Part 3
They finally got out
of the boutique, with about five bags full of Angel's hard earned mullah down
the drain, so Faith thought. And the day was getting longer.
"What's wrong with my
hair?" She argued.
"It's a mess." Cordy
said shortly.
"No, it's not. I
brushed it this morning."
"Well, it's stringy,
and flat."
"It's not stringy,"
Faith looked
self-consciously into the passenger's side mirror. Cordelia drove along, the
sun glinting off of her tortoise shell rimmed sunglasses.
"Look, girlie. Angel
expects you to look good when we get back, and you can't look good with hair
like that. I'm taking you to my own, personal stylist. Roberto. He's the best."
"Great,"
"And he's going to
make you look like a whole new girl. I swear, if anybody can fix this,"
Cordelia wrinkled her nose, and driving with one hand, reached the other over
to tug at Faith's hair. Faith scowled and swatted away the judgmental fingers.
Cordy gave her a dirty look but turned back to the road.
The buildings were
flying by, and they were almost there.
"If anybody can fix
you, Roberto can."
"I don't want to look
like a bimbo,"
"Roberto doesn't do
'bimbo',"
"He does you, doesn't
he—"
"Faith…just shut up."
"Whatever…"
Faith grinned and
looked out at the L.A. scenery.
Starbucks, bagel shops
and dry cleaners galore. Ha! Cordelia was trying so hard, the moron. And she
was trapped along for the ride. 'Ah well,' Faith sighed, raising a brow and
pursing her lips. Maybe getting her hair done would be fun…Yeah right. About as
fun as hanging out with a mindless poster twat for wanna-be actresses…and she
was already doing that. And it wasn't fun. Not her idea of it, anyway.
Faith glanced at
Cordelia, across the seat. She They Called Cordy looked all too determined.
Faith felt a
nervousness rising in the pit of her stomach. Yep. Anxiety. Pure, unadulterated
anxiety. Dammit. Cordelia was determined to make her look like a model…
Boy, was she gonna be
disappointed.
It's not that Faith
didn't have confidence in her looks…she was just out of practice.
The clothing had been hard.
Trying to agree on anything with Cordelia had been the hardest. She'd ended up
succumbing to Cordelia's questionable taste, and finally just let the wanna-be
starlet pick the new wardrobe. So Faith had trendy, retro styles, and stuff
like orange rayon and green sequined acetate to look forward too. It'd been
so long since she'd had to worry about wearing anything but an orange jumper…
And now hair.
Faith couldn't wait to
see what Cordelia had in store for her. She dreaded it, yes, but she also had this
morbid fascination with finding out just how lame Cordelia could make her look.
Call it self-destructive behavior, but Faith suddenly found herself looking
forward to meeting this Roberto…
"Cordeeeeelia!" The
grown man's shrill voice was unnaturally high. Cordelia's face lit up and she
called back.
"Roberrrrrrto!"
They ran, very
daintily, towards eachother and meshed in one of those phony 'kiss-kiss'
welcomes that made Faith roll her eyes and wrinkle her nose in disgust. Roberto
was a queen. She should've known…
"So, Cordelia! Babe!
What brings you back so soon! Oh! You don't want to change your highlights, do
you? They look so goood,"
"Oh, no!" Cordy
grinned, running a hand through her chin-length do. "I LOVE my hair! I love the
highlights, no, you did a FABULOUS job last time,"
"Oh, oh, good. You
know, it just makes me so sad when I do such beautiful work and then the client
comes back in wanting something different, it's just so sad,"
"Ah huh," Cordy mused.
"Well, then, if you're
not changing your hair, what can I do for you? Did you come just to visit? Oh
that's so sweet!"
"No, no, Roberto,"
Cordy giggled nervously, glancing behind her at where Faith stood silently. She
reached out an arm, gesturing Faith forward, and as Roberto's eyes drifted past
Cordy, and landed on the tough girl, his face went white and his mouth dropped.
His expression blared
'How could one girl look so bad.'
Faith hissed
repugnantly as he immediately came forth to inspect his new 'project'.
"It's sooo…"
"Dry?" Cordy offered.
"Drab!"
"That's from lack of
conditioner."
"Why on earth would
you shampoo without conditioning!"
"It's not like I had a
choice!" Faith huffed.
"NEVER GO WITHOUT
CONDITIONER! Especially with this type of hair!"
"They don't get the luxury
of conditioner in prison, Roberto." Cordelia chimed. "Just soap on a rope and
communal bathing. Conditioner was the LEAST of her problems…"
Roberto stared in mock
horror, and Faith responded before Cordy had another chance to berate her.
"There were ways to
get conditioner," She scathed. "But I'm not into carpet."
"Yeah, I just bet."
"Honey," Roberto broke
in. "You've should've SHAGGED cause this is just…" He shook his head,
entangling his fingers in the wild, dark hair several times. "Hideous!" He said
finally. "Absolutely hideous!"
"You're no fucking
prize either, ya big queer." Faith snapped.
Roberto jumped back
but at the fire in her eyes, let out a shrill, genuine laugh.
"MOUTH!" Cordelia
warned, giving her that hateful, wide-eyed look that she must've patented as
her own just for times like these in dealing with Faith. Faith smirked and
would have really given her something to scoff at, but Angel's words were still
wafting around her head…somewhere, she was sure of it. And his warning had been
fierce, and so she controlled herself. And she didn't even swing at him when
Roberto grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to a chair.
"We'll fix this," He
said adamantly.
With a force Faith
hadn't been expecting, Roberto shoved her into the seat. Grabbing a long, black
sheet, he wrapped it around her. Faith started to protest, but his surprisingly
firm hand shoved her still. Faith stared up at him.
Maybe he wasn't as big a
queen as she'd thought…
"You work out?" She
asked dryly.
"Occasionally…"
"Good for you. You
have strong hands."
"I need strong hands,"
"For what?"
"What do you think?"
Faith allowed herself
to grin, and grinning a little himself, Roberto circled around behind her and
began sorting through his instruments. Faith relaxed a little, even under
Cordelia's extreme scrutiny from her place a few paces away, and decided maybe
this wouldn't be so bad. Roberto showed no restraint in dealing with her. He
was frank and honest, and surprisingly…Faith decided she liked him.
Eh, so he was the ditz's
hairdresser. That shouldn't automatically make him an inept person. After all,
Angel was the ditz's boss, and Angel was…
Well. Angel was…a
godsend.
Three hours later,
Faith was finished.
