“Perry,” Rebecca said from the bathroom, opening the door a crack and peering at me. I could see Emily behind her also trying to get glimpse.

“Oh my fucking goodness,” she exclaimed, her eyes focusing on my rack. I guess I’d have to get used to that. I eyed the bedroom door nervously and she waved her hand at me quickly.

“Get that fine arse over here,” she said, opening the bathroom door and ushering me inside.

She closed the door behind me, locked it, and clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Lesbian orgy in the bathroom!” she cried out, then quickly squeezed my shoulder with her hand. “Kidding! Seriously, you look amazing.”

“You really do,” Emily added from the other side of her, giving me the thumbs up in approval while fiddling with a curling iron.

“What the hell happened here?” Rebecca asked suddenly, grabbing my arm and flipping it over to show the welt. She eyed my hand too. “I noticed the hand before but I thought it was the lighting. What happened?”

“Wasps,” I said, turning around, flipping up my hair so she could see the one on my neck. They both gasped dramatically.

“Where the hell did you find wasps at this time of year? Did you feel how cold it is outside? It’s supposed to snow tonight,” she informed me.

“Again, it’s a long story. Let’s just focus on making me look hot,” I said, not wanting to talk about it.

“Darling, you are already hot. We’re going to push you over the edge. Now sit up on the counter here,” she said, patting the space between the two sinks.

I did as she asked, making sure to keep my legs together (commando, you know). Rebecca got the large makeup kit out and started to attack my face with it. I relaxed and put my trust in her hands. After all, she looked amazing herself.

I eyed Emily without moving my head. “Does she do this to you too?”

Emily laughed. “Well she tries. I’m not a makeup wearer.”

“Ems is lucky she has those eyes of hers. They are just like yours, Perry. Except Emily does need some mascara from time to time.”

“She doesn’t like me looking too butchy,” Emily spoke up and frowned at the awkward curl the iron produced.

“I don’t think you could ever look butchy,” I told her, trying not to move my lips as Rebecca rubbed foundation on them (for some reason). “Not that there’s anything wrong with looking butchy. I mean, I don’t know what you..um, lesbians are looking for but I mean…”

“Perry,” Rebecca said sternly, interrupting my mindless stammering. “Stop talking. It’s OK, we aren’t easily offended. I like feminine women. So does Emily. It doesn’t always work out that way but it does with us.”

“OK, I-”

“No, seriously, stop talking. You’re messing me all up.”

I clamped my mouth shut and closed my eyes. I sat still for the next few minutes while Rebecca and Emily talked about some new vampire show on HBO they had started watching together. Eventually I heard the bedroom door open and Jenn’s heels on the floor heading to the kitchen.

“Guess they are done making up in there,” Emily said. My eyes opened and fixed on her.

“Emily,” Rebecca admonished. She looked at me apologetically, her poreless nose just inches away from mine as she brushed powder on my cheeks. She lowered her voice. “Sorry Perry, could be old habits die hard in there. Or perhaps Dex has grown a pair and cut Jenn off for good. You never know. I don’t know how he’d even want to touch her after learning she’s been with Bradley.”

“No kidding,” Emily shot in, making a disgusting face. I noticed her hair was all done and she was pinning it to the top of her head.

“Well you’re all done…kiddo…as Dex would say,” Rebecca said. “But before we turn you around, I’m going to do something with your hair.” She picked it off of my shoulders and tossed it back. “Very nice hair too, very soft. Usually Italian hair is quite wiry.”

“Must be my Swedish side,” I said, my lips moving slowly from the heavy applications of gloss.

She frowned at my locks, pursing her perfect mouth and drumming her long fingers against her cheek. Then she took a few bobby pins from beside her, brought out a small comb and did something to my bangs and sides of my hair.

“Half up, half down. Shows off your face, hides the bite on your neck.”

“Can I look now?”

She and Emily looked at each other and smiled. “Yes!”

I hopped off the counter, my ass having gone to sleep, and rubbed at it while I turned around.

I couldn’t believe the person who was looking back at me.

It was me, of course, but had I not put on the dress beforehand, I would have really been thrown for a loop because I had never looked like this in my entire life. And probably wouldn’t ever again.

It wasn’t a ton of makeup, but it was enough to make me look, well, a million times better than normal. My eyes looked huge but for once they weren’t too cutesy. They were almost…sexy. I think it was the copious amounts of mascara and liquid liner that winged out on the sides. The shadow above it was a smoky blue that matched the dress but didn’t look garish. My cheekbones were well defined; my cheeks had a natural pink flush, thanks to different types of blush swirled together, and my lips were a rosy-nude color that made them look a full size bigger.

“Holy…” I trailed off, unable to form words. “I look…weird.”

Rebecca laughed and shook me lightly. “You don’t look weird, Perry; you look gorgeous and like you’re going to a party. I wish I could do the same to Ems here.”

