Human Hieroglyphix - Dex & Leila

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  But I'd never chosen to or had even had a chance to act juvenile in my entire life. I was entitled, chose to, at least in this moment, to act in exactly that way.

  I stretched and rolled onto my back wincing at the pull of the skin over my right hip.

  '…a hip is a part of their ass.' I heard his voice say inside my head. His soft, deep voice speaking deep within me as my mental eyes did a remembered roam, unheeded over his heaven blessed, but thoroughly tattooed shoulders and arms. I felt a pull deep within me causing another wince as the skin on my hip moved.

  It was a good wince.

  I ran to my cheval mirror pulling up my flannel nightshirt as I ran.

  I wanted to see it.

  The ointment had been rubbed away but the image was still clear and true. The outline of the Blue Pansy, my butterfly, with the pupa hanging from a branch in the background. Even without the colors, the ink was stunning.

  Spellbinding.

  'You'll need to keep it moist but away from water and sunlight as it heals.' I heard Dex's voice inside my head, inside me as he had given the instructions that were also on the sheet of paper that Crystal had slipped inside my bag before she left. I liked it better when I heard his deep voice saying the words, though.

  'I'm putting on a piece of plastic wrap, but don't count on this keeping the water out. If you want your ink to maintain the crisp lines, keep it moist, keep it away from water, pool water, sunlight and don't fuckin' scratch it.' My heart remembered the breathtaking smile he had given me at just that moment.

  'And, Babe? You're gonna wanna scratch at it, a lot. But don't, all right?'

  Aw geez. Just the thought that he was the one that had given me my very first tattoo was enough to send me back into my covers and reaching for the drawer in my nightstand. I hadn't ever used my plastic toy in daylight.

  Guess it was going to be a red letter morning for me, right?'

  *.*.*.*.*

  "Okay, which store first?" I asked but had long since given up control or even cared on this shopping expedition. It appeared that I was the only sane person in our unusual mix of four. Caitlin and Marianne, who I loved at first sight, and Crystal.

  We had met at Buxby's for early morning coffee and I was immediately pushed into the background when I suggested Meer's as our first stop in our shopping foray.

  "Overpriced," Caitlin said before taking a deep drink of her cocoa whatever it was.

  "Unimaginative," Crystal said taking her own deep drink of her chai something or other.

  "Uhm, not the first place to start if you are looking to expand your wardrobe, honey," Marianne said taking a long drink of her own large vanilla, with cinnamon, and milk foam, not whipped cream, with no sprinkles.

  The only reason I knew that was because I'd ordered the same exact same thing. Following their lead, I, too, took a deep drink.

  "So where are we goin'?" Caitlin asked.

  "Maybe a better question would be what are we shopping for?" Marianne asked shooting a glance in my direction.

  "Uhm. Like everything?" I replied. Which made the chai something or other spill out of Crystal's nose. Geez, I was counting on them, my new girl posse of three, to help see me through my transformation. But I was a bit worried at how stymied the four of us were at just choosing where to make my first purchase.

  "Let's start from the inside out," Marianne said. She was quite the little dynamo although she really wasn't all that small. She just seemed to be as she was decidedly curvaceous for her actual height.

  "Vicky's," Crystal said solemnly looking to Caitlin.

  "Vicky's, " Caitlin repeated, shooting her eyes to Marianne.

  "Okay, it's unanimous. Victoria's Secret, it is," Marianne announced in a very firm voice.

  I was completely serious when I ventured to ask, "Who is Victoria and does she really have a secret?"

  I watched in wonder as my new found friends doubled over in laughter.

  *.*.*.*.*

  "Holy Crap, Lei!"

  I was trying on some of the, okay one of the multitude, panty and bra sets the girls had chosen. This was a deep, dark purple and had the most amazing scrollwork covering the cups of the bra and covering the front of the thong.

  "Is that a tattoo?" I thought it was Marianne asking since she was the last one to poke her head in the changing booth

  "Leila got a tattoo?" That had to be Caitlin.

