“Alright, hold the part near your ear,” he says.
Slowly, we lay it all down, and then he grabs the band and puts it on to hold it while it adheres. While we wait, we watch another video about laying edges. I told him I know how to do that, but he wants to do the whole thing for me.
When we get to that part, I close my eyes like I promised so I can be surprised by the results.
“You can open now.”
“Holy shit,” I say when I look. The lace is so melted, you would think it’s just my hairline. The swirls of the edges need work, but he even used a wax stick to lay the middle part down more.
“You like it?” He has the hot comb in his hand, and his arms are crossed. He looks so serious, you would think this is his profession.
“You did so good!” I turn around and throw myself into his arms, kissing up and down his neck. He picks me up, and when the hair brushes against his shoulder, I almost cry.
When he puts me down, I turn back around to look, taking in the texture of the hair. We went for Tiana so I could have a cute, curly bob.
For a minute, just looking at it, I can almost pretend there is something underneath. At the very least, I can look at myself in the mirror and not want to fall apart. This isn’t who I was, but it is who I am now, and these wigs will let me play pretend until I get back tothe version of myself that I want to be. In the meantime, I can also look cute as hell.
“You’re right, this does have personality. I feel like I’m a whole new chick.” I flick my hair and turn from side to side.
“It’s pretty hot. Switch your wig up, and I have a new girlfriend.” He runs the comb at the top, making it lay flatter, then he steps back and watches me take it in.
I don’t look at myself, though. I look at this amazing man who constantly does everything in his power to take care of me.
“Thank you,” I say, taking his face into my hands. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, love. Hopefully every day for the rest of your life.”
Each time he says it, I feel like the words grow to be more and more true. Somehow, he looked at me and knew I was going to be his wife. All the time, he convinces me that he is supposed to be my husband.
“Now I have to go home and change,” I say, smacking his butt.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
I start to gather my things and realize I have been here for three days. I decide to leave some of the wigs here for the next time.
He races us to the edge of the world and then parks on the side of some country road, switching out with me.
“You ready?” he asks, tossingme the keys.
“As I’ll ever be.” I catch them and slide into his seat. It’s still warm from his body, and it smells like him. Just as I thought, it’s like sliding into who he is.
When he shows me how to shift, it finally clicks in that I’ve never driven a manual car. He quickly finds that out too as soon as I try driving. Moving from gear to gear feels like trying to put a puzzle together with my eyes closed. Every time the car starts to stall, I cringe while he laughs.
“I can’t do this.” Pulling back over. I throw my hands up.
“Yes, you can. Just be patient.”
“Nah, man, this is not for me.” I start to unbuckle my seatbelt but he grabs my hand, stopping me.
“Keep trying. Once it’s my turn to learn dancing from you, I’m sure I’m going to want to quit too, and you won’t let me.”
I picture him trying to pop and lock it, and imagining how bad he is going to be gives me the drive to keep going.
It takes an hour before I’m able to handle the clutch correctly. Soon I’m sailing down the road. He instructs me on how to pick up speed and when to slow down when taking turns. I listen to him and keep close to the corners, causing me to drift. I feel like I’m in a movie as we peel down the road.
“Hell yeah!” I scream as we hit a hundred. Last time we drove, I know he was above one-twenty, but this is the fastest I have ever gone.
“Wooo!” he cries out, opening the windows.
