Water falls from the sky in chaotic droplets, bouncing off the pavement and sliding down drain pipes in constant torrents. Converse-clad feet shuffle against the damp concrete, the once white colour now coated in brown sludge and fallen leaves. A shiver makes its way down Nailea Cameron's spine, the cool wind creeping under her russet skin. Her dark cinnamon coloured eyes darting to the wooden door of Clean Cuts.

Nailea had been working at the establishment since her fifteenth birthday. Her brother had dropped her on the side of the road at 8 AM with a pile of her resumes in hand before driving off with a promise to pick her up by 2 PM.

He hadn't returned until 3 PM but by then Nailea had gained the courage to walk in and out of all the establishments within a two-block radius. She, unfortunately, had no luck. Just as she was giving up, the freshly painted door of a hair salon caught her eye. The door was painted a neon pink on the bottom half and the top half painted a sunshine yellow – an odd combination indeed.

A help wanted sign was pinned to the window, the barely comprehendible font was scrawled in pink sharpie and stuck to the glass by blue-tack. However, it was the small butterfly sticker in the corner of the page that brought a smile to the young girl's face. Muffling up the remainder of her self-esteem, Nailea plastered a bright smile on her face, flattened down her sweater and pushed open the door with a shaky sigh.

Immediately, the smell of bleach and coffee beans assaulted her senses and a bell sounded overhead. Eyes darker then hers connect with her own and Nailea feels almost as if she were intruding. She had apologised and informed the crouching lady that she was here to apply for a job. The lady didn't respond, only watched Nailea from behind the counter. Despite a small voice telling her to leave and apply elsewhere, Nailea stood her ground, smile unfazed.

The lady had jumped up, her tall and lean figure, surprising the teenager as the lady skipped around the counter without a second thought and firmly held the teenage by her shoulders. A Bulgarian accent requested a resume and after a glance down at the single-sided paper, a grin formed on the lady's face. The hands left her shoulders and Nailea was given the job. She was confused as she had barely spoken ten words to the woman. Not to mention she hadn't sat down for an interview and the older woman hadn't called either of her two referees - her mum and her English teacher, Mrs Conway.

A piercing whistle rang through the air causing both individuals to wince. The woman's eyes widened comically as she rushed behind the counter and disappeared into a back room where the clanking of ceramic cups was heard. Nailea was beckoned into the back room with her and the smell of roasted coffee means causes Nailea's mouth to water involuntarily and her nose to tilt up inhaling.

With her hands busy pouring the coffee into two floral mugs, the woman introduced herself as Celia Zafer, the owner but she preferred for Nailea to call her Celia instead of the boss or Ms Zafer. She was single after her ex-girlfriend left her for a travelling saleswoman (Nailea could still very much sense the bitterness despite Celia reassuring her that she was over the whole affair). Celia was left to handle the salon on her own and had decided to rename the establishment a few months prior.

She had two young nephews, Thomas and Arthur, aged four and six. It turns out they were the two masterminds behind the colour scheme of the door, Thomas wanting yellow and Arthur pink- in the end, Celia used both to avoid arguments. Celia's beauty was mesmerising to the young girl, but her stories were too amusing and interesting for Nailea to be distracted by her appearance. Sure, Nailea realised that woman had a few strange mannerisms but who didn't?

When her brother drove up in their mum's old Corolla, Nailea was waiting on the curb, a smile on her face and a uniform in hand. She was to start her first shift the next day after school. The past two hours she had spent getting trained in the art of baking and the expectations Celia had. It was all very exciting.

Now at the age of twenty, Nailea still works at Clean Cuts on an almost daily basis, her days no longer filled up with classes and her yearlong beauty course had finished last April. Upon her first shift, Nailea had found herself to be the only worker apart from Celia but now, two others had been hired. Nailea's shifts had at first been filled with making coffee for clients, sweeping or retrieving equipment that Celia needed.

To help out around the salon when Nailea was busy with classes for college, Celia hired an eighteen-year-old who goes by Beth. She was only a short-term worker, but her bubbly spirit and love of cleaning made it hard for Nailea and Celia to part from her. She helped make the tedious days appear brighter and she had experience and had completed a cosmetic course. The other worker is a young male who asked for everyone to call him Benji, despite his full name being Benny, not Benjamin. He's sixteen with short hair that he constantly dyes different shades. He had put a request in for the job opening after his mum only agreed for him to get a dog if he were to look after it. Due to his age, Benji's shifts were filled with retrieving coffee and cleaning.

Nailea and Celia were the only two qualified to dye client's hair and thread or wax facial hair whilst Benji and Beth tended to the clients. The salon wasn't vacant, but it wasn't booming in popularity either, there were a few regular customers and a couple new here and there.