  "Damn, Dex does good work!" That was definitely Crystal after I shoved just that portion of my body through the curtain so they could all see.

  "You got your ink done at Hiero by Dex?" That had to be Caitlin again.

  "When did she have it done?" I was pretty sure this was Marianne to Crystal.

  "Yesterday afternoon. When she was all alone with Dex in his booth, with only Benny to chaperone." Yep, definitely Crys.

  Note to self, be careful with what you say to her as her enthusiasm may boil over and tell some people (like her boss) things I'd rather he didn't know (like my humongous crush).

  "Ooh, we gotta get her to talk about this. This is huge!" This was definitely Marianne.

  We'd already been warned by the sales girls that the rules only allowed one girl at a time in the dressing room and that you were not allowed to model your selections outside the dressing rooms.

  I thought we were doing well as we had only had to be reminded of the rules twice.

  Okay, twice by all three sales girls on duty.

  "I think this is the one, you guys," I announced having only modeled it to Marianne, who was stationed alertly on the other side of my dressing room curtain. "Pick your colors." And I heard Caitlin and Crystal began arguing their case for their choice.

  I poked my head out of the curtain.

  "Can we see if I can wear the stuff I've got on out of the store?" I asked Marianne and watched as she nodded then made her way to the nearest clerk.

  "They said it's okay as long as you let them scan the tags before you put on your other clothes," I heard Marianne whisper outside my booth.

  "Excellent," I murmured caught up in the vision of me in the mirror. My breasts, normally encased in the practical cotton, seem to burst forth in the structured cups of what the tag said was a demi-bra. And the bands that held the thong in place, hit just perfectly to cut and divide my hips from the 'vee' of my pudendum, even though I was carefully holding the right side away from my new tattoo.

  "Here she comes," I heard Marianne call from the other side of the curtain.

  "And here I am," I heard before the sales girl slipped behind the curtain and captured the prices into her portable wand.

  "We'll see you at the counter, okay?" the sales girl asked on a smile. If she worked on a commission, she'd just made a lot of duggets, cake, moola or money.

  "You better believe it," I muttered pulling my plain blouse and stretchy waist jeans back on.

  *.*.*.*.*

  We spent hours there in the mall, only breaking for lunch in the food court which was the only place I put up a stink, choosing not to follow their healthy choices and sticking to my new unhealthy, though damn delicious, diet.

  We went from store to store and I must have tried on a billion clothes. Honest to God, I should've had scratches from all the fittings but eventually even Crystal had to cry mercy due to foot fatigue.

  I glanced down at her feet that were currently encased from toe to knee with these little bands of leather which topped a two inch platform and a five inch heel. Yeah, anybody's dogs would be barking wandering the mall for six hours in them.

  "I think we're done, guys," I announced limply. "Think they're gonna close even if we're in here."

  "We're done," Caitlin said confidently.

  "We're almost there," Crystal announced with her own confidence.

  "Enough for today," Marianne said moving to snag a couple of the bags in her fingers. "A little help here, ladies, and I do use the term loosely." Marianne was really good with the turn of phrase and that particular one sent the rest of us into
hysterics.

  I was back in my bedroom, standing before that unforgiving mirror that I used to avoid wearing a short, see-through, woven lace, light teal nightgown edged in ecru chiffon and giving myself the once over.

  Hot.

  That was the first word that came to my mind looking at my reflection.

  What a difference a day makes, huh?

  I'd had a great day out with my new friends, which caused a guilty twinge when I thought of Emily. But she wouldn't have enjoyed today. Strong women with strong opinions were not her style. Neither was clothes shopping of any kind. And the thought of that rattled me a bit. But I was changing, and I, for one, was glad about the changes.

  I raised the hem of the sexy nightgown up to expose my still stinging tattoo and admired it even though it was clearly only the outline of what it eventually would be.

  I smiled soft and slow at my reflection.

  I realized that I couldn't ever remember doing that.

