The Makeover Read Free

just
won’t quit,” she mumbled as she grabbed several bags and dragged them to the
elevator.  At work, her boss kept screaming at her about missed deadlines
and an overall lack of initiative.  She had lost her twenty dollar bill
when she had only intended to spend two at a pizza shop during lunch.  She
had gone to her afternoon class without her notes, making it nearly impossible
to complete her class presentation on developmental illnesses in
children.  Her professor had given her a C minus.
    “Humph, this
day can’t be over fast enough” she snapped, as she bent over and dragged the
last of the heavy bags down the narrow hall.   She didn’t see the
tall man stepping out of the elevator.  She backed into him.  When
she felt his hard knees against her backside, she swung around and slammed her
shoulder into his hip, before falling backwards onto the floor.
    “Whoa
there!”  the man chuckled.  “Need some help?” 
    Phoenix looked
up as heat crept into her cheeks.  Of course, she would have to
back her wide behind into some strange man’s legs.  And yes, it was only
fair that he would be tall, and gorgeous, and wearing an amused smile, while
she looked a hot mess. 
    “Uh, sorry,”
Phoenix choked out.
    The tall,
amber-eyed man smiled in a way that fueled the quivering in Phoenix’s
middle.  She became trapped in the force field of the man’s gaze. 
His golden eyes radiated with a glow from somewhere deep within.  Phoenix
forgot to be embarrassed.  It was strange, really, how the man’s presence
caused sweat to bubble on her upper lip.  It was downright ludicrous the
way his eyes seemed to illuminate the dank hallway.   
    Oh…wow.  Phoenix gulped and stared.
    “Well, do
you?”  The man said, stretching out his hand to Phoenix.  She gazed
at it for several seconds before realizing she was supposed to take it. 
The man bent and clasped her hand to pull her up.
    “Uh, um,
thanks,” she stammered, as electric pulses charged up her arm.  “Uh, do I,
uh, what?”
    “Need some help
with your bags?”  The man nodded at the bags at Phoenix’s feet.  When
she continued to ogle him, he tilted his head and let his eyes skim Phoenix
from head to toe.  It wasn’t a flirtatious look, but more of a quizzical
one.  It was as though her were trying to find the missing word in a particularly
arduous cross word puzzle.
    “Uh, no. 
I got it thanks,” Phoenix answered, dragging her belongings onto the
elevator.   “Thanks, uh, for holding the, uh, door.” she continued
after lugging on the last bag.
    “God bless
you,” the man smiled and winked. 
    Phoenix blinked. 
“Uh, yeah…um…thanks?”
    The man
chuckled and nodded.  “You’re welcome,” he murmured before releasing the
elevator door.
    Once it closed,
Phoenix sighed and wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead.  Then she
swore.  “I’m look like I’ve been beaten by the ugly stick and I bump into him?  This is a day truly crafted in Hell.” 
    Her mind
revisited the hellish events of the day.  The last straw was when she
agreed to meet her two best friends for happy hour after her class. 
Phoenix met her friends at their favorite hangout, Blockheads, the small
Mexican restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue.  It was supposed to be their time
to go over the final plans for Phoenix’s wedding and celebrate.  Instead,
she had spent the entire evening feeling invisible.  Men continually
approached their table to talk to either to Nicola or Sandra.  They kept
sending over cocktails for the pair, kept complimenting the two beauties. 
Phoenix felt silly.  Why had she been practically faint with jealousy,
when she was getting married in less than two months?  As much as she’d
tried to relax and enjoy herself, no amount of tequila could soothe the sting
of being rejected.  Not one of the men had looked her way.
    Not one. 
    The only
blessing had been when she remembered that the only food she had in her
refrigerator