Chapter 14
H oly shit.”
Benny’s eyes were wide as Mari swung me around toward the mirror for the big reveal. The salon was bathed in natural light, accented in gold, and had a resident dachshund named Freddie who could be seen asking for head pats from clients or lounging on a curved velvet green sofa near the window.
“Does it look bad?” I asked, cringing, keeping my eyes closed.
“Let me repeat—holy shit,” Benny said.
“Okay, holy shit can mean bad or good, Benadette,” I jokingly barked at her.
“Just open your eyes, Charlotte.”
I did, opening them one at a time, squinting.
“Holy shit,” I cried out. “Is that me?”
I stared into the mirror at my own reflection.
My hair wasn’t bleached blond like I’d worried it would be.
Mari had given me a perfect beachy dirty blond blended with precision that offset my golden eyes in a way I could have never dreamed of.
The haircut looked almost too cool for me and my new bangs were effortless across my forehead.
A makeup artist named Iris had come by and spent thirty minutes dusting my face with various brushes while I had a head full of foils, and the application was flawless.
It looked natural, like every color Iris added just subtly but perfectly illuminated my features.
“You. Look. So. Hot.” Benny’s voice was guttural she was so giddy. “Mari, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are a hair genius.”
Mari did a little curtsy, pulling her black dress to the sides to reveal chunky loafers with a gold buckle.
She had light pink hair and wore scarlet lipstick and I’d been a little wary of her to begin with.
I wanted subtle and Mari was... not a subtle person.
But, I had to admit, she was damn good at her job.
“Hair genius,” I agreed. “Thank you. I love it.”
Mari fiddled with my bangs. “You’ll need a touch-up in three or four months. Don’t go to anyone else. Come back here.”
I laughed. “Okay.” I turned back to the mirror, still in awe. “And I need to buy everything Iris used on my face. It looks so good.”
At the register, I paid quite a lot of money for both the haircut, color, and makeup, tipping Iris and Mari generously. I never spent my money. It felt a little thrilling to drop that much on something as impractical as new hair and a bunch of makeup.
“Come on,” Benny said, after she hugged Mari goodbye. “We have to go shopping now.”
“I feel like I’m in a movie,” I said, as we walked down Ventura Boulevard toward my car.
“A makeover might be silly and unnecessary but sometimes you just have to embrace the silly and unnecessary in life,” Benny declared. She watched me. “Your energy is different. You’re even walking differently.”
“Am I?” I asked. “Is this why people get their hair and makeup done?”
“Yeah, because it feels good. And it’s fun.” She shook her head playfully. “I have so much to teach you, Charlie. Sometimes people do things solely because it feels good to do them, not because it’s productive or useful. It’s called self-care. Can you even imagine?”
“No,” I deadpanned.
Benny howled.
We got to the car while Benny was still laughing and when we were inside, she immediately plugged her phone in so she could direct the music, just like she had on the ride over here.
“I mean, sure, it could be considered superficial to get your hair and makeup done, and to go shopping for anything other than pure necessity, but where’s the fun in all that?
I really think feeling good about how you look changes your whole experience.
You are kinder, you attract more. Not because everyone is superficial, but because when you feel good about yourself, the Universe responds. ”
“Oh, here we go with the Universe.”
“Charlie, new request,” she said. “You and the Universe need a truce.”
“I just don’t think the Universe cares.” I pulled out of the parking spot.
“So everything is just random?” Benny asked. “Oh, stop at a coffee shop. We need a little treat.”
“Okay,” I said. “And I don’t know. Maybe everything is random.”
“So you really don’t think there are fated meetings or soulmates or experiences you attract through your energy or manifesting or anything like that? What do you believe in?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I guess I don’t believe in anything.”
“Gosh, that’s boring.” She pointed to the left of the street at a modern building. “There. Go through the drive-through. I’m about to teach you the art of the ‘little treat.’”
“And what’s that?”
“When you want a little treat, you get a little treat.”
I chuckled. “I’m not a little-treat person.”
“Sure, that’s what you believe. I just think you’ve never let yourself have the little treat.”
“Fine, get me whatever you’re getting.”
“Good,” she said. We got behind a row of five other cars.
“I think if you really look at your life, you’ll see that very little has been random.
That you’ve been led to certain places to meet certain people to have certain experiences.
If you think everything is random, then that means nothing has meaning, not even our own lives. That just doesn’t make sense, Charlie.”
“Alright, how’s this?” I began. “If the Universe wants my trust so bad, I’ll take a sign. An undeniable one. Something that really can’t be explained. Lead me somewhere I would never expect.”
“Make it magical, Universe!” Benny cried, raising her face to the sky.
“I’m open,” I said. “I’m open for a very limited time.”
Benny laughed. “I honestly love your skepticism,” she said. “It’ll make it even better when the Universe brings you something like the love of your life or a whole new career. Wouldn’t that be crazy?”
“Yeah,” I scoffed. “Yeah, right.”
“Be careful what you wish for, Char Char.”
I shook my head at her.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Hey, I’m the boss of this month of yes. New request. I get to call you Char Char whenever I want. Is me not calling you Char Char worth ten grand to you?”
I shook my head at her even harder.
“Fine,” I muttered.
She shot me a very annoying smirk of utmost satisfaction.
When we got to the window a moment later, Benny leaned over me and screamed out her order of what sounded like two extremely sweet and decadent iced coffees. I paid, and at the second window, the barista handed us two concoctions with a massive swirl of whipped cream at the top.
When I pulled away from the drive-through, Benny started up a playlist and said, “To the mall! Drink your little treat! Sing along if you know the words!”
Not wanting to encourage her, I resisted for a moment, but then I did exactly what she said and damn it, that drink was one of the best things I’d tasted in a long time and somehow I knew every single word to all the songs.
By the time we got to the mall and parked, we were both spent with laughter. We slurped up the last dregs of our drinks and walked arm in arm toward the stores.