Page 41 of Pity Present
“He’s great!” Then she says, “You have nothing to lose, Molly, and everything to gain. Just let yourself go.”
Her words sear into my brain like my new mantra. I’ve already lost the guy and can’t seem to interest anyone else. Why not let Fernando loose to see if he can unearth my inner goddess?
Walking into Caliente feels like walking into an elegant nightclub. The walls are painted black. The only relief from the darkness comes from the gold frames around the mirrors and the pristinelywhite styling chairs. Crystal clear chandeliers hang at various levels around the room.
“Molly, is that you?” An extremely short man with spiky hot pink hair claps his hands together enthusiastically while pushing people out of the way to get to me.
“Fernando?” I guess.
“Girl, yes! Melissa said this was an emergency and she wasn’t kidding!”Says the man with hot pink hair.
Ignoring the obvious insult, I tell him, “I need a style for a dinner tonight.”
He walks around me like he’s a carousel and I’m the center island holding the ride together. “Honey, no. You also need some shape.” Reaching out to touch the ends of my hair, he adds, “And a serious deep conditioning.” And I thought my self-esteem was lagging before coming in here.
“I don’t want to lose a lot of length,” I tell him.
He ignores my comment. “Shake your head from side to side.” As I follow orders, he looks even more aghast. “It doesn’t move.”
Reaching out to take my hand, he leads me across the room to his station. I’m a little nervous sitting down, but then I remind myself that Melissa recommended this guy and she looks normal.
Fernando takes a cape out of the cabinet beneath the vanity and proceeds to shake it out like he’s a bullfighter and I’m the bull. Then with great flare, he wraps it around my neck. “Would you like a glass of wine?” he asks.
In lieu of answering, I shake my head. I think I’d better be stone cold sober in case he decides to go rogue on my head. Fernando twirls the chair around so it’s facing away from the mirror, before telling me, “Close your eyes.”
“Fernando …”
“I know what I’m doing, Molly. I promise you won’t be disappointed.” For some reason, his confidence soothes me, so I do as I’m told.
Instead of carrying on a conversation like most hairstylists do, Fernando concentrates solely on my hair. He snips for a solidthirty minutes before he’s satisfied. But even then, he won’t let me look in the mirror. I have to keep my eyes closed while he leads me to the hair washing station. My head is wrapped in a towel on the way back.
I’m beyond anxious by the time he’s done blowing it dry and making the final snips. Then he twirls my chair back around to the mirror and declares, “Tada!”
I tentatively take in my reflection. I can’t help but wonder, who in the heck is staring back at me?
CHAPTER TWENTY
BLAKE
By the time I get out of the jacuzzi, I’m so sick of single people I consider skipping the mixer tonight. I suppose if I were here in another capacity, I might feel differently, but it’s exhausting trying to ward off female attention, all the while looking for angles for my articles.
The more time I spend with Krista, the more I feel her desperation to get my attention. I hope that Thor and Molly sealed their interest in each other today so I can cut Krista loose before she gets too invested in me.
Once I get to my room, I order a late lunch before setting up my laptop.
I spent the morning zip-lining with several other singles and had a great time. I mean, how can you screw up zip-lining? We were too busy enjoying the sport to do much else, but then came an hour in the jacuzzi. The banter, the flirting, the nervous giggling. It was a lot.
We’re only on day two here, but it feels like day ten. There’s adesperation in the air to find your person and claim them for your own before the competition moves in, and it’s borderline painful.
You can’t force a connection with people. I originally thought two weeks was an excessive amount of time when I first heard about Trina Rockwell’s new endeavor, but I now feel like it might not be long enough. The pressure to win a partner’s attention is real.
I eat my cheeseburger as soon as it arrives and then rent a movie to watch. While I’d love to go snowmobiling, I really don’t want to run into anyone else before I have to. Tonight will come soon enough.
I wind up nodding off during my favorite Christmas movie of all time,Die Hard. Then I uncharacteristically nap for the better part of three hours. By the time I wake up, I only have thirty minutes to shower and shave in order to get downstairs in time for the next group get-together.
Being that tonight is more than cocktails—it’s a full-on dinner—I pull out all the stops and wear a suit. I do this with some hesitation though, because I cut a fine figure in my Hugo Boss, and I don’t want to elicit too much attention.
By the looks of the crowd in the ballroom, I’m one of the last people to show up.
