No response. Only stunned silence, punctuated by wide, unblinking eyes. Eileen, having revealed her face in a desperate attempt to de-escalate, felt a familiar pang of shame. 'They'll probably want me to cover up,' she thought, bracing for the judgment.
The eyes her mother deemed grotesque, the very features that sparked her disgust. Eileen fought the urge to retreat, took a deep, steadying breath, then raised a hand to her hair. With a practiced motion, she removed the hairpin, letting her bangs cascade down, obscuring her vision. This was the safe haven she knew best.
The silence in the boutique shattered, not with a gasp, but with a collective sigh of "…Good heavens."
A collective sigh, heavy with relief, became the starting pistol. The boutique, once cloaked in despair, thrummed with newfound energy. The owners, who'd been locked in a heated debate, now collaborated with an almost preternatural ease.
