Somewhere Only We Know by Beverley Hollowed Read Free Book Online

was her hair , but it didn’t matter what she tried, it was still a disaster. She sighed deeply and dropped her chin to her hands and stared blankly at her reflection.
    She needed help. Professional help. She remember ed reading something in the information book for the hotel the day she arrived, something about a beauty parlour in the hotel. She decided it was probably the best thing to do. She dressed quickly. Then she tied her hair up in a hair tie as she was unable to do anything else with it. She grabbed her jacket and handbag then headed for the door.
    Twenty minutes later she was sitting in a chair in front of a large oval mirror waiting for the stylist who was going to look after her. As she sat there, she thought about Callum and wondered what he was doing right in that moment. She missed him. Which she found ironic as they had barely spoken in months. She wished she could just call to see if he was okay, but she knew if she rang him, she would fall to pieces.
    She wondered if Callum had called her dad or even Leah or Olly. She guessed he hadn’t, as they would have being calling her non-stop too. She decided she would call her father when she got back to the hotel room. Just to check in with him.
    “Hi, I am Jen,” the bubbly little blonde that suddenly appeared behind her chirped , and made Kate jump with fright. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to give you a fright.”
    “It’s my fault,” Kate replied quickly and blushed a little. “I was miles away.”
    “Wow!” Jen exclaimed. “I love your accent. British?”
    “Irish,” Kate corrected her.
    “My grandmother is Irish,” Jen re plied with a broad smile. “She’s from Cork.”
    “Wow,” Kate smiled, not really knowing what else to say. “Cork is beautiful.”
    “My boyfriend and I are going there later in the summer,” Jen told Kate excitedly. “I can’t wait.”
    Kate just smiled , but didn’t reply.
    “So what can I do for you…?” Jen said looking at Kate and she realised she was waiting for her to tell her what her name was.
    “Kate,” Kate replied. “And I am not really sure. It’s a mess. I guess I need a trim and God knows what else.
    “Well let’s take a look, shall we?” Jen said brightly, as she pulled the hair tie from Kate’s hair. Her face dropped for a moment, but she quickly recovered her perky demeanour. “Oh dear.”
    “I know it’s bad,” Kate said , as her face burned hotter from embarrassment. There was a time she would have had her hair done every four weeks. Now, Kate couldn’t even remember the last time she used conditioner.
    “It isn’t great,” Jen said, placing her hands on each of Kate’s shoulders and smiling at Kate in the mirror. “But nothing we can’t put right.
    They decided on a conditioning treatment before Jen put in some highlights and then gave Kate’ s hair a good cut.
    “So, what brings you to Seattle?” Jen asked when she had Kate back in the chair after her treatment and was applying her highlights.
    “I just needed a change of scenery,” Kate replied and smiled.
    “Well I guess Seattle is different from Dublin,” Jen laughed.
    “Actually,” Kate said, unsure of why she felt the need to explain. “I was living in New York.”
    “Oh wow,” Jen said with an excited grin. “I love New York.
    “Yeah, I did too once upon a time,” Kate replied sadly.
    “Oh?” Jen asked, her interest peaked.
    Kate knew she had caught the girl’s attention and mentally scolded herself. She had thought coming to another city, okay not as big as New York, but a major city none the less, she would have been able to blend into the crowd just like she could in New York. She was wrong.
    She just smiled at the girl and changed the subject to the weather.
    For the remainder of the time, she kept the conversation away from anything too personal. Even when Jen tried to push her for information about why she had decided to leave New York.
    An hour and a half later, a very different looking