The door swings open and three wide smiles great me. A man, and two women. The man steps forward giving me a bow and the two women follow in suit with a curtsy. When he pops back up, I quickly examine his features. His hair is dark gray, with splashes of white and light gray splattered around. The few wrinkles in his tan skin aligned perfectly with his smile.
"Charles Bridger," he said with a warm voice. "I will be the one who makes your attire for the show." He quickly bows once more and steps back. As his foot steps back, the oldest lady steps forward.
She does a short curtsy and gives me a smile, the wrinkles on her face are similar to his. "Sicily Bridger," She says in a rather deep voice for her slender frame. "I will be the one who styles your hair."
"Oh!" I exclaim she stares into my eyes. "I saw you on a magazine in a store window..."Her light brown eyes twinkle against her chocolate-toned skin. "The hair I saw was very lovely." My cheeks grow hot as I advert my gaze. Why would I say that?
She takes a deep bow and looks up at me with warmth in her eyes. "I am truly honored to have been recognized for my work." She steps back, and the youngest girl steps forward giving a quick curtsy.
"Cora Adams." When her head pops up from the bow, I immediately recognize her from a magazine as well. She was a participant from last years show. Her skin is the color of caramel, candy I've seen in the window of a sweets shop in town. "I am the one who will be doing you makeup." She did another curt bow and stepped back. Once back in her place, Charles steps forward, his hands folded behind him as he smiles once again.!
"My wife, daughter, and I have been assigned as your beauty team. We look forward to working with you." All at once, they bow again and I feel an uneasiness in my stomach. How do I tell them I don't want their help? Their heads stay low as I wrestle with the thoughts in my head.
"Thank you." I manage to say and they immediately stand up straight again. "I have heard about you. All of you." I look at each of them and my stomach twists and turns. I feel sick. "You three, are the best of the best." Charles and Sicily smile brightly, Cora lips tighten up slightly. "I just don't think you can help me." Their smiles falter, but the remain composed.
"How so my dear?" Charles asks, a small smile still faintly present on his lips.
"You can't get any worse..." Cora's voice was faint, but my ears have grown so used to hearing the whispering of people that it rang like bells in my ears. My eyes dart away just as I see Sicily wrap her hand around Cora's waist and Charles narrowing his eyes. His is gone as he shot his eyes towards his daughter, the kind man turned ice cold in the blink of an eye. Just as quickly as it happened, he is back looking at me with a smile.
"I am so sorry Cora interrupted you before, what were you saying?" His voice is sweet and his face soft, the hardness from before completely evaporated. I blink a little as I stare at him. Did I imagine the mean face?
"Well, I just think your talents would be wasted on me." I say as I touch the ends of my worn and rugged clothes. "You can't fix me..."
"Isn't that the truth." Cora mutters and Sicily takes in a sharp breath as Charles gives me a very wide smile, one that is kinda scary.
"Please excuse Cora and I really quick." He says as he gives me a bow and grabs Cora's arm. The scary face he had earlier is back as he pulls her into a different room and shuts the door. I stare at the dark oak door, my heart hurting slightly for her getting into trouble.
"I don't think she-" I turn to see a somber looking woman in front of me. Her eyes are glossy and move up and down my body. Slowly she dips her head low. "What are you-"
"I am so sorry for my daughter being cruel." She says and I feel too stunned to move.
"I-it's okay... I'm used to it, really." I manage to say those few words. Sicily slowly raises her head walking towards me as she gently touches my hair.
"You should not be used to treatment like that." She says, stopping and looking into my eyes. "You have such lovely hair. Like your mother's." Her eyes glisten and shine, and her face is an expression I have never seen before. She knows my mother? How does she know her? I go to ask her, but Charles and Cora walk back in. They stop right beside Sicily and take a deep bow.
"I am sorry for how I acted." Cora says as Sicily nudges her and she dips her head lower. "It was improper for me to do so, seeing as I am in your service." I watch as Charles, who was glaring severely at Cora, turns his gaze to me before bowing so deep he appears to be cut in half.
"I too apologize for my daughter's behavior," he says as he glanced up from under his trimmed eyebrows. "What she did was not right, and I assure you there will be no more instances of such horrid behavior."
"Okay." I say and the look at me. Charles and Sicily giving me bright smiles, Cora, giving me a slight glare.
