Heart of the Hunter (65 page)

“Don’t worry about it, Rob. It happens. I’ll be comfortable out here.”

“Oh, I’ve got a client reception upstairs,” he said. “It’s much nicer.”

He led me through the lobby, past the desk where a security guard in a brown uniform nodded at us. There was a glass elevator and we took it up one floor to another lobby overlooking the first.

There was another desk, and this one was manned by a stunningly beautiful blonde woman. She must have been in her early twenties, and I’m not kidding when I say I had to check twice to make sure I wasn’t looking at a life-sized barbie doll.

“This is Cassie,” he said.

I smiled at the receptionist and took a seat on a white, leather couch. There was a table of magazines, all about fashion, and a fancy cappuccino machine.

“All right,” Rob said. “I’ll be done as soon as I can. I really wouldn’t make you wait, but it’s a surgery and there’s no way we can leave it to my assistants. The client’s been under for three hours and we’re almost done.”

I smiled and watched him hurry down the corridor through a set of glass swing doors. I picked up the latest edition of Cosmo and began flicking through the pages.

Cassie cleared her throat before interrupting my reading. Her voice was high-pitched and a little on the bimbo side, just like you’d imagine from her appearance.

“You must be Rob’s date,” she said.

I wondered dryly if she had a team of detectives under the desk, helping her figure that out.

“That’s right,” I said, with a smile that was warmer than I felt.

“You’re a very beautiful woman,” she said.

I fixed her in my gaze. Was she being sarcastic? I mean, I’m not bad, but this girl had every single cosmetic enhancement known to man and she blew me out of the water. Her breasts were pert and as large as melons. Her skin was like a makeup commercial. Her lips were so full of collagen she might as well have written
Blow Job Station
on her chin. Even her eyes looked larger and brighter than was natural.

“Thanks,” I said, purposely sounding as bitchy and fake as I felt.

“No,” Cassie said, genuinely dismayed by my tone, “I mean it. You have perfect bone structure. Perfect skin tone. Beautiful hair. If I looked as good as you in my natural state, I wouldn’t have had half the work I’ve had done.”

I looked at her again, more closely, and something about her made me feel like she was being honest. She wasn’t just doing her job of flattering clients.

“Well,” I said, “that’s very kind of you to say. I should also say that you’re very beautiful yourself. I’d kill for your makeup skills.”

“You have to really make an effort working in a place like this,” she said. “It’s no cake walk.”

“I can imagine.”

“But I really love doing makeup. I’m actually saving up to go to school for it.”

“Oh, where are you thinking of going?”

“Bay College.”

“No kidding? I know the dean there. I supply wine to his wife’s restaurant.”

“Maybe you could put in a word for me.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you’ll get in on merit,” I said, “especially after working somewhere as prestigious as this.”

She smiled. “I hope so.”

I glanced at the cappuccino machine and Cassie jumped up. “Oh gosh, where are my manners? Do you want a coffee? I should have offered you one as soon as you got here.”

“Actually, I would,” I said. “I usually don’t drink coffee in the evening but I’m going on a date so the energy might come in handy.”

She brought me over a perfect cappuccino and I thanked her. Then, to my surprise, she sat down next to me.

“Do you mind if I ask you something personal?” she said.

I was a little taken aback but I was enjoying her company and she seemed like a genuinely nice girl, even if she looked like something out of a porno movie.

“Go ahead,” I said, “but I won’t promise I’ll answer truthfully.”

She smiled. “Do you have any advice for a girl my age?”

“Advice?”

“You know? On how to find a man, and have a happy life? I see women like you come in here all the time. You look wealthy, and put together, like you know what you’re doing. All the women in my family have struggled. My mother raised me alone. I’ve got a two-year-old daughter and the father’s out of the picture. I don’t mean to criticize my mother, because she gave up everything to give me the best she could, but I want better for my daughter. I want to become someone like you.”

“I’m not sure I’m what you should be aspiring to.”

