AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She finished her tea and as she was washing the cup, she remembered her promise to Heidi to call Freya to see if she had any tips or suggestions that might assist in the start-up of her fragrance enterprise. She perched on her bed – which she had rarely turned back into its primary purpose as a sofa – and dialled Freya’s number, picturing her friend sitting in the orangery at her uncle’s chateau in Provence, drinking Champagne or pastis, maybe, and eating a selection of delicious patisserie. Sadly, her call went to voicemail, so she left a cheery message, asking for an update on her romance with her French boyfriend, Jacques, then jumped into the shower, her spirits high as she anticipated an afternoon of girly pampering.
It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed a spa day, the last one being for her birthday with a group of her London friends, all of whom had vanished into the ether after reading that cruel – and totally fabricated – article about her in the local newspaper. She shoved the upsetting thought to the back of her mind; today was about having fun withnewfriends, friends who had accepted her for who she was, without judgement, and she was determined to have a good time.
When she arrived at Heidi’s apartment, no one answered the door despite her insistent knocking. She was about to send Heidi a text when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Katerina and one of her friends emerge from the back of a small white van carrying a silver clothing rail crammed with vibrantly coloured outfits, before disappearing through a tall, blue-painted gate.
Suzie followed in their wake and found herself in a pretty courtyard, decorated with butterfly-shaped fairy lights and hand-stitched bunting featuring what looked like the inner workings of a clock – which she assumed was another of Heidi’s business ideas. In the corner, under the shade of an old olive tree, was a bistro table displaying the jars, bottles, tubs, and tubes of Heidi’s new SOS Skincare range, next to which were two upholstered sunbeds, both draped in fluffy white towels where Miranda and her friend Diana were in the process of receiving facials from Heidi and her flatmate.
‘Hey, Suzie, welcome! This is my friend, Angharad, Ana for short. Today she has very kindly agreed to be my “beauty salon assistant” in return for an invitation to our Greek dance class tonight,’ said Heidi.
‘Hi, Ana, it’s good to meet you.’
‘You, too, Suzie. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
Suzie smiled at the twenty-something young woman with the same singsong Welsh accent as Heidi’s, who was currently smoothing lotion from Diana’s decolletage to her forehead, her profusion of ginger curls flopping into her eyes as she did so. Like Heidi, she was wearing a Barbie-pink clinician’s jacket with her name embroidered across the top of the pocket in white stitching, and clearly shared her friend’s interest in cosmetics, sporting a perfect Cupid’s bow of bright cerise lipstick.
‘Grab a drink, Suzie, and I’ll be with you in a few minutes.’
‘Thanks, Heidi.’
She helped herself to a glass of iced lemonade and settled on a bar stool next to Miranda’s friend Robyn, whom she’d met at the bookshop the previous week, and watched mesmerized as Heidi and Ana skilfully applied a procession of lotions and potions onto their willing models’ faces.
‘Erm, this face cream smells slightly unusual,’ said Miranda, peeling one eye open to peer at Heidi. ‘What did you say was in it?’
‘Just natural ingredients; a little bit of this, a generous dollop of that. In fact, it’ssonatural that it’s probably safe to eat. Would you like to taste it?’
‘No! Of course not.’
‘What about you, Diana?’
Diana – who had sampled Heidi’s lethalGreen Gables Goddessat the literary cocktail night – shook her head decisively, causing Ana to deposit a splodge of moisturiser into her left ear.
‘Oops, sorry, Diana.’
‘Robyn? Do you want to taste it?’ Heidi offered.
‘Does it have gin in it?’
‘No, it only has—’
‘Then it’s a hard pass from me too, darling.’
Suzie reached out to select one of Heidi’s jars labelled “body scrub” and unscrewed the lid. Miranda was right; it did smell strange, but not in an unpleasant way, a bit like liquidised cucumber but with a distinct top-note of furniture polish. There were also specks of black in it, which on closer inspection she realised were nothing more unusual than poppy seeds.
‘Okay, that’s your facial done, Mirrie,’ said Heidi, wiping her hands on a damp face cloth and flicking open the latch on a multi-tiered makeup trunk that looked to Suzie more like an artist’s paint box as it contained a rainbow of colour palettes and an assortment of brushes in varying sizes. ‘Now for your makeup.’
Suzie stared in awed fascination as Heidi smoothed foundation onto Miranda’s face, taking special care around her laughter lines, before adding a soft dash of blusher to her cheeks, and painting her lips with a flattering shade of peach. Next, she took her time applying her signature gold glitter eye makeup to the full width of Miranda’s lid, which she edged with plum-coloured eyeliner, before finishing what was truly an artistic creation with several coats of dark brown mascara.
‘Wow, Miranda, you look like a Greek Goddess!’
‘Thank you, Suzie. I feel like a new woman! What do you think, Robyn?’
‘Absolutely transformational, darling. You, too, Diana. I hardly recognise you both. I think you’ve found your true vocation, Heidi, and I can’t wait for my turn. Do you think I could I have that sparkly peacock-blue eyeshadow, please? And I really like the look of the turquoise mascara and eyeliner you have in your box of magic tricks.’
‘Your wish is my command,’ said Heidi, clearly delighted by Robyn’s enthusiasm.
‘Come on, Suzie, it’s our turn to be pampered.’
Suzie didn’t have to be asked twice. She lay on the improvised “beauty couch” next to Robyn, and enjoyed the most relaxing ten minutes of her life as Ana massaged a selection of Heidi’s home-made skincare products into her dull, dehydrated skin before giving her a more subtle version of Miranda’s makeup, choosing a dusky pink eyeshadow that complemented the now-faded pink streaks in her hair. When she looked in the tiny hand mirror that Ana handed to her, she gasped, hardly recognising herself, and she experienced a welcome uptick in confidence.
