Dolphin-san: Well, for once I'm making good on my promise and have updated before the end of the week. Yay me! Any way, this chapter sees the return of a character, so I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 41

It was even more depressing deciding to become an entrepreneur and having your brilliant ideas laughed at.

'Ray,' said Takao when Ray had finished explaining it to him at work the next day, 'you can't do that.'

'Why not? It's recycling! Anita Roddick would be proud of me.' Ray gestured at the floor with his broom. 'You cut hair, I sweep it up, it gets chucked in the bin . . . can't you see how wasteful that is? We're talking famous hair here, Takao. People would pay good money for hair belonging to their favourite celebrities. What I thought we could do was curl up little strands, set them in Perspex and sell them as jewellery . . . say you were a huge Barry Manilow fan and you could wear a necklace containing a little piece of Barry Manilow . . . what a thrill!'

Silence. He had run out of breath.

'And Corrine does our pedicures,' said Takao. 'She can save all the clippings. We could call them Toenails of the Rich and Famous.'

Ray looked at him.

'You're making fun of me.'

'And then there's waxing, we could call that Leg-Hair to Treasure.'

'This is the best idea I've ever had,' Ray wailed, 'and you won't even take it seriously. We could be rich!'

Takao, who was already rich, glanced over Ray's shoulder as the salon door was pushed open.

'Ray, trust me, stealing other people's toenails isn't the way –'

'Oh, now you're twisting things.' Exasperated, Ray could have kicked him. 'All I said was hair. Stealing the toenails was your idea, not mine.'

Another stunned silence. Oh dear, maybe he'd been a bit loud. He really hadn't meant –

'Don't you just love it,' drawled an amused voice behind him, 'when you overhear part of a conversation and can't imagine for the life of you what it's all about?'

Not only an amused voice, but a familiar one. Ray felt all the hairs at the back of his neck leap to attention. He swung round, mouth idiotically agape, and came face to face with Brian Kutsenov.

Brian was standing there laughing at him, wearing a black polo shirt and black jeans and looking so drop-dead gorgeous Ray had to struggle to breath normally. Heavens, this was embarrassing, it was his turn to speak and he was terrified of trying to say hi in case it came out as something else altogether.

Something excruciating like, Oh, Brian, what are you doing wasting your time with that awful brain-dead Daisy Schofield when you could have me instead?

The name brought Ray crashing back to earth with a thud. Damn, this must be why Brian had come to the salon.

His tongue magically unstuck itself.

'She's not here.'

'Who?'

'Daisy.' Oh, those wicked violet eyes, how unfair was this?

'I know she isn't here.' Brian grinned. 'She's in Sydney.'

Floundering, Ray said, 'So, um, do you want to make an appointment?'

'To see Daisy in Sydney? No thanks.' Brian was clearly enjoying himself.

'Okay if I borrow him for a moment?' Brian raised his eyebrows at Takao.

'Hang on to your fingernails,' said Takao.

Brian led Ray away from the crowded central section of the salon. When they could no longer be overheard he said, 'I came to see you.'

Ray felt his knees begin to buckle. He leaned against the chair behind him, forgetting that it was a revolving one. With his legendary reflexes, Brian grabbed him in the nick of time.

'I had to come.' His tone was soulful. 'You never wrote, you never phoned. We were fantastic together, I thought we had a real future . . . but you were cruel, you tossed me aside like an old watermelon. You broke my heart in two . . .'

'Like an old watermelon?' suggested Ray. This was better, this kind of banter he could handle.

Smiling slightly, Brian shook his head. 'Why haven't I been able to stop thinking about you?'

'A good watermelon partner is hard to find.'

'The trouble is, you think I'm joking. And I'm not.'

He was, he was, he was.

Oh crikey, wasn't he?

'Everybody's l-looking at us,' Ray stammered.

'So?'

'They're wondering what's going on.'

'Me too. I asked you out and you turned me down. Nobody's ever done that to me before.'

'You didn't ask me out. You got your friend to do it.'

Brian said sorrowfully, 'Only because I'm so shy.'

Ray jumped a mile as Brian's arms slid around his waist.

'That isn't a very shy thing to do . . . eek!' He let out an undignified squeal as Brian pulled him forward. 'Neither's that!'

'I've been working very hard to overcome it. My therapist says I'm making pretty good progress.'

'I'd say she's right.'

'But I have to persevere. Practice, that's what I need. Lots of practice.'

His mouth was moving closer. It was hard to struggle, Ray discovered, when your whole body had turned to custard. He didn't have to look to know the kind of effect they were having on the rest of the salon – he could hear the gasps.

Oh Lord, unless that's me.

'You can't do this here!'

'I must. It's the next step of my rehabilitation.' His breath was warm against Ray's cheek. 'You want me to be cured, don't you?'

'But I'm embarrassed!'

'Oh dear,' said Brian. 'You need to see my therapist.'

