“Let me do your makeup for your date with Doctor Crawford tonight,” she said. “I can amp you up, Lacey. I’m not saying you need it, but we all know that makeup can be a girl’s best weapon against a man’s heart.”
I looked at her and felt a sudden wave of emotion hit me. I wasn’t sure where it came from. I felt sad, all of a sudden. It was as if all girls had been completely conditioned into thinking they had to look unnaturally beautiful to get a man to fall in love with them. When had society changed so drastically? When had professional cosmetics become a necessary part of the dating game?
And at the same time as I was thinking that, there was another part of my mind that was thinking back to what had happened the night before. Rob hadn’t wanted me. He wasn’t attracted to me. He’d only been attracted to those bimbos in the porno movie.
I took a deep breath. I felt as if somehow, the decision I made right then would have a big impact on my life. Like I was in some strange way deciding what sort of woman I was going to be. Up until that point, I’d always tried to attract men with my personality, my sense of humor, and my intelligence. I felt that if I let Cassie amp me up, as she put it, I’d be taking on a different strategy. I’d be using sex to get a man to fall for me, rather than my personality. It felt like a big difference.
I turned to her. I wanted to say no. For some reason, I suddenly wanted to get out of there and drive back to the Valley and tell Grant everything that I’d been feeling since we made love. I wanted to tell him that I thought we were soulmates, that I knew we’d been secretly in love with each other for our entire lives, that we were made for each other. But I knew I couldn’t. Grant didn’t feel those things. He’d had his chance and he’d turned me down.
I had to face reality. Grant wasn’t interested. I was single, no man even remotely wanted me, and whatever I was doing just flat out wasn’t working. I had this chance with Rob, but I could already feel it slipping through my fingers. He couldn’t even get excited about me for long enough to get a condom on. If I couldn’t make him hard, I wouldn’t be able to make him love me.
“All right, Cassie,” I said, “let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Perfect. Get out of your clothes and get into that green robe. I’ll just go check on the surgery, make sure we have time for this.”
I undressed and put on a light green robe that felt as if it was made out of paper. It tied at the front. I sat in a comfy, leather chair in front of one of the mirrors and waited. Cassie came back and said the operation wasn’t going to be finished anytime soon. She would give me the works.
The next two hours passed pretty much as if I’d been at some high-end spa. Cassie flipped a switch and enough lights turned on to brighten a stadium. I felt as if I was in Marilyn Monroe’s dressing room. Cassie started by shaving me. It didn’t take long because I’d done it myself, but she insisted it was the first step. She ran a razor over my legs, armpits and private areas. The robe gave her access to everything she needed. Then she had me step into a futuristic looking shower. It was like a little spaceship, with blue lights shining down on me from above.
“Is there any chance you might be pregnant?” she said.
I stopped dead. My night with Grant! No protection! It was possible. Anything was possible. I hadn’t even thought about it, I didn’t feel pregnant, but I hadn’t had my period yet either.
“Is there a risk?”
“No, not at all,” Cassie said, “but we have to ask.”
“No chance,” I answered.
I guess my feelings about Grant were pretty mixed. If he’d wanted me, if he’d wanted a relationship with me, I’d have given my life to get pregnant with his child. But if he didn’t want me, then fuck it. Fuck him.
“All right then, are you ready?” Cassie said, from outside.
“I think so,” I replied.
Water started falling from the ceiling, the perfect temperature, but as I let it wash over me I realized that it wasn’t exactly water. It had an oily, soapy consistency to it and it smelled like roses.
“Just wash in the water like normal,” Cassie called from outside.
After a few minutes, the water stopped and air started blowing on me like a hair dryer. When it stopped, I stepped out and Cassie gave me a fresh robe.
“How did you like that?” she said.
“It was fine,” I said. “It got in my hair and on my face.”
“That’s good,” she said. “It’s a propriety thing. The water contains a tanning accelerator, vitamins and minerals for your skin, moisturizers and a light fragrance.”
“It was really nice.”
“Your skin should feel really good now,” she said. “And your hair. The blue light was UV, so the shower will also have given you a light tan, perfect for your skin type.”
“Is that so?”
Cassie smiled. “Come on. Now for the fun part.”
I wondered for a moment what exactly I was getting myself into as I lay down in something that resembled a dentist’s chair. A circular light shone down on me from above.