Free After Hours by Dara Girard Page B

fifteen minutes peppering Amera with questions about what she did, how she liked her hair or didn’t, what special events she liked to go to, etc. “I know just what you need,” she said with a flourish.
    After shampooing Amera’s hair, Dalia applied a very gentle relaxer, to make it manageable, and then used a flat iron and curler to style her hair into a sleek, stylish design that allowed Amera’s features to be seen. Amera’s hair was in good shape, so Dalia didn’t have much trouble taming it, but she did have to cut some of the length. Initially, Amera wasn’t sure she wanted to have her hair trimmed. She was used to just pulling her hair back, and based on her strict upbringing at the orphanage, remembered the importance of not using any of her ‘womanly’ appeal as a distraction. She had never spent time styling her hair, and was totally shocked when she finally looked at herself. She looked stunning! A temporary darker brown color had been applied to her light brown hair, giving the impression of highlights and providing a nice contrast.
    Next, Amera was sent to the makeup artist, but not before getting a wonderful facial and full body rub. Niki, the makeup artist, loved working with Amera.
    “You’re a perfect canvas,” she said when she first saw Amera. “I love your bone structure; high cheek bones, full lips, and my, oh my, what do we have here? Light brown eyes. Quite unusual.” When Amera had been at the orphanage, she had been called ‘white girl’ because of her eyes and hair color, and had overheard one of the caretakers refer to her as a product of the ‘occupation’. It wasn’t until she was older that she came to understand, that at that time, foreigners from Europe had been working in that part of the country and many assumed she was the product of a union between her mother and one of them.
    Niki spent the next hour showing Amera how to get a ‘natural’ look, without using too much or too little make up. Amera liked the basics, and primarily only used an eyebrow pencil to fill in her light brown eyebrows and lip gloss. “Make-up is important to a woman’s image,” Niki told her. “It says, you care about yourself. That you are a professional.” With her new hairdo, Amera was open to all the information Niki shared with her. One makeup trick she showed Amera, was how to give her eyes a subdued smoky look and which lipsticks worked best for her. At the end of the session, Amera left the spa feeling, and looking like a new woman.
    ***
    Amera stared at her reflection that Monday morning completely in awe of what a spa visit and a great pair of stockings could do. She’d paired the lace patterned stockings she had selected with a dark blue pencil skirt and white blouse. Initially she had felt odd wearing a pair of expensive stockings to work, that wasn’t her style. She was used to wearing her uniform. She had a total of ten pieces that made up her work attire: A brown and dark blue tailored suit, two long sleeve tailored blouses, one black sweater dress, two pairs of fitted slacks (brown and blue to match her suit jackets), and one grey wool sweater. She wasn’t sure if what she had selected went with the stockings. But she didn’t have many other items, so what she selected would have to do. She still hadn’t been able to remove the ring, but felt less worried about it. In a week she’d be gone anyway, so if someone asked, she’d just say her boyfriend had proposed. No one could argue that. Besides, somehow the ring seemed to add to her new look. She even felt more confident about getting additional funding for Peale House. She’d left a message for Florence that she wanted to see her and go over the numbers again and fix the proposal.
    Amera left her apartment ready for her final week with Curtis. She was ready to put her plan in action. She had decided that she was going to make his life a little hectic for that week, so that he’d regret getting rid of her. She was no