The Makeover Read online

  “Please, baby, please, take me back. I’ll do whatever you want, whatever you say.” The man groveled on his knees in the driveway. Tears coursed down his cheeks. He reeked of beer and desperation. Both were a turn off to the woman standing impassively over him.

  “Crap, this again,” said a second woman. “Can’t we go out just one Friday night without you showing up?”

  Mykal turned to see best friend Tania coming out of her house. She’d hoped to get rid of Mario before this situation escalated. She lived in a nice neighborhood and she didn’t want any kind of drama going down in her front yard. “Mario, get up from there this second,” she whispered fiercely. A quick glance around revealed empty front lawns. She could smell the smoke from a barbecue and hear the sound of a bouncing basketball, but no one was about to witness Mario making a fool of himself.

  Tania grunted. “Let him beg.” She came to stand behind Mykal. Frowning down at Mario, Tania placed her hands on her curvy hips. Her slinky black dress shimmered in the evening light. Mykal wore a similar dress in hot pink. Tania had loaned her the sexy bit of silk. The front plunged daringly between her breasts. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t be show off so much cleavage, but the idea was to get back out on the dating market, thereby forgetting the loser currently in front of her. “Is he drunk?”

  Mykal grimaced. “I think so.”

  “How did he get here?”

  “I think one of his boys dropped him off.” Only Tania’s white SUV resided in her driveway. While she was glad Mario hadn’t driven in his current condition, she also didn’t want to be responsible for driving him anywhere. She’d given him all of time she intended to ever waste on him. “Tania, go inside and call him a cab.”

  Tania scoffed. “They’re not going to want to take him if they think he’ll barf in their back seat. I’ll call his cousin. We used to date.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell to make the call. Shooting a glare at Mario who had lapsed into drunken singing, she moved to stand on the porch so that she could hear.

  Mykal bent and grasped Mario’s elbows. “Get up from there.”

  “No!” He jerked away from her touch and almost fell onto his ass. “I’ve got to make this right. Get you to forgive me.”

  “I can’t talk to you like this. Go home and sober up and we can talk tomorrow.” Not that it would do any good. It was over between them and nothing he said or did was going to change that.

  “You’re lying, but that’s okay. I’ll forgive you, if you forgive me.” He swayed precariously. He began singing again, loud and off key.

  “Mario, stop it!”

  “Demarion will be here in fifteen to get him,” Tania announced.

  Mario wrapped his arms around Mykal’s legs, almost knocking her to the ground. “I’m not leaving. I’m staying until you tell me you love me again.”

  Mykal expelled a sound of disgust. At times like this, it was hard to remember that when she’d met him, Mario was a sweet boy who worked as a manager in his father’s shoe store. He had been shy and reserved. She’d had to ask him out. Being with her had made him more confident. Evidently, too confident, she thought, her full lips flattening into a thin angry line.

  She tried to pry Mario’s arms from around her to no avail. “Let me go.”

  “Never! I love you, Mykal. Please take me back. I’ve never been happier than when I was with you.”

  “Man, show some dignity. Get up from there,” said a husky male voice.

  Mykal looked up to see her neighbor to the right making his way over to her yard. He was barefoot, in a worn blue bathrobe, and pajama bottoms that were so old they were see-through. He carried a bag of garbage. Mykal winced. She’d never met Greg, but she’d heard about him through the neighborhood gossip, Jacqueline. According to Jacqueline, his girlfriend had just left him for her personal trainer. The affair had been going on for some time. Apparently, Greg was devastated by the loss of her. Mykal usually took Jacqueline’s gossip with a grain of salt, but seeing him for herself, she thought that perhaps for a change the woman hadn’t been exaggerating.

  Greg dropped his trash in his yard and came over. “What’s your name, man?”

  “Mario.” He sniffed and buried his face against Mykal’s thigh. She cringed at the feel of his tears and, gag, snot penetrating her dress.

  “Listen, Mario, this isn’t the way. All you’re doing is embarrassing yourself, man.”

