My One and Only(28)
They both stepped back to assess Haleigh’s reflection in the full-length mirror.
“Maybe a shorter dress,” Jessi suggested.
“This one already hits mid-thigh,” Haleigh argued, tugging on the thin material. “If I go any shorter, I’ll be arrested for indecent exposure.”
Reaching for a polka-dotted pouch, Jessi said, “Sit down on the bed so I can do your makeup.”
Haleigh obeyed the order. “I don’t see why I can’t apply some lipstick and go.”
Opening an eye shadow palette of varying shades, Jessi stared down at her canvas with an expression of pity. “I get that you’re naturally gorgeous, which is really annoying, by the way, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a little effort.”
Rolling her eyes, Haleigh said, “I am not naturally gorgeous. I’m too thin, my eyes are too close together, and I have bushy eyebrows.”
“Full brows are in,” Jessi informed her as she dug in the bottom of the pouch. “Lucky for you, we have the same color eyes so my stuff will work for you, too.” Whipping out a small brush, she said, “Now close your eyes.”
“Please don’t make me look like a clown,” Haleigh said.
With a hand on her hip, the teen said, “Are you saying I look like a clown?”
Jessi’s look might be considered bold, but she’d never crossed into clown territory. At least not in the few days Haleigh had known her.
“Forget I said that.” She closed her eyes. “Make me up.”
For several minutes Haleigh followed orders to open wider and look this way or that. When the artist was satisfied with her work, she stepped back and said, “Now you’re ready.”
Walking to the mirror, Haleigh almost didn’t recognize the face staring back. Gold eye shadow made her eyes pop, her cheekbones had been contoured to perfection, and thanks to Jessi’s steady hand, Haleigh’s eyes were lined with a slight flare at the corners. She looked like a blonder, less-edgy version of her makeup artist.
“That’s amazing,” she said, turning left and right. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“YouTube,” the youngster answered. Of course.
While Haleigh continued to examine her look, Jessi said, “Not that it’s any of my business, but based on your lack of club outfits, I’m guessing you don’t go out like this very much?”
“I do not.” Haleigh spun to make sure the dress covered her bottom.
“Why not?” she asked. “You’re single and still kind of young. Why stay cooped up here when you’re not at work?”
Ignoring the kind of young part, Haleigh answered with a half-truth. “I hit my quota of club hopping a long time ago. At a certain point, you grow up and standing in a room full of rowdy strangers loses its appeal.”
“But then why are you going tonight?”
The nosy question should have annoyed her, but Haleigh had grown to like the cheerful teen and that bought the girl a pass.
“Have you ever just wanted to feel normal?” she asked. “To shut down the crap churning through your brain and pretend that your life isn’t a bowl of rotten cherries?”
Jessi sat on the bed. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced normal.”
Haleigh’s heart went out to the young woman. It wasn’t often she met someone who made her own childhood look like a Rockwell painting.
Settling onto the bed next to her, Haleigh said, “To be honest, I’m not sure I have either, but I’ve heard good things about it.”
“Funny,” Jessi said. “I’ve heard it’s pretty boring.”
Laughing at the comment, Haleigh shook her head. “Sounds like you have better sources than I do.”
“Is Cooper going to be there tonight?”
She hadn’t considered the possibility, but knew that he and Spencer were good friends. A fissure of awareness tripped up her spine at the thought of seeing him. Of dancing with him. Yet another temptation she would need to avoid if the offer arose. Close bodily contact with Cooper Ridgeway would only drag her closer to an edge she had no business walking.
“He might be,” she replied, rising to her feet. “Thanks for helping me out, Jessi. Are you sure you don’t mind being here alone this evening?”
“I have Emma,” she said, and as if on cue, the baby’s cry echoed down the hall. “Looks like I better get a bottle ready.”
As the new mother left the room, Haleigh once again checked her reflection in the mirror. The woman looking back wasn’t an alcoholic or a tragic disappointment to her mother. Now all she had to do was walk by the bar without hearing her mother’s hateful voice in her ear.