The Turning (8 page)

“You must be a very special woman, Kelly. I’ve never known him to do anything like this for a woman. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him mention a woman in his life before and I’ve never seen him at any functions with a lady before.”

“That’s interesting,” Nicole hissed in my ear and I knew we would be talking about that as soon as we were alone.

“I’m not sure how special I am, Samantha, but thank you for saying that, and for fitting us in so last minute. I hope we didn’t disrupt your schedule too much?”

“Not at all! Mr. Grady is an incredibly valued customer, even though he doesn’t visit us often his assistant is here a lot. Mr. Grady is exceptionally generous to his staff, and gives them bonuses frequently. And most times it’s a spa day here with us,” Samantha said with a big smile. Wow, even her teeth were perfect.

“Well that’s awfully nice of Brian. I have a feeling he’s doing the same for Nicole and I, we both just finished medical school last week. We passed all of our exams and board certifications. So I figured that’s why Brian gave us a day to relax and has asked us to the ball tonight.” I said, trying to hide the fact that I felt a lot like his mistress right now. But then I also wanted to smack myself in the head for oversharing.

So is she. Then again, probably just so I’d feel comfortable and answer any questions she has to get insight into Brian.
I shook my head. She hadn’t asked me any.

“That’s wonderful, congratulations to you both. How long have you known Mr. Grady?”

Well, guess my instincts were right after all. She’s pumping me for info.
“Not very long,” I stated quickly before Nicole could answer, keeping things vague without being rude. “What is on the schedule for us today?”

I changed the subject immediately since I knew the other questions that were likely to come next. And I had no idea how to answer any of them.

“We have you both down for full body massages, manicures, and pedicures, and finally time with our stylists to do your hair for tonight. If you need a trim, just let the stylist know and he will accommodate. Here is your room. It has two massage tables so you can be together. Let me know if you need anything.”

She walked away about as fast as she had appeared. That must be how she keeps that figure, running around all day.

“Geez, she was a little strange. But this is like surreal, Kelly,” Nicole muttered once we were in the room alone undressing. “Mr. Grady has never had another lady here. Wow, what did you do to this guy? Give him some kind of love potion?”

Part of me wanted to say that I was just that good in bed and that a man would do anything for me. We quickly got naked, lay down on the tables, and covered our butts with the towels provided.

“Yes, that’s it, I’m a witch on the side. Didn’t I ever tell you?” I was going to say more but the door opened and two guys walked in who looked like they had just come off the set of Baywatch.

“Hello, ladies, I’m Derrick and this Antonio. We’ll be giving you massages today.” They immediately got to work, and I have to say… I was so relaxed I kind of wanted to sleep. But then I would have missed out on the pampering. Nicole and I talked a little here and there, but mainly we only made groans and happy sounds.

After the guys excused themselves, we put on the very plush bathrobes left for us and were led to where the manicurists were waiting to work on our fingers and toes at the same time. I looked down at my phone and realized it was already a little after one pm. We had to get our butts in gear.

As our nails were drying, two nice looking men came up to us, and said they would be doing our hair and to please follow them. As we did, Nicole and I compared the nail colors we chose. I’d picked an iridescent silver, while she had chosen a more bold red. That was Nicole, bold worked for her and she knew it. That is part of why we always got along so well; we complemented each other without ever having to compete.

“Do either of you need a trim?” the man who had introduced himself as Greg asked.

“I’m fine. Nicole?”

“No thanks, I just had one a few weeks ago,” she said while giving her stylist, Eric, the come hither look. We followed them over to the sinks to get our hair washed and conditioned, then sat back down on the stools. Greg stepped away and I started to brush my hair.

“Oh dear, that’s why I get paid. You do nothing, Kelly.” Greg tried to chastise me but I saw the big grin on his face. I smiled back and apologized gracefully. “Besides, I don’t get women often with all this gorgeous natural blonde hair. And today I get to play with it and make you look even more beautiful. Makes a man love his job.”

“All the hair won’t be a problem, right? I’ve had some, um, issues in the past,” I hedged, not wanting to insult him.

