"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk" the masseur said through her clenched teeth. "Relax, Miss Hadley," she informed Rain. She heard Rain let out a sigh and felt the tension leave her form. The woman gave Rain a gentle smile. "Good, now tell me about what is making you so tense."
"Well..." Rain started out saying. "I am tense, because I am going out on a date tonight."
"A date; is that all that is making you nervous? From the way you are tightly coiled, I thought it might have been something more serious than a date, dear. What you are experiencing dear is a case of the jitters. I'm sure once you meet up with your date, it will all disappear."
"There's more to it, lady. Trust me when I say this: I wish that this was going to be a simple date tonight. You see, tonight is going to be a blind date—
"Oh, well, I am positive that you guys will hit it off," the masseur assured her, while soothing away the tension in her right arm.
"I hope so. I really do. We've been dating for so long—
"Dating, so he is your boyfriend? If that is the case, why is it a blind date, Madam?"
"It's... complicated," stated Rain as she gazed at the ceiling.
"Complicated, how complicated is it?" the masseur asked.
"We have met through an internet chat room. You see, we've have known each other for a little bit over six years now. We were friends first and then after a year of chatting, he asked me to be his girlfriend. By then, I was already in love with him, so, there wasn't any hesitation from my part. Plus, I am nervous because we haven't seen each other in actual, real life. We have sent each other pictures of ourselves. I find him to be very attractive. He's told me he thought that I was pretty and beautiful. I know that he could've been lying to me. I know that I am not pretty. I know that much." Rain felt sad and embarrassed. She felt her throat constrict. She made a rough swallow. She felt her eyes sting with unformed tears.
Rain saw the masseur's brow furrowed in disbelief. "Why do you believe that, Miss Hadley? You are a very beautiful woman."
"Thank you," Rain said to her, as a tear slid from her left eye and down her cheek. She quickly wiped it remnants away with her hand. The masseuse walked away from Rain and the table for a brief moment to fetch Rain a tissue. "Thank you," Rain repeated as she dabbed up more tears that sprung from her eyes.
"And if this gentleman doesn't find anything right with you, after all of this time that had passed, then he isn't a gentleman at all," the masseuse informed her. "But, let's hold out on that, okay? For all we know, this man might be a good man and he might be already 'head-over-heels' in love with you, Miss Hadley. So..." The woman gave Rain a playful smack on the thigh. "...let's finish up here and get you on your way, yes?"
"Yes," Rain said to her, brightly and with a smile.
After massaging away for a while, the masseur smiled and stared at Rain. "See, I was right. You indeed needed to talk to someone because right now you are as loose as a strand of cooked spaghetti!"
Once her Swedish massage session was over, Rain felt well and she was relaxed. Her coffee bean-hued skin glowed from the nurturing session. She was escorted by one of the day spa's employees to the aesthetician section of the building, where she was to receive an extensive facial by one of the licensed specialists. She was left alone with a statuesque, blond-haired woman who gave her an icy greeting. The woman gave off the "I'm a cold bitch" vibe and it caused Rain to be leery.
The statuesque beauty received her facial from the pale, stone-faced woman who possessed a flawless complexion. The woman pulled, pinched and squeezed at the flesh on Rain's face while chastising her for not having a healthy skincare regimen. The aesthetician cursed under her breath, in Russian as she 'extracted all of the impurities' from her client's pores. As she cursed, Rain sat quietly but gave her a glare that held intense hatred. After experiencing thirty minutes of that form of torture, the Russian woman slather a sweet-smelling but slight stinging cream on her face and then left her alone. For the entire fifteen minutes, Rain was happy for the reprieve.
Once she left the clutches of that psychopath, Rain was escorted once again to another area of the Hamilton Hills Day Spa. She was taken to a place where she was going to receive her manicure and pedicure. She was chastised once again. But this time, it was her manicurist and it was about the appearance of her fingernails. The manicurist, an elderly woman who appeared to be in her sixties, was letting her know that her nails looked rough. However, the scolding was a playful one. Rain didn't take offense because it was the type of stuff that she was used to hearing from her sisters and from her friends. Plus, the room had a view of the Rocky Mountains from its floor-to-ceiling windows that were beautiful that kept her occupied.
The manicurist had tried to her best to make her hands and fingernails appear prettier. She smoothed out the rough calluses on her fingers. She buffered, clipped and filed her nails, before applying two layers of orange-colored nail polish. She trimmed Rain's cuticles as well. After receiving her manicure, Rain received her pedicure in which she painted her toes in the same color orange.
She was taken back to the women's locker room area, where she slipped her clothes back on. As she exited the locker room, she was greeted by a petite Asian woman. The woman, Rain guessed, had to be a few inches above five-feet tall, which was a lot smaller than Rain's 5'10 frame. The woman was cute, small but curvy. She wore the appropriate work attire: black slacks, black Polo-styled shirt with black sneakers. Her hair was cut in an asymmetrical bob and was dyed blonde.
The woman and Rain exchanged greetings and then traveled to the upper level of the spa. The highest level of the building was where the hairstylists and make-up artists were located. When Rain first learned that her sisters Carol and Carmella had paid for the hair and makeup services, she was pleasantly surprise. Even though Carol was Rain's biggest supporter, she was also a spendthrift, so knowing that her sister was footing the bill for all these services was a shock; especially, ever since Carol was one of the people who was against the idea of Rain going out on a date with EvilKidKneeVeil57.
