All the employees stand through our assignments before setting up our stations.
“Ready?” Claire looks over at me from her vanity.
I grab my unplugged curling wand and wield it like a sword. “I was born ready.”
Henry, today’s floor attendant, opens the doors and lets in a crowd of kids and their parents. My heart warms at the bright-smiling, starry-eyed children who assess all the costumes lining the walls.
Henry rolls a little girl in a wheelchair toward my station. “Hi, Zahra. This is Lily. She’s excited to have you make her look like Princess Cara today.”
I bend over and give Lily my hand. “Are you sure you need a makeover?”
She nods and smiles.
“Are you sure you’re not a princess already?”
Lily muffles her giggle with her other hand. Her straight blonde hair falls into her face, shielding her green eyes from me.
I tap her scrunched nose. “You’re going to make my job so easy that my boss might think I have superpowers.”
Lily laughs. The sound is so sweet, I can’t help joining her.
“I like your pin.” She points at today’s enamel pin that rests above my name tag.
“Thank you.” I smile at the Bee Happy script covering a cartoon bumblebee. My small rebellion against the uniform code is a hit with the little ones.
I get to work, starting with Lily’s hair. Her straight hair stubbornly struggles to hold the classic Princess Cara curls, but I don’t give up until she looks perfect.
A weird prickling sensation shoots down my spine. I turn toward the vanity without watching my hands and swipe Lily’s cheek with purple eyeshadow.
“Hey!” She laughs.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
Rowan stands beside the front desk. His weighted stare in the mirror has my skin heating and my eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets. A flush spreads across my cheeks, and I turn away from the makeup station to hide my reaction.
“Ohh, you’re getting red. Mommy does that with Daddy.” Lily’s eyes light up.
“Hmm.” What is he doing here? Am I going to be fired?
Lily catches me staring at Rowan’s reflection in the mirror. “Do you like him?”
“Shh! No!” I wipe the makeup off her cheek.
“Is it a secret?” she whispers.
“Yes!” I’ll say anything to get her to shut up.
I take another peek over my shoulder. The asshole-in-Armani’s eyes remain focused on me, adding to my anxiety with nothing but a scowl.
Henry walks up to my vanity under the guise of offering Lily a juice box. “So, care to share why Mr. Kane is asking about you?”
“Because I might have made him angry earlier?”
Henry’s eyes crinkle with concern. “I wanted to come over and warn you that he’s asking Regina all kinds of questions about you.”
I hope Regina keeps her personal dislike toward me to herself. While she would love nothing more than to complain about me, my performance speaks for itself. My client tips are nearly double everyone else’s, which only fuels her personal vendetta against me. I don’t understand her problem. Her daughter is the one who had an affair with my now very ex-boyfriend while we were still dating. I’m nothing close to a threat because I wouldn’t touch Lance with a hazmat suit, let alone get back with him.
I straighten my spine. Thinking about Lance and Tammy only dampens my mood. It puts me back in that bad mental place, and I refuse to reduce myself to being that girl who thought she would marry her college sweetheart. That future crashed and burned after finding out about Lance’s double life with Tammy.