CHAPTER 6: FAMILY CONSENT

One week later, her teacher came to Mailys and told her that she had a great new. She had told her friends about Mailys and he agreed to meet her and take picture of her. They will meet the Wednesday of the following week.

She was ecstatic. When the weekend came, she took out all of her money to go to the mall. She started by going to the hairdresser to have her hairs done. It wasn't anything extravagant as she didn't want her classmates to notice it when she will have her hairs tided in a high bun. She didn't have them cut a lot, but the hairdresser straightened her hair before she styled them nicely. It looked good and it will look better if she decides to have her make-up done. Then, she went into a super-stylish clothing store. The store was for the rich second-generation kids to come, and even if she was one of them, she didn't look like it.

When she came in the store one of the employees came to her and stared at her from head to toe before asking rudely, "what can I do for Someone Like You?" Mailys didn't look at her and just went further into the store. She headed to the dress department and picked two dresses for herself. When the employees saw that it was two of the most expensive items from the store, she changed immediately her attitude and her tone. "Miss this is a great choice shall I help you trying it on?" Mailys agreed and followed her to the dressing room. She tried the first dress and came out of the dressing room waiting for the employee to comment. "It suits you very well! you have long legs, and a nice body so there must be a lot of clothes here fitting you just as well. Shall I bring you some more sets of clothes for you to try them on?" again, Mailys agreed. The store employee hurriedly went to pick up some clothes and came back a few minutes later with a tone of them. As her manners was very bad earlier, Mailys was worried, but it seemed like she really knew how to do her job properly. All the clothes she brought was her size, and they were all pretty and distinguished. When she put them on, she was giving the image of a young lady from a rich household. They indeed made her body look better and a bit older. She had a slim hourglass body with long legs. The clothes made her look gracious and very mature. Of course, they also were the most expensive. She didn't mind as she really wanted a change of image. She wanted to be able to walk the street without being recognized. Mailys asked the employee if she could keep the clothes she was wearing on and headed to the cash register to buy all she had tried on.

After that, she went to a shoe's store and bought five different pair of high heels. Like what she did with the clothes, she came out of the store wearing a new pair of shoes. Finally, she went to a make-up store and asked for make-up that will make her look natural. Unlike before, she was treated with much more respect. An employee came and proposed to do her make up so she could know what to buy. After half an hour, Mailys left the store with a light make up put on her face. The colors were pale making her look like a doll. The only exceptions were her lips which the employee put a dark-cherry lipstick on, and her cheekbones naturally tainted by pink.

She was about to go back home, but her eyes were caught by a beautiful jewelry set. She stopped at the store showcase and looked at the necklace, the bracelet, and the earrings for a long moment. The jewelries were made with chains of the finest white gold, and diamonds hanging in them. Actually, it wasn't diamonds, it was amber. The color of her eyes. She entered the store and bought the set before putting it on herself. She came across a mirror while heading to the exit. She looked at the final result and she was shocked. She barely recognized herself. She seemed to be sixteen. She was wearing what she last tried into the clothing store : a sleeveless pale pink dress, slit to the top of the thigh with a slight V-neck. The outfit accentuated the hourglass shape of her body. She had simple but classy black high heels. Her hairs were down, and her make-up was very pretty. She finished the look with the refined jewelry set that was bringing her eyes out. "Who knew I could be this…" she couldn't finish her thought. She couldn't believe it was her.

She went home like that. She wanted to see her family's reaction to her new look. She would take the chance to explain to her parents the plan she made for her future. As she expected, her brother cried out as soon as he saw her.

- "What is the purpose of this exactly?" he asked

- "How do I look?" Mailys asked anxiously.

- "Pretty, like, not yourself at all," he said shocked

- "Anyway, where are mom and dad? I have to talk to them."

- "They are out with Liana, they should come back in 10 or 15 minutes."

- "OK I will wait for them in the living room"

- "I better wait for them in the entrance, to avoid you scaring them to death. Haha" he headed at the front door, laughing.

She went to the living room and sat quietly on the couch, waiting for her parent and sister to come home. The whole family came back 10 minutes later.

- "I swear, I don't know why she did that, but she doesn't look herself anymore," Mailys heard her brother Liam say.

- "Shut up you're always exaggerating…" Liana, Mailys sister stopped her steps and stared shocked at Mailys.

- "See! I told you!! Mom, Dad! Come quickly before the magic wears off! She'll return to her rags if you don't come soon" her brother was enjoying it for a reason Mailys didn't want to understand.

- "What is all this about?" her father asked before stopping at the living room doorstep too.

Like Liana, her father was shocked and stopped talking. At first, he was wondering who this young lady was. But these eyes could only belong to his daughter. He wondered what came to her and why she was dressed like that. The same went with her mother she was really stunned, but she came to her senses faster and ordered Liana and Liam to go to their room. She then turned to Mailys "Baby Mai, shall we talk?" she asked uncomfortably. Mailys knew her mother will call her baby every time she would be worried or feel sorry for her. They indeed had to talk but she didn't want her parents to worry about her. She was after all at 27-year-old grown-up woman and didn't want to cause them stress. She chuckled and said, "Yes, I want to talk to you."

She explained her career plan, and she told them about her discussion with her teacher. She already had an appointment to make her own professional photo book and her teacher friend could introduce her to her first auditions. Her mother was happy she could find something that's making her want to work hard but she still was worried. Her father was completely against it. They argued for an hour before her mother sided with Mailys. Her father still refused before he went to his room.

Mailys also went to her room saying to her mother she didn't want the diner and will go to bed immediately. When she went to her room, she took off her make-up and her clothes and went to the closet to take her favorite hoodie. While she was preparing herself to go to bed, she heard her sister say, "I don't know what you wear arguing about, but I'm cheering on you!" before she went down the stairs. Mailys was surprised as her sister was always mean to her. It made her feel better. As soon as she covered herself with the blankets, she heard the door opening. It was her mother. She sat on Mailys bed and explained:

- "Baby Mai, I'm sorry. Your father and I always put our attention to the siblings. If we don't look closely at Liam, we don't know which trouble he will cause to the family. We still were young when we had the two them and as they are so energetic, we had to find the right activity to canalize their energy. And as they have chosen sport as their hobbies, it is easier for your father to talk to them. He don't know anything about photography and modeling. But you explained it well, the rest of it he will figure it by himself. So, for now he accepted your choice, but as you know, we won't allow you to be half-hearted with that!"

- "Mom! thank you so much," Mailys said while hugging her mother

- "OK, but keep in mind that you're still in probation. I will follow you whatever you go and see for myself if you're suited or not."

- "It's OK mom, whatever you want! But…"

- "Tell me!"

- "While I was doing my research, I saw something about meals… I'm still young and don't need to care about it but I thought it was a good opportunity for me to learn how to cook balanced meals. Do you think you can teach me?"

- "Of course, baby, of course!"

Mailys was satisfied. She made a promise with her mother to learn how to cook balanced meals. If her meeting the following week goes well, she should be able to debuts with her family consent.