I leave the salon with a new do. She trimmed my hair, shaped it and thinned it out a little. She even showed me how to fix it straight or curly. I left there with products and curling irons and straightening irons. I even got my nails and toenails done.
When we get back to my house, my dad is still at work. Thank goodness. I don’t know if he’s ready to see his little girl like this. I mean, I’m twenty years old, but he’s used to seeing me – well, not like this.
Charlie does my makeup. She won’t let me look in the mirror until she’s done. She brings me my new dress, a form-fitting A-line in a royal blue. She says it brings out the color of my eyes.
When I’m dressed and ready to go, she stands back and looks at her handiwork. She is looking at me in awe and I swear my stomach is turning somersaults, nervous about seeing myself.
She grabs my shoulders. “Don’t freak out.”
I feel like I’m going to be sick. She turns me around to face the mirror. My mouth falls open and all I can do is stare. I turn my head side to side, looking at myself like I’m seeing me for the very first time.
“I’m beautiful,” I stutter.
Charlie’s grinning ear to ear at me in the mirror. “I told you so.”
2
Mike
Looking at the time on my phone, I drop it back into my pants pocket. Well, she’s late. Charlie talked me into coming to this fundraiser and now she’s late. Not that I mind being here, it really is for a good cause, but I can do without the whole black tie and jacket.
Tugging at my collar, I look around the room again. Still no sight of Charlie. We have fifteen minutes until the check dedications start and I don’t have the check because she said she would bring it with her. Grabbing my phone again, I decide to give her a call. Honestly, I’m surprised her husband was going to let her come to this thing with me. We are good friends, but he’s pretty possessive of her.
“Sorry I’m late.”
I look up from my phone, gasp and drop it to the floor. Oh my God. “Carrie?”
“Yes, sorry, I know you were expecting Charlie, but she wasn’t feeling well. She had me bring the check to you,” she says as she’s bending down to pick up my phone from the ground. When she stands back up, I can’t take my eyes off her exposed cleavage.
“You, uh, you look beautiful,” I stutter.
She blushes a pretty shade of red and it spreads across her chest. I can’t believe this is Carrie. She has worked for us the past year. She’s funny and dedicated to her job. She’s extremely efficient and honestly I don’t know what we would do without her sometimes. But now I can add absolutely beautiful to her list of attributes. How in the world has she been hiding these curves under those boxy jackets? Why has she?
I finally raise my eyes to her face. “What happened?”
Smiling back at me, she says, “Oh, uh, I think she has been nauseous…”
“No, not what happened with Charlie. What happened with you?” I ask her as I grab her hand and walk her over to the side of the room, somewhere more private.
She nervously wraps her fingers around the clutch in her hands. Her bright blue eyes are wide staring back at me and my first instinct is to kiss the pink lipstick off her lips. “Charlie helped me go shopping.”
I brush the hair off her face. “Well, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” Reaching into her clutch, she pulls out the check. “They are getting started. Here’s the check.”
“Huh, what?” Did I miss the announcement?
“Go on up there.” She waves toward the stage.
I lace her fingers with mine. “Oh, you are going with me.” And then I mutter to myself, I’m not letting you out of my sight.
Carrie
He holds my hand all the way up the stage. When they introduce him, we go to the podium with my hand still wrapped around his.
“On behalf of Alpha Security, we would like to present this check of thirty thousand dollars to the Women’s Care Center. We also want to thank you for everything you do for the women and children in our community…”
As he continues his speech, I can’t help but look at him in awe. I’ve been in love with Mike since the day he interviewed me. He’s tall, handsome and confident. He’s a good man. Even after working for him this past year, I still haven’t been able to find any fault with him.
I realize as he’s speaking, his thumb is stroking my hand and I can’t stop myself from looking down at my hand in his. The audience laughs and it jolts me from my trance. When I look back up at him, he’s looking at me and I gasp at the heat I see in his eyes.