“You’re getting me into more things,” she said, holding a bag with her new dress and clothes that she would wear to dinner. Aaron grinned.
“You’ll look back on all of this and be glad. I promise.” He took her arm and they left, pausing while he locked up.
When they greeted her at the salon, she couldn’t believe her day was turning out this way. It commenced with a massage. As she relaxed, she thought of the contrast with her life the first night after the tornado and how she had fallen into bed about four in the morning and slept two hours to get up and go back to work helping people.
She had her first manicure and first pedicure, which both seemed unnecessary. In the afternoon she had a facial. Following the facial, a salon attendant washed her hair and passed her over to the stylist to cut and blow-dry her hair. By the time she was done, Stella felt like a different woman. Instead of straight brown hair that fell halfway down her back, her hair was now just inches above shoulder length. It fell in a silky curtain that curled under, with slight bangs that were brushed to one side.
Next, a professional did her makeup and took time to show Stella how to apply it herself.
By late afternoon when she looked in the mirror, Stella couldn’t recognize herself. She realized that she had so rarely ever tried makeup and then only lipstick that it gave her an entirely different appearance, although the biggest change was her hair.
The salon women gushed over the transformation that was amazing to her. Finally, she dressed for the evening.
“I really don’t even know myself,” she told the tall blonde named Gretchen at the reception desk.
“You look gorgeous. Perfect. The dress you brought is also perfect. We hope you love everything—your makeup, your hair and your nails.”
She smiled at Gretchen. “I’ll admit that I do,” she said, pleased by the result and wondering what Aaron would think. “I’ve had the same hairdo since I was in college. It became a habit and it was easy. It’s amazing how different I look,” she said, turning slightly to look at herself in the mirror. The red silk dress fit her changing waistline; her old clothes were beginning to feel slightly tight in the waist because of her pregnancy.
She still wore her black wool coat and couldn’t see any reason for a new coat. When she thanked them and left, Sid smiled at her as he held the limo door.
“You look great,” he said appreciatively. “Mr. Nichols isn’t going to know you.”
“Thanks, Sid. I don’t feel quite like me.”
“Might as well make the most of it,” he said, and grinned. “You’ll turn heads tonight.”
“You think? Sid, that would be a first,” she admitted, laughing as she climbed into the limo and he closed the door.
* * *
Midafternoon Aaron went home to shower and change into a charcoal suit, a custom-made white dress shirt and a red tie. He returned to the office to spend the rest of the day catching up on paperwork. Just as he was ready to leave, he was delayed by a phone call. It only took a few minutes, but he guessed he might not get to the restaurant ahead of Stella, so he sent her a text.
He had received a call from the businessmen who’d had dinner with them last night, and they wanted to donate $20,000 to Royal’s relief efforts, which he thought would be another boost to Stella’s self-confidence. Aaron knew Stella hadn’t faced the fact that she was filling in for the mayor as Royal’s representative to the outside world even if it wasn’t official. She was filling in and getting better at it all the time.