Taken by You (Taken by You Book One) (15 page)

She brought over a cart of supplies before putting on some gloves and starting. I opened my legs before feeling the warm wax against my sensitive skin. I kept my eyes closed, focused on my breathing, and prayed for the absolute best.

“
Here we go,” she said, in a soothing voice.

She waxed it all, with me wincing in pain after each pull of the waxing strips. I ground my teeth together as I wished and wished for it to be over, convincing myself each and every time that
this
was the final rip and it would all be over. Many of those thoughts were wrong, but the final one was right, and as she said she was done, I let out an audible sigh and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

I got up and dressed as fast as I could while she cleaned up and put her things away. We walked out and she guided me to another room, a large one, where there was a footbath below the seat and two women standing and smiling at me.

“
Hello, I’m Jessica, your makeup artist,” Jessica said.

“
I’m Chanel, and I’ll be doing your nails,” Chanel said.

“
Nice to meet you. I’m Penelope,” I said awkwardly.

“
If you’d have a seat, we’ll get started,” Jessica said.

I sat down and Chanel gave me a selection of about ten different nail polishes to choose from. I wasn’t a flashy girl, so I didn’t want something too bright and out there. She suggested a nude shade, which looked good to me. She also said it was in style, so that was a plus, I guess.

“
What I have here is an all-natural, non-drying cleansing cloth. This will remove any dirt, oil, makeup, and anything else that may be on your face right now. It will allow us to have a clean foundation for your makeup today,” Jessica said.

She wiped the cloth all over my face as I held my breath and closed my eyes. She wasn’t shy about digging into creases and holding the back of my head as she really scrubbed to get everything away. I was afraid there were going to be patches of my skin left on the cloth afterwards.

Chanel put my feet in the soaking tub as she started on my fingernails. I felt her pruning and clipping as Jessica smeared a bunch of gooey makeup all over my face like I was about to have the starring role in a blockbuster movie. I didn’t say anything, though, as I fought through the discomfort and just let them do their thing so this would be over as soon as possible.

Chanel got done with my hands and told me not to touch anything so they could dry right. I kept my palms firmly on the arms of the chair as Jessica stared at me while rubbing makeup all over my face. I knew this was it, though, and all I had to do was get through this little part and then I’d be home-free. I could do this.

After another twenty minutes, mostly because of my feet, they were both done, and looked at me with a smile. I wondered what I looked like. They spun me around just like Antoine did, and as Jessica grabbed the chair to spin me around, I felt a string of nerves come over me.

“
Here you are, Penelope. The new you,” Jessica said.

I looked at myself with shock, as I saw a girl looking back at me who didn’t look like me. I couldn’t even say much of anything as I moved forward and looked at myself closer. I looked…beautiful. Really, I did. I wasn’t overdone, didn’t look like I sat in a tanning booth for two hours from the bronzer, and my new hair perfectly matched it all. I brought up my hands, looking at them, and I finally realized I looked truly girlie for once. I wasn’t sure it was something I’d always wanted—I wasn’t Nicolette, after all—but hell, I’d take it every now and then, just maybe not as intense as today had been. I supposed I could rock a smoky eye occasionally, though.

“
Thank you so much,” I said, as I tried to find the right words to say.

“
You look
so
beautiful,” Chanel said.

“
Yeah, your boyfriend is a lucky man,” Jessica said.

“
Thank you,” I said, smiling, going along with what they said.

“
You look fabulous, honey,” Antoine said, as he walked into the room.

“
You did amazing work on her hair, Antoine,” Jessica said.

“
What can I say? I do miracles, baby,” Antoine said, as he flipped his hair.

I sat there smiling as they traded little jabs and compliments before Antoine put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me in the mirror.

“
Your personal shopper is here, honey. She said she’s here to take you out for some new clothes,” Antoine said.

“
So lucky!” Chanel said in excitement.

I had forgotten all about the shopping session. I guessed I’d sat in this place so long wishing I could stop the pain that I didn’t think of the other pain that was about to come my way. I couldn’t back out of it either, especially with her supposedly standing out there waiting for me. Maybe I could just say yes to everything she suggested for me. That would work well. I knew that most women would die for this opportunity, especially when the tab wasn’t coming from their bank accounts, but shopping just never was my thing. Who knew, though, maybe I wouldn’t hate it as much as I usually did. I didn’t hate this salon thing as much as I thought I would now that I’d seen what I looked like.

I got up from the chair and the girls gave me big, strong hugs before I followed Antoine out into the lobby, where my stylist was waiting. She clapped as she saw me, even though I was positive she hadn’t see me before I came in here, and shook my hand.

“
My name is Katie, and I’ll be your stylist and personal shopper today. I’ll be taking you to a variety of stores right near here so we can find you a few great outfits for your dates. If you’re ready we can get going,” she said, with a cheerful, chipper tone.

“
Bye, doll. Have a great trip!” Antoine said.

The rest of the staff who were standing up front waved and smiled as Katie and I walked out onto the sidewalk and down towards the first store, wherever it might be.

“
You look beautiful, by the way. They really did a great job,” Katie said, as we walked down the street.

“
Thank you. I really like your top,” I said.

“
Thank you! I love it so much. I think you and I are going to get along great,” she said.

I gave that kind of awkward laugh and smile that you give when you meet a friend of your parents and they tell you how they remember you when you were two feet tall. You never really know what to say to the person or how to respond, but you go along with it and just say yeah as you smile awkwardly and hope the pain will stop. My time with Katie was like that already, and we hadn’t even stepped foot into a store.

