Chapter five

Mira couldn't believe her eyes. She had always known she was beautiful, but the person looking back at her in the mirror was simply out of this world. She looked up at the chatterbox, Annabelle who had created this magic.

"Annabelle, where have you been all my life?"

Mira wondered aloud.

"Right here, darling. Right here," Annabelle said, genuinely pleased by Mira's reaction.

Mira needed nobody to tell her she couldn't afford Annabelle's services.

"I've been instructed to give you the best skincare routine for the whole of this week, and I'll be dressing you up for the great wedding," Annabelle said with a sense of pride.

Mira was tempted to ask Annabelle about the wedding, but she knew how these discussions went. She'd have to trade information and be willing to answer questions she had no business answering.

"That'd be very nice. I can't wait, Mira said, smiling at her image in the mirter.

Such a bore. Annabelle wished Mira had loose tongues and would gossip with her. The girl was quite beautiful and pleasant even though she was tight-lipped. Annabelle needed to know the relationship that existed between Mira and Tyler. Tyler had been single ever since the big breakup, and no one had seen him with any female, even though many of them seemed to throw themselves all over him.

Annabelle was so close to one of the juiciest gists around, but could not seem to get any more information.

"I hope you got nice clothes for the wedding. Mrs. Dalton has excellent fashion taste, and she wouldn't want a

daughter-in-law with no fashion sense," Annabelle tried again, wanting to bait Mira into opening up about her relationship with Tyler.

"That's well taken care of. Thanks for the tip,' Mira said with a sweet smile.

"WOW!" Tyler exclaimed the moment he saw her. He had explicitly brought her te Annabelle for two reasons. First, because she was the best at what she did, and secondly, because he wanted rumors about him having a date to start from there. He knew it'd be weird if he showed up at the wedding with a date no one had ever heard about. Annabelle was the perfect rumormonger.

"Darling! You look breathtaking!" He said, holding his chest dramatically like he was suffocating.

Mira looked at him, and then it struck her. He had brought her here so that she would become a gossip. Their little drama had started without her knowledge, and she smoothly did her part.

"Annabelle is such a wonder. I'm amazed myself," She said looking at him with shiny eyes.

Annabelle looked from one to the other, wanting to pick every word and expression from them. She wished she could record this. Mrs. Dalton would be delighted to hear her son had finally moved on.

"Thanks for making my Queen look so beautiful. Now all I have to do is take her home and ravish her for real," He said winking at Annabelle, causing Mira to blush.

"But you can't ravish me just yet. You owe me a date," Mira protested, batting her eyelids sexily with pouted lips.

"Let's talk about that on our way then,"

Tyler said leading her out of the beauty parlor.

Annabelle danced in circles; this was beautiful.

She could feel the chemistry between them. The sparks were all over the place.

She picked up her phone and dialed Mrs.

Dalton's number.

"You have a call from Miss Annabelle," Mrs. Dalton's assistant informed her.

Mrs. Dalton knew Annabelle never called without news. She knew everything that was going on with everyone thanks to Annabelle, who was up to date with everyone's life. She often wondered how many people Annabelle updated on her own life.

"I'll take it," She said, stretching her hands to take the phone.

"What's the update?" She asked, skipping the unnecessary pleasantries. She knew Annabelle had called her to gossip

"You can't believe who just left my salon!"

Annabelle said sounding very excited.

Mrs. Dalton sat up; it had to be someone of importance for Annabelle to be so excited.

"Tell me," She said, trying her best not to sound overly curious.

"Your son, Dalton Tyler" Annabelle paused, She knew Mrs. Dalton was trying her best not to sound curious, but she also wanted to make Mrs. Dalton draw out every detail from her.

"What was he doing there?" Mrs. Dalton asked in surprise. Tyler was the last person she expected to be at Annabelle's beauty parlor, he never cared about such things.

"Yeu're due for your next skincare routine Mrs. Dalton. I'll tell you all about it when you come over."

Annabelle smiled at her intelligence. She knew most of her influential clients came to her not just because of her talent but also for the information she gave them. There were many talented beauticians around, but none could beat her at this.

"I'm coming over right away," Mrs. Dalton said hanging up the phone. Without saying a word, she stood up and walked out, knowing her efficient personal assistant was following closely behind.

**********

"What was all that?" Mira asked, laughing as soon as they got inside the car.

"You're a fast one, you know? Your acting skill is pretty cool, Hè said giving her a thumbs up.

He hadn't expected her to play along so smoothly, but he had been pleased.

"I told you to trust me, didn't I?" She said laughing good-naturedly.

"The whole ravishing talk wasn't essential, you know?" She asked, suddenly looking serious.

"Calm down. I was only trying to drive a point home. So now that we've started the process, you can't back out anymore.

You're now my girlfriend... All we need now is a good story," Tyler said with a mischievous smile on his face.

They considered several options but brushed them off because they seemed too cliche.

"How did you meet your first love then?

We could make a story from that," She said teasingly, expecting him to laugh. But to her surprise, his knuckles on the wheel went white.

Oh! A soft spot, I see. So he had been heartbroken. That is quite sad; he seemed like a decent guy.

"Id rather not talk about it. Besides, no personal discussions, remember? But you can share yours if you're feeling generous," He said, forcing a smile.

"You wish," She said giggling. She couldn't believe she was enjoying his company after all the initial fighting.

They'd traveled this same road in silence just some hours ago.

Tan's phone suddenly started ringing. He checked the caller ID; it was his mother.

He smiled as he picked it up.

"Hello, dearest; I'm going to Annabelle's Salon.

Is there something I need to know before I get there?"

His mother never ceased to amaze him.

He had been expecting her call from the moment he left Annabelle's Salon.

"Nothing I know of,' He said innocently, wanting to make it seem like he was keeping his relationship a secret from her.

"I hope so. I'll stop by your house on my way from Annabelle's," She said hanging up immediately, giving him no time to object.