  It was something that I don't think I'd ever done.

  Smile at myself in a mirror.

  Chapter Ten

  I needed to get ready to go to my optometrist appointment where I was to be fitted for contacts lens. I had never really thought about my glasses before but had noticed more than a few women wearing contacts and had asked as many questions as possible in order to add them to my list.

  But in order to make my appointment, I had to get dressed.

  I was standing in front of my closet and realized that I was actually spoiled for choice due to yesterday's shopping spree with my new friends.

  My mind boggled and was more than a little afraid, thinking that I may leave the house looking like a cartoon character or worse.

  I picked up the phone and called Caitlin.

  When I told her my dilemma, she laughed. Actually laughed, but not in a bad way. In an, oh you lucky duck, kind of way.

  So it was that I left the house wearing my first pair of Lucky Jeans that showed my ass to perfection and a baby doll t-shirt in a luscious shade of dusty pink, my jean jacket and a pair of wedged slip on shoes that had a rhinestone stripe running along the strap.

  Thought I was going to have problems walking but found that I could actually walk okay in a wedge, but the heels would take some getting used to.

  Dr. Eastland was very supportive of me wearing contacts and gave me a free sample to try.

  "Okay, Dr. McCarthy, since you are both nearsighted and farsighted, I've fitted you with two different contacts. You left eye is for reading, computers, anything that you need to see up close. The right eye was fitted for distance. It's going to feel different at first, but any time you need to adjust for whatever you're doing, just close the other eye for a couple of seconds and then open them. Any questions?"

  Yvonne, his assistant, told me how to care and clean them but advised me to always carry my glasses with me just in case something happened with the contacts. She then gave me an appointment for next week so they could check and see if the type they had prescribed would be okay for me to wear and would order a six month supply if all went well.

  I glanced at my phone and saw I had two hours to kill before my hair appointment which was at a new place in town called "Tangles".

  What could I do in two hours? I asked myself, because I didn't want to go home yet.

  Our downtown is pretty simple with most of the businesses in a eight square block area so I decided to wait out my time at Buxby's and maybe do a little people watching for more ideas.

  As I was walking the couple of blocks I noticed that a lot of women had sunglasses that they either wore on their face or on top of their head.

  So I added sunglasses to my list.

  I was half way through my iced chai latte when I started noticing women wearing awesome belts with fabulous buckles.

  And, again, I added to my list.

  And since my head was down, I didn't see Marianne until she was right up on me.

  "Hey, you!" she exclaimed.

  "Marianne, how nice to see you!" and it was. She looked gorgeous today wearing a wrap dress in a light blue with a blue beaded necklace.

  "Thanks so much for yesterday," she said.

  "Why are you thanking me? I'm the one that should be thanking you for all your help in keeping everyone focused on the job at hand."

  "Too true, but they were fun in their own way, weren't they?"

  It was true.

  Both Caitlin and Crystal had enough energy to power a mid-sized town and had definite though different opinions on everything. And at some point in time, each of them had gone off on a tangent on a piece of clothing that I just had to have.

  I saw Marianne head tilted as she looked me over.

  "There's something different about you and it's not just the clothes, but can I just say, you look wonderful, honey."

  I leaned forward and held my right eye closed to see her better as I got closer.

  "Uh, Leila? Are you winking at me?" she asked with a small frown.

  "Nope, just trying to see you better," I explained. "Just got the mono-vision contacts and my doctor said that to see something more clear I had to close the other eye."

  I opened both eyes really wide as I remembered what she said. "You really thought I was winking at you?"

  "Well, yeah. Kind of," she explained fingering her necklace.

  "Shit. That explains all the attention I've been receiving for the last hour."

  "Attention?"

  "Yeah. As I walked here from Dr Eastland's office, I was trying to get the hang of it. You know, closing the left eye to see far away and close my right eye to see close up. But I was receiving winks, a couple of 'hey, baby's', and one woman actually blew me a kiss."

  Marianne threw back her head as she laughed.

