Page 20 of Mama Si's Paradise

I didn’t know and not knowing was slowly drowning me. It kept me under for a long, long time.

But I knew why I was here—because of the pay, because I would only have to stay here for a year and make enough to start my life anew somewhere far, far away. I’d go to Asia. I’d go to Europe. I’d go anywhere in the world for a fresh start, but I couldn’t do anything if I didn’t spend this year here first.

It was the smart thing to do. It was the logical thing to do.

On that, at least, I agreed with my own self.

Marissa found me right there on the floor when she came to my door at eight, but by then I was feeling better.Angrierat Brandon, at myself—and anger was good. Anger would keep me moving, so I took it.

She waited for me while I was in the bathroom, then put the same dress on me as yesterday, and brought me a tray fullof food—an omelet, a glass of milk and fresh vegetables that smelled like heaven.

“It’s really warm here,” I said while I ate because I wasn’t cold at all.

Come to think of it, those women and men by the pools had looked perfectly comfortable wearing bikinis, even though it was still April. It shouldn’t have been warm enough outside to go swimming yet, but…

“The air is warmer in the Paradise,” was Marissa’s response, and it was a relief. None of it was in my head—it was real. The air was indeed warmer here than it was outside those gates. And as strange as that was, I didn’t have the time to give it too much thought.

Before breakfast was over, Adam was coming through the doors with another girl behind him. She looked young and completely fascinated by everything she saw, her eyes wide and glossy as she took in the ceiling and the windows and the size of the bed I was sitting on. She barely managed agood morningas she carried three black leather cases in her hands, and then Adam came in front of me, smiling brightly as his eyes searched my face.

He was possibly over six feet, with a lean frame and cropped hair, and today he had blue mascara on, which made the light brown of his eyes look even more striking than yesterday. His cheeks were clean shaven, his lips big and plump and a natural pink color to die for. He was indeed a very handsome guy, and when he grinned mischievously like that, he became even more attractive.

“I haven’t been this excited about a project since forever,” he told me, running his long fingers through my messy hair. I hadn’t even bothered to comb it this morning.

“I’ma project?” I wondered, and he grinned wider.

“Oh, yes. Possibly the most beautiful project I’ll ever work on—and I’m about to make you even more breathtaking,baby girl.” He grabbed my chin and raised my head. “Get ready to be transformed into the most beautiful Fall you’ll ever be.”

That was actually exciting. It made butterflies go nuts in my stomach.

Transformed.I liked that word.

So, when he began to tell me what he had in mind, and how he’d envisionedtransformingme all night last night, I had no complaints. I just sat in the chair in front of the vanity table, and I let him do whatever he wanted.

“It’s just highlights,” he said as he put foil all over my head, having bleached strands of it here and there. “They’ll make your natural color pop even more. They’ll bring out the green in your eyes, and those gorgeous freckles when you’re goingau naturale,” he informed me. “See that bag?” He pointed at a pink leather bag that the girl, who was his assistant, had put on the vanity table. “That’s yours. It’s got all your colors in it. I’ll be using that when I come to prep you. Feel free to use it on yourself, too.”

I grabbed the bag and opened it, curious to see what was inside. Makeup. So much makeup—high end brands I’d only ever seen online. Golden eye shadow pallets and bronzers and blushes and mascaras and all those lip glosses!

“What am I supposed to do with seven different lip glosses, all basically the same shades?” I asked Adam but I was smiling ear to ear because, by some magic, I apparentlylovedlip glosses now.

Adam gave me a look from the mirror that made me wonder if he just threw up in his mouth a little bit. “The same shades?!” he choked. “You think these look the same?”

“Uh…” I was pretty sure they were, but I was also pretty sure that he might shave my head in my sleep if I said so.

“They’re not,” he informed me. “That’s pink-peach. That’s canned peach, obviously. That’s shimmery, and that’smature peach. That one’s the dark side of peach, that one’s orange-peach—andthis? This beauty is peach cream.”

“Peach cream. Got it,” I said with a nod, though I didn’t get it. To me it just looked a peachy pink, that’s it.

“Good. You’ll learn,” he said, folding the last foil on my head. “Go ahead, grab those tweezers while I wash my hands. I’m about to do your brows next. I think you’ll look way better if they’re half as thick as you’re keeping them right now. Your features are small. Your face deserve thinner, sharper brows.”

The way he spoke about brows made me want to blush. “Thanks, Adam,” I muttered, unsure what else to say.

He winked. “Only the best for Mama Si’s dolls.”

Marissa brought me a virgin cocktail that looked too good to drink, with colorful liquids mixed in together, and a small umbrella and strawberries on a toothpick over the rim. They turned me away from the mirror, and Adam and his assistant Carrie told me stories about when he’d done the makeup of this and that celebrity. I found myself smiling and laughing and sipping the delicious cocktail like I had no care in the world.

Before I knew it, he’d washed my hair and put a toner on it. Marissa brought us snacks hours later—cookies and perfectly cut pieces of all kinds of fruit, and a protein shake for me, which I would be taking daily now, apparently. I didn’t even mind at all—it was delicious.

By the time they were done with me, I was anxious to look in the mirror, but Adam had put Velcro rollers on my head, and apparently, the hair needed to cool down all the way first so he didn’t let me look until it was all over. So, for the next ten minutes, we sat on the bed and drank coffee together, and for a moment there I was struck by the fact that I was here. That I was living this life on this day.

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