As luck would have it, Chad had found the perfect gown at the very first place they had visited, and the price had been surprisingly affordable given the excellent condition the garment was in and the high quality of the fabric. Her luck had continued when Julio had triumphantly unearthed a pair of gold, strappy high-heeled sandals in her size that had been marked down for final clearance. On their way home, Chad had assured her that she'd be a knock-out in this ensemble, fitting in easily with the other women attending the ball in their designer duds.
Sasha wasn't all that worried about how she would look this evening. Even though it had been more than a decade since she'd last competed in ballroom dance, the performance skills that had been drilled into her from a young age hadn't been completely forgotten. Dressing up for the part she would be expected to play this evening wasn't the concern so much as acting the role. Spending the evening drinking champagne and making polite small talk with a roomful of wealthy, sophisticated socialites wasn't exactly her idea of a fun time, and she had a feeling that she'd be practicing her calming, deep breathing techniques off and on all night.
'This is for Matthew,' she reminded herself sternly. 'To make him happy. And in the scheme of things, it's just a few hours out of time. So suck it up, smile, and do it for his sake. And maybe it won't be as bad as you think.'
But she had to keep reminding herself of the reason she'd agreed to do this, especially when she walked back inside the bathroom where Julia was busily arranging her makeup brushes, eyeshadow palettes, tubes and pencils, swabs and sponges. Even during her competition days, Sasha had never seen so many cosmetics assembled in one place. On the contrary, because their budget had always been so tight, she and her mother had usually shared supplies and made do with a bare minimum.
"Julia," reminded Sasha calmly. "You're only making up Tessa and me, not the entire cast of Cirque du Soleil."
Julia smiled impishly. "I have a weakness for makeup. Along with clothes and shoes and purses. So sue me. Now, let's do you first, Sasha, just in case you don't like what I've done. That way we can start over again if necessary. But I promise I'll take it easy."
Half an hour later, Sasha was pleased to see that Julia had been true to her word. Sasha's pale gold skin glowed and virtually sparkled with the dusting of gold-flecked bronzer that Julia had applied discreetly. Her green-gold eyes looked larger and more mysterious with their subtle shading and soft lining, while her eyebrows had been lightly tweezed and groomed. For the lips, Julia had used a nude gloss with peachy undertones. Overall, the effect was low-key and natural, two elements that Sasha had stressed she wanted when she had agreed to let Julia do her makeup tonight.
"You look gorgeous," assured Tessa as she surveyed Julia's handiwork. "Julia is as much of an artist with makeup as she is with interior design."
Julia grinned as she waved around a thick blusher brush. "Some artists use their brushes to paint on canvas. I use mine to make beautiful women look even more so. Your turn now, Tessa."
An hour later both Sasha and Tessa were both dressed and ready, turning around slowly for a final inspection by Julia, who admittedly was living vicariously through them both this evening.
Julia sighed, sinking down onto the padded bench in front of the bathroom vanity, her hand splayed over her belly. "It seems like an eternity since I was getting dressed up for an evening out on the town," she fretted. "And it's going to be even longer before I lose all this baby weight and can wiggle back into any of my pretty things. I'm so big I can't even fit behind the wheel of my car any longer. And if I move the seat back too much then my legs are too short to reach the pedals. So I need to rely on Nathan to drive me everywhere."
Sasha rubbed Julia's midsection soothingly. "It's all right. Because very soon you'll have your beautiful baby boys to love and cuddle. And all of this will be worth it. Tell you what. As a little thank you for helping me get ready tonight, I'll borrow a car and drive over to your place one day next week for a pre-natal massage since it's so difficult for you to get around."
Julia's face lit up. "You have no idea how amazing that sounds. Between my aching back and swollen ankles, not to mention how often these two kick me, I could definitely use a massage."
"Consider it done. I'll call you on Monday to set something up."
And then Ian, who had offered to get ready in one of the spare bedrooms, was calling out from the doorway, "Time to leave, ladies. The limo is waiting for us downstairs. And Nathan is here for you, Julia."