Chicken Noodle Soup

I watched as she brushed the light blue powder across my lids and I imagined that I was a movie star on an elaborate set ten minutes away from lights, camera, action. I hadn’t the opportunity to learn how to put on makeup before but I had always been quite fond of the pictures I’d see in magazines where the women had pouty, shiny lips and dramatic smokey eyes looking up at me as if I were an alien from a different planet and they were beckoning, “Look like me.”

“Do you think you’re ready for the eyeliner now? Be sure to not blink too much even though I know you’re going, too!” Angelina’s voice was very nasal-y but it fit perfect for her job position. She’d been the makeup technician for various playhouses around the city and I’d known her for only a few days and she’d offered to “do me up.” She came from an Italian background and always smelled like tomato sauce, but that was only because she worked nights sometimes at the pizza place on the corner for extra cash. Her apartment was also right above it.

I was reminded of a time when my older sister was practicing to put makeup on me one Sunday afternoon when she’d come to visit the parents. It was a few weeks before her wedding and instead of paying someone to put makeup on her, she wanted to do it herself. “I don’t want to look like a clown on my wedding day. I want to be adored!”

And so we’d spent all afternoon testing out different colors, shades, and accents. Peter had walked in from the backyard after playing a few rounds of ping pong with Dad. “What are yall doing? Playing dolls?” We had all laughed. One of those moments that can’t be captured in words, but only the emotions connected between siblings. Like the time we were all taking a drive and Peter had spotted a flock of white pigeons congregating on the parking lot of a stadium and said, “Who left all those white tennis shoes on the parking lot?”

I was blinking a lot as Angelina had predicted, but she didn’t seem to mind as if she were used to fluttering eyelids. The strokes of the eye pencil were uncomfortable and felt like flecks of it were getting into my eyes. “Oh my goodness, this color just makes your eyes POP!”

She swiveled me around and stared at a face that didn’t belong to me. The eye shadow was too blue and made me look like an 80’s pop princess who was on too much heroine. And the rouge lipstick was too dark for my skin tone. “Wow, Angelina! This looks great!”

“You really like it, doll? We can try some different colors next time. I really wanted to see how this would look because I’m gonna use the same color palette for Raphael’s dress rehearsal next week at the Paladium. You’re a doll to let me practice on you. SO much better than a mannequin head!”

I smiled and grabbed my purse. “I’ll see ya next week then, Ange. Bye!”

The cold air hit my face as I let the wooden door of the arthouse slam behind me. I had a sudden thought that the makeup would freeze on my face and become permanent. I dug a tissue out of my shoulder bag and wiped the lipstick away but I could still feel the sticky-dryness of rouge. The taste made me cringe. I wondered how boyfriends and girlfriends could get past that lipstick taste if they were forced to kiss those painted lips everyday.

I walked up the steps to my apartment and clicked the lock shut behind me. Dylan was sitting on the sofa watching the television absent mindedly. “Hey..”

He looked up and took a double-take. “What happened to your face?”

I smiled, “Gee thanks, I’m glad you like it.” Sarcasm was the pet in this apartment.

He stood up and put his arms around my shoulders. “Why are you all dolled up? You got a hot date tonight or something?”

I chuckled. “Yea, a date with Ronald McDonald. No, Ange needed to practice her makeup routine for some play Raphael is putting on next weekend. I was her test run.”

“Oh,” he jokingly wiped a sweaty brow. “That’s a relief. I thought you were running away to join the circus or something.”

He kiss me on the lips and made a face but tried to pretend like he wasn’t. I kissed him back some more just to annoy him. “What’s for dinner?”