It was a perfect first job for teenagers and fourteen-year-olds often apply only for Celia to turn them down. She was picky when it came to who worked with her – she never liked to say anyone worked for her – and only hired those whose intentions were pure. How she knew, Nailea would never understand.

The bronze bell rings as she pushes open the weather-worn door and shuffles into the warmth at 8:35 AM. The smell of lemon air freshener burns her nostrils. The monochromic tiled floors gleaming from the polish and white benches and tables sparkling. The bubble gum pink couches freshly brushed down and the matching swivel chairs in their places underneath the benches.

Nailea makes her way into the staff room which consists of a coat rack and four metal lockers like the ones she had in gym class, but Celia had painted over the bright red with an equally vibrant yellow. It had brightened up the gloomy looking room noticeably.

She shrugs off her teal pea coat, hanging it on the staff coat rack alongside her spotted umbrella and straightens out her white button-up shirt. The uniform decided by Celia consisted of black jeans, a white button-up shirt, a baby pink apron with the words Clean Cuts printed in cursive black ink and for all staff to wear a pink and yellow bandana in their hair.

Nailea chuckles to herself, remembering Benji's horrified face when hearing of the bandana. He hadn't realised it was mandatory and had died his hair green the week of his first shift- the bandana did not look good. He was sulking for the entire week until he redyed it. Benji goes for more compatible colours now.

Sending a quick text message to her brother, she informs him of her safe arrival and drops the device in her bag before locking it away. He wasn't home when Nailea left so she had to walk in the rain but she still knew he'd worry if she didn't tell him she got there in one piece. Nailea's nimble fingers punch in her pin on the keypad located beside the locker, clocking in for the start of her shift. 42282.

8:42 AM rolls around and Nailea's exits the staff room, her half-frozen fingers fumbling with the tie of the apron when a sudden voice stops her short.

"My dear! What fine weather we're having, is it not?" a head pokes up from underneath the furthest bench from the door to reveal a grinning Celia. A foaming washcloth was gripped firmly in her grasp and a tea towel in the other.

"It's a bit wet and chilly out there, Celia," Nailea forces a shudder and the woman rolls her eyes in mock annoyance. "It took all four alarms to get me out of bed and by then it was pissing fire."

Celia stands up, drying down the last swivel chair and lifted the dirty water bucket up with a huff. Her head tilts to the side in thought, rebellious strands of brown hair sliding out of the intricately braided bun adorning on her head. "I suppose I do feel like I swam to work instead of walked this morning."

Nailea pauses her movements, hands hovering over the coffee dispenser and her eyes close mid-chuckle. "You are something else, Celia."

"I try to be, now – fix your apron. We don't want Benny seeing your undone apron otherwise he'll start arguing over the futility of wearing one, again," Celia reprimands softly, crossing the distance swiftly to swat Nailea's hands away only to tie the apron up herself.

"Benji," Nailea corrects absentmindedly and her back jerks in protest as the sashes tighten against her lower back.

"Must it really be that tight?" Nailea whines, reaching back in an attempt to loosen the string but her hands are once again swatted away.

"You are only twenty once dear, show off your figure whilst you still can. Have you never wondered why no one shows an interest in you?" the young woman gasps in mock outrage, flicking her brunette strands over her shoulder.

"I would never have expected such a tone from you of all people Celia. Did your mother never teach you manners?"

Celia rolls her eyes, walking to the staff room supply closet to dispose of the bucket. "My mother only ever taught me how to act in order to please a man."

"Bit of a waste, wasn't it?" Nailea catches the packet of combs thrown her way with a grin.

Celia doesn't dignify her with a verbal response leaving the younger girl to chuckle to herself in the victory over that morning's playful banter and continue setting the beauty stations.

The morning passes by slowly at the salon, Beth having shown up only two hours after Nailea when her morning class had finished, and Celia left like she usually does when there's more than one worker there. She was soaked to the bone but that hadn't deterred her one bit. She was now chatting a mile a minute with one of their regular customers, Christine Patterson, a middle-aged woman whom of which has twin six-year-olds. Two boys. From the photos shown of the boys, they were definitely a handful. Nailea was conflicted on whether to laugh at the stories of the boys flashing their teacher at recess or sympathise with the poor woman. She was leaning more towards the former.

Nailea spent her shift styling hair and dying over grey hairs for familiar and new faces. Her feet and back were beginning to ache as the mental countdown grew closer to 5:00 PM.

"Any plans for when you get off?" Beth asks light heartedly, her hands occupied with applying false eyelashes to a group of girls. They couldn't have been older then Benji's age and back then, Nailea was going to the beach and sipping on banana milkshakes at the roller rink, not getting facials. How times have changed.

