The Gossips Tale

The Gossipâs Tale

         âGood morning Mrs Tanner, how are you this morning? Youâre nice and early for your appointment this morning, take a seat, I wonât be but a minute,â Mary said brightly.
Mary Derwent had bought âSuperior Cutsâ hair dressing salon three years ago, and had been trimming, styling, washing and dyeing her way into the localâs hearts ever since. A hard worker, Mary was also somewhat of a listening ear for all the lonely women of Belleview, a lovely little town nestled in the valley between Aldershot and Hazelmere.
Mary added a final note to the work calendar, and bade Mrs Tanner take her seat at the end basin. Mrs Tanner came in every eight weeks to have her hair shampooed, trimmed and styled, and invariably, a long chat.
         âNot too hot then, Mrs Tanner?â enquired Mary as she directed the water across her head.
         âNo, just lovely, âMrs Tanner smiled; enjoying the personal attention Mary was well known to deliver.
Mary, having shampooed and conditioned her clientâs hair, massaged her scalp, dried it with the fluffiest of white towels, then settled Mrs Tanner in front of the mirror that graced the length of the wall, and positioned herself so she could keep an eye on passers-by; clients walking past always liked to be acknowledged.
         âSomethingâs happened,â Mrs Tanner blurted out.
         âDo tell,â Mary encouraged, combing and arranging Mrs Tannerâs damp hair.
         âWell, you remember, Derek Flowers, that business man that moved in last year, two streets up from me, in that big fancy house on the corner, past the Mayorâs house?â Mrs Tanner paused for a breath.
         âHe was the one who âhad to get marriedâ,â Mrs Tanner crooked her fingers into quotation marks and tickled the air.
         âThey said they were engaged and all, but anyway, the baby was coming, so they brought it forward. Well, she popped a baby out every year or so until she had four, but he still thought he was able to have his cake and eat it too, donât you know. Not very discreet though, if your wife finds out, are yer? Well, anyway, the wife sticks it out until the little ones are grown and after eighteen years, leaves, and they divorce. Well, anyway, she dies in a car accident about three years later, very sad it was, drunk teenagers and all,â Mrs Tanner moved her head slightly in response to Maryâs direction.
         âWell, Derek played the field, and soon remarried a lady from London, Selena. She was fitted up all nice, had had some work done on her, you could hardly tell what the original mileage had beenâ she chortled.
         âWell, they were trying for a baby, see the first Mrs Flowers, she only produced girls, and Derek he wasnât a man, if he didnât have a son, so he figured he may as well try. Well, he had his vasectomy reversed, and before long, she was with child, and then, you wouldnât read about it, it was twins!â
âWell, thatâs nice,â said Mary encouragingly, waving to Mrs Greenburg who had an appointment for Wednesday.
         âWell, the twins were born, caesarean, it was, and two bouncing baby boys, they were, and everyone said they were the spitting image of their Dad, they were Flowerâs, had the eyes and the chin, donât you know.â
         âSo, is it short enough there?â Mary asked, running the hair on both sides through her fingers.
         âYes, thatâs good, so, Derek, he and Selena have the marriage made in heaven, Derek has his boys, and everyoneâs happy, but you know something wasnât right, and Derek found out Selena was having it off with her lawyer, and kicked her out, and after the merry dance heâd lead his poor first wifeâ¦well, Selena still had one thing left, and that was her boys, and she was taking them with her, and he was saying she wasnât and she was saying she was, and then, that they werenât even his!â
         âWell, the old boy was pole-axed! Sheâd got him where it hurt the most, he was right fond of those boys, and he said she was lying, but I recon he would wonder, eh? So anyway, he got a DNA paternity test done, and sure enough, they were the lawyersââ Mrs Tanner, nodded sagely, looking at Mary in the mirror.
         âYou know, what goes around comes around,â she finished.
         âOh, thatâs so true,â Mary gave a final pat to Mrs Tannerâs hair.
         âSo, weâll say eight weeks,â she lead the way to the front counter.
         âThanks dear,â said Mrs Tanner.
         As Mary waved her customer goodbye, she thought of her Aunty Christine, and the terrible time sheâd had with her husband Derek Flowers.
         âOh yeah,â she thought, âKarmaâs a bitch,â and she smiled as she swept the cut hair along the floor.