How To Hate You

chapter 7

"You should wear the green dress..."

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April,
2015

What is it that makes one beautiful?

On days like this, Sameera desperately wishes her mom didn't wheeze away in the morning, spurting insouciant goodbyes amid the click of her shoes.

A bubble of her mom's vague voices swirled within her head as she rummaged through the cluster the dresses in her closet made. They were mostly presents from her spendthrift mother. A way of wishing her daughter well and reminding her no matter how busy she was, there was an annual alarm doing well to remind her of an impromptu dress to order. It's not much really, but at least she gets dresses she will dump in her wardrobe and never look at again.

Well, except on days like this which rarely occur.  

So, what is it really that makes one beautiful?

Sameera thinks the forest green dress is too exaggerated for a simple ice-cream outing. The reflection on her floor-length mirror stared back at her with paused lips. Yet, as she placed the next set of clothes on her chest, she knew each had a fault of its own. They all didn't have what she was looking for.

"Going out?" Sameera hears a voice by the door. It was laced with, no doubt, amusement. Her mother's tall figure peaked through the barely opened door. Sameera accessed her with wide eyes, she was dressed in a polka dot sleeved summer dress, the neck and hands were elegantly thrifted in large ruffles. A lightly buttoned crisp black coat hugged her shoulders while her neat ebony hair was wrapped in a white turban. She matched the outfit with a Staud Ollie cream bag.

"Yeah." Sameera shakes her head, still a bit stunned. "Ice-cream date. With friends." She muttered.

Her mom nodded twice. Sameera glanced at the dresses in her hands. "You're back early." She points out at last. "Way early."

As if on cue, her mom glanced at her watch. "Oh, I forgot some files. Came to pick them up." She nods once, as if to say 'Good luck with whatever it is you're doing.' and turns to head out.

"Wait." Sameera's tiny voice stopped her. "Can you help me choose an outfit?"

Her mother heaved a heavy sigh, glanced at her watch which seemed to tick louder with every second, and looked at the bare face of her only daughter who for once is making an effort with her appearance. And then she decided, work can wait. This is a precious moment. "Sure Luv." She dumped her coat and bag on the bed, went for her makeup kit in her room, and turns to her daughter with determined eyes. "It's gonna take more than just an outfit to get you ready." She sat her down on the chair and begins to work her hands onto her face.

"So, who's he?" Her mom asks after a while of silence.

"Who?" Sameera replies absentmindedly. "Just friends. Female friends."

"Please." Her mom snickered. "Don't tell me you're getting all worked up to impress your female friends." She finger-quoted the last part.

"Some people are really hard to impress." She shrugged.

Her mom glanced at her with a knowing smile."Fine. You don't have to tell me."

Her mom's soft palms leave feathery tickles as she massaged something thick and cold onto her face. Then she tapped the skin close to her eyelids, indicating she closed them. Sameera feels more taps of the tiny brush in her mom's fingertips, a swift draw of coldness as she drew a thin wing of eyeliner, at least that very much she knows.