"Jared's gonna pick me up and drop me straight to Kim's where a large pepperoni and pineapple pizza will be waiting for me – if Kim knows what's good for her," Nailea winks cheekily at the younger girl. "Just an evening of stuffing our faces and watching The Office reruns. Anything special going on with you?"

Now, Nailea may get overwhelmed with Beth's optimistic personality, but she generally cared for the girl and could always depend on her if push came to shove.

"I have a paper to write by midnight tomorrow for legal studies, but..." Beth drags on with a sly smile. "Leo promised to take me to the cinema's tonight. There's a showing of The Other Woman and I've been dying to see it."

"Ah, yes - I heard about that. Aren't tickets more expensive on Friday nights?" her eyebrows furrow together, wiping the loose hair off the chair with a duster.

"I thought so too, but since Leo works there, we'll be able to get staff discount. Honestly, though, I don't even care about the cost – it's going to be so romantic!" Beth gushes, her eyes fixated on the computer screen as the girls swipe a debit card over the eftpos machine.

"Okay, have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do," Nailea responds before greeting another regular customer, Tanya Roth.

Every Friday at quarter to five, Tanya waltzes in and orders a blow out from Nailea. Her and her girlfriends have a gals night down at the beach front bar every week to let loose and get ready for the weekend.

Nailea starts the blowout as she turns the hair dryer on and gets to work. Tonight it was karaoke night at the bar while last week it was trivia night where Tanya's friends came last but they were the first to become completely wasted which was a win in her book.

Bidding a goodbye as she hands Tanya her change, Nailea squirts hand sanitiser on her hands and turns back around only to see Beth leaning against the counter grinning goofily at her, "If I were to do so, I would never have gotten a boyfriend."

"Wow..." Nailea clutches her chest in mock heart-ache and clicks her tongue. "Here I was just looking out for you and you wound me in return! The audacity of the young ones these days."

"You're two years older than me, get off your high horse," Beth sing-songs skipping off, broom in hand.

The end of her shift drags on tediously and her rumbling stomach was making her agitated. A forced polite smile stretched across her cheeks as the last customer walked out twenty minutes after closing, thanking them and leaving the dirty coffee cup on the freshly washed bench.

"I thought she'd never leave," Nailea groans dramatically, washing the cup and emptying the sink, allowing Beth to dry and pack it away.

Nailea stands with her coat draped over her arm and umbrella in hand as she waits for Beth to grab her belongings. Celia trusted the two girls with a key each for closing shifts and despite Benji's many arguments, he was still without one – this amused Nailea immensely.

"I like to take it as a compliment. Our company was so charming, she wanted to spend the night," Beth said, nodding good-naturedly. She turns off the lights and waiting whilst Nailea locks the shop, rattling the door handle to check. It was locked.

"I finished her eyebrows half an hour ago. Surely she didn't need to look in the mirror for that long checking for hairs that she thought I missed," Nailea grumbles with a pout and Beth giggles.

"Did you need a ride? Jared owes me for being a pain the past few weeks," Nailea offers, waving off Jared's impatient honking from across the street with the middle finger.

Beth giggles before her eyes suddenly grow concerned. "Are you guys okay? Last week you mentioned that he's been angry lately...?" Beth trails off not wanting to push too hard.

Another good characteristic of Beth's, she doesn't stick her nose where it doesn't belong.

"Yeah, Cindy dumped him but he claims it was mutual. Not sure why she'd date his troll face to begin with," the older female shrugs reminiscing over the past few weeks where her brother had been more temperamental than he has his whole life.

Last weekend, their mother had walked in on the two siblings mid-screaming match and forced them to apologise to one another. She was working twelve hour night shifts at the hospital and didn't need to come home from screaming patients to screaming teenagers. Jared had apologised to them both, informing them of the break up and waving off their mother's concern.

He offered to be Nailea's driver until she forgave him knowing she had her licence revoked from Sheriff Swan the month prior after running three red lights trying to beat Kim to the pizza parlour. Topanga Cameron had not been happy with her daughter the following weeks.

A light shove from Beth sent Nailea into a fit of giggles.

"I know for a fact that Kim would give anything to kiss your brother," Beth teases before shaking her head at her friend's disgusted face. "But no, thank you for the offer but I'm sure Jared has his own plans he wants to get to, and my Mum's car is over in the parking lot. I have to get ready for tonight - the movie starts in an hour."

Nailea nods in understanding and offers a warm goodbye which Beth responded to with a tight hug and then she was skipping off. Nailea murmurs a greeting as she hops into her brother's recently purchased truck. It was grey and rusted here and there, but it was his and he was really proud of it.

