Saudade

Chapter 3

                It was about five thirty, my hair sprayed up in curlers just like Spencer’s. She was painting my lips red with precision, brow furrowed and the corner of her mouth tucked under her teeth, when Ed strolled in with two glasses of white wine. He giggled at us, wearing large men’s shirts with our hair all done up. He set the glasses down, waiting for Spencer to finish her current task. When she stepped back, she looked me over and smiled.

                “You’re so gorgeous, Ryann.” She told me. My face flushed red with embarrassment.

                “Stop,” I giggled, my face getting hotter by the second.

                “You are,” she said, grabbing a glass from Ed’s hand and passing it to me. She took one for herself and clanked the rims of our glasses together, “to London.”

                “To London,” I echoed and took a drink. It was sweet and delicious, and probably expensive.

                “I was just coming in to let you ladies know that it’s quarter to six,” Ed said, leaning against the dresser.

                “Thanks, sweetie,” Spencer said. “We’re almost done.” As Ed nodded and wandered away, I realized he was still in jeans and a plain t shirt.

                “Is he going to change?” I asked once he had shut the door, and Spencer didn’t even blink.

                “He doesn’t care, and I think he secretly wants to keep irritating GQ.” Three years ago GQ had labeled him worst dressed, and he had taken it in stride. “Anyway, what are you going to wear?”

                “I don’t know…what are you going to wear?” I asked her. I needed an idea of how formal we were going to look.

                “Well, I’m probably going to wear one of my black sundresses with stockings and some sort of pullover, but that’s because I’m going to be in a lot of pictures. Everyone’s going to look pretty casual…” She looked to my pile of clothes I had stacked on the floor. She stepped over to it, sifting through it all. She picked out the pair of expensive jeans Lee and my mom had let me buy for my senior pictures and a ruffled black tank top. “We wear the same shoe size, so I’ll borrow you some cute ones. And some jewelry,” she said simply.

                “Thanks, Spence,” I said, and I meant it. I knew she wouldn’t let me go out to hang out with a bunch of celebrities unless she was sure I’d look awesome.

                “Of course,” she said definitely, stepping over and starting to pull the bobby pins and curlers from my brown tresses. After a bit of finger combing and use of hair spray, she got a satisfied smile on her face and stepped aside. “Go bring your clothes to your room, get dressed, and come back up for some shoes and jewelry. I’m gonna finish my hair and put on my outfit,” she told me, and I obeyed. Picking up all of my clothes, I headed out of her bedroom door and to the elevator. Once in my room,  I dumped all of my clothes onto the floor, and stopped to looked at myself in the mirror mounted on my wall.

                I looked like an entirely new person. I didn’t look pretty or even beautiful; I looked sexy. My makeup was reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe and my hair looked soft and shiny, not crunchy like it usually did when I tried to curl it. She had made me something beautiful, and I was thankful. I kicked off my sleeping shorts and unbuttoned my shirt, picking up a pushup bra from the top drawer of my dresser- my underwear had been the only thing I’d bothered putting away. I then shimmied on my size sixteen jeans and tugged the tank top over my head, glancing in the mirror again. She had picked a good outfit; it felt casual enough that I wouldn’t look like I tried too hard, but it was formal enough that I wouldn’t look like an American slob.