Chapter 16 #2
Jamie didn’t have to think about a single thing that afternoon.
Everywhere she turned, she was pampered with kindness and extravagance.
She didn’t even have to peruse the wares at the boutique on her own.
She sat on a plush couch, drinking expensive Champagne and having both Gladys and Monique pick things out for her.
Cashmere. Exquisite silks. Fine, handstitched lace and beadwork.
Wherever Jamie turned, her favorite colors appeared, draping across her arm or gracing her feet.
Monique insisted that a pair of white gloves was just what Jamie needed, even though she had never owned a pair in her life.
The woman walked around so much, grabbing this and that, mulling them over to herself, and then tossing them at Jamie that the special woman of the day worried that her friend would overextend her delicate disposition.
Yet Monique didn’t sit down to rest until it was time for Jamie to try on and model some clothes.
They left the boutique with four new outfits, gloves, shoes, and enough accessories to decorate a bridal party. The driver helped Gladys pack them into the back of the car. Jamie thought this was the end of her time with Monique, but she was informed that there was still the salon to contend with.
“What are we doing?” Raul asked, playing with Jamie’s hair. Monique sat in a chair by the workstation and stared at Jamie’s reflection. Both the stylist and friend seemed to be looking at her from another dimension. Do I get an opinion? Apparently not.
“Give her a wave. A few curls.” Monique nodded at her own suggestion. “Nothing too elaborate. Should look effortless.”
“With this beautiful hair? Easy.”
While Jamie was pampered in the stylist’s chair, a woman she sometimes saw stopped by with a makeup kit and a selection of nail polishes.
Jamie had never sprung for the full stylist’s special at this salon because…
well, she wasn’t sure why. Because she never had a reason to?
I do today, even though I don’t know what for.
By now, Jamie was going with it. It couldn’t be that bad if Monique was in on it. Maybe.
Her nails were painted faint lavender. It wasn’t a color Jamie would ever choose for herself, but it melded flawlessly with her light skin.
So did the makeup palette chosen, a glorious assortment of purples and light blues that lined her lips, her eyes, and touched up her cheeks.
By the time the makeup artist was done with her, Raul was also finished, showing off Jamie’s locks of wavy hair that looked as fresh as they always did whenever she stepped out of this salon.
I barely recognize myself. It didn’t help that she wore this fancy makeup with her plain black sweater and otherwise drab jeans. They were a far cry from the dress Monique wore or even the half-suit bedecking the stylist’s body.
“This is where we part,” Monique said outside of the salon. “Your driver will take you to the penthouse. Everything will make sense after that.”
Jamie took Monique by the hand before she could wander away to her own car. “Thank you. I don’t know what’s going on, but thank you.”
Monique smiled. “Do let me know how it goes. You showed up today, so it must finally be happening.”
“I’ll take your word on it.”
“Do so.” Monique kissed her cheek before insisting she had to get going if she wanted to make it up to her Manoir by peak business time that night.
Jamie hopped in the back of the car, asking the driver if he liked her new makeup. He told her it was beautiful as he pulled away from the curb and toward the penthouse.
The doorman greeted her more loudly than usual.
The elevator was waiting for her. Jamie knew better than to expect Etta up in the penthouse, but she expected some sort of presence.
Instead, she found one of the cream-colored cards on the kitchen counter, probably placed there that morning before Etta stepped out for the day.
If you’ve made it this far
Then you’ve come so close
To watching every fantasy come true
Your chariot leaves at 6:30
Check the bedroom. Cinderella’s gown awaits.
Jamie dropped the card and went straight to the bedroom before someone could bring up her shopping bags.
There, sprawled out on the meticulously made bed, was a periwinkle…
no, lavender… no, light purple tea dress that could have only been picked out by Etta herself.
All right, maybe someone helped her. Like Monique.
Or Amanda… or Adele… Jamie pulled the dress off the bed and held it up to herself.
She ignored the man bringing in her bags and boxes.
Until it was time to tip him, anyway. By that point, Jamie was so giddy that she pulled a Grant from her wallet and handed it to the man without a second thought. Suffice it to say, he left whistling.
“You are the best,” Jamie texted her girlfriend. She knew she wouldn’t get a response back, and she didn’t. It was five. Time to get ready with a bath and pamper herself like those people pampered her all day.
Rose-scented bubble bath. Music playing from her phone as she watched the sun set outside the window.
The feel of comfortable lingerie covering her body after she got out of the tub and dried off.
The dress slipping effortlessly over her limbs and hanging perfectly on her body.
How did she know my size so well? Never let it be said that Etta didn’t pay attention to her girlfriend’s body.
Jamie could barely contain her giddiness as she prepared for her big date with her girlfriend.
Where is she taking me? She slipped a diamond tennis bracelet over her wrist. What are we going to do after dinner?
