Nadine had stopped coloring her hair the minute she'd moved away.
It was a vanity that had been necessitated by her position, and it hadn't been difficult to let go of it when she let go of the job.
The parameters of what constituted 'professionalism' was different in academia—the university couldn't care less if she no longer colored her hair, and so Nadine was more than happy to do away with the upkeep. These days, she only came to the salon for regular trims.
Her hairdresser was a pretty young woman named Ashley. She had glossy chestnut hair and a full sleeve tattoo on her left arm, and she was calm and sweet and had a little boy at home who she was raising on her own. Nadine enjoyed talking to her, had grown to like her quite a lot.
Today, Ashley greeted her with a bright smile.
"How are we doing today, Miss Nadine?" As she settled in, Ashley pumped the chair up to height.
"I'm well. How are you? How is little Jack?"
"Growing like a weed." Ashley scoffed, though it was affectionate. "That boy is going to eat me out of house and home."
"Give it another five years and you'll really understand what that means. It gets so much worse when they become teenagers," Nadine said, chuckling.
"I need him to stop growing so fast! I'm not ready." She ran her fingers through Nadine's curls, fluffing the locks. "Just a cut today?"
Nadine drew a breath. It was time, now. "And color."
Ashley looked up and paused, hands stilling in her hair, and met Nadine's eyes in the mirror.
She allowed herself to smile slightly. "I'm changing jobs. I'm moving back to DC next month."
She was going home.