“Why not? Your clothes are expensive. Your watch is worth more than my car. You drove in here in a Mercedes.”

“My father left me with money,” I said. “Nothing I’ve done got me to where I am.”

Cassie nodded. She looked so eager, so sincere. I knew what she was asking me. She was asking what she had to do, what would it take, to make something of her life. The only problem was, I didn’t know the answer. I was in the same boat as she was.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “I think your plan of going to school is a good one. You should follow through with that. Don’t get sidetracked. It won’t be easy with a little daughter to support, but she’ll give you the focus and drive to succeed, because you’ll be doing it for her as well as for yourself.”

Cassie smiled. “And do you think I’ll ever find a man? A mean a good man, who’ll be willing to make me his wife even though I come with baggage.”

“Your daughter’s not baggage, Cassie. She’s a gift. And a real man will recognize that.”

“I hope so.”

I took her hand and squeezed it. “Me too,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “It may look to you like I’m all set, because I have a nice watch and a nice car,” I said, “but the truth is, Cassie, I want what you want. I’m searching, just like you are, for a good man who’ll give me the love and care that I know I deserve. I want a husband. I want a husband so badly.”

“But you won’t settle, right?”

I thought about the humiliation I’d gone through with Rob the night before, but I pushed it from my mind. “I hope I never settle,” I said. “I hope I end up with the man of my dreams. But to be honest, a good man would be enough, Cassie. A man who believed in the sanctity of marriage, and the importance of family, and commitment, and love.”

Cassie nodded. “Come here,” she said, standing up. “Follow me.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

I followed her through the swinging doors Rob had passed through, into one of the rooms off the corridor.

“This is one of our makeup studios,” she said. “We use them to show women who are considering surgery what’s possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“We give you the best makeover possible without surgery. Really sexy makeup and hair. We make you look stunning.”

“I see.”

“I’m not qualified, but I’ve watched them do it a million times.”

I nodded, not sure where Cassie was going with this.

“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.

“Luckily, your hair is perfect already, so all we’ll have to do is straighten it and style it for you.”

“All right,” I said.

I lay there for the next hour while Cassie put on layer after layer of make up, including foundation, eye-liner, blush, lip-liner, lip gloss, lipstick, collagen cream, contraster, highlighter, contour definer, and eye shadow. She didn’t stop there. She seemed to spend almost as much time putting makeup on my boobs as she spent on my face. She brought out the shadow, enhanced the skin tone, increased the definition of their natural shape. She even put a range of pink colored powders on my nipples. And she didn’t stop there. My vagina received a similar treatment to my nipples, with the pink powders enhancing and perfecting the shape and color tone of every detail.

She affixed the longest and most dramatic fake eyelashes I’d ever seen to my eyes, and put long, silicone nails on my hands. My feet received a full pedicure.

“All right, stand up,” she said after it was all done. “What do you think?”

I was stunned. I didn’t even recognize myself. In front of me, in a curved, full length mirror, was my entire body, naked, and as close to perfect as I’d ever seen it. I looked like a supermodel, or more accurately, a freaking porn star. Everything was done to the max, to enhance and emphasize my sexuality. My skin glowed as if I’d spent the last two weeks lying on a beach. My hair fell down over my shoulders in lustrous strands. My nipples and vagina stood out more than usual, but the enhanced pink looked natural. I had no doubt that men would find me more attractive like this. I was like every man’s wet dream.

“Do you like it?”

“I don’t know, Cassie,” I said, honestly.

“I know it’s a shock,” she said, “but give it a shot. You’ll be amazed at how differently men treat you. They’re going to swarm all over you like flies to honey.”

“But is that what I want?”

Cassie shrugged. “You won’t know until it happens. Now quickly, let’s get you dressed before Doctor Crawford gets here.”

“He’s going to be shocked,” I said.

“No he won’t. All of this was his idea.”

“Excuse me?” I said, startled.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cassie said. “There’s no charge. He just told me to see if you’d be interested in giving this a try while you waited.”