"I'm going to be gone for 4 days," Nicole Jones patiently explained to her client. "I've been telling you about this for the past year. I think that's enough warning for anyone, Kaylon." Nicole held the phone away from her ear and made a face at her assistant. "It's my mother's class reunion and I promised her I would come home and do her hair...Yes, Kaylon, I'm afraid she is more important to me than your business." Nicole softly hung up the phone. It took all her willpower not to slam it down on the irritating young actress who had only in the last year become a client. Kaylon Haskins was the current Hollywood starlet du jour. Her first motion picture, costarring actor Michael Fasbender, had been panned for its nonexistent plot by nearly every critic in America. But no one had been able to deny the way the two actors' chemistry and magnetism virtually set the big screen aflame. A short-lived romance followed suit, and when it died, Kaylon moved on to her next Hollywood project. And co-star.
"You know she's gonna call back in a panic," Nicole's assistant, Joan, pointed out. "The last thing she wants is to be taken off the regulars' list."
"Yeah," Nicole nodded absently. "But I don't have time for her drama today. So you handle her. I need to go over to Novikoff's and pick up a couple of sable stoles. Ivan's father is going to let me take them home for the reunion."
"Lucky girl. Mad skills, a man who looks like Ivan and a prospective father-in-law who's a furrier. Could life be any better?" Joan smiled at her boss to take the bite out of her next words. "I hate you."
"Hey! You better watch how you talk to me!" Nicole teased as she walked out of the door. "Assistants are a dime a dozen. I can find another one just.like.that." She snapped her fingers.
While it was true that there would be no end to the flood of prospective assistants if Nicole ever advertised such a need, both women knew their partnership was for the long haul. In Joan, Nicole had found a professional, no-nonsense first line of defense against the craziness that came with working with celebrities and their egos. Joan was polite but firm, and she never allowed the personality quirks of their famous clients to disturb Nicole's day.
In Nicole, Joan had found a friend and employer, one willing to acknowledge Joan's value to her business. Joan had been shocked that first year when Nicole presented her with a very generous bonus check and a warm, heartfelt thanks for the stellar job she'd done all year. And even though she'd worked for Nicole several years now, Joan never failed to marvel each year when the deed was repeated.
"Whatever. Now get out of here," Joan ordered. I'll see you in a week."
Nicole drove the 3 miles to Novikoff's, the furriery owned by Bogdan Novikoff, Ivan's father. Bogdan was a Russian expatriate who had first come to America in search of a market for his furs. On his very first trip here, Bogdan fell head over heels for Ivan's mother, Vanessa. Literally. In this strange new country where people did not speak or meet your eyes, he was so taken by the vision of the graceful woman who smiled at him as she passed him on the subway stairs that he missed a step and went tumbling down. Thankfully he did not fall far. But when the world stopped spinning, the soft, worried voice in his ear turned out to be the very reason he had taken the plunge. In broken English he proposed to her right then and there. They had been together ever since.
Nicole reached the furriery and parked right in front in the space reserved for the delivery trucks. Ivan's father did not mind as long as there was no shipment of goods to be moved or delivered. He had not built his fur empire to the level it was by letting personal things eclipse the business side. "Hello?"
Ivan's mother came out of the storeroom. She was a beautiful brown-skinned woman with a surprising dust of freckles across her nose that instantly drew the eye. But it was her smile, soft and inviting, that held the attention. "Nicole!" Vanessa Novikoff rounded the corner and enfolded Nicole in a warm embrace. "Ivan told me you would be stopping by! He is out on a delivery with his father, but I have the furs all ready for you." She nodded toward the custom boxes on the counter that had the Novikoff crest upon their lids.
Nicole bit back her disappointment at not seeing Ivan. Their relationship had recently grown more serious. They had taken to finding excuses to be in one another's orbit at some time during the day. Ivan 'just happened' to be in the vicinity of her shop more and more throughout his day. Nicole had not seen him at all that day; she missed their daily encounters when they did not occur. "I wanted to thank Mr. Novikoff again for trusting me with these pieces."
"It's not something we normally do, but Ivan made it clear that you are important to him."
Vanessa's words made Nicole act on impulse. "Mrs. Novikoff, if Ivan comes back before three, would you tell him he's welcome to take the ride with me to New Jersey? To protect the furs?"
Nicole was shocked to hear herself make the offer. But after thinking about it for several seconds, she realized that her relationship with Ivan had been building to this point. The unspoken truth between them was that Ivan would be in her life to stay. Now was as good a time as any for him to meet her mother.
"Of course I will tell him. If he returns before then." Vanessa added. She helped Nicole load the two boxes into her car. "Now, in case Ivan cannot free himself to go with you, be careful on the roads." Vanessa hugged Nicole and watched her pull away from the furriery. As soon as the young hairdresser was out of sight she pulled her phone from her pocket. "Bogdan, you must be back by two. Nicole has invited Ivan to make the trip with her to New Jersey. I believe," Vanessa mused, "she is ready for our son to meet her family."
End Note:
Nicole Jones- Nikki Beharie
Ivan Novikoff- Ronnir Cash (Black Russian Model)