"Hey squirt," Jared teases, one hand resting on the steering wheel and the other coming up to pull the bandana down her face.

With her hair blocking her vision she shoves the hand away blinding before procuring a hair tie to fix her appearance. After waiting for Beth to cross the road and enter her Mum's car, Jared starts the engine and starts driving to Kim's.

"You sure you're feeling alright, Jar? I know you and Cindy were together for a while..." Lana trails off unsure of her brother's reaction, his whole body freezing before forcefully relaxing against the leather seats.

"We just didn't work together, it is what it is. Besides, it was mutual so I'm cool with it," Jared retorts and she scoffs in return.

The drive is mostly silent but the comfortable type. The radio playing some overplayed pop song and Jared's hands tapping offbeat. Jared pulls into the driveway of the Connweller's house and the lounge room curtain parts to reveal Kim's face which quickly disappears from view after recognising whose truck she was sitting in.

"Don't be mean," Nailea reprimands softly in response to her brother's chuckle.

"I didn't even say anything, but you should tell Kimmy that her crush is pretty obvious," Jared informs her with a smirk.

Nailea rolls her eyes and steps out of the truck, grabbing her handbag and coat. "Bye brother, I'll see you tomorrow with my left over pizza."

"You're a saint," Jared's outstretched arm stops her from closing the door. "Wait, did you need me to take you to work tomorrow?"

"No, I've changed my availability. Saturdays are my days off now instead of Sundays. Kim and I will probably go out tomorrow for who knows how long but I'll text you when I'm on the way home," Jared nods his head.

"Alright, have fun squirt and get in before your pizza gets cold," was all he said before closing the door and backing out of the driveway.

Nailea's eyes widen and she rushes to the front door and stepping through once finding it already open. Her eyes find the two pizza boxes situated on the coffee table and her heart feels lighter. The smell of greasy cheese invades her senses and overcomes the bleach stench burned into her nostrils.

The thought leaves her mind as Kim launches herself at her with a laugh. They stumble back against the hallway wall with a thump. "Hey, darl."

"Jared looked so handsome tonight; I wonder if he noticed me looking..." Kim sighs dreamily, rolling off Nailea's fallen body.

"He always does Kimmy, and what? No hi for me?" Nailea uses the dresser to haul herself up and hangs her coat up.

"I bought the pizza, that's all the love you're getting tonight," Kim shrugs sitting down on the couch, claiming one of the blankets as her own.

"Only because I bought the Chinese last week!" Nailea rolls her eyes when she doesn't get a response, Kim too engrossed in picking which slice she wanted to eat first.

The Cameron female walks down the hallway and into Kim's room to get changed. She strips down and packs her uniform away in her handbag which she then leaves beside the bed. Nailea opens the bottom drawer of Kim's dresser and sorts through the clothes she had left there, searching for her pyjamas.

She spent most of her time at Kim's and vice versa so both girls have claimed a drawer at the other's house for their clothes since fourth grade. It beats having to drag a bag full of clothes back and forth for the weekend. After deciding on a pair of soft grey track pants and a black lightweight sweater, Nailea leaves the room with her phone in hand.

"Hurry up hun!" Kim's shout from the couch is muffled just as Nailea rounds the corner. Her eyes land on her best friend who's mouth is stuffed to the brim as she tries to cram a whole slice of Hawaiian pizza in her mouth all at once.

"You are one of a kind, Kim Connweller," Nailea teases, pressing play on the DVD player to start their marathon before taking a seat beside Kim.

Kim swallows her pizza, coughing from the amount and waving off her friend's I told you so. "If you could have a one-night stand with one character, who would you choose? Excluding Pam and Jim because they're the obvious choices. I'd pick Dwight, he's great and there's just something else about him that intrigues me..."

"Hmm..." Nailea ponders over the thought for a moment, opening up her pizza box and relishing in the pepperoni and pineapple smell. "Probably Andy."

"Huh, into hotheads I see," Kim teases turning the volume up as they both settle back to finish the episode from last week.

Nailea lifts up a slice of pizza and takes her first bite, stifling a laugh as Dwight turns around in a wig identical to Pam's hair. Nailea could see where Kim was coming from as Dwight starts pelting snowballs at Jim. Dwight was pretty great, but Jim would always be endgame. Pam too.

( N O T E )

Please let me know if you liked it or not. Feedback is appreciated.

I really like this newer version and I'm sorry if any of you aren't. I'm pretty excited to write Nailea's journey. I have every chapter planned out and so I have a plan for how I want her story to plan out which is new for me as I usually just write what I'm feeling like on the day, hence why the original was all over the place.

Paul will make an appearance in the next chapter. :)

Love you.

(30/03/20)