Elly In Bloom (29 page)

Kim jumped in. “Elly, we aren’t worried about Sunny. We’re worried about you. We just want you to do the best thing for you. I think that you may be making this decision emotionally, out of some stubborn desire…”

Snarky Teenager spoke quietly. “I think you may be mistaking Aaron hiring you for his wedding with Aaron coming back for you.”

Everyone fell silent, as Snarky Teenager had spoken the words that everyone thought but didn’t want to say. Elly put her drink on the table where she sat and looked her workers and best friend in the eyes. “Please understand. I know it won’t be easy. I know that it will probably break me a little more. But I need to do this. I need a resolution. I need my heart to be free from Aaron.” She raised her eyes to the ceiling and muttered quickly: “I also may need to pay off my apartment.”

Kim shrieked. “Are you kidding me!? This is about
money
?”

Elly hung her head. “Maybe. But it’s mostly about reclaiming myself. Kim, I need you to trust me. I will not have my heart held captive by Aaron Schuster forever.” She looked right into Kim’s sea glass eyes. “I have thought this through. I talked to Keith about it for hours yesterday.” Elly couldn’t be sure, but she thought she glimpsed a wink of pleasure in Kim’s eyes when she said Keith’s name. “This isn’t a rash decision. It’s not something I decided because I felt guilty. I was all for declining the wedding yesterday. But I’ve thought it through - I
need
to do this. And yes, the money is almost too good to refuse.” They stared back at her. “Fine. I’ll give you each a $500 bonus for doing the wedding.”

“SOLD!” said Anthony, banging his hand like a gavel. Snarky Teenager gave her a thumbs-up and headed to the back room to get started on the day’s designing, followed by Anthony, who was looking at color swatches.

Kim and Elly sat alone. Elly ran her hands over her now cool hot chocolate. She looked pensively at Kim. “I can’t do this without you. I need you to support this decision.”

Kim lay back in her seat and rested her hand on her swollen apple belly. “So what’s the next step?”

Elly could have kissed her with relief. “In two days, I have the final consultation scheduled with Sunny and Lucia. I actually think that will be the hardest part. I don’t know if I’ll be able to be in a room with her.” Elly stood and tossed her cup into the trash, as Kim waddled over to the cooler and helped herself to some Blue River delphinium and pale pink lisanthus.

“Don’t take all the lisanthus; I’m pairing it later with some black magic roses,” Elly instructed.

Kim stood back and looked at her arrangement. “I miss designing so much.” She plunked her arrangement sadly into a petite glass vase ringed with pink dots. Brushing her hands on her black lace maternity shirt, she sat down at the table. “Well, I guess if you’re meeting with Lucia in two days, then we have a lot of work to do.”

This caught Elly off guard. “What do I need to do? I already showed everything to Sunny, so we don’t need another centerpiece or table trial. We’re just supposed to run over the contract with the bride.” Elly forced herself to say the woman’s name, a hot liquid on her tongue.

“Lucia. I need to run over the contract with Lucia.” She paused, proud of herself for being so mature. “THAT WHORE!” she yelled, kicking a trash can and sending stems all over the floor.

Kim raised her hands defensively and backed away from Elly. “Yeah, okay. See, that’s what I was talking about. We have a lot of work to do.”

Elly shrugged her shoulders with exasperation. “I’m not at peace with this. I’ve made the decision to do this wedding, but I can’t change that I’m not over him completely.”

Kim smiled at her coyly. “No, you can’t. But you can pretend that you are.”

The swivel chair seemed barely strong enough to hold Elly, as the hairstylist swung her around to face the mirror. Kita looked to be about 18 years old and fresh off the boat from some Eastern European nation that bred supermodels. She had black spiky hair, a nose ring, lush dark eyelashes and a tattoo of a wolf fighting an eagle. Her harsh beauty made Elly feel uncomfortable. Kim had brought her to Krasa, an elite salon in Ladue. Every surface and wall was white, and the place had the feeling of a stylish mental institution. All the stylists wore black and each station had a single orchid on the table. There were no magazines, no couches, no waiting area. Bizarre piano melodies were pumped out of loud speakers set inside the walls.
Isaac would like this crazy music
, thought Elly affectionately. She was surprised by the warm feelings coursing through her at the thought of his name.

