Seven Days (6 page)

Carolyn saw her first. She was waiting at the Bobbi Brown
makeup counter in Nordstrom, their agreed upon meeting place. It always amazed
Carolyn how effortlessly put together Milan was, never a hair out of place,
always completely accessorized yet she never looked like she was trying. It was
an art, truly.

Carolyn put on her happy face and mustered up the
strength for this girls’ day out. She called out to Milan.

“Oh, Carolyn,” Milan sounded surprised, “you're here. I'm
so glad you could come. You look great.”

Leaning in for an air kiss, Milan swept an assessing gaze
over Carolyn so quick you would have missed it had you blinked, but Carolyn was
paying attention and she registered the silent judgment.

Though she hadn't planned on it, her appearance was the
exact opposite of Milan’s. She had come to the mall straight from the gym where
she worked as a personal trainer in the summer. She was dressed casually in
light blue sweat pants and a matching hoodie, her hair was pulled back into a
low ponytail held in place with an elastic. No makeup, no jewelry (except her
sports watch) and her most comfortable pair of running shoes.

“Thanks, and thanks for asking me. I haven't been
shopping in the longest while.” It was true. Carolyn was not a big fan of
shopping. It was a chore rather than a pastime and she was always too busy to
spend hours in the mall. However, today's call from Milan intrigued her.

Carolyn had been disturbed after Sunday's talk with
Julian and if there was some way that she could help her friend she was willing
to try, even if it meant spending the day with his high-maintenance fiancée.
Milan’s call had given her the perfect opportunity to see what was going on
with the couple.

They ventured into the mall and meandered along its halls
with Milan exclaiming at the items in the storefronts they passed. They hadn't
gone far before Milan grabbed her arm and steered her into the FAO Schwarz.

“Look at all this stuff,” she waved her arm towards the
wall of dolls. She picked up a special-edition Cinderella, “You know it may not
be long before I'm buying Barbies for my own daughter.” She gazed adoringly at
the doll as if she were looking into her future motherhood and found the
answers to all her questions.

Carolyn watched Milan clutching the pink box, not quite
sure what to make of her. As if suddenly aware of Carolyn’s scrutiny, Milan’s
eyes snapped to hers, “Julian is going to be such a wonderful father. I just
know it. He'll take such good care of our family.”

Before Carolyn could respond, Milan tossed Cinderella aside
and picked up a small leather holster with two toy guns in it. Spreading her
legs in a wide stance and bracing the holster against her hips Milan did a
quick draw and pretended to shoot Carolyn. “Of course, we'll have a boy and a
girl, one for me and one for him. And Julian and Jr. will play cowboys and
Indians in the backyard.”

“While you're fixing a pitcher of lemonade on the
veranda?”

Milan paused to think about it, “Yes, I will make
lemonade. I may even wear an apron. I'll cook dinner and I'll have a garden.”
She replaced the holster as she talked and moved down the aisle. Carolyn
followed.

“My dad had a garden when I was growing up,” Milan
continued. “Actually, it was my mother's, but Dad tended it more than she did.
He let me have a corner and I grew cherry tomatoes. I love cherry tomatoes. I'd
pick them right off the vine on Sundays and put them in the salad. We used to
have family dinner on Sundays.”

“I had no idea you were so domestic, Milan. It sounds
nice, quite peaceful actually. I think Jules would really like that. Sunday
dinner with vine-ripened tomatoes.”

“You think so? I suppose you would know; you've known
Julian for a long time.”

Carolyn smiled, “Almost all our lives, and now you guys
are getting married. It's hard to believe. One of us is actually growing up.
He's very excited, you know. We all are.”

Milan looked at her.

“I’m serious, we’re all really happy for both of you.”
Carolyn walked over to the other side of the store and began rooting around in
a basket of small toys. “Remember these?”

“Rubik’s Cubes?”

“Yes! We had these when we were kids and we used to
compete to see who could solve it the fastest. I haven't seen one of these in
years. I'm going to buy them and surprise the guys.”

At the register, Milan watched a very pleased-with-herself
Carolyn have all three of the cubes wrapped and placed in separate gift bags.

“You know I never beat them either. Luke actually was
really good with these and of course Rhys and Jules had their rivalry going.
They'd put all sorts of conditions on themselves to up the ante like holding
your breath while solving it and stuff like that. They are going to get a kick
out of these!”

