The Arrangement
Evelyn clapped her hands lightly.
“Now, we should remove your makeup. I don’t think your mother will mind if her daughter uses some of her cosmetics without permission.”
“Could you please not say it like that? You’re making things more awkward for us both.”
Evelyn, seemingly pleased by my answer, spoke without hesitation.
“No can do. You’ll have to get used to it if you want to properly act as me.”
It’s not like I wanted to act as her, though.
I kept my thoughts to myself as I left my room and made my way toward my parents’ bedroom, where my mom’s dresser stood against the wall with an attached mirror and a surface covered in all sorts of things I had little knowledge of.
Evelyn followed behind me and stopped beside the dresser as I sat down.
“Remove the jewellery first.”
I looked at myself in the mirror and reached toward one of the earrings.
The small piece of gold and sapphire had a design that looked easy enough to remove when I first noticed it beneath the underpass lights, but actually trying to take it off while it was attached to my own ear turned out to be slightly more complicated.
I carefully felt around behind my earlobe with my fingers.
“There’s a clasp at the back.”
I continued feeling around until my fingers finally found the tiny fastening. It took another few seconds before I managed to release it without pulling painfully on my ear.
The earring came free into my palm.
I stared at it.
“It was easier than I expected.”
“What exactly were you expecting?”
“I thought it would be more difficult, considering the trouble I had with the dress.”
Removing the second one was even easier now that I knew what I was doing. I placed both earrings carefully on the dresser before turning my attention toward the necklace resting against my collarbone.
Evelyn reached out and gathered my hair into a makeshift ponytail, making it considerably easier for me to find the necklace’s clasp at the back of my neck.
As I undid it, the tiny clasp slipped from my fingers and the necklace fell toward the floor.
At least it tried to.
I picked up the necklace that had been caught by my chest with a half-resigned expression and placed it on the dresser beside the earrings.
Evelyn glanced at the jewellery resting there before putting it into her pockets.
“What are you doing?”
I asked, vexed by her action.
“Do you want your mother to find out that her son has brought home a woman while she was away?”
I nodded in understanding. Certainly, nothing good would come from leaving traces behind, and it was better to clean them up now than risk forgetting later.
Evelyn shifted her attention toward the various cosmetics and skincare products arranged around the mirror.
“I usually don’t use brands that aren’t purely organic. Well, it’s not like using them once can hurt.”
She picked up a bottle labelled makeup remover and a few cotton pads before stepping behind me.
“Close your eyes.”
My blue eyes met her dark brown ones through the reflection in the mirror.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Only if you value your eyesight.”
I immediately closed them.
A moment later, something cool and slightly damp pressed against my left eyelid.
I instinctively flinched.
“Stay still.”
Her voice carried enough amusement that I could already imagine the expression she was making with my face.
Evelyn gently wiped the cotton pad across my eyelid several times before moving to the other one. I heard her pull a fresh cotton pad from the box and continue wiping away whatever remained around my eyes.
Her movements were surprisingly careful, which wasn't something I would have expected from my rough hands.
The sensation itself wasn’t unpleasant. If anything, having someone carefully clean my face while I simply sat there with my eyes closed felt like a strangely relaxing massage after everything I had been through.
“You can open your eyes now.”
I opened them and met my reflection in the mirror.
My breath stalled as I took it in. With the makeup around her eyes gone, Evelyn’s face looked softer and somewhat younger. The elegant beauty was still there, but the polished appearance that had made her seem almost untouchable earlier in the evening had faded considerably.
Her sapphire-blue eyes stood out even more now.
For the first time since learning who she was, I found it surprisingly easy to remember that Evelyn was only eighteen.
“I think you look prettier without your makeup. Why even do it?”
I remembered my father’s words about how complimenting a woman’s looks was a gentleman’s duty.
Evelyn let out a small yet strangely forlorn laugh.
“I can’t let those old fogeys undermine me just because of my age. Applying makeup is one of the easiest ways to make myself look older. Now stop talking, I still have to remove your lipstick.”
Evelyn took another clean cotton pad and dampened it before turning my chair slightly toward her.
“Keep your mouth relaxed.”
The pad pressed gently against my lips, and I immediately became aware of just how soft they were. Evelyn’s lips were naturally plump, fuller than I had ever paid attention to before, and the slight pressure flattened them beneath the cotton before they slowly returned to their shape once she moved away.
The red lipstick came off gradually, staining the white pad a deep crimson.
A few passes were enough to remove most of it.
“Open your mouth slightly.”
I raised an eyebrow but complied.
She carefully wiped along the corners of my lips before making one final pass over the lower one.
Without the lipstick, they somehow looked softer, their natural pink color making Evelyn appear noticeably younger than she had earlier that evening.
For some reason, the difference caught me off guard.
Author’s Note:
If you’ve been enjoying the story so far, I’d really appreciate an honest rating. It helps other readers decide whether to give the story a chance.
Also, I expected the first side story 'Glitched Awakening: The Neighbour' to be live on Amazon by now, but the review is taking longer than I anticipated. It has already been submitted and is still under review.
The Amazon link on the main series page already leads to the Glitched Awakening series, so The Neighbour should appear there automatically once Amazon finishes publishing it. I’ll also post another update here when it goes live.