The kiss didn't happen. In a daze, Ray found himself being dragged towards the back of the shop. A collective groan of disappointment went up around the salon as Brian Kutsenov bundled him through the first available door and kicked it shut behind him.

Quite masterfully, for a shy man.

Bev, every bit as enthralled – and envious – as the rest of the clientele, rushed over to Takao.

'Aren't you going to do something?'

Takao was cutting the hair of a new client, who was swivelled round in her chair gazing avidly at the closed door through which Ray and Brian had disappeared.

'Like what?'

'Well . . . shouldn't you stop them?'

'Don't you dare!' exclaimed the new client. 'It's the most romantic thing I've ever seen in my life.'

'But . . . but he's making a fool of Ray!'

'Why don't we leave them to it?' Takao calmly carried on cutting. 'Ray's had a miserable few weeks. If five minutes in the laundry room with Brian Kutsenov cheers him up, that's fine by me.'

The client, her eyes still trained on the laundry room door, said happily, 'I'm so glad I came here. Free coffee in fancy cups, that's all you get at Nicky Clarke's.'

'There you go,' Takao said drily. 'We aim to please.'

'Look,' said Ray, pulling away and hanging on to the tumble dryer for support, 'I'm really flattered. This kind of thing hardly ever happens to me on a Tuesday morning. But I don't want you to kiss me.'

This was, of course, a big lie. What Ray really meant was, he didn't want Brian to think he was a complete pushover.

Brian Kutsenov grinned and checked his watch.

'Okay. I have to go anyway. So, what time do you finish work?'

'Six. Why?'

'I'll pick you up.'

Something weird was happening to Ray's lips; he could feel them buzzing with excitement, clamouring for the kiss he had so meanly denied them. Heavens, his lips had turned into shameless groupies . . .

'Unless of course you're busy.' Brain raised a challenging eyebrow. 'Again.'

'Well . . .'

'Cooking fish fingers for your boyfriend, maybe.'

'Nothing like that,' Ray said hurriedly. 'But –'

'Good.' Brain stepped back, and winked. Almost as if he knew the effect he was having on Ray's squealing adolescent lips. Ray clamped them together before their frantic squeaks became audible.

'Thanks,' Brian told Takao, depositing a dazed-looking Ray back with him. 'I'm glad we got that sorted out.'

'Any time,' said Takao.

By ten past six Ray's hair was finished.

'I still think you're mad,' said Bev fretfully. 'What's Brian Kutsenov going to think when he sees you looking like this?'

'It's not for him, it's for tomorrow.' Ray inspected the end result in a mirror, tweaking a couple of stray spikes into place. 'Anyway, Brian isn't going to turn up. Look at the time.'

His stomach was in knots. It was hard to pretend you didn't care when every thud of your heart reminded you that another half-second had gone by and he still hadn't arrived.

'But if he does turn up, how can he take you anywhere nice, with your hair like that?'

Bev was bothered by Ray's attitude. When a man invited you out, it was your duty to look as good as you knew how. When Bev had a date she could spend anything up to four hours honing her make-up to perfection . . .

'He isn't going to take me anywhere, because he isn't coming.' Ray wished with all his heart that he hadn't told Bev about the supposed date. Brian Kutsenov – rotten bastard – had either forgotten, or found something more exciting to do. 'And anyway, if he does turn up, he'll be to late. Because I'm going home.'

Bev followed him to the door.

'Maybe it's for the best. The last thing you need is to get involved with someone who's going to muck you around.'

'Is that meant to make me feel better?'

'Come on, you know what I'm trying to say. Daisy Schofield's away . . . he's at a bit of a loose end . . . all he's looking for is someone to amuse himself with until she get's back.'

'Thanks.'

'But it's true!'

Of course it was true. Ray knew that, he just wasn't in the mood to hear it. He was a nobody and Brian Kutsenov was practically a national hero. Ray would be a bit of harmless entertainment for him, nothing more. His crush on Brian would deepen – oh yes, he knew that too – and it would all end in tears.

Just for a change.

'Anyway,' Bev said kindly as her bus loomed into view, 'you'll have a brilliant time tomorrow.'

A brilliant time, thought Ray. Have to look that one up in the thesaurus.

The bus eventually jerked to a halt beside them and Bev swung herself up on to the platform. Behind her, a car tooted its horn in appreciation of this slinky manoeuvre. Bev, smirking and flattered by the attention, couldn't resist a quick glance at the driver . . .

'Where's Ray?' Brian yelled at her above the roar of traffic.

Bev's smirk faded. As the bus began to pull away, she pointed to Ray standing on the pavement.

'Jesus,' exclaimed Brian, grinning as he flung the passenger door open for Ray. 'I didn't recognise you. What have you done to your hair?'

Dolphin-san: Yay! Brian's back. Another person to get in the way of the budding relationship of Kai and Ray. Wonder what Ray's done to his hair this time?