  Soon I was laughing with her.

  When our laughter died out, I showed her my list and pointed to the accessories that I had written down.

  "Yep, I agree," she announced slowly. "But, here's the thing, Leila. What I got from our shopping trip yesterday was that you really don't know who you are much less the clothes you like and what you feel portrays you the best. That's what we need to explore and find out, honey."

  I knew exactly what she meant.

  Marianne was the one who had originally held a silver sequined evening bag up to my face and then a gold one to determine if my coloring was 'cool' or 'warm'. She announced, "Warm!" with authority, although I had no idea what that meant. But Caitlin and Crystal did.

  "I had to call Cait this morning because I couldn't remember what top went with pants and what shoes were the best."

  "Well, she did a great job with her instructions, honey. But, nevertheless, we've got to get you on your fashion feet so you can determine what looks best with what, all on your own. And wear it with all the confidence I know is inside you." she said softly.

  "Thanks, Marianne," I said reaching across the small table and touching her hand.

  "Anytime, Leila," she said turning her palm up and squeezing my fingers.

  *.*.*.*.*

  I stood outside 'Tangles' and ran my eyes over their sign.

  This was another moment I didn't want to forget. The last time I had my hair trimmed was six months before my divorce. Three years is a long time to go without at least having your hair trimmed, I told myself.

  And I wasn't just there to have my hair trimmed.

  I walked in and the salon was hopping. There were two women in various stages of hair work, one that even had foil in her hair chatting with the girl behind the reception desk. And the other had cotton all around her hairline and some kind of stretchy net over what appeared to be curlers but the smell from her head was enough to clear a room.

  I waited for my turn and saw that the busy shop only had three of the six stations manned but there wasn't one hair dryer open.

  "Can I help you?" the girl behind the reception desk asked, lightly hitting her chin with a pen that had a blue flower on the end.

  "Uhm,
I'm Leila and I have an appointment with Frankie," I said trying not to stutter. But having my hair cut was a much bigger deal to me than the contacts.

  "It's Frank-kay, okay? That's what he likes, that's what we call him. Frank-kay, got it?"

  I nodded, more than a little bit intimidated.

  "Hey Frank-kay, your one o'clock is here," the receptionist yelled without looking away from me. She was identified as D.D. by her name plate that adorned the highest part of her station.

  A gorgeous, very tanned man that reminded me of a Malibu Ken doll but dressed casually in a simple black t-shirt and jeans, came practically running to the plants that separated the reception area from the rest of the shop.

  "Just a few more, sweet cheeks, and I'll be ready for you," Frank-kay said, pointing the comb in his hand at me. He did a quick finger wave and practically ran back to the woman he had been styling.

  "Just set yourself down over there and he'll be with you in a minute…ah," she glanced down at her spiral calendar, "Lila."

  "It's Leila," I said. "Like the Clapton song?"

  "Oh, gotcha." DeeDee said smiling.

  "Only I spell my name L-E-I-L-A," I said smiling right back.

  "Catchy. Brings a Hawaiian beat to the Clapton, right?"

  "Never thought of it that way," I shrugged still smiling and glancing around the salon. "Great place. You do manicures, too?"

  "We do it all, Leila. And if we don't do it, then it can't be done."

  "I'd like to get a manicure, too, if they have an opening after, ah, Frank-kay, is done with me."

  "Do-able," DeeDee muttered, head down over her spiral calendar. "And what about an eyebrow wax, because, girlfriend, your brows were on time but you were fifteen minutes late!"

  "Perfect," I said laughing.

  I couldn't take offense since I had notated that in my Chrysalis book. This was a place of beauty, which means you come out looking more beautiful than you came in.

  Or I sincerely hoped I would.

  I swallowed deeply.

  "Okay, let me just get Lotti for you since she gives the best brows and she should just be finishing up." DeeDee's voice dropped to a whisper and I leaned forward over her two-tiered reception desk. "Plus, she's the best when it comes to the wax."