They went back to strolling through the mall and
eventually ended up back at the makeup counter in Nordstrom. Milan was carting
several bags and noticed that Carolyn hadn’t bought anything since they’d left
the toy store. That fact alone was annoying, as if Carolyn were doing her a
favor by coming to the mall. Once again she took in Carolyn, in all her
sweat-suited glory—a look Milan had never worn, even to the gym—and inspiration
struck. “Let’s get makeovers.”

As suspected, Carolyn had never had one and after a few
half-hearted objections—

“Alright, I'll do it.”

—Carolyn gave in and rested her
small gift bags on the floor next to the counter.

Immediately, two very done-up women, Viviane and Marie,
came over and asked what kind of look the women wanted.

“I'm getting married in a few days. How about wedding
makeup for me and my friend here is very conservative,” she turned to Carolyn
and said seriously, “It's about time you tried something different. Live a
little. Come on, go for something dramatic!”

She’d issued the challenge without thinking, just a
warning strike wrapped in tulle that she had expected to fall flat at Carolyn’s
feet and remain there untouched.

“Well, I usually prefer the natural look, but maybe she's
right,” Carolyn pinned Milan with knowing eyes and Milan saw that she may have
just planted a land mine. Sweet Carolyn wasn’t as clueless as she seemed. “Why
don't we go for a nice evening look? Maybe I'll make the guys take me out
tonight.”

Milan sat up straighter, a steel rod draped in the ribbon
of innocence, and prepared to meet the challenge that Carolyn had taken up.

Viviane took charge and sat Milan on a high tufted stool.
She started to swab her face with a large cotton puff. “We're going to have to
clean you up first to make you over. You’re wearing a lot of makeup. Let me
clean it off so we can see that pretty little face of yours, okay?”

Positioned so that she was facing Carolyn, Milan watched
Marie, a tall, middle-aged woman with a soft voice and a ready smile, apply
makeup to Carolyn’s face. Her persona was calm and relaxed and she suggested
color palettes that would work best with Carolyn’s honey skin tone.

“You've got such beautiful clear skin, dear. Viv, look at
her skin.”

Viviane turned from Milan to inspect Carolyn, “She's a
beaut. My daughter should have such skin, but she's with the chocolates all the
time. I wish she was here now so she could see,” Viviane turned back to Milan
and continued. “The skin is your foundation, if you don't take care of it, no
matter what you put on top of it won't make much difference. You got to take
care of your skin,” she wagged a finger in front of Milan, then kept talking.

Milan wanted to strangle Viv, who told story after story
about her candy bar-eating daughter and the virtues of perfect skin—the kind
Carolyn has.

When Viviane finished her version of a wedding look, Milan
slapped down her credit card and bought whatever cosmetics Viviane suggested
just to shut her up. She was ready to go.

“Milan, look at this,” Carolyn squealed, “Marie you're a
miracle worker, I never thought I could look this different! Thank you. I really
like it.”

“It looks great,” Milan said through a tight smile. “You
ready to go?” she asked, unsuccessfully camouflaging the impatience in her
voice. Carolyn rushed to sign her receipt.

While Carolyn was getting last-minute tips from Marie
(and a few extra samples tossed in her bag), Milan noticed Carolyn's gift bags
on the floor. Bags with gifts for the guys.

Carolyn hadn't bought anything for herself today except
for some makeup from Marie. Meanwhile, Milan was laden with purchases of items
all strategically chosen to reinforce in Carolyn's mind the bond between her
and Julian. It irritated her that Carolyn had bought a trinket for her fiancé.

Still waylaid by Marie—Viviane had moved on to another
customer—Milan watched Carolyn admire herself in a mirror. She wasn’t being
vain, Milan recognized. The woman was genuinely awed by how she looked. In
truth, she did look good. Very good, actually.

In the mirror, Carolyn caught Milan’s eye and blushed,
“Shall we go then?”

Milan hesitated, knowing that Carolyn was going to
remember her bags any second.

“You ready?” Carolyn prodded.

Milan gripped the wiry handles of her own bags, still
waiting. All she’d have to say was, ‘don’t forget you stuff.’ She opened her
mouth and a tinkle of laughter escaped, “Yes, I think I'm all shopped out for
the day. Can you believe it?”

