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 Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:55 pm
Marie was excited. She had been toying with the idea of moving anyway, but had finally found a reason good enough to leave her precious New Awlins (New Orleans to dem non-Southern folk). After lots of paperwork and phone calls and e-mails and such, Marie had finally gotten herself a job in Destiny City, and today was her first day.
“ Mornin’! You know where I need to go? Imma lookin’ for Tag Swagger’s dressin’ room.”
Having found a secretary’s desk, the brightly-dressed woman had made her way over, ready to meet new people.
“ Ya’ know, this here city ain’t like N’awlins. Bigger, for one.” Seemingly eager to cut off the unwanted conversation before it started, the secretary pointed to where Marie needed to go. “ That way? Alrighty, thank ya’ very much.”
Undeterred by the less-then-personable greeting, Marie made her way down the hall, eventually stopping in front of a door that said Swagger. Resisting the urge to simply let herself in, she knocked on the door.
“ Hello? I’m Marie, your new stylist. I can come in?”
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:12 pm
Tag was waiting in the dressing room, sprawled out on the small beat-up sofa. His head rest somewhat uncomfortably on one armrest, his long legs dangling over the other. In one hand was a smoking cigarette, despite the studio's strict 'no smoking' policy. But he was a busy man, and he needed a relief.
Upon the sound of a knock on the door, he sprung up and dabbed the cigarette against the armrest until it was put out before flicking it into the trash. He grabbed a can of hairspray and sprayed the area in attempt to mask the smell of smoke and checked himself out in the mirror. His hair was messy and his clothes were disheveled from his R&R on the sofa - but the stylist would take care of all of that.
He approached the door and opened with a grin, leaning against the threshold with one arm raised against it.
"Hey there," he said. He scooted his body out of the way to allow her to enter, but kept his comfortable position by the doorway. "I'm Tag, nice to meet you Marie."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:50 pm
Marie smiled and bustled right on past him, making her way over to the closest table to put down her bags. She then spun around and, hands on her hips, proceeded to give Tag an obvious once-over and tsked loudly.
“ Well Mr. Tag – can I call you Tag? – it’s lookin’ like you do need me. You been sleepin’ on da floor or somethin? It keeps me in the pay, but you ain’t gonna be attracting no nice girls lookin’ like dat honey.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:00 pm
"Pfft, please, the nice girls are so boring, who wants to attract them anyways?" he teased as he shut the door behind them. "And please, just call me Tag, there's no reason for any formalities." He loosened his tie a bit and combed his fingers through his hair in an attempt to fix it - even if she was about to do a much better job with that.
"Where are you from Marie? Is that accent a little Cajun? New Orleans?" he asked. He had spent some time in the Big Easy during his college years. That is, he went to Mardi Gras and had quite a few fond memories of the place. Rather, a few fond sober memories and a few even fonder blurry memories.
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:36 am
" Well, I guess dere is dat." Marie agreed as she dug through her bag, perking up at the mention of home.
" Ooh yes, I am! You've a good ear. I'm N ew Awlins born 'n raised. You ever been dere?"
Oh dear. Tag didn't know the danger he was in, but Marie could talk about New Orleans for hours. Even styling hair wouldn't stop her, because like most hairdressers she had long since learned how to talk and style hair at the same time. As proof, Marie had already started rolling out her equipment bag and started setting aside various combs and other objects next to the chair in front the mirror.
" Come on over 'n pull up a chair. You so tall, I might need a stool even with ya' sittin'!" She laughed happily.
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 2:04 pm
"Yeah, I've been there twice for Mardi Gras; its a fun city," he nodded as he pulled up a chair and took a seat. "I'm sure I'm not that tall."
He adjusted around in the seat to make himself comfortable as he let Marie do her thing with his hair. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about New Orleans? Must be a nice city to grow up in, a lot of culture to explore. Never really had that type of culture where I grew, always living in the fast-paced city mode."
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:37 am
" Don't look like you too tall, no, but ya' never know!"
Marie grabbed a water bottle and began spritzing his hair while she spoke.
" Ah, well, what can I say 'bout New Awlens? It's a city, but it ain't near as big as Destiny City. It's a comfortable size, small enough to get to know lots of people, but not so small as that ya' can't avoid dems dat ya' don't like. Growin' up, I knew most everybody in my neighborhood and was close to many on my street."
The scissors made an appearance as Marie trimmed Tag's hair into something more manageable and obedient.
