Sadie
Four months later...
I GRABBED A bottled water from my fridge and handed it to Laura. “Laura, thank you so much for helping me with all of this.”
“Holy crap, are you kidding me? It’s Nun Makeover 101. My specialty.”
“Oh really?” I challenged. “Is this a new business venture?”
“Yes,” she quipped. “I do need to work on how to market it though...”
“This is true.”
“Plus, now I can call you Sadie again. Can I tell you now how much I hated Sister Abigail Eunice?” She shuddered. “So not you.”
I laughed as I stood in the middle of my new apartment, a modest one bedroom, one bathroom in Vancouver, Washington, just over the bridge from Portland. It was safe, you had to have a code to even get in through the gates on the property, and I had three very serious locks on my front door. “My aunt apparently couldn’t wrap her mind around it either.”
Even though I knew Auntie was right, being basically ejected from my old life still stung. I would start my new job at a lovely elementary school in Salmon Creek in a little over two months, but for now, I had some time to get used to my new life.
Which started now. Admittedly, I had no idea how it all worked, so when Laura offered to help me, I readily accepted. The vivacious, twenty-two-year-old woman standing before me was still exactly the same as she had been in school and, despite her penchant for not showing up for dinner on occasion, she was always there when it counted. Like now.
“Ready?” she asked.
“For?”
“Um, hello, shopping.” She grinned. “You need clothes. Real clothes.”
She had a point, but I had no idea where to start.
“And you need makeup.”
“I’ve never worn makeup,” I admitted.
“That’s why we’re going to the mall,” Laura said, grabbing her purse. “My bestie’s working the Clinique counter... she can give you some tips. Let’s go.”
I followed her from the apartment and into her car. I buckled my seat belt and gripped the handle, grateful she drove a little slower than she normally would (her words) to accommodate my lingering fear of automobiles.
“You know, you should learn how to drive,” Laura mused as she pulled into a parking spot. “It would probably help you get over your fear. People who are afraid to fly often take flying lessons. I bet it’s the same principle.”
I pried my shaking hand from the door handle and nodded. “Ah, nope, that’s okay.”
Laura giggled. “You might change your mind now that you’re living in the ’Couve. Fewer options for public transportation.”
“The bus is just fine.”
“For now.” Laura smiled. “Come on, lady, let’s get you looking like a normal person.”
I followed her into the mall and we headed to the Macy’s counter where a really pretty brunette turned and silently clapped. “You brought me a new victim,” she said with a weird kind of glee.
Laura laughed. “Bethany Corona, meet Sadie Ross. Sadie, this is Bethany.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Bethany shook my hand and then moved from behind the counter. “Now, let’s see what we have here.”
Laura’s “bestie” was funny, bossy, beautiful, and a genius with makeup. By the time she was finished with me, I looked like someone totally different. Someone confident and pretty... someone who was most definitely not a nun.
“Wow,” I breathed out.
“Right? I’m a rock star,” she quipped, jabbing a blush brush toward me. “Remember that.”
“I will.” I giggled. “I don’t even look like myself.”
“Of course you do,” she said, taking the mirror from my hand. “You just look like a better version of you.”
I slid off the stool. “I want everything you used on me.”
“Oooh, I love you already. Girls’ night out. Friday. Sound good?”
“What does that consist of generally?” I asked, despite feeling like an idiot.
Bethany grinned. “A little bar hopping, a little dancing, a lotta drinking and maybe some flirting.”
“Works for me,” Laura said distractedly as she stared at her phone.
“I don’t know,” I said, butterflies flooding my stomach. “I’ve never been to a bar on purpose.”
“You’re not a nun anymore, right?” Bethany asked.
“Right,” I agreed.
“We won’t do anything you don’t feel comfortable with,” Laura promised. “You’ll love it.”
I reminded myself it was time to try out my new life. “Okay. Sounds fun.”
“Awesome,” Bethany said. “We’ll meet you at your place and I’ll do your makeup.”
“That sounds so fun.” I handed my debit card to her and, when she’d rung up my purchases, I slid the bag over my hand. “Thanks for everything.”
“No problem. See you Friday.”
