It's Complicated

Chapter 11

Kenny and I were a team. While he did the hair, I did the makeup. We were working on a guy with very specific guidelines on what he needed to look like afterwards. The guy never said one word the entire time we worked, which was just a little unsettling to me. The next one was a girl who wouldn't stop talking long enough for me to put on lip gloss. Because of that, it smeared. She nearly flipped when she saw it, so I told her to wipe it off and keep her mouth still. She was a little irked but did as I asked.

Once she was gone and before the next cast member came, Kenny grinned at me. "Well, that's one way to get her to sit still," he said.

I shrugged. "Had to do it somehow." I returned his grin as the next person sat.

After about thirty minutes, we finished our initial jobs. All that was left was refreshing powder and a few minor adjustments to the girls as the show went on. The director and writer had spent an hour drilling the makeup changes into us before the cast started showing up.

The show progressed and, surprisingly enough, everything went smoothly. We were almost to the final act and the final touchups. A few minutes after we finished fixing up the cast for the next-to-final act, someone came up behind me and put their hands over my eyes. A masculine voice breathed into my ear, "Guess who."

I smiled and a name popped out: "George?"

The hands dropped. "Are you being serious right now?" Mario said, sounding just a bit annoyed. He took a few steps to face me. "Did you really think it could in any way be George? Does he even go to these kinds of shows?"

I shrugged. "No, but he was the first person that came to mind. Don't judge. He's technically already my boyfriend." Well, he wasn't the first person, but I didn't want to tell him it was a reflex. I was worried it might be and I didn't want to guess Mario when it possibly could have been George, no matter how small the chance.

Mario sighed and looked out towards the stage for a long moment. His face grew somber. He glanced at me before taking another breath and turning towards Kenny, who was standing nearby, watching. "I'm guessing you're Kenny," Mario said, trademark grin in place.

"You got it," Kenny said, returning the grin. "I guess that makes you Mr. Lopez."

"Mario."

"Right. Mario. I saw your picture online the other day."

"Oh, yeah? People need to stop putting those up there." He glanced at me. "So, how's things been?"

"Okay so far, I guess," Kenny answered. "I mean, could've been worse. Daisy already sassed someone over their lip gloss." He smirked at me. I rolled my eyes at him. "At least the girl listened."

Mario nodded, glancing at me again. "Well, if she can do one thing, it's get the job done," he said in a dull voice. His eyes suggested he'd left our conversation. He looked at everything backstage, just about gawking. I'd done something similar when I'd first gotten here, but he had something akin to nostalgia in his eyes.

I frowned as I studied him. Kenny tapped my arm, yanking me back to my job. A girl was just coming off the stage, the one we needed to change the makeup on for her to finish this scene. I stepped away from Mario and got to work. By the time we were done, Mario was speaking to the director. Again, I watched him, frowning.

Kenny sidled up to me. "What's wrong?" he muttered, sounding genuinely concerned.

I glanced over. "Nothing." Mario was becoming animated. More animated than I'd seen him before. It was fun to watch.

"Seems like something is." He touched my elbow. "Are you coming tonight?"

I shrugged. "I'd like to," I whispered back. We'd gotten closer to the stage after finishing the makeup, and that was the loudest we could get. "I might."