“Not a whole hell of a lot,” replied Carole-Ann with a short laugh. “Tweezers don’t scare me. Do your worst.”
“Okay.” Pris took her at her word and plucked until the arch was more defined and the edges neatened. Then she selected an eyebrow pencil in taupe, before changing her mind and deciding to go bold. After hesitation she selected a smudgy brownish auburn shade called ‘The Fall’. “Trust me on this,” she murmured as she carefully lined the upper and lower line of Carole-Anne’s brows, blended them and then filled them in with a brush and some matt shadow in a matching shade. “Now I’m going to fix them with a clear eyebrow gel.” She looked at the stand. “Eyebrow gel, Bettina?”
Bettina spread her hands wide. “What you see is what you’ve got.”
Lois and Billie were eating their doughnuts now as Mrs Peterson’s blow dry was finished, as were Louella’s nails. Neither seemed to be in any hurry to leave Bettina Lorena’s.
Pris puffed out a breath of air. “No matter,” she said. “We can use clear mascara instead.” She brushed the brows upward with the wand and then fixed them with the clear mascara. “Good thing about this is the mascara wand doubles as an eyebrow comb.”
“Uh-huh, why you need to put that wet stuff on anyway?” asked Carole-Ann.
“You need to seal if you use a color on your eyebrows,” Pris explained, taking a step back. Already she could see that the darkened, defined eyebrows had made a huge difference to Carole-Ann’s face and had to struggle to hide her wayward grin. “You ever hear of Jane Russell, Carole-Ann?”
“Uh, from the movie with Marilyn?”
Pris nodded. “You remind me of her. You’re not a brunette, but she had bold features like you and good bone structure.”
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” put in Mrs Peterson. “She was the straight-talking, ballsy one.”
Carole-Ann grinned. “Okay, so now I get it.”
“She was statuesque like you and down-to-earth,” said Pris.
“I think I’ve seen that movie,” said Lois thoughtfully. “It was your one of your grandpa’s favorites,” she said to Billie. “There’s a dance number where she dances with all these guys in a gym…”
“Can we watch it?” asked Billie suddenly.
Lois looked surprised but pleased. “Sure honey, I’d like that.”
“Jane Russell was voluptuous,” added Louella. “And kind of deadpan in her delivery. What do you think Bettina? Bettina’s the old movie buff,” she explained to everyone.
Bettina had a thoughtful look on her face. “Carole-Ann and Jane Russell?” she said slowly. “I can see it, actually,” she said surprising everyone. “I always preferred Russell to Monroe in that movie.”
Pris smiled as she checked out the eye shadow palette in that Matinee range. Sure enough, the colors she needed were all there.
“Okay, so first off I’m going to dust some more of the translucent powder under your eye,” she said grabbing a fluffy brush. “This will catch any eye-shadow that falls below your eye and then we can wipe it away afterward. Next,” she said grabbing the eye-lash curler, “we need to curl those lashes.”
“Looks like an instrument of torture,” said Carole-Ann eyeing it with misgiving.
“Not if used right. Lois,” she said approaching the hairdresser. “Can you blast this with your hair-dryer please?”
Lois shot her a look of surprise.
“If you heat it, it makes the curl last longer,” Pris explained.
“Sure thing, darlin’.” She fired up the hand-held dryer and Pris held the curlers by the handles under the hot stream of air.
“Thanks, Lois.”
Swiftly crossing the floor, she clamped Carole-Ann’s lashes firmly at the base and held for five seconds before releasing and then repeated the whole process with the second eye.
“Never seen that trick before,” murmured Lois.
“You can get heated curlers,” said Pris. “But this works just as well. Okay, so for our smoky eye today we’re going to go with the classic grey, but you know you can do it in other colors too.” She considered a moment. “Greens would look nice for you, also golds and browns and maybe purples.”
“Okay,” nodded Carole-Ann. “Gotcha.”
“So, first off I’m going to cover your entire eyelid in a pale matt silver-grey, using this brush,” she swept it across. “This is our base. Once again we start light and then build up from this with the smokiness.”
