Page 21 of Mama Si's Paradise

“What is it? What’s going on in that gorgeous head, babygirl?” said Adam, and the way he looked at my lips while I sipped my coffee made me wonder if he was gay or not. Maybe bi? Because his eyes were a bit bloodshot just now.

“Will you answer me honestly if I ask you something?” I wondered.

“I will,” Adam said without missing a beat.

“How bad is this place really?”

The question took him off guard.

Slowly, he put down the cup on the nightstand and adjusted his blue shirt. He thought about it for a good moment, then said, “It’s a Paradise, baby girl. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Carrie came out of the bathroom the next moment, so even if I’d had something to say, I wouldn’t, not in front of her. Not that I trusted Adam per se, but I believed what he told me was the truth. I just didn’t know what he meant yet.

When ten minutes were over, he finally took the rollers off my hair, sat me at the vanity table again, and let me look in the mirror.

I gasped.

My hair was…colorful.I had lighter strands that made my natural color look darker, more red, so much more intense. He’d given me a bit of side bangs, too, and they framed my face like a fucking dream. My complexion wasglowing,my freckles just there, my eyes rimmed with a rich emerald green that made them look completely green instead of hazel, and my lips…

“Peach cream,” I whispered, eyeing the gloss on my lips that looked like they belonged to someone else. He’d overlined them a bit with a brownish shade, then had put the gloss over, and now they just looked better. Fuller. Softer.Perfect.

“Told you there’s a difference,” he proudly said. “You are absolutely stunning, baby girl. I could look at you forever.”

I saw the way my lips stretched in the mirror, bringing outthe pale peach of the blush on my cheeks, and the golden highlighter that could be responsible for howglossymy skin looked.

“I don’t think I’ve ever looked like this before in my life,” I said in wonder. “It’s like…a different me.”

He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed the side of my head. “May you fall in love with her deeply, fast, and all the way.”

They hada gym in the mansion, and I was to be there five days a week to train with Jennifer, apparently. All the girls trained together, but for the first month, Jennifer was going to train with me only during the day until I gathered some stamina and my muscles got used to lifting.

Did I have a say in the matter? Not even a little bit.

But did I actuallywantto change anything?

Well…

“Where is she? Let me see her! Let me—oh, Fall Doll…”

I smiled. It was automatic. Impossible not to when Mama Si stopped in her tracks and put both hands on her chest and looked at me like I might be the best thing she’d ever laid eyes on in her entire life. I’d just come out of the bathroom after a quick shower, and I was still wearing the robe, but my makeup was still on—must have been all thatbakingAdam had talked to me about. And my hair still held the big, loose curls, too—definitely all the hairspray he’d almost choked me with.

“Oh, my Fall Doll,” Mama Si said as she came to me with her hands raised, reaching for mine. I put them on her palms automatically, that stupid smile still on my face.

“Hi, Mama Si,” I said, soaking up the warmth of her gloved hands. She wore a purple dress today, a purple so dark it was almost black, and it looked incredible on her. The purple lipstick, too. It made her eyes look violet and blue more than any other color.

God, the way her face was made. There was just something about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it for the life of me.

“You look exquisite,” she said breathlessly, and Assa, who’d stopped by the door, nodded her head approvingly. “Absolutely fabulous. Dare I say,much betterthan I initially thought.”

I blushed and blushed, but I was sure nobody could tell because of my makeup.

“Adam really knows what he’s doing,” I muttered, so shy I was sick.

“But Adam can’t create what isn’t there, Fall Doll,” said Mama Si. “How are you feeling? Have you adjusted to your room? Come, sit with me. Talk to me.”

And with my hand in hers, she led us to the bed, and we sat at the corner together. She wanted me to tell her exactly what I’d done since yesterday, and she seemed so focused, absorbing my every word as if it was the most important thing she’d hear all day.

Maybe it was just me. Maybe I was never used tobeing heard,but it felt strange to have her asking me about whether I liked the smell of the shampoos she’d put in my bathroom or the way the meat was cooked for lunch. It felt incredibly strange—but at the same time, it felt amazing. Someone actually cared about what I ate and if I liked a fuckingscent.

---