Chapter 19
19
I t was the day of the races. Cally had kept the marriage thing completely under her belt. Only Eloise had been privy to what was going on in her mind. And certainly Logan was none the wiser.
Unlike what Cally assumed most of the other guests who were going to be in the Royal Enclosure were doing, Cally had spent a very early morning short three-hour shift on the retail chatbot. Being Saturday, she’d expected it to be busy and she hadn’t been wrong. She’d dealt with all sorts of problems, including but not limited to a woman in Saffron Waldron who’d ordered a size eighteen but been delivered an eight, a customer in Falmouth complaining that a dress she’d bought had come undone at the seams when she’d worn it horse riding, and a complaint from someone in Lancashire whose parcel had been lost only to turn up at a post office in Northern Ireland. Cally had dealt with the problems by her pseudonym, Alex, as she always did quickly and efficiently and on the outside with the patience of a saint. Inside, she could have quite frankly throttled someone, that was the severity of her mood.
Also, unlike most other people attending the races, she was not going to the hairdresser or anything of its ilk. Because of the fact that she’d wanted to work the morning shift, her hair was being done by way of Alice from the deli popping up to put a low bun in and secure the hat to her head. After a very quick shower and not washing her hair as instructed by Alice, she was in her underwear, and super-fine stockings with her dressing gown over the top, and with more makeup on than she’d ever worn in her life. Her hair was moussed as instructed by Alice, and she had a mug of blackcurrant in her hand.
Her shoes were ready to go by the front entrance and as she opened the door to Alice, Alice smiled. ‘Ooh, look at you with your make-up on! You look so pretty, our Cally.’
Cally scrunched her face up. ‘Do I? I don’t really know what I’m doing. I just slapped it on here and there and hoped for the best.’
‘Well, whatever you did, it works. Really nice.’
‘Thanks.’
‘And you smell amazing! What is that?’
Cally chuckled. The Cloud perfume she’d worn for years always got comments. She shrugged it off. ‘Oh, just a combination of a few, you know. I just spray willy-nilly.’
Alice looked at Cally’s hair. ‘You put the mousse on?’
‘I did. Just as you instructed.’
‘Excellent.’
‘So, how come you know how to do updos and stuff?’
Alice shook her head. ‘My sister was a ballroom dancer. I had the unenviable job of doing her hair. I can literally do a fancy low bun with my eyes closed. It is nowhere near as complicated as it looks.’
‘The things you learn.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Alice said as she popped a gigantic can of hairspray, a big box of hairpins and hair elastics on the table. ‘Right. Sit down and I’ll get started.’
Cally looked at the equipment and swallowed. ‘Should we have done a prerun?’
‘Nah. That picture you showed me is so easy and the hat means it doesn’t even have to be perfect on top. When I say perfect, my sister wasn’t allowed to have one hair out of place, not a single one. We learnt the hard way. Gosh, the things I could tell you about the ballroom dancing world in those days. I think they’d call it abuse now.’
‘Right. So this is easy for you?’
‘Yes, walk in the park. We basically do three ponytails, one on either side, and one at the back, which turns into a huge low bun.’ Alice held up a very fine hair net. ‘This goes over the top, then the two ponytails loop over from each side in a load of swirls, making the bun look very fancy and very elegant.’
Cally wasn’t sure, but Alice appeared to know what she was doing. ‘I’ll leave myself in your capable hands. You know me. My hair is usually shoved up in clips.’
Cally settled into the chair and tried to relax as Alice began to section her hair and spray for England. The unfamiliar weight of makeup on her face made her hyper-aware of every expression, and she struggled not to frown as doubts began to creep in.
‘You're going to love this. It'll look so elegant, perfect for a day at the races.’
Cally managed a smile. ‘I hope so. I feel a bit like I'm playing dress-up, to be honest. I’m not really sure if this is my scene.’
As Alice began to gather Cally’s hair into the first ponytail, Cally's mind started to race. 'I hope this is going to look okay. My hair is weird at the best of times. It has a mind of its own.’
‘Nope. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.’
‘At least one of us does.’
‘I’ve never been to the races. I've only ever seen it on telly. Is it as posh as they make it out to be?’
Cally chuckled nervously. ‘I honestly have no idea. This is my first time. I'm half expecting to be turned away at the gate for not being fancy enough.’
Alice tutted, securing the first ponytail with an elastic. ‘Nonsense. You're going to fit right in. Especially with this hairstyle. Now, hold still while I do the other side.’
As Alice worked on the second ponytail, Cally's inner monologue attempted to taunt her. She was determined not to let it win.
‘I reckon it's all smoke and mirrors, really.’
Cally latched onto Alice’s words. ‘Really? How so?’
Alice grinned. ‘Well, take this style we're doing. It looks all intricate and fancy, right? But it's really just three ponytails arranged cleverly. The hat does half the work, hiding any little imperfections.’
Cally nodded, hoping to high heaven that Alice was correct.
‘Right, no drama there. Now for the big low bun, which is going to be the base for everything else.’