“I’m sensing a theme,” nodded Carole-Ann. “Layering up.”
“You got it. Now I’m taking this medium silver-grey shadow and I’m applying this to your lower lid only, up to the crease. I’m gonna build this up a bit for dramatic effect.” Pris loaded the brush and started to build up even layers. Now I’m going to apply this darker graphite-grey to the crease and blend this out.”
“Blending. Got it. Blending is good,” muttered Carole-Ann.
“Blending is essential,” Pris corrected her working steadily.
“There’s no way I’m going to remember all this,” said Carole-Ann ruefully.
“I can write down the steps for you.”
“Seriously?”
“Absolutely.”
“Can you write them down for me too?” chimed in Billie who was wiping down the shelves.
“Sure I can. Is there a photocopier in the library across the street?”
“Yeah,” agreed Billie. “I could run across and do it.”
“Great, thanks Billie,” smiled Pris, searching her kit for a black liquid eye liner. “Okay, I’m going to line your upper lash-line now. This bit is more tricky and will take practice, but you can use a soft eye crayon until you get confident drawing your lines, then graduate to a gel or liquid liner.”
“Okay.”
Pris held her breath with concentration. “I’m going to give you flicked liner for added glamour. You need a steady hand for this. A good tip is to make a mark where you want your flick to end.” She stepped onto her back foot to check both eyes matched. “Start with a thin line,” she said drawing it in.
“And then layer it up?” hazarded Carole-Ann.
“That’s right. Make it thicker gradually. That way you don’t end up having to rub it out and start again. Trust me, I learned that the hard way!” She gave a nod of satisfaction. “Now I’m going to line your lower lash and waterline. This is tricky, but again, practice makes perfect.”
Carole-Ann held perfectly still as Pris wielded the eye-liner.
“Great, now for a few coats of mascara,” Pris searched for what she wanted. “Matinee does a lengthening Pitch-Black Baby and a volumizing called So-So Fake, so I think we’ll do a double-coat of each for extra va-va voom…” She turned the brush to stroke the lashes with the wand vertically as well as horizontally.
Carole-Ann watched in the mirror. “Looks like I’ve got false eyelashes on,” she marveled.
“Yep, those eyelash curlers really helped.”
“I can’t believe mine are this long!”
“It’s because your lashes are light. The mascara has caught and darkened all your lighter lashes so you can see their true length.”
“Let’s see,” said Mrs Peterson who was craning her neck.
“Let me just swipe away this powder underneath…” said Pris. “So it’s all tidy and light underneath the eyes…”
“Don’t do the final reveal till you’ve done her lipstick and blusher,” called out Bettina.
“Okay,” laughed Pris.
“I’m not leaving till she’s done,” vowed Louella settling back in her seat. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”
“Have a doughnut,” suggested Lois. “They’re fantastic.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Pris was rifling through the lipsticks. “Okay, I’m going to go with this pretty pink.”
“Pink?” echoed Carole-Ann sounding panicked. “I’m a redhead, honey. We don’t do pink.”
“Trust me, this coral pink will work for yo
u, it’s really sheer and not frosted at all. It’s a matt color so we’re going to use it as a lip-stain and then work it into the lip with a Q-tip and seal it with a lip-balm which will make it stay put.”
Carole-Ann shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
“Don’t panic but I’m going to put a coral pink cream blush on your cheeks too. I want to use something fresh and pretty, rather than dark and dramatic as your eyes are the focal point of your face. Make sense?”
Carole-Ann nodded as Pris was staining her lips.
“What’s with the Q-tip?” whispered Mrs Peterson loudly.
“I think it’s to make sure it stays put and doesn’t slide off,” answered Bettina crisply. “Am I right?”
“You are right,” agreed Pris. “Sticks are okay for quick fixes, but if you want your lip color to stay the course you need to…”
“Layer it?” guessed Carole-Ann quirking her now fabulous eyebrows.
