Ooh La La!

So you may remember that little tour we did in Ellicott City, where mentioned the old mechanic - Al - and the Union soldiers haunting the local hair haven Ooh La La! Well we recently skirted back up to the salon, to follow up with the ladies of the joint. When we asked the receptionist if she'd had any encounters with Al, she immediately recommended us to one of the other ladies, Shelly. While we waited, the receptionist explained to us her own encounter with Al. While opening the salon alone one morning, she smelled cigarette smoke. Only one of the employees smoked, so the receptionist walked around the entire salon looking for her coworker - but there was no one else in the building. Then while standing at the front desk, she heard shuffling on the floor boards in the back but again, no one was there. Another time, this same receptionist was manning her front desk when the hairs on her arm stood up, almost as though there was someone behind her.... but, of course, no one was there. When Shelly came out, she explained her phantasmagorical phenomenon: on the day of her Ooh La La! interview, the owner invited her in, locked the front door, and asked Shelly to wait in the lobby as she tended to something in the back. While Shelly sat waiting, she saw an older man, wearing brown steel-toed boots and blue gas station attendant's pants, shuffle through the lobby, and then disappear into an office door. Shocked, and really rather concerned, she described to the owner what she'd seen. The owner, a little surprised but not alarmed, simply informed her, "That's Al." Shelly still works there today, and claims to be sensitive to the goings-on of spirits. Once, when the power went out, the only lights left on were Shelly's, for no apparent reason, according to the Ooh La La! staff. In Shelly's words, "Al knows I need to make money!"