It wasn’t exactly Frankie’s dream job. She had wanted to style hair since childhood, but this was apprentice wages, six days a week, sweeping up hair, cleaning basins and making coffee for clients in a small suburban salon.
Apart from Karen, the owner, there was a stern woman called Agnes, who was silent except when talking to clients.
‘I save my energy,’ Agnes said on Frankie’s first day, and that was Agnes’ last word until later in the afternoon. ‘Tea, no sugar, and that doesn’t vary.’
Despite the hours and the pay, Frankie was determined to learn, and Karen was willing to teach. But as the week went on, she found that it wasn’t the work that had her head exploding. It wasn’t labouring with a dustpan in a cloud…
