-Chapter 19: Hold Heart
"Mari, I'll be back soon. How are you doing right now? Do you need me to get you anything while I'm out?" Allen asks me, probably putting on his stupid tie.
I hate how he dresses. I only hate it when he dresses like that. Everyone else is allowed to dress that way.
"I'm fine." I don't care for anything he wants to do for me right now. He makes me want to vomit.
He steps forward, footsteps coming towards me. I feel lips on my head, placing a kiss on it. I wish I could speak up and tell him where I want him to go.
"I'm heading out so take care. Don't do anything that is bad, okay?"
He's always doing this kind of thing with me. Nothing has changed between us besides me returning to his side after years of being away from him. He's back to his old ways. Instantly back to it.
I look down, staring at my sketch book. "Take care."
"I will."
I look up as he turns away, heading towards the exit of the room. He turns, leaving me alone. Great.
I look back down, staring at my sketch book. I place my hands on it and open it, flipping it. I don't get why I drew a picture of Horobi. Why do I want to focus so much on him? Why am I always thinking about him?
He's cold and detached. It isn't someone who I should focus on because he's so unlikable. He doesn't even give one crap about me. He's all "Destroy the human race blah blah blah" and I'm all like "Save me" all the time.
I close the sketchbook and sigh heavily. "What is wrong with me?" I ask myself. Something is terribly wrong with me.
My mind is captivated by thoughts of Horobi. I want to know more about him each and every single day I see him. He's such a blank slate to me. I literally only know a hand full of things about him. It isn't fair since he knows more about me than most people here in Japan.
I stand up, moving to the front of the mirror. "Goodness..." I look like heck.
I don't know why I am keeping my brown hair, when my hair isn't even that color naturally. I guess I just liked the look of it. For some reason, I didn't want to keep my darker hair before I married Allen. After marrying him, I hated everything about myself.
I turn, looking down at my clothes on the bed. He is always leaving me things to put on in case I feel like visiting him at work. I don't plan on going there, but elsewhere. I need to do something about my face and hair.
I pick up the black long sleeve shirt and swallow hard. This is the best part of my outfit for today. However, the long pink skirt isn't. However, I have to wear it or else.
Here goes nothing.
~.~
My eyes scan a few magazines of girls with lovely hairstyles. All of them are different and unique. I wish I could pull off all of them. Honestly, I do.
"Are you seeing any styles you like?" A young woman asks me and I look up, staring her in the eyes. "I've done all kinds of styles on many different ladies. I have even done the hair and makeup of singers!"
"Can you make my hair black with blue streaks in it? You know, I want it to look similar to this girl from a drama. Hold on." I reach into my pocket, pulling out my phone. I hold it up and unlock the screen, going to my gallery. "Here, this one."
I turn the phone to her, showing the picture on it. It is some Korean Actress who starred in this really good drama. She's really kick butt in it and it just inspired me to try and be different from before. I binged it while Allen slept last night since he allowed me to watch it on my tablet. Apparently, he feels bad for whatever he does to me.
"I don't want the brownish blonde looking highlights though," I state. "Blue at it with a few streaks up and down the hair is a better idea to me." It'll give me a bit of a bold look.
"Yes, I can totally do that for you. Can I do your makeup while I'm at it? After your hair, of course."
I nod. "Go for it."
"It'll be fifty percent off. Any ideas?"
"That's good." I turn my phone back towards me and press the off button. "I would like to have my makeup down. Uh...I don't know what I'll look good in so you can pick it. I'm not huge on the trends and all right now." I just do whatever I feel like doing unless it conflicts with what Allen wants.
"Come on, let's do your hair." She motions for me to move over to a chair. She must be one of the better workers if she can touch idols. I wonder why I am able just to walk in. "You can walk in because most idols do that. And we don't say no to people who pay us."
I nod. "Sounds nice."
I move over to the chair and she goes around the side, looking at something. They must keep the dye over there or something. She's going to do an amazing job.
"Here you go." She pulls out an apron looking thing. "You should go ahead and put this on so we can keep dye from going all over you."
"Ah..." I take it from her and she moves behind me, lifting up my hair.