"Now! We have to get you ready to meet the other ladies this season!" Charles claps his hands as Sicily quickly darts to the bathroom and I hear water begin to run. "First, you need to get a shower and Sily will get your hair washed. Then we will get you dressed in the dress I have designed for you based on the measurements that they got during your initial interview. After that-." Sicily places a hand on his shoulder when she comes back. He stops and glances at me.
I'm not sure what my face looks like, but it must show the horror that I feel. My heart beat is rapid and my chest hurts and my mouth feels dry. Charles gives me a small smile as he comes to my left gently touching my arm. "What is the matter dear?"
"It sounds... like a lot." I say and Sicily comes to my right side and touches my arm.
"Would you like to see the dress Charles has designed for you?" She asks and I nod and Charles quickly pulls away hurrying through the door he came in from. He comes back and hangs a large bag with a hook on the top onto a very bare wall. He opens up the bag and pulls out a short, black dress. At the end of the dress are giant wads of feathers and ruffles making it puff out. "Why don't we try it on and see how you like it?" She says, and though I don't want to, I agree and go into the bathroom and begin taking off my clothes.
In the bathroom, a huge mirror covers the wall above a marble black counter. I run my hands along the small traces of gold swirled into the marble. I lift my hand, now slightly damp from the steam of the water. My eyes catch my slightly foggy reflection and I run my hand over to give me a more clear picture. Pale, my cheeks are sunken in, my collar bone seems so pronounced and I feel a bulge forming in my throat. I look away quickly, heart racing as I remember the task at hand. I take the dress off the hanger and slowly pull it on.
It swallows me up. The bottom of the dress is far more puffy that I originally thought. I walk out and the usually kind and sweet eyes of Charles was almost glazed as he walked over to me, pull at the dress at places. Sicily stands to the side, her eyes scanning my face and moving up and down my body.
"Stiff." Charles mutters and I look up to see him peering at my face. "You are stiff." He says and Sicily calls from the corner.
"Perhaps something a little more..a subtle." She says and his eyes dart towards her. "Would that be better for you Miss Burks?"
"I'm not used to wearing s dresses, let alone something so... extravagant." I say and Charles features soften as he nods stepping away as he digs into a small bag he had brought in with the dress. He grabs a few things, then steps back towards me. In his mouth are a bunch of little pins and around his neck is a long white thing with small numbers and lines. "I'm sorry." I state and he looks at me, the same expression that was on Sicily's face, the one I do not know.
"For what? Having a preference?" He asks as I shake my head.
"You did all of this work and I didn't like it." I say and he chuckles slightly.
"Let me give you advice." He says as he pulls at some fabric. "Never ever apologize for not doing or liking something that someone's wants you to. You cannot help but have a preference." He gives me a smile, a tight lipped one so the pins don't fall out of his mouth. "Be still for me, it won't be long." He gives me a little wink as he begins to walk around me, pulling then pinning.
True to his word, it did not take long and I was back in the bathroom the dress off of me and with Charles as he frantically worked on it. I stood outside of the glass room that the water is sprinkling out of. A knock sounds and I grab a towel on the counter. My mind immediately drops it as I stare at it in disbelief. So soft. It's like they made it out of a cloud. Another knock and I grab it, pushing it away and wrapping it around myself.
"Come in!" I call and Cora steps into the room, a glare on her face.
"Here, put your hair in this." She tosses me a weird cap thing and I barely catch it. "It will keep your hair dry for my mother to wash it after." She crosses the small space as she reaches into the room and touches the water. "It's plenty hot now, you'd better hurry."
"Okay." I say and I grab the cap looking at. It's puffy with a stretchy band and I set it on my head. How does this keep my hair dry? I wonder and turn to see Cora glaring even more at me.
"Seriously." She mutters as she marches over and takes the cap off, throwing it onto the counter. She grabs a hold of my hair and twists it up, pulling and yanking on my head. I grimace as I feel the back of neck tighten and ache as she pulls. "Please, I didn't pull that hard." She growls and grabs the cap putting it on my head. "There. I won't do that for you again." She snaps as she pushes me towards the rain room, and opens the door. "Drop the towel and go in." I peek inside, still clutching the towel.
"It's like rain." I say and she scoffs as I reach my hand in to touch the water. Immediately I yank it back and let out a slight yelp. Cora jumps and yanks my hand looking at it.