  A white Lexus parked at the end of her driveway and Demarion got out. Upon seeing his cousin groveling and hanging onto her legs, he winced. “Oh, shit, man, get up from there.”

  “No, I love her, bro.”

  Demarion sighed. He cast a significant look at Greg. The two of them dragged Mario off to the car. He fought it for a bit, but eventually he surrendered when they had him buckled in the front seat of Demarion’s car. He couldn’t seem to figure out how to work the seatbelt to release it. Mykal could hear him yelling that he loved her even after they closed the door. Demarion rolled his eyes before thanking Greg. “See you guys around,” he said, giving Tania a long once over before sliding in behind the driver’s seat and driving off.

  Pulsing with embarrassment, Mykal turned to Greg. “Um, thank you-”

  “Save it. I didn’t come over here for you.” He sneered at her. “I did it for him. You beautiful women are all the same—selfish and insensitive.”

  Mykal gasped at the unexpected attack. So stunned was she, that she didn’t say anything as he stalked back to his yard and put his trash out at the curb. “What the hell-”

  “Well, at least he called you beautiful,” Tania said. “Ew, girl. You’re going to have to change that dress before we go to dinner. You’ve got Mario slime all over it.”

  “Yeah, in a second. I’m going to go straighten out my neighbor.”

  Tania gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m getting hungry.”

  “This will only take a minute.” She picked her way carefully across the yard and waltzed up to Greg’s door and knocked.

  Greg opened the door and she pushed her way in. “I don’t appreciate you giving me attitude. I’ll have you know I was the wronged party in our breakup. H-he is the one who-” She stuttered to a halt as she took in the disaster that was his den. Her mouth dropped open. “Oh. My. God.” There were several pizza boxes with various numbers of uneaten slices in them littering the floor, couch, and coffee table. Paper towels, soda cans and beer bottles were everywhere. The room reeked of old food and dirty clothes, of which there were plenty tossed randomly about, some of them making a path up the stairs. Yellowed ficus plants flanked the fireplace.

  But Greg was the biggest disaster in the room. His hair was disheveled. He looked as though he had not shaved in a month. His hair was an untidy, greasy bird’s nest. He’d shed the abysmal robe, but the t-shirt he wore beneath it was no better. It was gray and covered in stains and had worn so thin in spots that it was torn.

  “Say what you came to say and get out.”

  She snapped her mouth shut and glared at him. “As someone who was cheated on as well, I would think you’d be more sympathetic. That pathetic display out there was the direct result of me catching him and another woman going at it like bunnies on his living room couch.”

  His eyes narrowed on her. “How do you know I was cheated on?”

  “Well…” She hedged. Telling him that everyone in the neighborhood knew wasn’t going to make him feel better. And glancing around at her surroundings, he definitely needed to feel better.

  Greg made a strangled sound. “I don’t believe this. I don’t even know you and you knew she was cheating on me. Did everyone in Greenville know?”

  “Hey, it happens to the best of us. The thing is to get back out there and not let it get you down.”

  He crossed to his sofa, knocked some boxes to the floor and sat down. “I don’t want to get back out there. I want Daria back.”

  Mykal frown
ed. “Really? Why?”

  “Not that I owe you an explanation, but she was my dream girl. I’ve gone through the anger from the betrayal, but I still love her and I want her back.” He sighed and pushed his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry. When I saw that guy out there begging for another chance, it reminded me of my own situation. I never fell to my knees like that, but don’t think I haven’t felt like it.”

  She felt her heart contract with sympathy. He must love her very much. Mykal experienced a brief pinch of guilt. Did that mean she hadn’t loved Mario? She had never considered forgiving him. But there was a difference. She’d seen Mario cheating, caught him butt naked on top of another woman. No way could she ever forget that image and the pain it had caused.

  “I suppose I owe you an apology.”