"Let me help." She grabs it with her free hand and puts one side down. She lets go of my hair and pulls the other side up, linking it with the other half. "There we go! Now, let me go and grab the dye."
"Okay."
She's a nice woman it seems. Honestly, the nicest one I've run into at a place like this. Most try to get me in and out. I'm not sure if Allen had to do with that though. When we were married, he would make sure no guys would touch my hair. Then he picked what style I would have for my hair because I had to resemble Elise.
Maybe this will make me feel better than I do now. I need a change. I need something to bring myself back to life.
"So, what makes you want to change your hair? Impressing someone? Oh, by the way, I go by Sasha. I know, I am not someone who speaks English. BUT! I do love the name a lot and decided to use it."
I look ahead, staring into the mirror as she touches my hair. "Sasha is a pretty name to go by. I'm Mari."
"So, what is it?"
"Oh, I'm just wanting a new look." I doubt I can impress anyone with my choice in look. Once it is done, it is done. I'm going to be happy with it unlike Allen.
"So, you're not wanting to do it for a guy?"
I laugh softly. "No, I'm not doing it for a guy. Or a lady. I'm just doing it for myself because I think I deserve to look my best. Honestly, I should, right?"
"Right. Us girls do need to keep boosting ourselves up. Now, Mari, are you with anyone?"
"I've gotten back with my ex-husband recently." I'm not going to hide it. She's a stranger. "The divorce was my idea and it was because of my own selfish reasons." Is it wrong to want to leave someone who doesn't truly love you and only hurts you?
She nods her head. "I hope that it isn't too bad for you to be with him again. I know that sometimes relationships can be difficult. I have had only a few relationships, since my career come first, but I do know it can be hard. And believe me, I have had a few hard times in mine."
"I agree." I doubt she's been abused just for not being someone else. Just who is Elise exactly? She can't be that perfect.
"Do you love him?"
"Yeah, obviously. I got back with him." I force a smile onto my face. "He's a good man."
Allen was a good man at some point. When he lost his wife, he lost it all. Then somehow I happened to come into his life for some reason. Then he felt like he deserved me. That he owned my soul already.
"He's lucky to have someone as naturally beautiful as you." Yeah, sure.
"Thanks." I don't know why she thinks I look so natural. I don't look all that natural looking, right?
"What's your job?"
"Government stuff. I'm from the USA."
"Are you here to manage that HumaGear crisis? I saw on the news that they were bringing in some agency for it as a joint project agreement."
"Ah, you know about that?" I ask. She knows that?
She nods and I look down. "Yeah, I saw it. That kind of stuff interests me. I would have HumaGears in here, but we can't afford to lose customers. Idols and their companies aren't really sure if they can trust HumaGears. You know, the human ones?"
"Right. I get it."
"I used to have one HumaGear worker, but I had to give him up. He was so sweet, honestly," she tells me. "His name was Ryuu. He was the kindest, sweetest little HumaGear man ever. He was so passionate about his job, but he had to go. Some other place has him now working for them and I stop by to see him."
"That's sweet." I like to pop in and see Horobi sometimes. But not because I am interested in him! I am just wondering about his day is all.
"Yeah, it is, huh? Ryuu deserved better than me. And you know what? Now he has that."
"Don't be too hard on yourself. You did what you had to in order to keep yourself afloat. Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions that make our lives better or stable. You need your job, so you kept it."
"My mom owns the salon fully, but she's ill right now. So, I took over. I've been styling hair for a bit now. I'm at least three years older than you. You're at least twenty-two."
Close. "Really?"
"Anyways, I'm done styling your hair. I'm going to start on your makeup since it won't get all over the place when I wash out your hair. We will keep your face safe from any dye and water."
"It is okay if you mess up a bit."
She sits me up a bit more. "The seat has a nice cushion, right?"
"It was nice." It was soft.
She turns me to her and smiles. "I already threw away the gloves in the tiny trashcan right there beside my little stand here. Isn't this nice?"
"Very nice." I nod.
She picks up a cushion, which is disposable. "You're going to love this foundation. It will give your that soft look to your face. You know, kind of nude looking? You're going to get coverage, but it isn't model coverage."
"I don't like that much coverage anyway." Only if I have bruises will I cover it up with that kind of thing. "Just put on what you think looks best on me."