“
Okay, here’s our first stop,” she said, as we walked into a smaller boutique-like store.

A little bell rang overhead as the woman behind the counter came out to greet us. She hugged Katie, who must’ve been a friend, before shaking my hand and introducing herself as Cheryl. The shop wasn’t very large, probably the size of my apartment, if that, though it was filled with frilly, feminine clothes from wall to wall. There was a dress on a mannequin situated up on some kind of pedestal not too far behind Cheryl, who was busy gabbing with Katie, who just flung it right back. I caught a glimpse of the price tag, which was retro-looking with black marker, and saw that it was three
thousand
dollars. I nearly choked. What in the hell was it made of? Extinct animals? Was it just unearthed from ancient Egypt or something? There was no way anybody in their right mind would pay that much for a dress.

“
Well, we have a lot in stock right now. Have anything in mind?” Cheryl asked Katie.

“
I think we’re going to just look around and see what will work for her,” Katie said with a smile.

“
Okay! Let me know if you need anything,” Cheryl said, before walking into the back.

“
Okay, Penny, I want to find a few pieces for you that will work in a variety of situations. This will be more for everyday clothes and day dates—nothing during the night. I’m saving that store for later. Is there anything in here you see that grabs your eye?” Katie asked.

I looked around, walking a little, and found a yellow and grey top I thought looked close enough to what I’d wear. Katie looked at it with a sour face before picking up another top near it and holding it against my front.

“
Now this.
This
is great on you. We’ll save this,” she said.

“
What about the one I picked?” I asked, looking back at it.

“
I just don’t think it will work well with your complexion. It will drown you out too much. Besides, it’s last season,” she said.

Last season? What in the hell did that mean? I had a feeling that anything I picked out wouldn’t quite be good enough for Katie and her all-seeing eye of style. After all, I was the frumpy chick who obviously wore other seasons and couldn’t distinguish a crop top from a cardigan.

Katie went around the store grabbing everything she could find before coming back towards me with a mountain of fabric she couldn’t even see over.

“
I’m going to put this stuff in the dressing room. Why don’t you start trying on what I lay out for you?” she asked.

She was in there for about five minutes before coming out and letting me in. I walked in to see outfits strung together as they hung on hangers from steel hooks on the walls. There was only a curtain for a door, which I found peculiar. I grabbed the first outfit on my right and got into it. There was a mirror in the dressing room and I looked at myself before showing Katie, who was hollering at me from outside.

Was this me? Sure, I looked nice, and sure, Blake would like it, but I felt like somebody else. I wasn’t sure if it was the makeup, hair, nails, and outfit together, but this was more Nicolette and less Penny. I looked like the mean girls who used to bully me in high school. Well, I wasn’t calling Nicolette a mean girl, but yeah, I was sure those mean girls would envy me right now.

I walked out to Katie, who turned around from the racks of clothes she was searching before she put her hands to her face and gasped happily.

“
You look so good. Wow, just wow,” she said, clapping a little.

“
I’m not sure about it,” I said.

“
What’s wrong with it? It fits you perfectly,” she said.

“
It’s just not…
me
,” I said.

“
Well, that’s why we’re here today, Penny. To get you some new clothes and broaden your horizons to different clothes and looks that you maybe wouldn’t have ever tried before. They’re only clothes. They aren’t permanent. I say give them a chance and then if you really don’t like them, you don’t have to wear them any longer. What will it hurt?” she asked.

I looked at myself in the mirror again, really looked at myself, and figured that she was right, in a sense. They were just clothes and it wasn’t like I was getting a tattoo or something. I could just donate them to Nicolette if I really hated them.

Katie took me through a few more stores before I had about seven shirts, five pairs of pants, two dresses, and a new pair of shoes that went with the gala dress I got in advance. I hugged her goodbye, which was her idea, not mine, and Gustav took me back to my place, where I grabbed everything and struggled to get up the stairs to my apartment, which just had to be up five flights of stairs. I was really regretting that living situation now.

Nicolette wasn’t home when I got back, which was probably good because now I wouldn’t have to model more clothes for her like I had to for Katie. I could stuff them in my closet and never say a word. It was great.

After shoving everything away, I lay back on my bed, unbuttoned my pants, and listened to the deafening sound of traffic outside, as I finally felt calm and not pressured for the first time today. Never again.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Penelope

Days had passed since my last encounter with Blake, and I was starting to think I missed him. We’d had plans for tonight, but he had to cancel for a last-minute trip to Seattle for business. I was lucky it was Saturday, though, and Nicolette was home all day with me.

She freaked out when she saw my new look and made me tell her step-by-step everything that happened at the salon. She sat there with a pillow in her lap, so jealous that I got the full treatment. She even wanted me to show her my waxing because she was thinking of getting one and wanted to see what it looked like. I very firmly said no to that request. I hadn’t been able to get my hair exactly like Antoine had, which I guessed was to be expected because he was a professional and the only thing I was a pro at was stuffing twenty marshmallows in my mouth within a minute.

Nicolette had been showing me some makeup tips before she went out a couple nights this past week. She didn’t actually do anything to me, only to herself, but I watched her and tried to figure out how to make myself actually presentable. I was hoping it would prove useful for the gala dinner, which wasn’t too far away.