“Not at all, chickie, you are in good hands. They only hire the best stylists here. What kind of problems did you have?” He raised an eyebrow at me in the mirror and I could tell he had the perfect personality for the job… A little gossip at heart.

I told him and Eric about my disaster before senior prom. I had gone to a well-known salon to get my hair done. I guess the girl was a little newer and an hour into her working on my hair she started crying and saying she couldn’t do it.

“Do what?” I had asked her. She told me she couldn’t finish my hair, I just had too much. Greg and Eric busted out laughing, they had to hold their sides they were hooting so hard. Nicole had heard this story before, but she was still sitting there with that goofy grin she gets when she finds something funny.

“So what happened? I would have punched the bitch,” Greg declared very seriously and he wasn’t lying.

“They sent over another girl who specialized in long hair. She did a fantastic job, but she had to undo everything the other girl had done and do it all over again. I was there for about three hours and had to race home and barely made it to my friend’s house in time for pictures.” That had been a crazy day in general.

I remember having a pretty good time, but I wasn’t much of a partier, and it wasn’t like the proms you see at the movies. “I did have the most gorgeous dress. I actually hated it at first, but it looked great on me, and it was the only one left in my size. I figured it was fate since my mom and I had been looking for hours and we saw this one right as we were about to give up.”

“Well, did your hair even look this good for the prom?” Greg asked me as he spun the chair around to face the mirror. What he had done was amazing! About half my now curly hair was pulled up and clipped with these sparkling clear rhinestones that hung down from them. The other half was left down so it almost gave the illusion that my head was a waterfall of hair. It was absolutely gorgeous.

“Not even close, Greg. You are
fantastic
!” I turned to look at Nicole, and she looked unbelievable as well. Her hair was shorter than mine, and it was all pulled up into some kind of pattern with little pieces hanging down. “Holy shit, you look great, Nic. Eric I deem you a genius as well.” I reached for my purse and pulled out my wallet, but before I could even grab any money, Greg interrupted me and put his hand over mine.

“Mr. Grady already gave us a very generous tip and was very specific that this was his treat. But thank you, Kelly, you really are such a sweetie. I can see why he is so enamored with you. If I was straight, I might try to steal you,” he chuckled, giving me a wink.

I laughed a little, stood on my toes, and planted a big kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Greg. Thank you really doesn’t cover it, though, for making me look model worthy for once in my life.” I quickly grabbed one of his business cards and a pen. “But here is my number, if you ever need anything medical, you call me.”

“No shit, you’re a doc?” he asked, his eyes going wide.

“Yes, Nicole too. Thank you again.” I smiled at him and Eric and gave a little wave as I called Kevin to tell him we were ready. I thanked Samantha again as we were walking out the door, and she had me sign a card saying which services we’d just had.

I offered to pay, but again I was told Mr. Grady had already handled it. Kevin pulled up just as we walked out of the spa, got out, and opened the door for us. We got in very carefully being cautious of our hair, and I was just grateful I had already showered today.

“Thank god I had already showered when you called me this morning,” Nicole leaned in and whispered to me. I just laughed, she really was like my sister. And sometimes I thought we shared a brain. She just kind of looked at me funny while she talked to Kevin. “Where to next, Kevin?”

“We will be going to one of Mr. Grady’s stores where you can get your dresses and shoes and whatever else ladies get for these occasions.” He was biting back a smile that let Nicole and I know that he was trying to be a man’s man, but he was having just as much fun as we were.

Well maybe not as much, but he was having fun. We pulled up to one of the largest boutiques on Michigan Avenue and he put the car in park. He was out like a flash and had the door open for us seconds later. As we got out, I had a thought.

“Kevin can you come in with us? I realize that’s not part of the job, and this is probably not your scene, but it would be nice to have a man’s opinion on what we look at.” I asked, wanting to include him, plus a guy’s opinion never really hurt.

“As you wish, my lady,” he said while giving me an outlandish bow as he held the door open for us. Nicole and I just turned to each other and laughed. Then a very pretty, young brunette walked up to us.