Kita lifted Elly’s glasses off her face and pushed her hair back, peering closely at Elly’s puffy eyes. “You want her to look younger, yes?”

“Yes,” Kim piped in. “In two days she is meeting with the woman who stole her husband.” Kita clicked her tongue.

“I have stolen many husbands in my day, but their wives were all happy to let me take them.” She winked at Elly. “But some were better than others.”

Her red lips quivered next to her ear.
This crazy girl is going to lick me
, thought Elly. Kita straightened her back and stretched her arms above her head, pulling up her black t-shirt so that Elly was able to glimpse a perfect stomach, complete with a pink rhinestone belly ring.

“Here is what Kita will do for you,” she announced as she leaned backward against the mirror. “Kita can tame unruly curls into gorgeous tendrils. Your coloring is awful, unsophisticated and bland. I will lighten the hair to a wheat blond, with strawberry gold and butterscotch highlights.”

“Am I getting a sundae or a hair cut?” joked Elly.

No one laughed. Kita curled her lip.
Stupid fat woman,
Elly thought
, always thinking of food
.

“After the coloring, we’ll trim the ends and add side swept bangs.” Kita glanced at her fingernails. “You could use manicure, pedicure, brow and bikini wax, and facial scrub, yes?”

Elly started to decline but Kim interrupted her. “Yes! She could.”

Elly shot a nasty look in her direction.

“I’m pregnant” Kim said, grinning wickedly, “And therefore you will do as I say.”

Kita sighed loudly, her time obviously being wasted by their banter.

“I can do all this,” she circled her hands around Elly, implying that “this” was Elly, “for $700.”

Elly started to climb out of the torture chair. “Absolutely not! That is -”

“That’s reasonable,” said Kim over Elly’s voice. “I’m treating, so yes that sounds reasonable.”

Elly stared at Kim. “Kim! You cannot pay that much to make me look a little bit nicer.”

Kita spun on her spiked stiletto and leaned over Elly menacingly, her perfect face alarmingly close. “A little bit nicer? Kita will not make you look a
little bit nicer
. Kita will make you look like a new woman. This woman who steals husband will not hold a candle to Kita’s work!” Kita put a strong hand on Elly’s shoulder and pushed her back into the chair roughly. “Now you sit and let Kita work. NO TALKING!”

Kim waddled towards the door.

“Where are you going?” whispered Elly. “Don’t leave me alone here!”

Kim smiled. “Call me when you are done. All the sudden, I’m craving a turkey burger with feta cheese and a chocolate milk shake and I’m going to find one.”

Elly opened her mouth to ask Kim to bring her one when she felt Kita’s bony fingers on her chin, pushing her mouth shut. “I cannot study your face while your mouth is open. No more talking. Besides, you do not need burger.”

Elly sat quietly while Kita peered at her every pore, mumbling to herself as she went. “Eyebrows of Genghis Khan, hairline is slanted,” and Elly couldn’t be sure, but thought she heard, “Double chins.”

This is going to be a long day
, she thought.

Soon, Elly was lying back in a cold hard chair, her hair being violently washed by Kita. “So, this woman, who steal husband? She beautiful?”

Elly squinted her eyes shut to avoid the shampoo dripping down her face. “Unfortunately, she’s pretty much the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I mean, morally reprehensible, but very beautiful.”

Kita roughly wiped a towel over Elly’s face. “Well, beauty is not everything. The inside, it is what counts.”

Elly opened one eye and peered at Kita, a stunning creature in her own right. “Do you really believe that?”

Kita smiled, revealing dazzling white teeth.
She’s a vampire
, thought Elly. “Not at all. Beauty is only true measure of success. But Kita will make you as sexy as possible.”

Elly closed her eyes and exhaled for the first time since she had learned about Lucia. “Do your best. At this point, I have nothing to lose.”