They walked toward the parking lot exit like two best
friends. While passing through the inner set of doors, Carolyn's purse started
ringing. “That's me, hang on a sec,” she rooted around in her bag frantically
trying to find her cell phone.

“Hello?” she panted into the receiver, “Oh Rhys, hi!
What's up...nothing, I'm at the mall actually. I was just headed out to the
car...yeah, I'm at King of Prussia, but I'm coming home now.”

Milan observed Carolyn while she talked to her brother.
It was so unnatural the way the Jameses watched out for each other, big brother
calling to check on little sister. Milan had no idea where or what her sister
was doing right now. She wasn’t about to call and find out either.

“I should be home in about a half-hour. Actually Milan is
here with me. We had a girls’ day out! I know, I know,” she laughed and smiled
at Milan, “Want to say hello?”

Milan smiled and shook her head, tactfully declining the
offer to talk. The sooner she got home, the sooner she could wash Viviane’s
clown makeup off of her face.

Carolyn covered the receiver with her hand, “Rhys says
'Hi.'”

“Hi Rhys,” Milan gave a listless reply.

“Alright well, I'll see you all in a little bit then. Oh,
I almost forgot I have a little surprise for you, you're gonna love it. Oh no!”
she gasped and looked around. “Rhys, I've got to go. I'll see you
soon...OK...OK, bye.”  She snapped her phone shut. “Have you seen my bags?
The ones I got at the toy store?”

“Your bags?” Milan asked innocently and glanced around
the foyer as if the bags would have somehow magically appeared there, “No, you
don't have them?”

Carolyn ran back into the store, ignoring Milan's warning
that she'd never find the bags now. She hurried toward the makeup counter.
Marie approached, relief on her face.

“Oh, thank God, we found your bags on the floor. I was
just coming to see if I could catch you.”

“Milan, look how lucky I am! Thank goodness,” Carolyn
breathed while hugging Marie. “Okay, we can go now. Rhys is at the house with
everybody and they're going to wait for me to get home so we can go get
something to eat. Do you want to come?”

No, not really.

“Julian's at the house?” Milan asked and Carolyn nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds like fun, I am a little hungry. I'll meet you there.”

They gave Carolyn a hard time when she arrived about how
hungry they were and how long they had been waiting, but their mock complaints
quickly quieted when she held up the gift bags. She handed them out to Luke,
Julian and Rhys, who unwrapped his first, “Hey, it's a Rubik’s Cube, I haven't
seen one of these in forever.”

“I know. Remember how we used to race to solve them?”
Carolyn reminded them.

“And remember how I used to always win?” Luke added,
crumpling the wrapping.

Julian cleared his throat, “Remember how
I
used to
always win,” Julian corrected him.

“You did not,” said Rhys. ” I was always the Rubik’s
champ.”

“In what lifetime?!”

“In any lifetime, Jules.”

“That's it. Carolyn, mess these up, please, I'll prove
right now that I am and was and ever will be the Rubik's King!” Julian took the
cubes and placed them in her hands.

“Oh please, I've got you all beat and you know it!” she
said, cradling them in her arms.

“If I remember correctly,” Luke countered, “Your strategy
was to rearrange the stickers. I don't think that counts.”

“Luke!” Carolyn squealed, “I did not! Rhys, tell him.”

“Sorry, kid. Your secret’s out.”

Defeated, Carolyn confessed, “You guys knew?” she turned
to Julian for confirmation. His knowing grin said it all.

“Well, what do you know? All this time I thought I had
you fooled. Cera, did you know, too?” Cera nodded and tried not to laugh but
couldn’t keep it inside. They all followed suit.

“What's so funny?” Everyone looked up and saw Milan
standing in the hall. The setting sun's rays slanted through the open doorway
and bathed her in golden light. Standing there, gingerly clutching her purse,
she was mesmerizingly beautiful. “Looks like I missed the joke.”

Luke shyly stammered out a greeting then cast a guilty
glance at Julian, but Milan's attention was only on one man. Despite her recent
fears and insecurities about Julian, she was happy to see him. Things weren’t
perfect between them however, and five days before their wedding she was unsure
of what her reception would be.