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Cruel woman!
:P
I smile, tucking my phone away. And then find Piper watching me. “What?” I ask, wiping at my face. “Do I have syrup somewhere?”
“No, it’s just… You guys are so cute.” She beams. “You’re smiling ear-to-ear.”
I am?
I cough and reach for more food. But my plate is clean. “Come on,” she says, putting down some bills, and getting to her feet. “There’s a store just across the street that you’re going to love… And I can’t let you leave without some expert instruction.”
I’m wondering what I could possibly teach this brisk, collected woman about anything, when she leads me to an amazing store, selling nothing but makeup. I light up. “Ooh,” I exclaim, looking around. “This place is amazing.”
“Dash thought you’d like it,” Piper laughs. “He was asking what spots you’d like.”
“He was?”
I hide a wince. The last thing I need is for him to be thoughtful, too. But luckily, the dizzying array of products on show is more than enough to distract me, and soon, we’re deep in the aisles, and I’m schooling Piper on what brands are worth the price tags, and which are best left on the shelf.
“This shade would look great on you,” I comment, picking a bold red lipstick.
“Really?” Piper looks reluctant. “I never wear anything bold. I’m always worried about smearing it on my teeth or looking like a clown.”
“No!” I cry. “It’s so much fun. Seriously, I know makeup can get a bad rap, and you should never feel like you have to wear it,” I add, “But… It’s like getting dressed in the morning: You get to pick what part of your personality you’re going to bring out to play. Will it be sultry vamp?” I ask, picking up a smoky eyeliner. “Glam-rock superstar?” I add a sparkly eyeshadow trio. “Or bold seductress?”
Piper laughs. “I always just wear the same thing,” she admits. “You know, mascara, some concealer, plain gloss…”
“Weren’t you saying you wanted to mix things up?” I ask. “Trust me, nobody will be looking at you in the same way if you walk into a room with a bold red lip. It’s the easiest way to make a statement.”
“Won’t it smudge?” Piper examines the packaging.
“It depends on what you’re doing,” I reply with a wink, and she laughs.
“It’s so great that you know how to make this stuff yourself. Was it hard to learn?” Piper says, testing the lipstick sample.
“No, because it didn’t feel like work to me,” I reply, running my fingertips over the expensive, glossy packaging—and dreaming that one day, my own boxes will be on the shelves. “I’ve loved makeup since I was a kid, so it’s not really such a jump from blending my mom’s old lipstick tubes to make new shades and developing them from scratch. It’s kind of like a chemistry experiment,” I add, describing the different processes I use to blend color and base and fixatives. I’m worried I might be boring her, but Piper stays rapt.
“I never even thought about what goes into this stuff,” she says.
“It’s a process, alright. You should see my apartment,” I add, “Half the time, it looks like a mad scientist’s lab!”
“I’d love to!” she exclaims. “When we’re back in the city, we’ll have to hang out.”
Ouch.
There it is: My guilty conscience pinging again. “Sure,” I tell her. “I’d like that.”
Because I would. And hell, maybe after Dash and I announce an amicable breakup, it wouldn’t be weird to see Piper again. This time, without feeling like I’m lying to her in every other word.
Piper decides to try the red lipstick, and we pick out a couple more products, and pay at the register, but we’re just strolling back to her car when I spot Dash across the street. He’s paused on the corner, deep in his phone.
Piper sees him too. “Dash!” she yells, waving. His head jolts up, and I swear, I see surprise—and discomfort—on his face, before he jogs across the street to join us.
“You escaped Zelda’s clutches?” Piper asks with a smile.
“A brief jailbreak.” Dash grins.
“Sure, sure. Admit it, you couldn’t keep away from Callie,” she teases.
