Page 45 of Love's Most Wanted

She gave me a tight smile, giving off a vibe very different from the bubbly, easygoing one she had in our email exchanges.

“Hi, Kabrina.” She gestured to the table nearby for me to set our drinks on.

As I did, I took in the surroundings and saw a vanity for me to do her makeup, then a small setup as if she did YouTube videos.

“You do vlogs?” I smiled.

“No. I do sit-down videos. Those are two different things,” she kind of snapped.

“Right.” I nodded. “My bad. I don’t watch YouTube as much.” I chuckled off the awkwardness.

Had this not been a professional and paying job, I would’ve checked her, but I had to be humble right now.

“Anyway,” she sighed, picking up her coffee so abruptly she almost knocked my iced chai tea over, “I need a simple, natural looking makeup look. This video is a life update, and I don’t want my makeup to distract the viewers, but I do want them to kind of admire it. Also, I need a list of everything you’re using on my face so I can tell them when they ask what I use.”

“Whatyouuse?”

“Yes. I do makeup videos. Why would I admit to having a makeup artist doing my face?” She curled her lip as if I were dumb.

“Well, if you do makeup videos, whydoyou need a makeup artist to do anything?”

“Because I struggle with the natural look. If this is going to be a problem, let me know.” She folded her arms, and I had to remember the five hundred she agreed to pay me.

“Nope, it’s no problem at all.” I shook my head. I didn’t care enough about her bitchy ass attitude to lose a much-needed gig. “Are you ready to start, or should I give you some time?”

“I’m ready. We can handle it at the vanity.” She walked off before I could say anything.

I trailed her, and as she sat down, busying herself on her phone, I set up everything I would need for a natural look and for someone with her complexion. She had very nice skin, which I would usually tell a client, but judging from our previous interactions, I didn’t feel like she’d take it well, so I kept it to myself.

It was clear she was one of those clients who found an issue with everything you said or did, no matter how complimentary.

By the time I had everything out, she was finished with her latte, which was perfect. I stayed quiet, listening to the music she had playing low as I began to prep her face. Most people closed their eyes when it was just the two of us, but I noticed she kept surveying me like she knew something about me. I figured she’d recognized me from the debacle with AJ and Zosia, so I brushed it off.

“My name isn’t Amanda,” she blurted for no reason as I started to put on the concealer.

“Oh… okay. Is there a reason you gave a fake name?” I truly didn’t care, but if she wanted to make conversation, I would talk.

“Yeah, because I didn’t know if you knew my name already, and I wanted to be sure you came to this appointment.”

That comment made me stop working, straighten my posture, and look her in the eyes as she sat in the elevated chair.

“You know me or something?” I frowned, reading her face.

“Not really, but you know Unique, and I’m his girlfriend, Aurora.” She hiked a brow as realization settled in.

“Oh.” I put the makeup brush down, not knowing how to move.

“What’s going on with you two?”

“There is nothing going on. He is a friend, not a close one, and he helped me with some things. That is all,” I spoke truthfully.

I couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into another situation like the one with AJ. Though this time Unique wasn’t my man, it was aggravating and embarrassing all the same.

Because I’d realized no matter what the truth was, people would always gather their own perception of you and the situation. I’d also learned that the woman was always to blame, no matter what. Just like me with AJ and my mother before me. The men were always blameless.

Aurora nodded with a gentle smirk like she thought I was funny or something.

“Well, I hope you are being honest. He said the same thing, but I wasn’t sure if it was true.” She cleared her throat, then added, “I love Unique. Before Daisy andespeciallybefore you,Iwas there.” She clenched her jaw a bit, and all I could think was that she was doing the most. She spoke as if she’d been Unique’s longtime girlfriend, but from being around him due to AJ, I was sure she’d only been dealing with him for a total of about eight or nine months. “And because of that, I won’t allow some random chick to come in and snatch him from me, especially when I’ve already agreed to a relationship dynamic I never saw myself in.”