As Alice began fiddling with hair at the nape of Cally’s neck, Cally's mind wandered again. She tried not to but couldn’t stop thinking that she was going to somehow make a fool of herself by using the wrong fork or saying something stupid. She was well aware that everyone else in attendance would probably have grown up around it and would know precisely what to do. On top of that, there was the marriage situation. In an odd way, she now felt a spot of guilt that she knew and Logan didn’t know that she did. The whole thing had got away with itself. As usual, she should have taken Eloise’s advice, plumped for the truth and confronted him right away.
Alice appeared to pick up on Cally’s mood. ‘Nervous about the day?’
Cally forced a laugh. ‘Is it that obvious? I’m trying not to be, but I've never been to anything like this before. I'm worried I'll stick out like a sore thumb.’
Alice met Cally's eyes in the mirror in front of them. ‘I reckon the secret is to act like you belong there. Fake it ‘til you make it, don’t they say?’
Cally watched in the mirror as Alice began to secure the bun with what seemed like an endless supply of bobby pins. ‘Yeah, I’m going to run with that.’
Alice stuck in a few more clips and started to spray the back of Cally’s hair back and forth with an industrial-sized can of hairspray. ‘I'll let you in on a little secret. Half the fancy hairdos you see? They're held together with enough hairspray to be considered a fire hazard.’
‘Really?’
Alice nodded. ‘By the end of the day, my sister could have used her hair as a helmet.’
As Alice continued to work, chatting away about everything from the weather to the preparation for the Chowder Festival to the latest gossip from the deli, Cally found herself relaxing slightly. The constant motion of Alice's hands in her hair was almost hypnotic, and she started to feel a bit more optimistic about the day ahead. She wasn’t even going to think about Logan’s marriage. She’d get through the day and deal with that afterwards.
‘Right. That's the basic structure done. Now for the fancy bits and you’re good to go.’
Cally watched, fascinated, as Alice began to manipulate the side ponytails, looping them over the central bun in a way that looked far more complicated than it actually was.
‘See? Looks dead impressive, doesn't it? But it's really just clever positioning.’
As Alice worked, Cally's thoughts drifted back to Logan and how, right after she’d got through the races, she was going to confront him about the marriage certificate. Her mind flicked back and forth. Every time she’d thought about him since the discovery, she’d felt a furious mix of anger and sadness and utter indecision about what to do.
Alice broke her thoughts. ‘Okay. Almost done. Just need to get this last hair net on.’
Cally watched as Alice carefully positioned the very fine hair net over the elaborate bun. It was nearly invisible, but Alice assured her it would keep everything in place.
‘Time to make sure this masterpiece stays put. Close your eyes and hold your breath!’
Cally did as instructed, listening to the prolonged hiss of the hairspray can. She could feel the fine mist settling on her hair and face and fought the urge to sneeze.
‘That should hold through anything short of a hurricane. You could probably go skydiving and that hat will stay put when you put it on.’
Cally laughed, opening her eyes. ‘Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I think I'll stick to watching the horses.’
‘Now for the pièce de résistance,’ Alice said with a flourish, picking up the hat.
Cally nodded as Alice carefully positioned the hat, angling it slightly as she'd seen in the pictures Cally had shown her. Cally turned to the mirror, her eyes widening in surprise. The woman looking back at her was… Well, she was still Cally, but a version of Cally she'd never seen before. The elegant updo, combined with the carefully applied makeup and the stunning hat, created an image that took her breath away.
She turned her head slightly to see the hairstyle from different angles. ‘I can't believe that's me.’
Alice beamed. ‘Told you it would look amazing. You're going to fit right in, our Cally. They won't know what hit them.’
As Cally continued to stare at her reflection, her doubts began to fade. Maybe she could do it after all. Maybe, just for one sweet day, she could step into the world of high society and hold her own. She certainly looked the part, so that was a start.
Alice began to pack up her supplies, and Cally stood, carefully moving her head to test the weight and stability of the hairstyle. To her surprise, it felt secure and not nearly as heavy as she'd feared when she’d seen the number of pins and hairspray.
‘How does it feel?’
‘Good.’
Alice nodded. ‘The trick is to make sure it’s secure enough to last all day but not so tight that you're in agony. I think we've nailed it.’
‘Thank you. I love it.’
Alice waved off the thanks with a smile. ‘Happy to help. It's not every day one of us Lovelies gets to go to races, is it? We've got to stick together.’
‘Yep, true.’
Alice paused at the door. ‘Hold your head high, smile, and if all else fails, just nod and say “indeed” a lot.’
Cally chuckled as she stood by the door at the top of the stairs and saw Alice off. As she closed the door, she nodded to herself. She would be fine. Whatever the day had in store, she would meet it head-on, armed with a bomb-blast-safe-exquisitely-crafted low bun. And anyway, Henry-Hicks and his lot were soon going to be toast, so part of her didn’t give a hoot anyway. She just had another little bump to navigate along the way.