As Ray approached the door of the dodgy looking establishment, he turned his head both ways to check that no one he knew was near. Ray didn't want to be spotted here. His reputation, should he be discovered using the services of this business, would be irreparably tarnished.
The street was almost empty, so Ray pushed open the blue door. There were no windows in the street in which to peer inside, so Ray let go of a small sigh of relief that he would not be spotted. Only a small wooden sign heralding the name of whom Ray presumed to be the owner gave it away that this was not a residential building. Neither description, nor graphic which illustrated the services the business provided were obvious whilst looking from street level.
The room to which Ray stepped in to smelt overwhelmingly of hairspray and cheap perfume. Many mirrors adorned the walls and the room was painted a deep red. The sight of a dark brown leather couch greeted whoever entered, with a great quantity of throw pillows, all in zebra print laying upon it. The room's greatest feature, according to Ray, was that it was full of women, mostly young, attractive bottle blondes. Ray appreciated the visual feast that came with the dress style of the women, many perfectly formed body parts were on display due to the abundance of short skirts and low cut tops.
Ray walked to the reception desk, located to the left of the entrance. On the wall behind the desk, was a large board which displayed a list of the services offered and the price of each.
A middle aged woman was standing behind the reception desk. She had applied quite a lot of electric blue eye shadow and her foundation, though piled on thickly, failed to hide the wrinkles that it was attempting to camouflage. She wore entirely too much jewellery and her top was cut low to show off what she clearly believed to be her greatest assets. Ray couldn't help but look, though the deep tan of her décolletage gave him the impression that her skin would feel somewhat like leather to the touch. Ray winced at the thought.
"Afternoon, love. Have you made an appointment?" The woman sounded like she had spent the last twenty years perched over a chimney, inhaling.
"3pm, name's Carling." Ray replied. He had intended to use a pseudonym whilst booking his appointment over the phone, but he had unintentionally blurted out his real name before he remembered to use an alias.
"Right, Mr Carling. I have you booked in with Charlene today. I'm sure you'll find she is able to accommodate your needs quite well. If you'll excuse me, I'll go fetch her."
The deeply tanned woman trotted off, heels loud on the parquet floors. She approached a young woman who couldn't have been older than twenty five. A permed redhead, she wore large green earrings and a short dress. Her stockinged legs were long and ended in some very high heels. Ray almost whistled in delight at his good fortune.
Charlene approached Ray; a brief, nervous smile on her face. Ray noticed the slightly exaggerated swing of her hips as she walked towards him. Silently, she led Ray to her workspace. She indicated that he make himself comfortable, so Ray sat down slowly. Charlene remained standing. She finally opened her mouth.
"Can I get you something before we start? A cool drink, perhaps?" Charlene asked in her prominent Cockney accent.
"No, thanks. Could we ummm... Can we just get down to business, please?" Ray replied.
"Okay then. What do you fancy today?" Charlene enquired.
"Just a perm today, Charlene" was Ray's reply.