DESTINY SMILED AS SHE LOOKED AT THE YOUNG WOMAN, Leslie, seated on the stool in front of her. “So what do you think?” she asked.
“Is it really me?” Leslie asked, looking up at Destiny with wide eyes.
Destiny nodded. “It’s really you.”
Leslie looked back at her reflection in the mirror. “It is me, isn’t it?”
Destiny’s heart filled. These were the moments that made her job so much more than a job. Leslie had called a week or so ago saying she needed a makeover because she had to have some professional photographs taken. She was a first-time author and her publisher wanted a picture for the back cover of her book. She had been very anxious when she’d sat down. The difference in her now was magical.
Leslie gave a self-deprecating smile. “It’s amazing what some face paint will do, isn’t it?”
Destiny shook her head, unwilling to feed the woman’s insecurity. “The makeup only brings out what’s already there. You were beautiful when you sat down in this chair, Leslie. The makeup just makes that beauty obvious to everybody else.”
Leslie didn’t look as though she believed her. “I’ll never be able to do this on my own,” she said.
“Oh yes you will,” Destiny said. “I’ll make sure of it. If you stop back by here after you have your pictures taken, we’ll wash it all off and you can reapply it.”
Leslie began shaking her head. “No way am I washing this off today. No way. After I finish having pictures taken, I have to go show my new look to my mom and a few friends. I sure do wish I had somewhere to go tonight.” She smiled up at Destiny. “I just may have to invite some folks over for dinner.”
Destiny chuckled. She’d seen this kind of excitement before, so she wasn’t really surprised. She handed Leslie one of her business cards. “Okay. Call me when you want to come back for a lesson. We can do this multiple times until you get the hang of it.”
“Thank you so much, Destiny,” she said. “I’m going to have to dedicate my next book to you.”
“That’s not necessary. I didn’t do anything to help with the book.”
“You did a lot to help with the author photo that’s going to be on the book. I’m probably going to sell a few thousand copies on looks alone.”
Destiny could only shake her head. Leslie was getting carried away now. “You’re going to sell a lot of books because you’re a good writer. You don’t have to dedicate your next book to me, just make sure I get a copy of this one.”
Leslie slid off her stool. “You’ll be one of the first people to get one. I’ll autograph it and everything.”
“You’d better.”
Leslie looked at her watch. “I need to get to that photo session upstairs, but first, why don’t you put one of everything you used on my face in a bag for me.”
Destiny laughed. “You don’t have to buy everything.”
“Oh yes I do,” Leslie said. “I want to look like this all the time.”
Destiny held back her laughter this time. “Maybe not all the time.”
Leslie looked at her, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Most of the time?”
“That’s more like it,” Destiny said, collecting the requested items. After she rang up all the purchases and bagged them, she said, “I have a card on you that I’ll keep here at the counter so anytime you need something, I can look at your card and make sure we’re consistent with the shades and colors.”
Leslie handed Destiny a credit card. “You’ll never know how much I appreciate it, Destiny,” she said. “Writing a book comes naturally to me. I find it easy to sit around my house and make up characters. How I look really doesn’t come into play. But having my picture on a book, going on a book tour, meeting readers, those things are out of my comfort zone. I’ll still be self-conscious and nervous but at least I know I’ll look good in the process.”
“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Destiny said, tucking the receipt in the bag and handing it and the credit card back to Leslie. “Here you go.”
Leslie glanced at her watch again. “I really do have to go,” she said, “but I will call you next week about coming in for a practice session. In the meantime, I’ll see what kind of magic I can work up on my own with the goodies you’ve sold me.”
“That’s a great idea,” Destiny said. “And stop by anytime you’re in the mall. You don’t need an appointment to visit.”
“I’ll do it,” Leslie said, backing away from the counter. Waving she said, “I’ll be back.”
Destiny looked after the young woman with a smile on her face.
“So this is what you do every day?”
Destiny turned around and faced the other side of the makeup counter. “Mrs. Robinson?”
The older woman shook her head. “We’re not at school,” she said. “I’m Annie.”
Destiny wasn’t sure she’d feel comfortable calling the older woman Annie. Her southern upbringing had been pretty thorough. “I’m surprised to see you,” she said. “Are you out shopping today?”
Mrs. Robinson nodded. “And I remembered that you worked here. I decided to drop by and see how you are doing. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Destiny said, feeling the same easy rapport she’d felt when she first met the woman. “Thanks again for helping me get all set up with my courses.”
“How are they going?”
“So far, so good. I’ve only been to the first class for each of them, but I think they’re going to be okay. My old brain seems to still be functioning at a high enough level that I can keep up.”
Mrs. Robinson eased down on a stool. “Of course you can keep up. You’re going to do well. You’ll be one of the better students. I can tell.”
“You can?” Destiny asked. “How?”
Mrs. Robinson nodded. “I’ve been watching you.”
“You have? When?”
“Just now. I watched you with that young woman.” She picked up one of the lipstick samples and, looking in the mirror on the counter, applied some to her lips. “You’ve got a way with makeup and you also have a way with people. That’s a great combination. Have you thought about opening a salon or a beauty spa of your own?”
Destiny’s mouth opened but no words came out. Maybe God was trying to tell her something.
“How’s that?” Mrs. Robinson asked, looking up at Destiny after rubbing her lips together to smooth out the lipstick.
“That’s a good color on you.”
Mrs. Robinson looked in the mirror again. “It is, isn’t it?” she said. “Why don’t you ring me up two tubes?”
“You don’t have to buy anything,” she said, her thoughts still on the woman’s comment about her opening her own salon. First, Natalie and Bertice, and now Mrs. Robinson.
Mrs. Robinson turned to her. “This is a business, Destiny. You always want the customer to buy. Always.”
“Always?”
Pulling out her credit card, Mrs. Robinson added, “You always want to make the sale but you want to make sure the person being sold to is getting what’s best for them. So, yes, you want to sell lipstick to everybody but you don’t want to sell every shade or color or brand to everybody. The only reason you shouldn’t want to make this sale to me is if you don’t think the color or shade or brand is good on me. If it is, you make the sale. If it’s not, you find the color, shade, and brand that works and you make that sale.” She tapped her finger to her temple. “Running a business is not that difficult. Consider that a tip from Salon Basics 101.”
Destiny rang up the sale and handed Mrs. Robinson her bag. “Thank you,” she said. “For the sale and the tip.”
Mrs. Robinson took the bag and handed Destiny a card. “You should drop by my salon one day and see the setup.”
“I appreciate the invitation,” Destiny said, “but no way am I ready to open a salon.”
“You may not be ready today,” Mrs. Robinson said, “but who knows about some day in the future. You remind me of me, Destiny,” she said. “You see the value in personal grooming, you know that people feel better when they look their best, and you get some level of joy and personal satisfaction in knowing that you’ve helped somebody put forth their best self. The business plan for my salon started with little more than that.”
Things were going too fast for Destiny. She didn’t know what to say.
“Just come by the salon one day,” Mrs. Robinson said again. “I can already see you as a salon owner but you need to see it for yourself. Will you come by?”
Destiny looked down at the card she’d been handed, and then she looked up again. “I’ll come by,” she said.
“Saturday?”
Destiny couldn’t see a reason why sometime during the day on Saturday wouldn’t work. “I’ll stop by on Saturday.”
“That’s great. It’ll be hectic but I think you’ll like the frenzy.”