The Makeover Read Free Page A

included a near-empty tub of butter, a week-old Subway sandwich,
and an egg.  She was relieved to use such an urgent excuse of having to go
to the grocery store to end her evening early.   At least she could
leave without lying to her friends.   She was finally home two hours
earlier than her usual ten-thirty.  All she could think about was getting
to her apartment, seeing her fiancé, curling up in his arms, and having herself
a good cuddle.
    The rickety,
urine-soaked elevator reached the sixth floor.  She took a deep breath and
placed her backpack against the elevator door as she pulled her bags into the
hall.  Thankfully, her apartment door was one door down from the
elevator.  Standing in front of it, Phoenix wiped the perspiration from
her face with a dirty tissue from her jeans pocket.  She adjusted her
wrinkled white blouse, and dug out her Burberry Sheer perfume to freshen
up.  She knew she needed a shower after pounding the bustling Manhattan
streets all day to provide mental health counseling  the mentally ill in
their homes.  She had already been reeking when she rushed uptown to
Columbia University where she was taking doctoral psychology courses.  By
the time she met with her friends, she looked and smelled like she had been run
over by an onion truck.  After popping a Mentos candy in her mouth, she sniffed her armpits and winced at her pungent
scent.  She dug out her small bottle of baby power to shake into her
blouse.
    Sniffing again,
she whispered, “Sorry, Baby, this is the best I could do.”
    She wondered
where Cedric was and hoped he’d decided to cook.  She was starving, having
had that twenty-two dollar slice of pizza at noon that left her without money
for an early-evening snack.  Thankfully, San and Nic had treated Phoenix to
the Thursday-night special—three dollar margaritas.  San would have
treated her to a meal if she had asked, but Phoenix had been too embarrassed to
eat by herself.  She didn’t want to be the fat girl eating alone at a
table with two beautiful, slender women. 
     She
unlocked the door, her frown already transforming into a smile.  She heard
her favorite artist, Maxwell’s, music booming from the bedroom.  Pausing,
she saw that the small dining table in their living area had been decorated
with plates, silverware, and a vase filled with fresh pink roses.  She
walked down the hall to the table and sniffed the roses.  “Too bad I’m
home so early.  I might have ruined the surprise for him!”
    Surveying the
clean apartment, Phoenix’s heart melted.  “Wow.  He actually cleaned
up?   No wonder he couldn’t hear my calls or the bell.  My baby
must be planning something sweet for me.” 
    She returned to
the kitchen and quickly put her groceries away.  The air seduced her with
the tangy aroma of Cedric’s famous barbeque sauce.  In the kitchen, she
found a pan of short ribs and a pot of Spanish rice.  “Oh thank you,
Baby!” 
    She walked back
down the hall and stood at the floor-length mirror on the bathroom door. 
“No wonder that dude was staring at me like I had a bug on my forehead.  I
look horrible!”
    Her normally
relaxed, shoulder-length hair was a frizzy ball of frayed yarn.  Her dark
skin, the color of the darkest chocolate pudding, glistened with sweat from the
July, New York heat.  Her blouse was wrinkled against her full-figured
frame, and stained with two drops of the lunch time pizza’s grease on her
chest.  Her eyes scanned the blackheads, and the spattering of dark bumps,
on her chin, cheeks, and forehead.  There was a long, curly hair sticking
out of her chin.  She yanked it as hard as she could before hurrying into
the bathroom, unable to face the damage any longer.  Within minutes,
Phoenix had removed her clothes, jumped into the shower, and washed
herself.  She came out, brushed her teeth, then her hair, and smeared her
body with her favorite Victoria’s Secret Honeysuckle lotion. 
    Snatching her
silk