She was supposed to be getting ready for her blind date. She'd scheduled a manicure, sunshine streaks added to her mane, and a much-needed wax. But given her past record of saying all the wrong things to all the right boys on all of her first and last first dates, no one but she and Mina would be ogling that wax.
Her sister called with a favor, though, as she usually did on Saturdays. It was normally not a problem, since her Saturdays were always free. That was the problem.
But she said yes, as she always did on Saturdays. Which is how it came to be that she spent the five hours before her date in the company of her nieces.
And which is why, when her date arrived on her doorstep holding a bouquet of chubby daisies and carnival-sized lollipops, she wasn't exactly ready. He didn't seem to notice.
He completely missed her nails, fluorescent and colored outside the lines. But that was one of the promises she'd made her lovelies promise that day and she'd had no time to erase that lesson; always, always break the rules and don't worry about making a mess. Life is messy. And when it's really good, life is incredibly messy. And blindingly bright.
He didn't see the pink streaks in her mane. He saw a glow that reminded him of everything beautiful he'd ever seen in his life. The night sky in Venice, the sands in Saudi, and the way everyone looked up at the Eiffel Tower. Damned if he didn't add her as his Eighth Wonder right then and there.
He couldn't tell from where the jingling was coming because his eyes never made it to her wrist, stacked with every bauble that caught her lovelies' eyes. She said yes to them all because she was a big believer in more is more, plus also she wanted her nieces to understand how valued were their ideas. No matter how more they were.
He didn't know it yet, but from that moment on every time that boy heard jewelry sing its song, he found himself smiling. He found himself wishing for more. And he didn't know it yet, but he'd be smiling about this moment for the rest of his life.
She learned two things about herself that night with that boy. First, she'd been wrong about herself and her past disastrous blind date history. She hadn't been saying all the wrong things to all the right boys. She'd been saying all the right things to all the wrong boys.
He was right. And she was, too.
Also? She and her esthetician were not the only ones who ogled her wax that night.
A lovely collection of arm candy found via Audrey Kitching.