  “It’s okay.” She backed toward the door. “You take care of yourself.” He nodded, but he appeared utterly dejected. He had light blue eyes and incredibly long lashes. The lids were red rimmed and puffy. She couldn’t imagine loving someone so much that she could forgive infidelity. Feeling on the verge of tears, she gave a short wave and made her way back to her house.

  “Hurry up and change,” Tania called from her SUV. The engine was running and Mykal could practically see the cold air pouring from the air conditioning vents.

  Mykal rushed inside her house. The floor plan was similar to Greg’s since the same contractor had built all the homes on this street. She entered in through the den. A fireplace was to her left. The stairs were slightly off center of the door. To the left were the kitchen and a small dining room. She bustled up the stairs, removing the dress as soon as she hit the landing, and hurried into her bedroom. Her original choice of dresses, a cute wine colored dress with a square neckline, lay across the end of her bed. She shimmied into it and changed her pumps to a matching pair.

  The restaurant they chose to go to was owned by the Tania’s aunt so they always received excellent service. They were seated immediately and given complimentary glasses of wine. Mykal was studying her menu when she realized she wasn’t actually absorbing a word. She was still thinking about Greg sitting at home, surrounded by mountains of filth. She put her menu down and told Tania what she had seen.

  “Wow. He still wants her back?” She shook her head. “He must be a glutton for punishment.”

  Mykal ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “I think it’s terribly romantic. I wish I had someone who loved me that much. I’ve never really spoken with Daria, only seen her from afar at a few neighborhood parties. I have no idea if she’s deserving of such devotion.”

  “Doesn’t really matter, does it? I mean, she’s moved on and he’s probably better off for it. From the way you described the house, she’d run away screaming even if she did change her mind.” Tania took a sip of her wine. “It’s a shame he doesn’t have someone to make him over the way you did Mario.”

  Mykal sat up straighter. She could do it. She could give Greg a makeover that would make Daria come crawling back to him and never think of straying again.

  “I don’t like the gleam in your eye. What are you thinking?”

  She leaned forward. “That I can fix him.”

  Tania rolled her eyes. “Don’t you have enough to do managing three jewelry stores?”

  Her parents owned two fine jewelry stores in Greenville and a third thirty minutes away in Williamston. Though she was the official manager, her father performed half her duties. Her mother had been trying to convince him to retire for a year.

  “I can do it in my spare time. After all, I have an unlimited supply of it.” Other than the occasional evening with Tania or her parents, her schedule was suddenly clear.

  “Don’t even start to feel sorry for yourself. If it’s a man you want, you can replace that idiot with a snap of your fingers.”

  Their waiter arrived and they placed their orders.

  “You’re one to talk. You haven’t dated seriously in months.”

  “There’s a difference between not dating because you’re mourning a loser and not dating because of lack of time. Classes this semester are kicking my cute little ass. Aside from the occasional hook up, I’m tapped.” Tania was in her final year of school to become a RN. They were both twenty-five and had been best friends since high school. Tania had started school late, working to save money. And then she had taken off two semesters after her father passed away her sophomore year of college.

  Mykal grinned. “Oh, so that’s the reason behind that look Demarion gave you and the reason you still have his number in your phone.”

  “Ugh. No. I looked his number up in the phone directory. You saw that Lexus of his? He parks it outside his mother’s mobile home. As in, he lives with his mother in a mobile home. And drives a Lexus.” Their food arrived and they were quiet for several minutes as they dug into their entrées. “I’m lucky to have time to meet up with you for the occasional evening. I really don’t have room for a man and the drama they bring.”

  Mykal twirled her fork in her pasta. “Suppose you could find a guy who was drama free?”

  Tania rolled her eyes. Her lashes were ridiculously thick and long due to the falsies she’d applied. Mykal was also wearing them. Though they didn’t have men to impress, they liked to dress to kill if only to feel good about themselves. And the admiring stares of men as they sashayed by didn’t hurt.

  “You might as well be asking me to find a pink unicorn.”

  “What was wrong with the guy your mom set you up with? He owned his own business, right?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, a sign making shop. He was nice enough but he had a kid. You know my policy. I don’t do men with kids.”

