“Maybe you should,” Tonya said. “Your hair is kind of straight and dull.”
She wanted to growl. She knew she wasn’t anything hot to look at, but she didn’t stand out as a troll either. At least she tried not to. “What’s wrong with my hair? That better not be a crack at the color.”
She hated her orangish red hair, but short of dying it black or bleaching it blonde, nothing would change it or tone it down. She refused to do anything so drastic that she’d be required to do maintenance every few months.
“The color is stunning. It really is. But like I said, it’s dull. You need some shine to it. It needs to be styled. A little bit of makeup. Come on. I’ve seen you without those glasses and your penny loafers, tights, skirts, and sweater vests. You look more like Amy Farrah Fowler on theBig Bang Theorythan you do a thirty-year-old successful woman. You’ve got a body women kill for. I’d kill for it. Or I’d rob a bank to get the cash to pay a surgeon to suck the fat out of me so I could look like you.”
“Who wants to look like they are a walking stick with bony knees that rub together?”
Tonya laughed. “You’re so funny. Your knees don’t rub together and you know it. Stop hiding behind all those baggy clothes too. Matter of fact, I’m adding another thing to this bet.”
“Oh no. You can’t do that after the fact.”
“Sure, I can,” Tonya said. “But I’ll do one better. Double or nothing. If you win, no date with Dwayne. If you lose, you have to get a makeover for the date. I pick out your clothes and you’re going to the salon to get your hair and makeup done.”
“What’s the bet?” she asked.
“You still think the clients are going to love your Brussels sprout idea, don’t you? Even if it tastes bad, you think you can tweak it enough to make them accept it. Don’t you?”
She did. “Maybe.”
“Send your report in along with the test results and a sample to the company. If they love it, the date is off. If they tell you to ditch the whole idea—because I’m sure they will—you’re getting made over for your date with Dwayne.”
“Deal,” she said, shaking hands with Tonya. No way she could lose this when she explained the nutritional benefits.
2
THAT LABEL
“Ilook like a streetwalker. Come on, Tonya, you can’t be serious.”
“A bet is a bet,” Tonya said, nodding her head as if she were the authority of the day. She kind of was. “And you look stunning. You just aren’t used to wearing anything that shows your body off.”
“I noticed you didn’t say showing my curves off because I don’t have any.”
“You’ve got some nice tits and you know it. I wouldn’t have realized it if I hadn’t shown up at your house that day to drop your badge off and caught you doing yoga without your glasses on. Why don’t you wear contacts to work?”
“Laziness, maybe?” she said. She didn’t know, but she was blind without her glasses and she did like to do yoga and try to get a little muscle on her skinny frame. But every time she did the downward dog, her glasses slipped off her face and fell to the floor.
“You look so good without your glasses on. Your blue eyes are just clear as day and the makeup makes them stand out even more. Which is another thing. Did you watch how she putthe makeup on? You should start doing it. It’s very subtle but rocking at the same time.”
She had to admit that Tonya was right. She was sporting a thin line of brown on her upper lid with some shimmer shadow and mascara. Her lips were glossy and she probably looked better than she ever had before.
“I think I can handle this on my own for special occasions.”
“It took three minutes. Just add it to your daily routine and don’t whine about it,” Tonya said. “Even if you had your glasses on, you’d still look fresh.”
“Do I look dirty normally?” she asked frowning.
“You know what I mean. Why are you fighting this so much?”
She shrugged, wondering why the clothing felt so tight when it wasn’t really. “I don’t know. You tell me. I feel like my pimp is priming me to have my cherry popped.”
Tonya laughed. “You know, you have a great personality when you let it loose. Your cherry is popped, right? I mean you’re thirty.”
“That’s none of your business,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The chest that was currently on display like never before in a black dress made of some kind of stretchy material that was clinging to every part of her body.
Maybe that is why she felt constricted. Her clothing was actuallytouchingher.