“You must be Miss Murphy and Miss Thomas. We are all ready for you.”

“Please, call us Kelly and Nicole, and you are?” I asked, not wanting all the formalities if this woman was going to see me in next to nothing while helping me change.

“My name is Tanya. Mr. Grady told us you were about a ten or twelve, but he didn’t know what size Nicole is. I’d guess about the same?”

“Yes, that’s right, sometimes smaller, since Kelly has been blessed with a rack and I got skipped over in that area,” Nicole said as she poked me. That was one of our jokes of why we couldn’t always share clothes, she didn’t fill some of mine in and I would stretch out some of hers. It always made me laugh, since the joke was good natured. I knew Nicole loved the way she looked and she knew how pretty she was.

Then they started pulling out everything that was appropriate for the evening in our sizes and held them up for display. I felt like Julia Roberts in
Pretty Woman
, when the women were nice to her, and she just sat there and watched them bring all the clothes to her.

The moment I had that thought I was sorry I had. It seemed the analogy reaffirmed my worry that I was being bought off with everything as payment for sex. I shook the idea off, Brian didn’t tell me anything about any arrangements before sex, nor did I even know that he was rich. These were just presents and he was trying to be nice. But after the sex, was that really any different?

Nicole snapped me out of my thoughts. “Hello, Kelly? Earth to, Kelly!”

“Oh sorry, I was just thinking. What did you say?”

She laughed. “You goof. I was saying I liked that red one, and it matches my nails, and I really like that lavender one for you.”

I looked at the dress before I answered. “Wow, that is perfect. Can I see that?” The attendant handed it to me, and I held it up against my body. It looked like it would fit perfectly.

It was strapless, but with silk sleeves that attached to the bodice so the shoulders were bare. The bodice front wouldn’t leave much to the imagination, but it was very tasteful and beautiful. A silky light lavender with just a few sparkles here and there. The skirt flared very slightly with a sheer layer over it, which formed an upside down vee in the front. The dress was long, with just a hint of a train on it. There was also a sheer part that draped over my back that seemed to attach to my sleeves. I ran to the dressing room so excited I didn’t even think about slowing down to look normal.

“Geez, Kelly, I didn’t know you could run that fast,” Nicole said as she walked into the dressing room partition next to mine. “Well you should be excited, girl. You deserve pampering.”

I chuckled a little, and carefully put on the dress. I couldn’t reach the zipper by myself, so I stepped out and let Tanya help me, while the other woman helped Nicole. I didn’t catch her name, and I was too excited to worry about normal manners. I’m sure I’d feel guilty later about being rude.

The dress fit me perfectly! It was like it was designed specifically for me. I put on the silver strappy shoes Tanya handed me before I looked in the mirror.

Holy shit! Is that me?

Wow, I looked damn good! I really did look like a princess out of some romance novel, just missing the tiara.

I stood, amazed the reflection I was staring at was mine, as Nicole came and stood next to me. I gasped. “Nicole, you look so beautiful. I thought you were hot before, but damn girl, you look like a model.” Nicole’s dress was a deep red that hung only on one shoulder and was very form fitting except for the very big slit up the right side that showed off her athletic leg.

“Right back at you, babe. I’ve known you since undergrad, and I’ve never seen you look more amazing. You’re making me wonder if I should switch teams and start going after girls. But damn you’re taken.” She snickered, giving me kissy faces. I just looked at her and knew she was kidding, and like teens, we busted into a fit of giggles.

We realized it was already half past four and hurried back into our dressing rooms to carefully remove the dresses with the help of the women who worked there. As I took off the dress I noticed the price tag and almost fainted.

“Nicole, my dress is fifty-five hundred dollars. Holy shit, I can’t get this!”

“Shit mine is four grand! Crap, Kelly, I can’t afford that,” she whined. I could almost hear her start to cry; she really loved that dress.

“Kelly, Nicole, Mr. Grady already told me that everything was taken care of,” Tanya told us gently. “He said you were to pick anything you wanted, and I was to make sure you didn’t see the price tag. Please don’t tell him, I really don’t want him to be upset with me.”