nights with
one another. Olivia was still a free spirit, and though her soul
could never be caged, she found herself pretty comfortable living
in George's condo, and the more contented she became in her settled
life, the more she started to think about marriage and family,
especially after meeting Zack and Susan and their little one. When
she'd drop little hints to George, she could see it was in the back
of his mind as well. She figured people can be taken out of the
Midwest, but the Midwest could never be taken from those raised
there. And that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

George was doing pretty well for himself,
too. After he handed the salon to Olivia, he went back to school to
pursue his Master's in Psychology; he still had that yearning
inside to give to others, and he felt he could best help his fellow
veterans by serving them as a counselor, one who knew exactly what
they were going through. Olivia was the working partner in their
home, but of course, they had more than enough to make ends
meet.

What a great life,
thought Olivia, as she leaned back in her chair a little more
and smiled. She actually felt grateful for the treatment she
received when she first stepped on California soil, and thought
about how, if it wasn't for the hard times, she would have never
found the job of her dreams, nor the man of her wildest fantasies.
She smiled and pondered the irony of how sometimes the most bitter
of cuts in your life can also turn out to be the sweetest ones of
all. Olivia turned off her computer, walked out to the front of the
salon, turned the lights off for the night, and drove home, where
her man was waiting for her with open arms.