Chapter Five

Gabrielle spent that entire week imagining what her and Patty's Saturday would be like. The very thought of spending time with her kept her smiling throughout her work days, making some of her coworkers wonder if there was a man in her life.

"Goofy Gabby? A boyfriend?" Said Mary at the front desk. "If that girl really has one she would have found a new wardrobe by now…."

"Sshh! Not so loud!" Responded Adam, "We don't want to upset her,"

It was true Gabrielle was the most miserable temp in the agency but Patty had her fire lit that week and it was only going to get better. On Friday when she returned home from work she found AJ standing outside of his door. She was about to scowl him for simply looking in her direction but her gentleness and excitement wouldn't allow that to happen.

"Hey little bit," he called on her, "What's got you cheesing like a bear?"

She pulled her keys from her pocket and glanced at him briefly, "If you must know I have an outing coming up tomorrow with Patty."

AJ nodded as if he cared, "Oh…. Sounds like fun… "

"Oh it will be," said a third person whom Gabby nor AJ didn't see come up the stairs just down the hall. The two of them looked down the hall and saw Patty making her way towards them carrying an overnight bag and a few garbage bags.

Gabby smiled, "Hey Pat…. What is all this?"

"Well I got off a little early tonight so I thought we could get this party started tonight,"

"Party?" Asked AJ, as he tried to sound uninterested. "You ladies are having a party?"

"Yeah I'm going to sleep over tonight so we can get rid of these horrible clothes you have."

Gabby gasped in shock, "Wait…. All of my clothes?"

Patty smiled, "Girlfriend I haven't seen you wear anything from this century at all so yes… it all has to go."

Gabby felt sick, she knew she was getting some sort of make over but not changing every single thing in her closet!

"Patty... I don't know how I feel about this..." she said.

"Don't worry angel... I'll try to make it as painless as possible,"

Gabby sighed and proceeded to unlock her door. AJ glanced at her, inwardly feeling bad for what was about to happen. He knew he'd be angry as hell if someone tried to change something he was 100% comfortable with about himself. Too bad he didn't care enough to defend her... He smirked and tossed his hair back out of his face, catching Patty's eye.

"You're welcomed to join us tomorrow night AJ. We're going to a karaoke bar." Patty said.

AJ chuckled and unlocked his door, "I'd rather die than hang with you two losers….have a nice weekend,"

The women shook their heads as he retreated into his apartment. "Why is he so cruel? It's not like we've done anything to him!"

"Don't worry about him Gabrielle, men like him are the reason good girls like you get picked over…lets just go inside and get this party started."

Gabrielle smiled at her friend's comment but was unsure if it was a complement or not. She choose to ignore it and follow her into the apartment. AJ on the other hand decided to do a little research on the various bars in his area. As bad as he wanted to be alone, having friends seemed like a good idea, even if it was just one….

"NO!" He said out loud as he shook his head. "Having friends got me locked up…. I refuse to go through that shit again…."

With different intentions he sat down at his desk and opened up his laptop. He cracked a smile at the half naked woman on his desktop background before clicking on the internet symbol.

"Ah! Oh my God no!" Gabby screamed as Patty picked up the box of blonde hair color. It was Saturday morning and Patty was fully prepared to get to work on her life sized Barbie doll.

"Why not? I think blonde would look great on you," she told her as she studied the box.

"No thank you…. Don't you have something darker?" Gabby complained.

Patty shook her head as she looked through her bag. "All I have is this color but I think you're going to hate it Gabrielle,"

Gabby snickered and took the box from her hand, "Hm… auburn…. That sounds great."

"It's a deep red color, are sure that's what you want?"

She nodded in confidence, "Work your magic please."

Patty smiled at Gabby's willingness to try something new. Just the night before she cried her eyes out about her clothes being thrown away, but the sadness seemed to quickly fade. After two hours of coloring, washing, drying, cutting and curling Patty was in total shock at the result. Not only was Gabrielle prettier than before but she seemed to be glowing.

"You were right Gabby… Auburn is definitely you're color." She told her as she walked her to the bathroom mirror where she cried tears of joy at the new her.

"I can't believe this is me…"

"How do you feel?"

Gabby glanced at her with a big smile, "Like singing honestly,"

"Good, that's how you should feel, now let's go to the mall… you're going to need new clothes,"

She nodded excitedly and went to put on a jumpsuit that Patty brought her the day before. It was grey and fit every little curve of her form. She was uncomfortable with it only at first… but after seeing herself in a mirror things came into perspective for her. For hours, the women shopped, getting Gabby all the essential things she would need to start a new way of life. For that night, Patty decided to let her pick out her own outfit. She chose a pair of blue skinny jeans that had rhinestones on the back pockets and black flowers sewn into the legs. She also picked a thin white sweater that showed off her smooth shoulders and fit snug against her sides and belly. A lovely pair of black boots with a 3inch heel finished off her look and her pretty curls hung down her back.

"Awesome!" Patty said when she stepped out of the bathroom. "Now come here so I can do your make-up,"

With a smile, Gabby did as she asked letting her enhance her beauty with light makeup. When it was all said and done, Gabby was a head turner and Patty's achievement.

"Are you nervous? "

"A little bit, " she admitted. "what if something goes wrong? "

Patty laughed, "Honey what could possibly go wrong tonight? I refuse to let anything happen that you don't want to happen OK?"

Gabby sighed, as her stomach turned over several times.

"Listen I'll admit there's some savage men out there but you'll be with me and no one is going to hurt you as long as I'm around."

"OK" she said before putting on her new coat. "Let's go have some fun, "