Laura pulled me out of Macy’s and we shopped until I couldn’t take anymore. In the end, I spent close to a thousand dollars on clothing, bedding, and household items. I also let Laura drag me into the twenty-first century and bought a smart phone (which was free if I signed a two-year contract... it blew my mind). Considering the fact I’d once taken a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience, I’d never spent that much money before (outside of my furniture), so I felt a little sick. But nothing I’d purchased was frivolous, I reminded myself as we lugged the bags back to my apartment.
“Oh, crap, I’m supposed to be meeting my parents for dinner,” Laura exclaimed as she set the last bag on my counter. “I hate to cut and run, Sadie, but I’m late.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I assured. “I need to transfer my contacts and learn how to use my new phone anyway.”
She hugged me and I walked her to the door, locking up after she left and turning on the TV. It was the first purchase I’d made when I moved in, sixty inches of flat-screen beauty (priorities and all). One of the many reasons I made a pretty bad nun (in my opinion) was that I was obsessed with television and movies. It could have been called unhealthy, but it was part of me, and my aunt had informed me I got it from my father, and now I was free to embrace my addiction.
Feeling a little rebellious, I grabbed a carton of my Häagen-Dazs stash, turned on the television, and sat down on my gently-used sofa with my old and new phones.
I transferred over the few numbers I had saved and then opened the user manual. As I flipped through the book, my new phone rang. I couldn’t imagine who would be calling, and the caller ID simply said “restricted number.” “Hello?”
“Hey, you called?” a man’s voice asked.
“I’m sorry, who is this?”
“You don’t know who you called?” he asked, sounding distracted.
I suddenly recognized the voice. “Ryder?”
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“Uh, I’m so sorry, I have a new phone. I must have dialed you by mistake.”
“Sadie?”
My heart raced. “You remember me?”
“Yeah, Sadie, I remember you,” he said. “I mean, Sister.”
“I’m not actually a nun anymore.”
“How does that work?”
“Long story.” I bit my lip. “Anyway, I’m really sorry I called. I just got a new phone and forgot your number was in my old one.”
“You wanna get dinner?”
“When?”
“Tonight,” he said.
“Tonight? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I was thinking about making a sandwich,” I said, although, I was a quarter-tub into the Häagen-Dazs.
“Thinking about it?”
I glanced at the ice cream. “Yes.”
I really should get some protein in my body. Pralines are protein, right?
He chuckled. “What are you eatin’ instead?”
“How do you know I’m eating anything?”
“Just a guess.”
“Smarty pants.” I smiled. “If you must know, I’m having dessert first.”
“Well, finish dessert and I’ll take you for some real food.”
“Don’t you have a bar to run?” I challenged.
He chuckled. “It’s Tuesday. I’ve got people who can take over.”
“Um, well...”
“Dyin’ to hear why you’re not a nun anymore, Sadie. Put me out of my misery.”
I gave in. “You’ll have to pick me up. I’m in Vancouver now.”
“No problem. Seven work?”
Ugh, half an hour. I pressed my lips into a thin line then took a deep breath. “Actually, is seven thirty okay?”
“Yeah. Text me your address and I’ll be there.”
“Okay. See you then.” I hung up, sent my address... and panicked.
Rushing for the Old Navy bags, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a modest T-shirt, along with the hoodie Laura insisted I buy. She’d threatened to burn my nun cardigans unless I bought it, and even though I knew she wouldn’t really burn them (I hoped), I liked it too. It was a pretty light blue which matched my eyes (according to Laura) and it was warm.
My lipstick lingered, albeit much lighter than before, but rather than trying to fix it or recreate what Bethany did, I left it in the shopping bag. I was afraid if I made an attempt to reapply it, I’d end up looking like one of the prostitutes my aunt warned me to stay away from. I was trying to break away from my previous life, yes, but I wasn’t quite ready to break away that far.
My hair on the other hand, that was something I could handle. I had a lot of it, and I used to practice braiding and styling it even though I had to hide it under my veil. It was kind of my rebellion, albeit a secret one.
Even though my hands were shaking, I managed a mermaid side-braid that looked pretty but was something I could throw together quickly. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was and nearly canceled, but a phone call from Laura bolstered my confidence and I managed to calm myself before Ryder arrived.