Someone giggled. Pris didn’t turn around but she smiled. “Yes! Now you’re getting it. You need to blot and layer and use a brush if not a Q-tip to apply.” She was adding the cream blush now and using the brush to work it into the apples of the cheeks. After a few minutes she lowered the sponge. “Oh my gosh, I think I’m done.” She moved around the chair to stand behind Carole-Ann so her client had an unimpeded view of the mirror. “What do you think?”
Carole-Ann stared. Then she turned her head to the right and then the left. “That’s not me,” she whispered.
“Yes it is, honey.” Pris dropped her hands to Carole-Ann’s shoulders and squeezed.
“Let us see!” implored Mrs Peterson.
Slowly, Pris turned Carole-Ann’s seat out and there was a moment of hush.
“Carole-Ann honey, you have just got to let me do your hair,” implored Lois. “That face deserves framing!”
“My lord!” exclaimed Louella. “You look so sophisticated Carole-Ann! Like a movie star!”
“I need to get a picture on my cell phone,” mumbled Mrs Peterson. “And show my daughter-in-law how darn pretty you look!”
“Carole-Ann, Lois is going to do your hair complimentary,” said Bettina pointing a nail file at her. “I don’t wanna hear any arguments. You are gonna be a walking-talking advertisement for us today.”
“Like our own pin up,” agreed Pris. “I can take some photos on my cell-phone, but let’s wait ‘til her hair’s done too.”
“We should have done before and after photos,” said Billie, her eyes wide. “Like a makeover.”
“Well hell, I’ve got tons of photos of me looking like shit,” muttered Carole-Ann. “That really ain’t a problem!”
“A Hollywood glamor make over,” said Bettina decisively. “We can offer them, right here as our August specialty.” She looked around at everyone. “What do y’all think?”
“I love it,” breathed Pris, her eyes shining. “Do you have a website?”
Bettina looked back at her blankly for a moment. “Not yet, but we can remedy that right away. Billie?”
Billie dropped her dust pan and brush. “I can create a Facebook page, Bettina,” she said shaking the hair out of her eyes. “I can do it on my smart-phone. Carole-Ann, can I grab a regular picture from your gallery?”
“Help yourself,” said Carole-Ann who was still gazing at her reflection.
“This is so exciting!” said Lois, clapping her hands together. “Can you feel the energy in here? Wow.”
“Carole-Ann,” broke in Mrs Peterson. “Trade seats with me. Lois is going to fix your hair and Pris is gonna give me a Hollywood makeover!”
“Me next!” broke in Louella flapping her hand in the air. “Bettina, book me in with Pris after her!”
**
Jared heard his phone buzz from across the room, dropped his hammer and went to retrieve it. His heart started to pound when he saw it was a message from Pristine Christine. Was she okay? He’d felt wrong leaving her at the beauty parlor. What if her memory started to come back and he wasn’t around to pick up the pieces?
‘Look at my handiwork’, he read. Then there was a smiley face. Then a photo came through of some glamor head shot. He frowned. He thought she was making over that waitress from the diner this morning?
WHO THE HELL IS THAT? He typed painstakingly. Shit. Why was it all in upper-case? He glanced round for his cousin.
“Luke?” he roared.
His cousin’s head peered round the doorway. “Yeah, Jared?”
“How do I make the letters lower-case?”
“You texting?” chortled Luke coming forward. “Who you texting?”
“Who you think?”
Luke shot him a troubled look, then stood at his shoulder. “You need to press that arrow, cuz. Now see how the letters all switched?”
Jared grunted. “How do I do one of those face things?”
“An emoji?”
Jared scratched the back of his neck. “Whatever it’s called.”
“See that smiley face there? If you press that you get all your options come up. They got all sorts. Food, clothes, activities…You just scroll along till you find the one you want.”
“Right.” He typed: ‘I thought you were doing that waitress from the diner today?’
Just then a message appeared on the screen with a ping. ‘Sweetie, that is Carole-Ann.’
“What’s going on?” asked Luke sounding confused.
Jared scrolled back up and selected the photo, taking another look at it.
“Who’s that?” asked Luke with interest.
“Well apparently it’s Carole-Ann Shackleton.”
“Get the fuck out of here!”