Jamie pulled out a pair of dangling amethyst earrings she rarely had the chance to wear and let them shine tonight.
Will we make slow and sensual love tonight, or will she want to take me to new places?
Her sheer socks protected her against the brand-new shoes Monique insisted she buy, and now she knew why they were the perfect match for a dress Jamie had yet to see.
When she turned to look at herself in the mirror, she was compelled to take out her phone and enjoy a celebratory selfie. Of course, it did not turn out as good as she thought she looked… but she sent it to a few friends anyway, including Monique.
“Have fun tonight,” Monique replied, probably from the backseat of her car as she made her way up into the mountains. “Remember, I want to hear all about it from you. Etta will leave out the best details.”
Natasha told her she looked radiant, and Seena chided her for showing off her goods, as usual. Jamie didn’t care. She was throwing her important items into a white handbag and perusing the closet for a perfect coat to wear that night. She went with black.
The sun was almost fully set by the time she stepped outside again.
The building attendant gestured to Jamie’s car already parked by the curb, the driver waving to her and showing off what she hoped to be the last of the cards.
She snatched it from his hand as he opened the door for her.
She had already read it by the time he was in the driver’s seat.
This is it.
The time has come.
Cinderella in her chariot on the way to the ball.
Wearing her beautiful gown and looking more beautiful for it
My only hope is that I will be a fitting prince for my perfect princess.
“You all right, Ms. Jamie?” the driver asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.
She put the card in with the others, tucked delicately into the corner of her purse. “Yes. I’m fine. How long until we get there? I’m dying.”
“Depending on traffic, it should be about fifteen minutes. Ms. Coleman asked me to be there by seven. She gave us plenty of time.”
“Where are we going?”
“That’s a surprise, Miss.”
“Of course it is.”
Jamie had a newfound love for the lights twinkling outside the car windows.
She watched them go by like fireflies blinking in the twilight.
I played with some fireflies a long time ago.
Once, when her parents took her down to Alabama to visit some friends.
Every night for the whole week Jamie was there, fireflies came out at dusk, illuminating the mystical hour while ten-year-old Jamie twirled in their midst. She felt like that again.
A twenty-six-year-old reliving the fantasies of childhood. Of girlhood.
Deep inside, she knew what was about to happen.
Yet a part of her was still so jaded, so cynical that she refused to believe it.
Those sorts of dreams didn’t come true. Jamie might call a woman like Etta Coleman her girlfriend, but she knew it would never be more than living with her while she paraded Jamie around at functions and then went home for a drink and a roll in bed.
Fairy tales didn’t come true. Not to that extent.
There was no cake to have and eat as well.
Jamie might be a princess in the world’s eyes now, but she would never be a queen.
Nevertheless, she thought of those dreams she had as a child. Of the fairy tales her mother used to read to her. Of the beautiful world that existed outside of herself, outside of Etta, and outside of the life they slowly built together.
She still didn’t believe it when the driver pulled up to a place on the outskirts of town.
A planetarium? That’s what it was, but it was also a place people rented for parties and other shindigs.
Jamie didn’t see a notice on the front board, but she did see the smartly dressed man waiting for the driver by the front entrance.
“Good evening, Ms. Joy,” the elderly gentleman said. He extended his hand the moment the driver opened Jamie’s door. “Ms. Coleman has asked me to meet you here. She’s inside, waiting for you.”
“Oh, thank you.” Jamie took his hand, eyes never leaving the large dome looming above them. “Call me Jamie, please.”
“Very well, Jamie. That’s a lovely name, by the way. Our director, Jamie Sanchez, has just begun a beautiful jasmine exhibit in one of our main halls.”
“Flowers in a planetarium?”
“At this time of year, we have a garden in the dome. Please, follow me.”
Jamie trailed slightly behind as she was led through the main entrance.
A woman greeted her and offered to take her coat and purse.
“You won’t be needing it,” she insisted.
“We’ll have it waiting for you at your final destination.
Ms. Coleman has asked that you have no burdens on your journey through the garden. ”
“Is that so?” Jamie had no idea what she was talking about. It sounded fun, though.
“Right this way.”
She was led past the museum, the gift shop, and deep into the depths of the planetarium. Signs pointed the way to the dome, boasting a seasonal flower exhibit with flowers imported from Africa and Southeast Asia.
“Here.” Her elderly tour guide gestured to a door marked Garden Entrance, B. “There is only one way through the garden from here, so I will let you enjoy it on your own.”
Jamie hardly knew the man and was already sad to say goodbye, but his farewell smile lifted her spirits, and the usher opening the door for her was kindly looking enough that she felt confident walking through and discovering what Etta had planned for her.
She met darkness the moment the door closed behind her. She also met a graceful tranquility that bade her to walk on.