It took five hours. First there was the hair washing, coloring, and highlighting. This took two hours, for most of which Elly was forced to abject humiliation by walking around the salon with tin foil on her head like Winnie the Pooh with a motorcycle helmet on. Then came the waxing - the brows were not that bad, neither was her upper lip. There was a moment of agony, and then sweet hairless bliss. However, when Kita hoisted Elly’s naked leg up upon her shoulder and applied burning hot wax onto her upper thigh and nether regions, Elly felt a rush of fear.

“Um, Kita? I don’t really see how waxing that area will help me here. I’m positive Lucia will not be looking THAT closely at me. In fact, I just feel that I should tell you that no one sees me that closely.”

Kita moved her leg aside, grunting under the weight of it. “You not get bikini wax for someone else. You get bikini wax for you.”

“That’s the problem.” Elly quipped back. “I’m completely happy going a little more natural.”

Kita squinted down at her. “That is not natural. That is rainforest.” And with that, Kita reached down and ripped the wax off, flourishing her prize high above her head. Elly let out an unattractive howl. In the interest of distracting Elly from the searing pain below, Kita then smoothed Elly’s brain into mush with a rejuvenating facial and head massage.

“I love you,” murmured Elly as Kita softly rubbed her temples.

“So does everyone,” Kita confirmed.

Finally, after five hours of primping, pulling and the all-out torture of a bikini wax, Elly was ready. She sat with her back to the mirror, Kita putting some finishing touches on her lip gloss.

“Now, I send this home with you, so you can do yourself, yes?” Elly nodded, subdued by this gothic princess. “You show that woman that she cannot own you.” Elly smiled at her. “Okay, you start like potato pauper Ablachi”
– I’m not sure what that means
, thought Elly – “And now you are like royal princess.”

Several stylists had gathered around Kita and were whispering excitedly. She smiled proudly and spun the chair around. Elly gave a sharp inhale and clasped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes brimmed with happiness. She looked…..sumptuous. Yes, she thought, that was the word. Her plump lips shimmered in a light honey. Her cheekbones jutted out, and every flaw she’d previously found in her face was covered by a healthy glow. What drew her in most were her eyes and hair. Elly’s curls, which were always obnoxiously bouncy, had been coaxed into soft tendrils that flowed around her face. Her dishwater blonde had been lightened to a rich golden blond, with creamy wheat lowlights. Her eyes, lined with a dark shadow, radiated light and confidence.

“Oh my God.” Elly heard Kim behind her. “Elly, you look…I mean… WOW!”

Elly burst into laughter, pulling Kita down into a hug, which she strictly protested. “Okay, okay, no need to be emotional.” She pushed back, but not before Elly glimpsed a sly smile on her dramatic face.

Kim walked over and proceeded to stroke her hair. “Elly, it looks so beautiful!”

“Stop touching it!” cried Elly, slapping her hands away. “You’ll mess it up!”

Elly wandered over to a large gilded mirror and stared at herself. The red, bloodshot eyes of the last three days were gone, and in their place bright aquamarine jewels gazed back at her, fringed with dark lashes. Elly felt a surge of self-esteem return, one that she had missed, and it raced to her toes, lighting up her mood. She was
beautiful.

Kim settled the bill, tipping Kita such a ridiculous amount that Elly was forced to look away.

Kita kissed Elly lightly on the cheek, “You go get this woman, yes?”

Elly nodded, her heart full of gratitude. “Thank you, Kita.”

Kita smiled and walked briskly back to her station, her five-inch stilettos clicking. When she and Kim walked out of the salon, Elly was surprised to see that it was already dark. “What should we do with my new fabulousness?” she cried, flipping her hair obnoxiously. “Dogtown?” Elly stepped down off the curb.

“Oh no,” said Kim, “You already have plans tonight.”

“I’m sorry?”

Kim reached in her purse and pulled out Elly’s beat up cell phone. “Turns out this ancient thing texts. I sent Isaac a message saying that you wanted to go out for a nice dinner tonight followed by some wine at home. Wink, wink”

Elly’s mouth dropped open. “You did what? Did you – wait, what? How am I? Does he know?”

“Calm down, stop hyperventilating, you’ll wreck your face.”

Elly leaned her head against the cool window. “What did you do?”