“Pris gave her a makeover.”
“Lemme take another look,” demanded Luke.
They both stared at the screen.
“That’s pretty fucking impressive,” conceded Jared.
“How’d you know she was a make-up artist though?” asked Luke.
“I didn’t. I mean, pretty sure she isn’t. She was watching videos on YouTube all last night for pointers.”
“That’s some pretty fast assimilation skills,” whistled Luke.
‘Babe’, typed Jared. ‘Impressive’. None of the emojis really cut it so he sent it without. Maybe she was done for the day already? ‘Need me to pick you up?’, he typed, glancing at his watch. That was the beauty of being your own boss. He could take an early lunch break.
Another message appeared. ‘No, I’ve got 2 more bookings already!’ It was accompanied by an emoticon of what looked like a lady dancing the flamenco.
“Two more?” he muttered, his eyebrows rising.
“Send the LOL emoji, dude,” recommended Luke.
Jared shrugged his shoulder irritably realizing his cousin was reading every word. What the hell was the LOL emoji? He stared at the all the lined up little yellow faces in confusion.
Luke was retreating into the room next door. “Jared, send me the pic of that waitress. I’ve just gotta send that to Debs, she won’t believe it.”
“Yeah, okay,” agreed Jared distractedly. Another message whizzed through from Pris.
‘I love my job’, she’d put. ‘And I love you. Xxx’
He nearly dropped his damn cell-phone. Fuck. What the hell was he supposed to do with that? He rubbed his chest. His bear paced restlessly. He knew what that fucker wanted to do about it, but how could he? There was no way he could put his mark on a woman with amnesia. It just wasn’t right. His bear growled low and Jared winced. He wanted her like his next breath of air, but damn it, that didn’t make it right. She needed someone to look out for her, someone to protect her until her memory came back and lying bastard that he was, he was still more equipped to do that than that spineless sack of shit Stuart Harber. That asshole hadn’t even called him since yesterday to check on her. True, he wouldn’t have answered, but Harber wasn’t to damn well know that! His eyes wandered back to her words on the screen. Shit. Pristine Christine telling him that she loved him... That was really som
ething. Course, she was only stating what she'd been told was a fact. He had no cause to be feeling like this. All het up, like she'd made some sort of declaration. Or given him a green light. She'd done no such thing. She just didn't know any goddamn better. And he needed to remember that. Scowling, he locked the screen, tucked the cell back in his pocket and went back to measuring up the door-frame. He'd taken just three measurements when he snapped the tape back and grabbed for his phone again. Squinting at the keys a moment in ferocious concentration he typed:
'Proud of you'. He scratched the back of his neck, staring at the three little words and then, with an exasperated sigh he added 'x' and hit send.
He had no idea why he had such a nagging, uneasy feeling, but it was pissing him off. Once he'd decided on a course of action, he usually ploughed ahead regardless of the consequences or the casualties. He didn't normally get troubled with this conscience shit, and it was totally screwing with him.
He picked her up at five from outside Bettina’s. To his surprise she scooted right over the seat and kissed his cheek in greeting before fastening herself in.
“I’ve had such a great first day, you wouldn’t believe!”
Unable to help himself he reached across to caress the back of her neck. “That’s good, baby.”
She turned her head and beamed at him. “Everyone was so nice, I’ve got four clients booked in for tomorrow already! Even Aunt Petunia’s coming down in the afternoon so I can give her a mini-makeover.”
“Aunt ‘Tunia?” he repeated startled. To his knowledge his aunt had never worn a scrap of make-up in her life!
“I sent her a picture of Carole-Ann and she was really impressed.”
“Uh-huh,” his hand was still resting idly at her nape. “Well it was something,” he conceded, rubbing a thumb over her warm skin.
“Billie made Bettina’s a Facebook page and we’ve got a whole score of likes already and people booking in. Lois said Bettina will want to hire me for sure after the week’s trial is up.”
“That’s great, Pris,” he tore his gaze from her to look at the damn road in front of him. It was an effort. She was lit up brighter than a beacon. He was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else.
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