“Now, that hair has got to be worked with.” Freddie drawled, dragging my wrist as we walked along the Las Vegas Strip.
She took me to a salon, where again, I could not pronounce the name. A girl named Zia appeared from behind the desk.
“Hey Freddie!” She exclaimed
Zia was not the type of friend Freddie would seem to hang out with. Zia was pierced and tatted, and her hair was anything but a normal color. It was turquoise and half shaved on one side. She had gages and was rail thin. But she was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that wasn’t messed with… It wasn’t looked at as strange or odd. It was a beauty that others could not simply try to be.
“Zia, this is Audrey. I want her to look fabulous for a dinner she’s attending tonight. Work your magic. Makeup and hair!” Freddie exclaimed
“No problem!” Zia returned
She sat me down in a very comfortable chair and began to brush out my untamable hair. In the mirror, I saw a reflection of a tattoo. It was a beautiful scripted quote which read
“Don’t judge me on my past, I don’t live there anymore.”
It struck a chord in me, and I smiled.
“I like your tattoo.” I said as she brushed
“Thank you.” She responded
It seemed like the tattoo was something she’d needed. Something to remind her of how far she’d come. When I looked closer at the tattoo, underneath it was a gaping scar.
“Seattle didn’t fit me well.” She said as I stared.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t…”
“Don’t even worry about it.”
As she began to curl, she spoke
“I used to be married… it was arranged. I hated it. I didn’t want it and neither did he. Our parents and grandparents wanted it. He was a very clean cut business man that expected a lot. He was abusive and I couldn’t handle it. The scar was the last straw. I filed for divorce and left that life forever.” She explained
I was surprised at her openness. I saw another tattoo on her right forearm that read
“STA”
“It stands for Stop the Abuse. I got it right after I moved out of Seattle.”
“From there I got my beauticians license, and here I am.”
I nodded and she finished up my hair. As she did my makeup she sang a beautiful version of Guns and Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
“You should go into music. You could help people. Spread the word about stopping abuse.” I said
“Maybe… Alrighty Freddie she’s good to go.” She sighed
Freddie paid for the hair and makeup and we walked along the sidewalk again. Finally, we were back at the apartment. I couldn’t get my mind off Zia, and her story. It was a heck of a lot different than mine. I thought I had a difficult past.
“Now all you have to do is put your dress and heels on and you will be fabulous!” Freddie promised
I nodded and hugged her goodbye. She took off down the road confidently, blowing me a kiss goodbye. I got up to the apartment and changed into my dress. I looked at myself in the mirror. My red hair that usually was a mess of natural pin curls, laid softly down my back in swoopy curls. My eyes popped from the choice of eye shadow and liner. My figure was nicely shown throughout the dress. The difficult part was that Jason’s bracelet clashed the rest of my outfit. I hoped that no one would notice, especially Will. I didn’t even understand what the hell I was doing tonight, and on top of it all, I was in heels. All too soon, I heard a buzz.
