The Cosmetic Counter- a one shot
Booth whistled a nameless tune exiting the hulking black SUV out side Tempe's condo. As he shut the door he looked at the vehicle and wished he could request something more 007-like. But in hindsight, he wouldn't have anywhere to put his small arsenal of weapons which resided in the back. With a resigned sigh, he turned towards Brennan's front door, hands tucked carelessly into his jean pockets.
A gentle chime was her doorbell. " Just a minute!", came Bones' voice from the other side of the door. Seeley smiled reflexively and even wider when she opened the door to let him in. He had a key to her place, like she had for him, but he was a gentleman and could wait, patiently.
She was wearing a warm red sweater, angora fiber with some cashmere with a pair of black pencil jeans. In her ears sparkled some tribal looking silver dangles and her hair was swept partially back and held with a silver clip. Tempe looked lovely, as ever, to Booth and he had to resist the feeling to sweep her off her feet and plant a kiss on her perfectly rouged mouth. She beamed at him, " Ready to go?"
" As ever, my lady.", he mock bowed and proffered his arm.
Brennan cast him a sidelong glance as they stepped away from the threshold, her heels clicking briskly on the concrete, " I'm not your lady. I am perfectly able to take care of myself. That expression is an old, misogynist relic."
" That is the way I prefer you. Independent!", Booth entertained her comment.
They climbed into the car and Booth turned on the ignition. The radio blared loudly " Pour Some Sugar On Me" from Def Leppard for a few seconds before he was able to turn it down to more acceptable levels. " Sorry. I was alone last time I drove.", Seeley apologized, wishing she'd take a hint.
" I understand. Just getting in touch with your masculine tribal roots. Perfectly normal.", she quipped.
" Oh, as if you don't enjoy some loud music from time to time?", he replied.
" Sure. A bit of Bach now and then.", she said nonchalantly. " So what do you think a young pre-teen wants for her birthday?"
Booth thought for a moment, " Is this Russ's kid? The older one right?"
" Yup. I thought she'd appreciate a little something.", Bones said with a kind note to her voice. It had been a while since she had spoken or seen Russ's two little girls, but Tempe's PDA reminded her that the date was coming up.
Booth drove them to Arlington, Virginia, where they pulled into the Pentagon Center mall. It seemed a good start and entered the Macy's anchor store. The scent of ten thousand perfumes assailed their noses because they picked the cosmetics and accessory end of the store. Tempe made a frown as she adjusted to the overwhelming scents and both of them ducked and weaved away from the "free samples" of new perfumes.
" Thank God you don't wear any of this stuff.", Seeley wrinkled his nose.
" What do you mean? You like the way I smell naturally or something?", Brennan asked him without any innuendo.
Seeley looked away because he was blushing and let the line of conversation drop.
They passed slowly past some accessories; bangles, earrings and faux gem stone rings. Tempe fingered them lightly as they sparkled and danced in the halogen display lights. " What about these? Pre-teens love accessorizing, right?", Bones asked Booth, who was admiring the wallet display case near by.
He turned to her, " Well, I wouldn't know. Parker is into Transformers and blowing up stuff right now. I hope to avoid that stage as long as possible"
" Hmm… maybe these.", Tempe picked up a few chunky bangles in a gold and dark wood tone and a flashy ring.
" Miss?", a soft but confident voice said from across the aisle. Brennan looked up towards the sound.
" Yes?", Brennan asked the lab coat clad young woman who addressed her. The cosmetician was perfectly coifed, her hair piled neatly up in a bun, her blonde highlights perfectly applied to look "natural". Her eye make up was the ultimate day time "smoky eye", rouge expertly applied and her eyelashes were a mile long. As Tempe sized her up anthropologically, and a little jealously, she noticed the young woman was not made unattractive by her makeup, rather it was all enhancing.
" I was curious, Miss, if you'd like to step over here for a free, complimentary facial consultation.", she replied very warmly.
Booth caught a fragment of that sentence and smiled, " Hey Bones, why not! It's free."
" They're only going to try to get me to buy something I don't' want.", Tempe complained as Seeley touched her elbow and began to guide her across the aisle. She noticed she was not resisting his push.
" Oh no, Miss. There is no obligation.", the woman replied evenly with a female version of the charm smile. Soon, Seeley and Bones were standing before the glass case holding elixirs for every dermatological problem glossed over in fancy packaging.