"Will do."
She presses against my skin, gently applying the product. "You have a nice nose. You're just so naturally beautiful that I'm kind of jealous. I had to get plastic surgery to look this beautiful."
"Ah, really? I didn't notice." She is so pretty and natural looking. Her bridge isn't too high or too low for her face. Just right.
"This is a Korean brand that I'm using on you. When I charge you for this after I'm done here with you, I will make sure to list the products used. If you like them a lot, you can go and buy them."
"Did you get in while you were in Korea? I have always wanted to shop in their makeup stores." I love Korean beauty products. They're top notch.
"Yes. It looks so good on pretty much any skin tone that isn't too dark. Not that dark skin is a problem. Dark skin is just as beautiful as light skin."
"Right." I nod. I agree with her on that. Dark skin is beautiful too.
"Close your eyes really quick. I'm going to apply it a bit there too so your eyelids can have a base. My primer isn't the best kind, but most idols like it."
"It is fine with me. I will tolerate whatever you put on my face." I close my eyes as she pats it on my face, gently pressing it against my eyelids. "How did you learn to do your makeup? You know, before going pro?"
"My mom. She made sure that I didn't apply too much blush too early. You know, so I didn't end up looking like one of those clowns from a horror movie."
"Ah." That's cute.
"Okay, you may open your eyes for now. I'm going to do your eyebrows first. Unless...do you want me to do your eyeshadow first?"
"Either way." I don't care.
She grins. "You're too easy to work with. I bet your man loves that about you." Wrong. He thinks I'm hard to deal with.
"Can you do a cherry pink for my lips? That is in, right?" I know I said I would let her decide on the look, but I want to go for that bright and cheerful lip look.
"I can totally do that for you. How about I do a cherry blossom kind of look for you? It'll be light and cheerful. It'll brighten up your look when you get your hair styled after all this."
Oh, it will.
~.~
I step outside the salon, which had nice soothing music, and onto the street. Some song is playing, which is upbeat. Not that upbeat music is bad, but it just doesn't go with my heart.
"Mari, is that you?"
I turn quickly, staring straight ahead at Yua Yaiba. What is doing out here? There isn't an outbreak of a Magia attacking people, right? Shouldn't she be busy with her job right now instead of walking around out here?
"I thought it was you when I saw your figure. You have this aura that goes around you and it makes me sure that it is you." She looks me over. "Nice look. The clothes don't go with your hair."
"Like you care about that. I'm only wearing this for comfort, not style." The wind blows and I look away from her. "Why are you here, Yaiba?"
"I'm walking around since nothing is really going on. I'll head to join Fuwa once there is a need to. You?"
I look back at her and nod. "I am just out doing stuff I love to do. You know what shopping is, right? I don't need to explain it to you?"
"No one needs to explain such an easy thing to understand to me. What are you shopping for you? Are you lost out here?"
"Makeup."
"Makeup? I don't really use makeup that much. However, I do think you can ask Kairi once you see her. She can probably assemble a list of good makeup products that people like here in Japan." She's suggesting me something smart to do. However, I don't know what Kairi is up to.
I nod my head and force a smile onto my face. "I think I should use my phone for that. I was holding it for a long time in there while my hair and face were getting done. I should probably get used to holding it for a long time while shopping."
"Right," she says, not caring about my words. "You should keep walking around and do some window shopping. Maybe you can pick out new clothes for that hair. Oh, don't forget to keep yourself ready for combat. You never know when those hackers will start to do a hacking." She's being awfully nice for someone who hates me.
"Ah, right." I should do that. "Thank you, Yaiba. See you around then?"
"Right." She nods. "I will see you around."
She moves around me and I turn, watching her walk. There is something off about her and I want to know what it is. She's not just an ordinary worker for the government, right? She keeps going off randomly at times. Maybe she's dealing with something else.
I'll ask Kairi for a report at some point on all the companies from Daybreak Town. Maybe that will give me an answer on what she's up to.
A/n: I don't think a salon like this place exists (if it does, sorry). I just wanted something fun and different in a story that is make believe (we all know it is. Kamen Riders only come to us in our dreams or on tv/movies/etc).
Thanks for reading :D