Page 74 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
“Hi, I’m Sadie,” I responded as I watched him work in awe.
“Harper,” the makeup artist introduced herself before she squirted some sort of serum on the back of her palm. She picked up an egg-shaped sponge, dipped it in the liquid on her hand and then dabbed it on my face. “Your skin is flawless. What do you use?”
“Soap,” I admitted sheepishly.
Both Landon and Harper froze and stared at me in disbelief when they heard my dirty secret which ironically was about being clean. I had a feeling they would respond that way. It was exactly what Charli did every time the subject of my skincare or lack thereof came up.
What can I say? I’d been blessed with good genetics in that department.
After the moment of horror or shock or both wore off, the duo continued to work their magic. I tried to stay calm as orders were barked at me over the sound of the hairdryer.
“Close your eyes.”
“Open your eyes.”
“Look up.”
“Look down.”
“Head down.”
“Head up.”
Back when Charli was modeling, I’d gone to several photo shoots with her and this is exactly what that reminded me of. I’dneverwanted to be on this side of things. I’d been perfectly happy being the friend on the sidelines. But tonight, it was me in the hot seat.
Literally.
I was sweating on the chair I was sitting in.
After what felt like an eternity but ended up being only thirty minutes or so, both artists looked me over and were satisfied that their job was done. They ushered me out of the bathroom before I had a chance to see what wizardry they’d worked.
I didn’t spend much time looking at myself, my appearance had never been a big deal to me. I’d accepted a long time ago that I was plain, nothing special. Being best friends with a supermodel put things into perspective for me at an early age. But I had to admit I was curious how I looked.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Mia was sitting on the edge of my bed and looked up. Her eyes widened slightly, and her jaw dropped. She lifted it back up and I thought she was going to say something but then it dropped again.
Oh boy.Now I was really curious to see what they’d done. It had left Mia speechless.
Did I lookthatbad?
I probably looked ridiculous. I was going to embarrass Alex.
My chest tightened and I was having a difficult time taking in a breath.
I can’t do this. I was trying not to hyperventilate and come up with a plausible excuse as to why I needed to back out when Mia finally spoke.
“You look…hot.”
Hot? I’d never in a million years thought I could pull off hot. Cute, maybe. Pretty, on a good day. But hot? And coming from her, no less. She was hotter than a Carolina Reaper pepper.
Before I had a chance to respond she blinked and stood up. “You need to get dressed. We have less than five minutes.”
Less than five minutes?!I couldn’t even put shoes on in that amount of time.
“Okay.” I nodded as she directed me into the closet where the rack of dresses had been wheeled. She pulled three gowns off the rack and had them paired with undergarments, shoes, and jewelry.
“Any of these will be perfect,” she stated confidently before shutting the door.
As I stared at my options, I wished that Charli was here to help me decide, but there wasn’t even time to call her. I had five minutes to choose a dress and get it on.
So, I fell back on my good, old faithful, eeny, meeny, miny, moe. With my selection made via the children’s nursery rhyme, I slipped it on and was still trying to wrap my head around the events that had unfolded.
Note to self:This is not a fairytale… even if you are going to a ball.
