Page 15 of Where We Fall

I can't help but laugh at her giddiness, but I give her my hand and follow her ridiculous instructions to keep my head down. She leads me to another section of the salon.

"Here, take a seat in this chair," she says. "Anna, she's ready. We're not letting her see herself until you're done. And don't you dare show her a mirror until you bring me back. I want to see her reaction."

After Stacy walks away, Anna and I start talking about makeup. There are so many different options between powder and liquid, color variety, skincare. By the time we're done, I've learned more than I did with the eighteen years I lived with my mom.

Anna moves on to applying my makeup. It's oddly relaxing to close my eyes and let her gently do her work. I almost fell asleep a couple of times.

"Okay, we're done," Anna breaks me from my trance. "Let me go get Stacy before you move. She'll kill me if I don't."

I smile, knowing that I've only just met Stacy, but it definitely sounds like her. She's got quite the personality on her, but I kinda love it. If I like my hair, I might continue coming to her. I like how she didn't force conversation if there were lulls. It was a comfortable silence.

Only seconds later, they are both walking back to me. Stacy's face lights up when she sees me.

"You're stunning! Seriously, Lexi. Oh my god, I wish I had your bone structure," Stacy says.

At this point, I feel like they're being a bit dramatic, and they do this to every client. If I had to pretend every client was so beautiful that I couldn't contain myself, I would never come to work. I'm not much for being anything but genuine.

"Okay, we're going to walk you over to this tall mirror in the corner of the room. Close your eyes again," Anna says, then puts her hand out for me to grab.

I follow her lead with my eyes closed until her hands stop me from walking any further.

"Okay, open them up girl," Stacy squeals.

I'm about to tell her she doesn't have to pretend with me when I open my eyes and catch a glimpse of a woman I've never seen before. I look closer into the mirror, wondering if it's a picture rather than a reflection of myself.

I mean, I know it's me. It looks like me, but at the same time—it doesn't.

The highlights draw my attention to my hair first. Stacy made my boring old color fun and edgy. The cut frames my face and has more body than I've ever been able to attain. But it's the makeup that gets me. It's so much more subtle than I was expecting—everything was done very naturally, but my face has never looked so good. My cheekbones pop, and my eyes are vibrant.

I don't think it's something I've noticed until now, but I must've looked like tired and old before. It's not until you see the alternative that the difference really hits you.

My favorite part of the whole thing has to be my lips. Painted red, the one feature that is not subtle, and I freakingloveit. I've always been curious about lipstick, worrying that I'd look like a clown if I put it on, but it's so fun. I won't be afraid to use such bold and daring colors from now on.

Couple these changes with my new outfit, and I'm officially blown away. I feel amazing.

Tears begin to prick my eyes as I the woman looking back at me makes me proud for the first time in a while. I'm not saying that I hated myself before, but I never prioritized my appearance. At the end of the day, it feels like all of this was for me and nobody else.

"Are you crying?" Stacy looks concerned. "Are you okay? Do you hate it?"

"No," I whisper as I shake my head. "I love it. Thank you."

"You're a natural beauty," she says.

"I'm just shocked to see myself like this," I admit to them.

"Like what?" Anna pushes me.

"I don't even know how to describe it. Not to get too personal, but my mom always told me looking like this attracted the wrong kind of guy. I got so accustomed to my minimal routine, that I didn't even realize what I was missing."

Stacy looks sad as I catch her eyes in the mirror. "Your mom's wrong."

"I know that now. This doesn't feel like it's for a guy, it feels like it's for me."

"It can be for both. There's nothing wrong with that," Anna adds.

She's right. She'ssodamn right.

"Well, come on. I think there's someone special up front who's dying to see you." Stacy gives me an eyebrow wag.

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