Page 53 of Game Changer
On my last client of the night, I’m holding a comb between my teeth while putting the finishing touches on a gelled-back ponytail. My client, Samantha, is still gushing over her makeup, and Ethan has been smiling at me strangely for the past half hour now that everyone else is gone. Him looking at me like that has my throat tightening and warmth bubbling in my chest. That look could kill a girl if he tried hard enough.
“Thank you, again,” Sam says when she glances in the mirror. “I’ve never seen myself look this hot.”
Pride surges through me, a sense of accomplishment forcing its way into my heart before I can tell it to stop.
Silence echoes in the room after Sam leaves. Ethan passes me a thick envelope before he clears his throat and says, “I’ve never been more proud of you.”
Damn him and his nice words.
Does he have to be Prince Charmingallof the time?
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head and clutch the envelope with white knuckles, but it’s useless to hold back my tears despite how hard I try. Tonight was everything I wanted it to be and more. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of, and yet I feel like I can’t celebrate it.
My lip wobbles, but Ethan gently clasps my chin and swipes his thumb to gather the falling tears. “It’s not nothing, Maya. This is what you werebornto do. Tonight proved that.”
“It may be what I was born to do, but it’ll never work out when my parents disapprove of it. Running a salon and having a clientele will always be a hobby, not how I make a living.”
Ethan holds my stare before he purses his lips. “Can I be honest?”
Oh, god.That’s never good.
But I can’t help it when I nod, letting my curiosity get the best of me.
“You say you’re trying to find yourself, but I think you already have. You know exactly what it is you want to do in life, and you’re damn good at it, but you’re scared to stand up to your parents.”
I open my mouth to defend myself, but he continues before I can interrupt.
“I understand I may not know what it’s like to be in your shoes and to have had my parents sacrifice so much for me, but wasn’t the point of coming to the States to give you a better life and allow you to be whatever you wanted to become? If your parents saw how much you love this and could see your passion like I do, I’m sure they’d change their minds. I mean, come on, can you tell me you honestly plan on using this business degree once you graduate for anything else but this? Can you look me in my eyes and tell me being an accountant will be fulfilling?”
“You know I can’t do that,” I whisper.
“Then tell me what would. For once, be honest with yourself. If your parents weren’t a factor, what would makeyouhappy?”
It’s sickening that I don’t have to think hard about it at all. At night, I’ve allowed my thoughts to stray to whatcouldbe, which is how I concocted this secret future plan in the first place. Maybe Ethan is right. Maybe I have already found myself but I’m too nervous to stand up to my parents to do something about it.
I’m a coward.
But for the first time, I’m going to share my plans for the future with someone. Myrealplans.
“I’d like to start my own salon with the business degree,” I tell him firmly. “Then, I want to travel to clients all over the world. I’d make sure my salon was successful and hire a few other stylists to work there, too, before I started hopping on flights and stuff, but I want to see the world and all it has to offer. I’ve only ever been on this side of the country, so to see the rest of it and then some would be a dream come true.” Saying it out loud makes it real. Being this honest about what I want my future to become proves how afraid I am of being true to myself.
Ethan may hide behind his masks, but I’m the biggest fraud in this room.
“Thenthatis what you need to tell your parents,” he says.
I laugh up at the ceiling. “You make it sound so easy when it’s a lot more complicated than that.”
“It’s not, though. You’re just making it complicated.”
“What happens if my parents listen to me and still tell me they don’t approve? What will I do then?” They’ve already shot my dreams down once before, and although I didn’t fight them on it then, it’s hard to imagine they’d react differently now.
Ethan shrugs. “Then we figure it out together.”
His unwavering confidence in our future makes my heart both race and plummet at the same time. I’m going home in a few weeks to fight for this, forus, but to fight for my future too? That’s another battle, and I don’t know if I’m ready yet. Ethan is dead set on us being together for the long term, and although I want to be on the same page, I can’t until my parents approve.
But what if they didn’t, and I chose Ethan anyway? What if I confide in them about us and my future without caring about their opinions? I admire them more than anyone, and I appreciate everything they’ve sacrificed for me, but what good were all those sacrifices if I end up miserable?
What if Ethan is right, and we figure it out together, no matter what happens?
