Chapter 35 - I Meant It
Chapter 35 – I Meant It
"You want to do what?" Tom's hairstylist asked in surprise the moment Tom told him what he wanted.
"You heard me. I want a more daring haircut. Something that gives off a bad boy vibe. And I also want you to dye my hair to a copper brown color," Tom repeated, making the man look at him as though he had gone crazy. Tom was probably the most gentleman he had ever worked for, and he had been barbing Tom's hair for more than ten years. Never in those ten years had Tom ever asked for something so outrageous.
If Tom had been older he would have thought Tom was probably going through a midlife crisis, but he knew that wasn't the case, so what was wrong? "Why?"
"Because I want to look different. Hurry up, I need to get back to work," Tom said as he dropped on his usual seat while the hairstylist and the few others who knew him kept staring at him in surprise.
"You heard the man, be fast about it!" The owner of the Salon who was attending to someone else instructed the barber.
The fact that they all seemed so surprised only reinforced his decision to do something daring. He glanced at his phone when it started ringing and was surprised to see the call was from Bryan, "Hey!"
"I'm just calling to be sure you remember your assignment," Bryan said as he roamed around his apartment aimlessly. He was bored but couldn't leave his house because of the journalists who were still gathered outside. Now he had to look for other ways to keep himself busy. He was tired of watching the television already.
"Sure. I did it," Tom said with a grin.
"You did?" Bryan asked in surprise. He had thought Tom would find a way to shy away from doing it, so he was genuinely surprised that Tom was really going ahead with it.
"So? How did it go? What was her reaction?" Bryan asked excitedly.
"She was hooked. She kept trying not to stare, but I noticed it was a struggle," Tom said with a chuckle making Bryan laugh.
"Wow! It seems you're a natural bad boy," Bryan commented.
"I guess so. Anyway, I…" As though remembering that he was in public, he looked around and noticed the other men around seemed to be paying attention to his conversation so he stood up, "Hold on," he said to Bryan as he headed outside, "I'll be right back," he called out to his hairstylist who was busy arranging everything he needed to dye the hair.
"You were busy?" Bryan asked, feeling sorry for interrupting his work.
"Not really. I'm just here to change my haircut," Tom explained as he walked away from the shop to a more private area.
"You want to change your haircut?"
"Yes. As I was saying before, there has been a new development. She is going to be working in my office now as my personal assistant," Tom said making Bryan stop mid-stride.
"What? You want to reveal your identity to her already?"
"No. I figured that it would seem suspicious trying to control her time when she works in a different unit and floor. So I changed it. Call it an abuse of power but I want her where I can control her," Tom said, and Bryan's lips curved in a proud smile. Was this really the brother he knew? He wished Tom had always been this way.
"I suppose you're going to want to disguise yourself?" Bryan asked in amusement.
"Exactly! So I was hoping you could help me get whatever you think I might need. You know, things like fake beards and mustache, good wigs and whatever else you think I would need," Tom suggested.
"You are sure you can pull that off?" Bryan asked doubtfully.
"Sure," Tom assured him.
"Okay, I will have my assistant help you get all you need and send them over to you," Bryan assured him.
"Alright then, I should go in now,"
"Don't forget to send me a picture. I'm curious about this new haircut," Bryan said before hanging up.
He couldn't believe that Tom was having so much fun while he was here stuck in his house because of that crazy lady, Bryan thought with a sigh as he walked over to his bar to pour himself a glass of wine.
He picked up his phone when it started ringing again and was going to ignore the call when he noticed it wasn't a familiar number, but accepted the call at the last minute, "Hello, this is Bryan Hank," he said, ready to bark at whatever journalist who was calling.
"And this is your fiancee," Sonia said with a smile, making Bryan sit up.
She had planned on waiting for a week before reaching out to him, but when she heard he had returned to his City, she decided to reach out. Plus she needed something for her next chapter, and to do that she needed to talk to him.
Bryan was speechless for a moment and then cleared his throat, "Hi!" He managed to say for lack of anything better to say to her. What he wanted was to yell at her and tell her how evil she was for running off without a word, but he didn't want to say anything to annoy her else she goes off again.
"How have you been, babez?" Sonia asked in a friendly tone.
"Where are you? Why did you leave like that?" Bryan asked, ignoring her question.
"You wanted me gone, didn't you?" She reminded him.
"Yes, but not that way. We were supposed to first end things between us officially," He explained to her politely.
"I already told you I don't want to end things with you. When I said yes to you, I meant it," Sonia said with a smirk.
"But we both know I didn't mean it when I proposed to you," Bryan said in frustration.
"That's too bad because I meant it when I accepted your proposal. So what do you want me to do? Should I go on social media and announce to the world that you just wanted to make a fool out of me? Are you willing to admit that you're that much of a jerk?" Sonia asked curiously.
"Why are you even doing this when you don't even love me?" Bryan asked in frustration.
"Because I'm pretty shallow and pretentious like you said the other night. Maybe I want to ride on your coattail," Sonia said, reminding him of their conversation before he dozed off.
"Sonia, can you please stop?" Bryan asked, trying hard not to snap at her.
"Okay. I saw a payphone on my way out and decided to call to know how you're doing. Let's talk some other time. Be good fiance."
"Hold on,"
It wasn't until he heard the disconnect tone that he realized he hadn't even bothered to ask her how she had gotten his number. What was he going to do about this crazy lady?