The small-stature woman led Rain to a hairstylist's booth and informed her that her hairstylist had stepped away for a moment, but she'll be right back. Rain thanked the woman and sat down in the rotating stylist's chair. Rain, in a manner as to not draw attention to herself, surveyed the people in the room as she sat there. She glanced at the hairstylists and at their clients as their hair was either dyed, cut or styled. She glanced at the tools and other objects that were on the counter tops of her stylists' booth. Then, she realized that there was a possibility that her hairstylist was a person who never dealt with black women's hair. The thought made Rain's mind go into overdrive. Images of her, leaving the spa bald and in tears, ran through her mind. She was so occupied with those thoughts that she didn't notice a leggy, curvy, brunette walked up to her.
"I am sssoooo sorry for keeping you waiting, ma'am," the brunette announced. She placed a hand on each of Rain's shoulders. Rain flinched and gasped, from surprise at the contact. It made the woman flinch slightly, in return. "Oh, I am sorry for that too, ma'am!"
Rain let out a shaky giggle before glancing over her right shoulder at the woman. "No, I am sorry for scaring you. I'm sorry I was lost in my thoughts."
"No, it's all right," the brunette assured her. "Hello, my name is Mitzi and I will be your hairstylist," she announced.
"Hello, my name is Rain Hadley." Rain turned the chair around, so she could shake the woman's hand. The woman giggled.
"Rain," the woman giggled, "what a coincidence. Rain is my daughter's name also," Mitzi informed her. Mitzi swung the chair around, so that Rain was staring at her reflection.
"Well, it looks like I am in good company," Rain said with a smile. Mitzi smiled, giggled and then thanked her.
"So, do you have any particular style in mind, Miss Hadley? I can see, based on your edges, that you do not perm your hair. So, I am going to guess that you don't want a relaxer in your hair." Mitzi glanced at the mirror and saw the look of surprise on Rain's face. "What? You didn't think that I knew how to do your hair, didn't you?" Rain gazed away from the mirror while admitting her answer and her guilt. Mitzi laughed. "Yes, I have the experience of doing black women's hair. I am originally from small town called Saffron. It's in Georgia and is about a hundred miles away from Atlanta. When I was living there, I worked in a hair salon where I did all kinds of hair, so your hair is not strange to these..." Mitzi waved her hands mid-air. "...hands right here. So, you are in safe hands, all right?"
"All right," Rain sighed, as relief flooded into her. "And you're right by the way. I don't want a relaxer. I just want something different than I used to dealing with."
"All right, so no creamy-crack for you" Mitzi joked, which made Rain laugh. "And don't worry I can make that happen for you. So, first let take these braids out of your hair. Go on, grab one of these mojos and get to unbraiding." Once again, Rain laughed and then grabbed a braid and began to unbraid.
Both women chatted with each other while unbraiding the waist-length cornrows that graced Rain's hair. They talked about their upbringings and backgrounds. Mitzi spoke about her marriage, job and about her children while Rain told stories about her job and her family. She also told Mitzi about her date. By the time the final braid was released both women formed a bond between each other. Also by that time, the two women figured out Rain's new hairdo. Rain was unsure about some of the features that Mitzi wanted to do, but was reassured by the 5'8 woman.
Rain stared at the mirror and watched Mitzi clip away split ends, applied highlights and low-lights to her hair. Her hair was washed and then conditioned. After her hair was rolled up in giant curlers, Mitzi and Rain parted ways briefly, so Rain could have her time with a makeup stylist. Once again, Rain was shocked when she saw the person who was going to apply her make-up. She was expecting another woman employee to work on her features instead she was greeted by a man. Just like the other Hamilton Hills Day Spa employees, he wore black clothes. If he didn't wear the employee shirt, Rain thought he could've been the spa's security guard or perhaps a professional wrestler. His height and girth was the first two things that she noticed about him. Rain guessed that he must've been at least 6'5 tall and had to weigh more than 260 pounds in muscles. Rain also noticed that he was very handsome. His skin held a healthy looking tan and some colorful tattoos.
"Good afternoon Miss Hadley, my name is Raven and I will be doing your makeup today," the tall and muscular makeup artist had said to her, with a soft tone of voice.
She didn't respond to his greeting right away. She was still in marvel over his beauty. Rain gave off a gentle smile. She stuck out her hand as a gesture for a handshake. "H-hello, how are you?" she fumbled out of her mouth. Raven complied with her request. He guided Rain to his styling, rotating chair and she sat down. Raven turned the chair around, away from the stylist vanity, so she couldn't see her reflection from the mirror.
Rain eventually warmed up to Raven the makeup artist and started to speak to him. The two people talked as Raven applied cosmetics to her face. Like the conversations that she performed with Mitzi, Rain spoke about a range of topics. She also told the man about her blind date with her internet boyfriend. Raven, like Mitzi, he did not judge her.
"All right, Miss Hadley, are you ready to see the final result?" Raven asked her.
"Yes please," she said to him, sweetly, with a smile on her face.
"Well, I am not going to show you..." He noticed that the smile fell away from her lips and a thin straight line formed. Raven laughed at her reaction. "You're going to have to wait until after your hair is finish." He helped her out of the chair, like a gentleman would. Mitzi had returned to fetch Rain. When Rain saw Mitzi's eyes widened slightly and a large smile grew on her face, she knew that Raven must've done a wonderful job. "Have fun tonight Miss Hadley," Raven said to her.
"Thank you Raven," she said to him before being led away.
"All right girl, are you ready to be blown away?" Mitzi asked Rain as she sat in her styling chair.
Like Raven, Mitzi had made sure that Rain wasn't able to see her reflection as she styled. Rain had to wait until her hairstylist had finished. She had to rely on her imagination.
"All right Miss Hadley, I am finished!" Mitzi announced, forty-eight minutes later. The hairstylist placed the brush and comb that she was holding on the rolling tray that stored curlers. She positioned Rain's hair off of her shoulders and fixed the out-of-placed strands of hair. "Are you ready?" she asked with a smile.