“Ha,” Ems said. “Let’s let the night belong to Perry. Not everyone has to be your Doolittle.”

“Point taken,” Rebecca said. “Now if you’ll excuse me Perry, I think I need to use the loo and get ready myself.”

She unlocked the bathroom door and poked her head out. Jenn was in the kitchen drinking her wine again. She had changed too, but from where we were I couldn’t see what she was wearing.

“OK go, I’ll join you soon,” Rebecca said, and I cautiously stepped out into the apartment. I noted Dex’s door was still shut.

I slowly walked toward Jenn, my heels clicking on the floor. At the sound, she looked up at me and spurted wine out of her mouth. That was probably the best reaction I could have hoped for.

“Oh my God,” she said, and muffled into the cloth as she wiped her face and hands of the wine.

“What?” I asked naïvely, standing beside her and looking her over. She looked good, of course. When didn’t she? She was wearing a very tight black, body-con Lycra dress with strategic cut-outs down the side. Her shoes were high and a patent nude color, which naturally made her skinny legs look amazing. Her hair was down and on the frizzy side and she didn’t have her makeup on yet. For the first time ever, I felt like I might be a bit of competition.

“Nothing,” she sputtered. “You just took me by surprise. Are you sure you should be showing so much cleavage, though? I mean, it is a work party, after all.”

And this was coming from someone who looked like her dress was painted on.

I just smiled at her, hoping my gloss didn’t catch on my teeth. “Well, I always say, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. Now, where’s my wine?”

I brushed past her and picked up my glass and filled it half-way with the wine that was out beside her. I took a huge gulp, careful not to choke like she did. Though I may have sounded brazenly confident, I was still shaking slightly from the altercation.

“Fair enough,” she said, slowly, and shot me a suspicious look. She was probably wondering where I had stashed Perry Palomino. Then she shook her head and let out an annoyed sigh, her eyes shooting daggers at the bathroom door. “How long are they planning to hog the bathroom? I should have known two extra girls over would put me out.”

“I’m sure they’ll give you your de-frizz cream and anti-frizz iron if you ask,” I said smoothly, trying to hide my smile behind the glass. I just had to throw the word frizz in there twice.

She patted at her hair anxiously and made a sound that sounded like a “harrumph.”

“What was that?” I asked, leaning in closer to her.

She frowned at me, utterly confused. I loved knowing something that she didn’t know. And she could tell. That upper hand kept me from taking her frizzy head in my hands and bashing it against the kitchen counter.

I noticed the Peeping Tom album was over and the CD player had switched onto something autotuney. I took another quick sip of wine, being careful with my gloss, and went over to the player. I scoured the stack of CDs lined up alongside it. Only Dex (and I) would still have a lot of CDs.

“Please, nothing weird,” Jenn muttered. I decided to indulge her for now. I selected Beastie Boys Ill Communication and stuck it in the player. I pressed play, the barking dog of “Sure Shot” shooting out from the speakers.

As I did so, I heard the bedroom door open and the sound of dress shoes walking across the floor.

“Tie or no tie?” Dex asked.

I straightened up, turned around and stared.

Dex was standing in front of the bar counter facing Jenn. He was wearing a sharp black suit, shiny dress shoes, a white-collared shirt that wasn’t buttoned all the way up and had a black tie in his hand. His shiny, ebony hair was lightly spiked up at the sides and off of his expressive forehead. His face was smooth, his moustache and chin scruff trimmed down to an inch of their existence. He looked…beautiful.

He noticed me staring at him and turned his body over to look. Our eyes met. They sparkled more than ever. Now he just looked insanely, devilishly handsome. He took my breath away.

And apparently the feeling was mutual. Because he didn’t say anything either.

His eyes fixed on me in absolute surprise. He looked at my chest first, then my waist, my hips, my legs and then back at my face. And when he saw my face, his look intensified. I thought he’d look at me and laugh, considering how different I felt I looked. But he didn’t.

“God, Dex, take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Jenn sneered, placing her wine glass down on the counter with a clank. He barely paid attention as she stormed past him and started pounding on the bathroom door, demanding Rebecca and Emily vacate immediately.

“Perry,” he croaked out. “I didn’t…”

“Recognize me?” I filled in. “I didn’t either.”

I walked over to him so he could get a better look and stopped a foot away. He looked even better close up. My hormones were on fire and making me feel funny all over. I made another mental note to not drink too much.

“Yeah,” he breathed out. “You look…nice.”

I smiled at that. “As long as I don’t look as ridiculous as I feel.”

He was still awestruck. “You don’t look ridiculous. You look…beautiful.”

I blushed on command. I noticed the pounding on the door had stopped and the bedroom door slammed. Jenn was probably attacking her hair in there, de-frizzing the crap out of it even though she didn’t really need to.