  “Yeah, and it’s utterly selfish.”

  “No. It’s honest. I want to be the center of my man’s universe with no exceptions. And I don’t want to date the type of deadbeat who doesn’t put his kid first.”

  They finished their meals and went to the bathroom to freshen up before hitting their next destination. Mykal smoothed a hand over her chin length bob. The cut was severe but it suited her facial structure. Tania ran a brush over the back her short pixie cut in brisk strokes before fingering the spiky curls in front into perfect peaks.

  “Are we going to say hello to your aunt before we leave?”

  “Aunt Helen is on a cruise with her husband this week.” Tania applied a fresh coat of lipstick. “Any thoughts as to which club you want to go to?”

  “It doesn’t really matter since I can’t stay out too late. I’ve got work in the morning and I want to get started on cleaning up Greg’s act.”

  Tania laughed. “The poor guy, he doesn’t have any idea what’s in store for him.”

  Mykal breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the Williamston branch of Cooper Jewelry the next afternoon. It was her least favorite location to visit. James Sloan, the assistant manager, was twice her age and had been working for her father for ten years. She readily admitted that he had more experience than she, but she was tired of his resentful attitude. Whenever she wanted to make changes or updates, she was met with reluctant obedience and pessimism.

  She was glad to have the visit over. Now she could return to Greenville and hopefully grab some lunch with Tania or her parents. She unlocked her doors with the key fob and climbed behind the wheel.

  “Mykal!”

  Frowning, she paused with her hand on the door handle. When she spotted Mario approaching her, she wished that she’d pretended not to hear him. But she’d hesitated too long and he was upon her in an instant. “What are you doing here?” she asked, warily. When she’d met him, she wouldn’t have figured Mario for the stalking type. But then she also hadn’t pegged him as a cheater or the sort who’d show up at her house in a drunken stupor. “How did you know where I was?” She didn’t have a set schedule for when she would drop in on the stores. The surprise audits were her father’s idea. Fortunately, he had excellent staff. She�
��d yet to catch any of them doing anything untoward.

  “I called each of the stores,” Mario replied, allaying her fear that he’d begun following her. Then he stepped closer and gripped her car door so that she couldn’t close it. “Mykal, I’d like to talk to you, please. Ever since…that day, you’ve cut me off. Please let me explain.”

  “We’ve done all the talking that I need to do. And I really haven’t appreciated the drunken messages, texts, and visits.”

  He had the decency to appear embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Please, Mykal, if you’ll just hear me out, you won’t have to see me again if you don’t want to. Let me buy you lunch.”

  She sighed. She should say no. But for the first time in weeks, he was sober. Maybe if she let him get this off his chest, it would help him to accept that she was never taking him back. “Fine,” she said. “Follow me back to Greenville.”

  She had a craving for the pasta they served at Helen’s, but she didn’t dare take Mario to her favorite restaurant. For some reason, she’d never gotten around to taking him there. And she refused to take him there now. She didn’t want to risk him taking a liking to the restaurant and showing up there in the future. Also, she rather hoped that this would be her last encounter with him. So she led him to a chain seafood place with good fried shrimp.

  Mykal got out of her car and waited for Mario by the entrance. They’d arrived in the lull between the lunch and dinner rush so the hostess seated them without delay. By the time the waiter brought their drinks, Mykal was ready to place her order and she nudged Mario into doing the same. The sooner this was over with the better.

  She sipped her tea and observed, “You don’t look too bad for a guy who should have one hell of a hangover today.” Other than a slight gray cast to his usually healthy toned pecan brown skin, he was none the worse for wear. It was easy to see what had first attracted her to him. He had dark brown eyes that were nearly black framed by thick curly lashes. His skin was smooth. Though he was almost thirty he could pass for someone much younger. She’d encouraged him to grow a goatee to give his boyish good looks some edge. He was trim and fit, almost too thin. At 5’7”, he was the same height as she.