Page 43 of Dark Chains: First Link
"I'm done with Soraya and Rana," Frankie said to Angelica. "Who's next?"
"The girls." Angelica nodded toward Donya and Laleh. "If they've made up their minds about colors."
"Midnight blue," Donya said.
"Rose gold." Laleh glared at her.
"Wonderful. Come sit." Frankie beckoned them to the manicure table.
Soraya took Frankie's place behind Arezoo and put her hand over her chest. "You look like a movie star." She shook her head, and Arezoo knew that she was holding back tears. "My baby. The bride."
"Not today, Maman. Today is just the cocktail party, and Angelica says that we are not allowed to cry before or during the celebration. We are only allowed to cry at the wedding."
"Angelica is the boss." Her mother smiled at the stylist. "You are making us all look so much more beautiful than we really are."
Angelica smiled back. "I'm only helping bring out the beauty that's already there. I wonder what the guys are doing to look good."
"Probably nothing," Soraya said. "They only need to put on their suits, and they are good to go. Ruvon is going to look so dashing."
It was hard to believe that her mother had been so wary of Ruvon at first.
Well, Arezoo had also been scared of him because he was a former Doomer, and in her eyes, all Doomers were monsters. But Ruvon had won over both of them with his patience,kindness, and a willingness to let Arezoo set the pace of their relationship and Soraya set the pace of her acceptance.
By the time Angelica was about to finish her last hairstyling, two hours had passed, and the salon was beginning to resemble backstage at a fashion show, with half-styled women in robes and fully styled women admiring themselves in every reflective surface available.
Then the door burst open, and Drova made an entrance.
She didn't walk in, she stormed in the way a weather front entered a valley, changing the temperature and the pressure and the general atmospheric conditions through the sheer force of her presence.
As usual, she was wearing combat boots, black cargo pants, and a fitted black tank top that showed off skinny arms that, despite their appearance, could break and had broken bones. Her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she carried a garment bag over one shoulder and a duffel bag over the other, looking like she had come directly from the airstrip without stopping to change, which she probably had.
"I made it," she announced.
Arezoo crossed the room in three steps, barreling into her best friend and throwing her arms around her. The force of impact would have caused a human to stagger, but not Drova. She dropped both bags, caught Arezoo in a hug that lifted her off the ground, and held on.
"You're here," Arezoo said, and the tears that she'd been managing all morning finally breached the barricade.
"Don't cry on me. Your makeup will get on my shirt."
"I don't care."
"I do. This is my last clean one. I didn't have time to do laundry."
Arezoo laughed and pulled back, wiping under her eyes with the pads of her thumbs. "I'm so glad you made it."
"I told you I'd be here." Drova held her at arm's length and examined her with a critical eye that swept from Arezoo's hairdo to her painted nails to the robe she was wearing. "You look half gorgeous. When do you become fully gorgeous?"
"When Angelica fixes the makeup I messed up, and I put on the dress, the shoes, and the jewelry."
Angelica, who wasn't intimidated by anyone, not even Drova, walked over with a makeup brush in hand and pointed at the chair. "Back in there, Princess." Then she pointed the brush at Drova. "Frankie, set Drova up. Her nails are atrocious."
Drova looked at Frankie, then back at Angelica. "What do you want to do to my nails?"
"You need your hair and nails done," Frankie said. "Each one here gets the full treatment."
"I don't need a treatment. My hair is fine, and so are my nails."
"You're in the wedding party," Angelica said from behind Arezoo's chair, where she was assessing the damage the makeup had suffered from the hug and the few tears that Arezoo hadn't been able to hold back. "Everyone in the wedding party gets the treatment. It's not optional."
