Baiting a trap

"The New U Salon." Xander talked to himself as he drove up to the recently opened business. He parked next to Joyce's range rover. "Its very pink."

Xander eyed the neon pink sign atop the building and then dropped his eyes to the pale pink drapes in the windows. "Salmon, that's salmon. Dont forget all the colors Cordy taught you."

Getting out of the car Xander tried to imagine Joyce in a place like this. The New U Salon seemed... cheap and immature for someone like Joyce. A fully grown, eduacted and cultured woman in a place that had a screaming hot pink neon sign in cutesy block letters? Did not compute. Not that he could see Dawn or Buffy coming here either.

The New U Salon had a Harmony vibe to it.

Still he had a friend in need so in he went. He wasnt surprised to see that there was a woman behind the receptionists desk. He was surprised that she made a porn star look conservative. The woman had jet black hair in curls down to a chest that made Pam Anderson look flat all encased in a tight silver lame tube dress. It was like someone crossed Deanna Troi with Julie Strain. Upon seeing him stick his head thru the door the woman smiled and waved, her voice was sickly sweet as she called out to him, "Haaaaiiiii."

Blinking at her jiggling chest due to her vigorous waving Xander inclined his head. "Hi."

"I'm Sindy." She chirped.

"Hi, Cindy."

"No silly, not Cindy." She said shaking her head with a little touch of scorn. "Sssssindy. With, like, an S. Because, a body this hot makes people wanna sin." She spread her arms wide and gave her chest a jiggle to emphasize what type of sin, apparently.

"Right." Xander averted his eyes. "Sindy. Got it."

"How can I help you, sir?" She asked after a minute of silence.

Despite the sweet baby talk voice Xander got the distinct impression he was being propositioned. The woman had put weird emphasis on help and sir. Shaking his head to clear it Xander said, "Uh, I got a call. My friend Joyce Summers is here and she needed me to come here?"

"Oh Joycie! You must be Xaaaaander." She smiled at him.

"Yeah."

Sindy, the receptionist giggled, "Ohmigawd, its so funny, but, like, five minutes ago Joycie found her credit card. She didn't, like, loose it. It, uh, it turns out that Dawnie took it an' forgot to put it back. Ooopsey."

Xander stared at her and then turned his head to look around the waiting room of the salon which was all pink, black and white. He didnt see either Joyce or Dawn. "So I dont need to help cover the bill? And I didnt need to rush over here?"

"Nu-uh." Sindy shook her head.

Xander sighed and slouched, "Figures."

"Uhm, but like Joycie said that if you showed up we should totally offer to help you out as a 'sorry you came all this way for nuthin'." Sindy frowned as she recalled the words and then batted her big brown eyes at him. "Like, a little hair trim, a facial, a shave, maybe a manicure, the full guy package. We kept the guy room open in back if you wanna use Joycie's gift."

Xander looked at the empty waiting room. "Could I talk to Joyce?"

"She's in back getting her color done. So is Dawnie. Ash and Viki are taking care of them." She wagged a finger st him, "No peeking while Ash and Viki work their hair care magic."

"Of course."

"Like, if you want a gift card thingie Joycie said we could give you one and you can come back later if you got a hot date or whatever you needed to do tonight." Sindy looked around her desktop for a giftcard.

With a sigh Xander nodded his head. "No. No, hot date. Thats why I could rush over here because I have nothing happening in my life."

"Oh thats so sad." Sindy simpered. "You are a cutie. Girls should be lining up to date you."

Xander laughed, "Not happening. But thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Oh, confident men are so seeexxxy." Sindy bounced up and down in excitement. "You know what makes a man confident? A new haircut and a new look."

Xander laughed, "A New U?"

"Exactly!" Sindy squealed excitedly.

Xander clicked his tongue, "Whats the worst that could happen?"