Let me love you. ✔

17 Axel and Gemma

Nova

Number 1018, this is the room. I hesitate for another moment and decide to knock on the door after walking back and forth through the hallway. It isn't that I have elsewhere to go anyways. The door opens and a man pulls me inside, engulfing me in a hug before I even have the chance to say hello.

"You must be, Nova! So good to finally meet you. I'm Axel, Matt's hairdresser and that is Gemma." pointing to a young woman sitting at a small desk. "She is Matt's makeup artist. Matt told us so much about you. The latter keeps on blabbering all day long. Nova, Nova, Nova. So let's take a look at what we're working with."

Axel runs his fingers through my hair, holding it up in different ways, and puts his index finger on his lips. He takes a look at his watch and you can tell he is counting inside his head by the movement of his mouth.

"Do you mind if I cut it and give you highlights? It's gonna make you even more stunning"

"I guess not," I answer unsure of myself.

Axel claps his hands and ushers me towards a chair that is placed in front of a mirror. "Now, now, get into this bathrobe and sit down. No time to waste darling."

I quickly change and rush back. Gemma gives me an apologetic look and grabs a bottle of water out of a mini-fridge for me. I thank her with a smile and she comes to sit next to me, inspecting my nails and skin. It feels weird to be treated like this.

Gemma opens a suitcase with almost more make-up and nail polish in it than the local beauty store and asks me where my dress and shoes are. I point to my suitcase and she gives me a disapproving look.

She lets out a sigh of relief holding up the dress, mumbling, "Thank goodness it isn't a wrinkly fabric." hanging it in the bathroom and smoothing it with a hand steamer. She sits next to me again when the dress looks even better than when I bought it and starts to paint my fingernails.

I take a quick look at the ground and almost start to cry. There is so much hair on the floor that I'm convinced he cut at least six inches of my hair, and he's still working his magic. I bite the inside of my cheek to hold back the tears and let out a sigh of relief when he begins to tear tin foil for the highlights.

Don't be ungrateful Nova, they don't have to do this.

Gemma turns the chair towards her, wrapping my feet in a warm damp towel, and proceeds with my make-up. After thirty minutes she says she is ready and I'm afraid to look into the mirror. Never in my life, I had so many layers of make-up on my skin. I wonder if Matt will even recognize me like this.

I slowly turn towards the mirror preparing myself for a shock, but I look natural. My skin looks healthy, the dark circles under my eyes are gone and she put on a light brown smokey eye. The fake lashes make my eyes look even bigger than they are.

Damn, can I take her home with me?

I keep on staring into the mirror, leaning forward to get a better look until Gemma speaks.

"Are you happy with your make-up?"

I need to hold myself back to not give her a big hug. "Happy is an understatement! It is just perfect."

Gemma smiles at me and turns me back towards her, taking off the towel to massage my feet with oil and putting the same nail polish on my toenails.

The realization hits me that I forgot to text Dallas. I have been in such a hurry that I didn't even put my phone back on after the flight. He's gonna be mad, I don't have to guess to know.

Gemma finishes and I stand up to grab my phone, to be pushed right back into the chair, making me blink wide-eyed at her. She asks me with her hands on her tiny waist what the heck I think I'm doing