Page 49 of Love to Prove You Wrong

I had almost drifted into some peaceful meditative state when Jess started talking.

“This can’t be normal. Is this normal? Hello?” she called out. Oh no, she wasn’t having another one of her anxiety attacks, was she?

Ashley turned her head around, and shot Jess an encouraging smile. “Just relax. I’m sure everything is normal.”

“It’s not. Why is no one coming? Can’t they hear us? What if there’s a fire?” she shouted.

“A fire?” Brianna asked, her brows furrowed.

Jess flailed around in the mud, then put a hand to her chest. “This mud is so heavy, I can’t breathe. Can you guys breathe?”

“Yes, I can breathe totally fine,” Stella said. “Getting yourself worked up is only going to make you feel worse, Jess.”

“I need to get out of here.” Her eyes shot from the door to us and back again. “Why isn’t anyone coming?”

She was right though. Why wasn’t anyone coming? Surely, they must be able to hear the crazy screams coming from treatment room B?

I put my champagne glass down. “I’m sure someone will come to help you real soon.”

“Yeah, try to relax,” Ashley said.

“Relax?” she shouted, as if someone had just suggested she should eat a plate of broken glass. “I’m not having this, you know, I’m getting out.”

“Please, calm down,” Brianna said.

Of course, Jess wasn’t calmed down by Brianna telling her to calm down.

She put both hands on the side of the tub and lifted herself up, the mud slowly dripping down and falling to the ground with nasty thuds, revealing her birthday suit inch by inch. She grabbed a white towel and flung it around her body, then walked to the door with big, wide steps, leaving small puddles of mud behind her. And then she was gone.

Chapter Seventeen

After the mud bath fiasco, Jess told us she’d rather watch the seven of us getting a makeover than participate in one. She was afraid of the makeup brushes not being thoroughly washed and containing some nasty bacteria, so she was the only one who didn’t take a seat in one of the makeup chairs.

The makeup artists started working, using the dozens of makeup products covering the countertops in front of us. A warm feeling went through me as I thought about how stunning I’d look after this makeover. It felt so good to get pampered for once.

A mere twenty minutes later, my metamorphosis was complete. The salmon-colored lip gloss, the golden highlights right above my eyelids, and the subtle blush on my cheeks worked perfectly together.

I thanked the makeup artist who had made this possible and looked at the others who were also almost done. Everyone chatted about their favorite mascara brands while Jess scrunched her nose at the mere mention of eyeliner.

“Honestly, I don’t understand how you can be a rep for poultry food when you’re this afraid of touching anything,” Ashley said as a makeup artist swept blush onto her cheek. “Don’t chickens and ducks carry lots of diseases?”

“I’m a sales rep, Ash. I don’t actually need to touch the animals or their food,” Jess said.

Layla rolled her eyes and looked at me. “Don’t mind them. They’re always on each other’s backs, but they do love one another. Am I right, guys?”

“Yes, you are,” Jess and Ashley said in unison.

“There. You girls are all set,” one of the makeup artists said.

We all hurried toward the tall mirrors placed at the other side of the room. It might sound arrogant, but I was more than pleased with what I saw. My nails looked stunning, and the makeup had completely accentuated my best features. I looked like a movie star, and so did the others.

“This is awesome,” I said, twirling around.

“Right? Now we’ll look all amazing for our next activity,” Ashley said. “Are you guys ready?”

“We are,” Olive said. Her hair was curled and pinned up in a stylish manner.

“Could you snap a picture for me?” Suzie asked me. “I want to send this to Alex. God knows when I’ll look this good again.”

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