" Ok, but I don't want to be here all day.", Tempe replied.
" Certainly. This will only take a few moments.", she guided Bones towards a high pedestal chair, " Please have a seat."
Tempe set herself up on the chair and handed the jewelry to Booth to hold while she was 'pampered'. " Tell me what kind of work you do?", the young lady asked. Bones looked at her name tag and noticed her name was Joyce.
Booth chuckled a long, low laugh, " We are both in law enforcement."
" That must be exiting. I can see the stress of your job in your skin, Miss.", Joyce said peering very closely at Bones' face.
" You can?", Tempe said, slightly irritated.
" Oh yes. There are many fine lines here that I can clearly see are from frowning. Nothing we can't fix!", Joyce replied seriously but then perked up her tone, turning away to gather some creams and potions.
" It's Doctor, actually. Doctor Brennan.", Tempe said to regain some of her composure. Booth just drew the scene all in, enjoying it very much.
Joyce returned, her hands full of bottles of crèmes and toners and a bunch of cotton balls, " Let's see what we can do. You're about forty?"
Booth let out a whooping laugh, the comment caught him so off guard. Tempe glared at him with a laser gaze. Joyce backpedaled in a soothing tone, " Oh, I don't mean your actual age. I mean your skin has been suffering from the rigors of your job. We need to pamper it and make it refreshed and younger looking."
Brennan returned her attention to the young lady who was wetting cotton balls with various liquids, " I am thirty three."
" I see. I'm sorry if I offended you, but I am only reading your skin. Your boyfriend thinks this is obviously funny. ", Joyce put in a girl-to-girl conspiratorial tone.
" He's not my boyfriend. We're work partners.", Bones replied.
" Oh, so he's gay?", Joyce said just loud enough for Booth to hear. His smiling stopped immediately.
" I don't know sometimes.", Tempe replied in her own conspiratorial tone. Booth sulked, carefully watching.
" Let's start with removing your make up you wore today.", the technician said while wiping the cotton ball over her forehead, cheeks and chin very tenderly. Seeley almost felt jealous that she got to touch Tempe so intimately.
Soon all of her foundation, eye shadow and lipstick were removed and she sat there in her natural state. Booth noticed how much more beautiful she was au natural. He felt his heart skip a beat and he looked ceiling ward to hide his flush.
" Ok. Now we'll start with a moisturizer to help protect your skin from all those harsh chemicals you probably encounter daily.", Joyce said and applied a small amount to her fingertips. She began to rub it gently onto Tempe's face. Bones could actually feel herself relaxing into the treatment and the scent of the lotion was heavenly.
She opened her eyes and saw Seeley staring at her," What?" He averted his eyes and ran a hand through his hair like nothing was going on.
" Next we'll apply a very weightless foundation that is complimentary to your skin tone.", Joyce tapped out a bit of powder on a large fluffy brush and stroked it all over her face giving her a very homogenous look. Tempe caught a glimpse in the mirror and noticed she looked a bit like a corpse getting a make over in a funeral home.
" Let's apply some shadow to your eyes.", Joyce peered intently into Tempe's eyes evaluating the color. Tempe froze under the commanding gaze, " Blue. Hint of green and grey."
Joyce came back with a group of smoky grays, a shimmery blue and a kohl eye liner. She applied the makeup with quick, sure hands and touched it all off with some very velvety black mascara.
Tempe opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. She didn't recognize herself initially, but then cracked a smile. Yes, I like this, she decided. She didn't look in Booth's direction. Let him eat his heart out, she thought again.
" Let's finish off with some warm blush and some very red-hot lipstick.", Joyce finished up on Tempe and flashed a mirror. " Not looking for- I mean thirty three anymore.", Joyce said a bit perky.
Brennan forgave her the age comment when she saw Seeley's face. He was almost slack jawed, but barely held it together.
" Maybe he's not gay.", Joyce said softly.
" Thank you, Joyce. This has been fun.", Tempe replied evenly and inclined her head slightly.
" Absolutely. Feel free to come back any time! Bring your 'partner' too.", Joyce winked at Brennan. Brennan winked back.
" Come on, Booth. Let's go pay for my nieces gifts.", Tempe said brushing past him. He numbly followed, resolving never to go shopping with Bones again if this was going to happen each time.
So Tempe got to play "good aunt" and Booth got to hang out with a gorgeous woman. That was a pretty good day.
The end.
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