Betrayed Chapter 4

"You are amazing, Sweetie," one girl told me. "Your face is as soft and smooth as a baby's bottom. I just about need a magnifying glass to see your pores. No dark circles or blemishes – I can't even find a trace of a beard!"

"I hate shaving," I revealed, "body hair, too. It trapped sweat and bacteria and made me smell really nasty after a long run – not to mention it just felt... creepy to me. I had it all removed by laser as soon as I started making money."

"And you've never dressed before?" Chantal asked incredulously. "What a waste!"

That last bit was spoken playfully. They were beginning to warm to me – and I to them. This whole experience seemed so surreal. Barely a week before, I had had only a passing awareness of this world. Now, I was being drawn into it. There were no illusions on my part; had I been by myself, my good looks, slender physique and charm would have amounted to exactly squat to them. My connection to my beautiful lover, whom they obviously held in high esteem, had everything to do with their acceptance of me.

One girl applied a sheer makeup base to give my skin a little color. She blended it carefully with a fine-pored makeup sponge, then set it with powder and brush. Blush was added to the hollows of my cheekbones, at my temples, and under my jawline. Another drew careful strokes on my forehead above each eye with a soft pencil. My first thought was she might be accentuating my eyebrows, but it felt she was working well above my browline.

They took a good, long time on my eyes, starting with thick showgirl lashes above and below. Shadow came next; a lot of it, judging by the time it took them to apply it. Liquid eyeliner was painted above and below, too. My lips felt like they were being outlined by yet another pencil. Then, they were filled in with a brush dipped repeatedly in what I saw to be a deep-red lipstick. Once the first coat was smoothed out, a second was applied. Then came a coat of clear gloss. It was so bizarre to feel, know what they were doing, but not be able to see it.