" Lots of people say we lazy down South, but that ain't true. No, we just appreciate a good time. Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Jazz Fest, Voodoo Fest, and cheerin' on dem Saints; oh yes, we know how to party! Work hard, play hard."
Marie nodded, agreeing with her own statement, reaching for a bottle of product.
" We got culture too, though some of us ain't real cultured, if ya' get me. We've got da D-Day musuem, and all dat Audubon stuff. And cemetaries, we got cemetaries! One of my Uncles used to give cemetary tours, said he loved tryin' to spook dem tourists."
By about the time your average person would regret having encouraged Marie, she was just about finished.
" Dere! Dat looks better, yeah? If ya like it, I'll spray it and you'll be done."
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 7:12 pm
"I went on one of the cemetery tours, it was pretty wicked," he said with a nod as she finished her description of her New Orleans life. It was certainly more interesting and unique than his own city life - raised by a single parent (or largely, a long line of nannies) in a wealthy neighborhood who had a revolving door of step-fathers coming in and out of his life until he went off to college. He didn't talk about his life before college very much.
"The hair looks fantastic, thank you," Tag smiled, looking into Marie's eyes in the reflection in the mirror. "When did you move to the city, then?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:55 am
" I kin see how dem cememtaries would be spooky; cities of da dead indeed!" Having a relative that worked in them, Marie had seen her fair share of graves. " Did ya get a chance ta see the grave of Marie Laveau? Peoples think she still takes requests, even though she's dead 'n all."
Marie smiled at Tag through the mirror when he compliment his hair. Making other people happy made her happy.
" I been thinking 'bout movin' for a while - my poor city still ain't quite right from da hurricane - and finally found me a place 'bout a month back. What about you? You been here ya' whole life? Ya' like it here?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:33 pm
"In Destiny City? I love it here," Tag gleamed. It was true, it was the only place he could ever really call a home for long. His mother had a habit of dating wealthy men and then packing up and moving across the country once things went bad. "I wasn't born and raised here. I was born in New York until my dad left before I could remember him. Then my mom and I moved to Boulder, then DC, then Austin for a few years until mom ended things with d**k. We were in Seattle for a while before moving to Chicago until Andrew died. Then I spent sometime in Philly, graduated in Los Angeles where I finally left my mom and he failing relationships behind me; and then I moved to Destiny City for undergrad. I've been here since."
"It was a little complicated," he laughed. "But I'm rooted here now, and my son and his mother are here, so this is where I'm staying."
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Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 9:51 am
Marie listened intently to Tag's story, nodding in all the right places to show that she followed. And really, she did follow; like most hairdressers, Marie was a jack-of-all-trades: styllist, fashion guru, secret-keeper, relationship therapist, and more. However, when Tag mentioned having a son, that was when Marie really perked up, looking like a dog that heard its treat bag being shaken.
" Oooh, you gots a son? I'd love to see a picture of him. I bet he's a real cutey!"
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:19 pm
"He is," he exclaimed. If there was one person that Tag loved to talk about as much as himself, it was his son. He adored Liam, and was more attached to him than anything else in the world. He was never one for strong emotional bonds, but he couldn't deny the one that he had for his son. He wished that he was able to spend more time with him, and although Tag got along with the mother, Chelsea, and they both lived in the city, Tag wasn't able to spend as much time with him as he'd like.
He dug into the pocket of his pants and slipped out a slim smart phone, unlocked it and presented Marie with one of the photos in his album of him with his son. It was a lame mirror-shot photo of Tag holding the two-year-old boy in his arms, Liam grasping onto his father's tie with one tiny hand and a dopey smile.
"That's him," he said, stating the obvious. "His name is Liam. He's two. Greatest kid there is."
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:26 pm
" Awww." Marie cooed at the picture. " He looks so sweet, I just wanna eat him up!"
Of course, Marie thought all babies were sweet, even the ugly ones. This time she wasn't lying or exaggerating though; she really did think Liam was cute.
" I'd love to meet him some day. 'til then, I guess I'll just have to content myself with his Pa."
A finger flicked a strand of hair back into place before stood back and nodded.
" There, all done!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:45 pm
"Looks great, thank you," Tag grinned as he slid his phone back into his pocket and rose out of the seat. "I'll have to bring him by next time I have him for the day. He's a cute kid, loves getting attention from strangers." He got that trait for his father, certainly.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Marie," he nodded as he walked her to the door. It was almost showtime, and he'd have to be camera-ready soon.
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