Make Over! (2)

"Ashley! How are you, dear? It's so nice to see you!" A sharp male voice welcomed them as they entered the place and he gave the gal he mentioned a beso-beso*.

"Oh Arnold! It's been awhile. I am doing fine, how about you?" Ashley said responding to Arnold's beso-beso.

"Pretty as always." He said while doing a non-existent long hair flip with a wink.

The two laughed at their silly remarks before Arnold saw the girl behind Ashley.

"Hmm, I see a new face around here. Who is she?" He said as he was approaching Nicole in a watchful manner. Encircling her with his hand on his chin. He then started to examine her appearance like looking through her hair, her skin, and her face.

The only thing that Nicole can do is feel dizzy, with him moving around her too much, while answering his question.

"I am...Nicole Vargaz, pleased to...meet you"

Ashley just laughed whereas when Arnold heard this, his ears perked up. "Vargaz? Nicole Vargaz?"

Nicole snapped from her dizziness and stood straight to answer him.

"Yes, that is my name."

The guy turned his head to Ashley with a knowing look and Ashley just slowly nodded in response but also gave him a slightly wide eye to warn him not to say any more which is why Arnold just turned around to Nicole, who now has a confused look plastered on her face. He just smiled awkwardly at her before continuing the talk.

"So, what can I do of service to the both of you for this evening, young ladies?"

Ashley just giggled at the sudden change in attitude, "Oh please, drop the act Arnold. It doesn't suit you one bit."

Arnold just rolled his eyes at her. "So, what's it gonna be?"

"Oh, just give Nicole a make over. I don't have a look in particular but go for something that enhances her classy but simple aura and beauty. That would be all from me and I will hand the rest to your capable hands." Ashley said.

"Hmm, if that would be all, then it will be a quick and easy fix since she's already got the goods. An hour would be the maximum and since it's already 6:40 pm, we'll be done by 7:40 pm more or less."

Ashley looked at the watch on her wrist and contemplated for a while before nodding yes.

"But, I am supposed to be home before 8 and it takes an hour for us to travel by car to reach home." Nicole worried.

"It's fine, I already asked for permission from your parents, remember? Now, let's get this over with to finish earlier than expected." Ashley rushed Nicole to a salon chair as assistants started to place a salon cape in front of her and such, just preparing her for the session.

As Ashley saw that Nicole was distracted by the assistants, she quickly faced Arnold and told him, "Don't tell anyone about her yet. Nobody, not even her, knows about everything."

"My lips are sealed, ma'am." Then Arnold acted to zip his mouth and padlocked it before swallowing a non-existent key and raised his right hand like a pledge in a gay-ish manner.

Ashley just shook her head at his excessive movements. "Also, can you do it lesser than an hour? The stupid guy wants us to be there earlier." She rolled her eyes at the last sentence.

"Oh, sure, hun. No problem. I can cut it short to 30-45 mins." Then he winked at her.

"Thank you. Well then, I'll leave her to you."

Arnold headed to where Nicole was seated and started to do his magic while Ashley went to their lobby and sat on a sofa while waiting with a magazine in her hands.

[45 minutes later] [7:25 pm]

"Aanndd, we're done!" Arnold said as he removed the salon cape in front of Nicole.

"Wow, nothing much was done but it still altered so much of my appearance." Nicole said as she stared at herself in the wide mirror while caressing her face.

"Well, you already had nice hair so a little tweak did the work. As for your face, you already got a healthy, supple, and clear skin so foundation and other face layering is no longer needed. I just gave you a little lash lifting, cleaned your already nicely defined brows to give it a nice look and applied a very thin make up, more like just lipstick, mascara, and blush then that's it. This is the finish product." Arnold proudly presented.

"I love it! Thank you, Arnold. You're the best!" Then she was about to hug him but he stopped her by putting his hand up signing her to stop in which she did in dismay.

"So, you're done." Ashley stood up as she walked over to where the two stood with two shopping bags in her hand. "Now, this is the outfit and pair of shoes that you will be wearing. Hurry up and get changed since we still have somewhere to go after this and we must get there before 8." She rushly handed Nicole the paper bags and shoved her into the nearest changing room. As if on cue, her phone started to vibrated profusely in a continuous manner.

5 missed calls and 1 text message.

[You are not answering my calls since earlier so I'll leave you a message instead. I already called Manong Elmer to go back to your mansion and sent a car to pick you up with 2 attendants to carry your belongings about 30 minutes ago. They should be there now and get to you in around 5 minutes so turn your location on so they can reach you.] Ashley read the text with a pissed expression on her face and did what she was told without replying back.

"Ohoho. Wrinkles will appear if you continue to furrow your brows like that, sweetie." Arnold teased.

"Shush it. I am not in the mood to kid around. This guy's just really getting on my nerves."

"Well, maybe it's just the anxiety and excitement that they have right now and you can't really blame them for that. I mean, their whole life, they've been waiting for this."

Ashley sighed then said, "Yeah. Whatever."

Arnold just smiled at the girl.

"I'm done! But why do I have to wear this?" Nicole asked innocently.

"Stop asking questions and let's just go." Ashley said before giving Nicole a quick glance. After confirming that her appearance looks splendid, she started to walk towards the sofa where their belongings are. "I already swiped my card earlier, Arnold. Thanks a lot." She picked up the shopping bags from the table and walked to the door first and as if on cue, 2 attendants in black uniform went to her and took the bags from her hands.

"My pleasure." Arnold just replied while sending them off from his shop and gave a little bit of curtsy.

Nicole followed Ashley, afraid that she'll be left behind but looked back at Arnold to say her goodbyes and gave him a bow then ran off.

Arnold just smiled at his unexpected guests that made his evening more eventful before going back in and decided to call it a day for everyone.