"What? What's wrong?" She asks examining my hand.
"It's hot..." I say staring at my now slightly red hand. "The water, it's boiling."
"What?" She says and sticks her hand in, narrowing her eyes into a glare. "This water is not hot." She says and I step away from the rain box. "Have you never taken a shower with hot water?"
"Shower?"
"Yeah it's the 'rain'." She says and I shake my hand. "How did you get clean?"
"There was a creek by the cottage." I say and her normally cruel expression faltered.
"Oh." She says and her face snaps back to the angry girl from before. "Well if it's too hot just turn this handle down like this." She shows me and rolls her eyes. "Do not scream." She turns her back leaving the room.
I stick my hand into the shower again, and it is much cooler than the previous. I slowly place my towel onto the hook and step inside. The water is warm, and it reminds me of how my body warms when I drink something warm. I close my eyes, letting the water roll and pelt my body. My body feels heavy, yet light at the same time as I wipe my face. Opening my eyes, I take a large white bar and hold it. It slips out of my hand and lands on the ground and I can't help but let out a laugh. I hold it more carefully and rub it over my body. A sweet smelling aroma begins to fill the room. The water rinses it off, so I rub the white bar over the spot again, making bubbles on my skin. Over and over again I do this, until I hear a knock.
"I hate to cut this short, but you may need to hurry dear." Sicily calls and I place the soap onto a little shelf in the shower and turn the water off. I grab the towel from the hook outside of the shower and wrap it around my body. "Oh, why don't you try the robe?" She says holding up a giant plush jacket that is made of the same cloud like substance. She comes up behind me and wraps me into it as she rubs on my shoulders. I pull my arms through as she ties it tightly around my waist. "Follow me." She leads me to a sink with a huge dip in the front and a giant chair in front of that. "Sit there." I sit and the chair creaks slightly as she pulls the back of it down. My neck fits perfectly into the crook and she takes off the cap with one hand while she turns on the water with a different hand.
Before I can ask what is going on, she begins spraying my hair with water as she runs her hands through it. I feel immediately sleepy as she combs her hands through my hair. Soon, a new and different aroma fills the room, similar to the first. I hear a slight sloshy sound mixed with popping bubbles. My body feels heavy and my eyes burn, similar to how I feel before I fall asleep. At times, she pushed harder on my head, but it isn't painful, not like how Cora was. That soon ends as she finishes washing my hair.
After that, she quickly cut at my hair as pieces of it fall to the floor. Then in a haze, a loud, whirling, hot machine blows my hair around, and it is soon dry. Once dry, Charlie brings in a completely new dress. Once everyone is out, I slip the dress on. The feathers and a few of the ruffles on the bottom are gone, so the bottom is not as fluffy as before. The feathers that once lined the bottom now drape over my shoulders like a cupped sleeve. It is also not as baggy as before. When I step out Charles and Sicily give me big smiles as Cora stands at a mirror, arms folded and foot tapping.
"Hurry." She calls and when given a glare from both Charlie and Sicily she mutters a quiet, "please". I hurry over and sit down. "I won't get to do a full face, but I don't think you would like it anyways." She says as he holds sharp metals things and begins pulling at the hair above my eye. I grimace slightly and she stops for a split second. "You are going to have to deal with it for a second, it won't take too long." She says and then goes right back into it. Though it was similar to what Charlie told me, it feels like forever until she finally gets done. From that point, she has me close my eyes and hurries to apply something on the lid of my eyes. All of it happened in such a rush that when we were done, I wasn't sure how long it all took.
When everyone pulled back, I stood up and quickly slipped on a pair of shoes. Sicily turned and lead me to a mirror in the far corner of the room. I stand, slightly taken aback from what I see. I know it's me, but it doesn't look like me. As I gawk at my reflection I turn towards them and give them a small smile.
"Thank you guys very much. I didn't know I could look like this." I say as I smile and they each bow. As they come back up from their bow, Cora shrugs her shoulders as she takes a look at my face.
"If you think this is good, wait until I can really do your makeup." She says and nods before stepping away and Sicily takes her place.
"Are you ready to meet the other girls?" She asks and I give only a small nod, so small I wasn't sure if I actually moved my head. I must have though, for the next step I take is out of the door and towards the remainder of the day, currently remained as an enigma.
***
Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Thank you once again and I will see you guys next time!