"Buddy and the Beauty."(Kevin Hughes) She approached the makeup counter with more than a little trepidation. She knew how to use the basic powders and salves to cover up her teenage acne. She had been using them for the last three years…just to make herself feel presentable in School. But she saw a TikTok video where a rather plain and ordinary looking girl -who happened to be her same age (18 yrs). That girl had literally transformed herself from a mousy little girl nobody would ever notice to a face so pretty it would snap boys necks and earn the glare of envious girls.

So she had come here to the big fancy Department Store to buy the wildly expensive set of potions, goops, and lotions necessary to provoke the same transformation on her face and neck. She had the list, and links to each and every single cosmetic brand, now all she had to do was purchase them. She was so intent on making sure that she had the several hundred dollars (in cash) in her purse necessary to buy all the things she needed. She had cash, because she didn’t want her Mother, her older sister, or her baby brother to find out what she bought, and then either teaser her, or ridicule her.

She knew her Mother was a strong believer in the old saying: “beauty is only skin deep.” That was fine for her Mother to believe in. After all, her Mom’s complexion was the one everyone else in the world was trying to imitate. Except her Mother’s “peaches and cream” smooth skin came from Nature. No additives needed. She didn’t have her Mom’s skin. She had her Dad’s skin. Had she been born a guy…well, swarthy is the word that would have come closest to describing her physical looks. Her Mom thought her Dad was Handsome…he wasn’t. He was just solid, and loved her Mom and her sister and brother…and her too, to be honest, with open joy and pride.

And so it was that she never noticed the young man staring at her while she searched her purse. When she looked up, she froze. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before. Certainly no guy ever did. And never one as cute as the boy staring at her. Sure he was an inch or two shorter than she was…but that didn’t seem to matter to her at the moment (and, in fact, never did matter at all). She blushed at the power in that look.

The little girl in her mind curtseyed toward the boy, as that is the only physical movement that would acknowledge his stare for what it was…a compliment to a Princess…or maybe a Queen. Her actual body just froze in place, blushing furiously as the cute boy walked right up to her. He stopped far enough away to be polite, but close enough to her to let her know he was more than interested. She continued to blush.

“Hi, my name is Brian. What’s yours?”

“Katy….Katy Marlow.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms Marlow.”

She chuckled at the old Chivalry coming from a boy who couldn’t be much more than a few months older than her. She continued to blush as he put both her hands in his. She didn’t know why she trusted him, but she did. They stood there, facing each other (and there future) while holding hands in the Cosmetic Department of one of the most expensive stores in the city. For a while, they just stood there. Transfixed by the tools of young love.

She was shocked out of her stupor by his next words:

“What is a gorgeous girl like you doing in the Cosmetic Department? You don’t need any of that crap.”

She almost choked. She did blush even more furiously. She could feel her armpits starting to sweat. She hadn’t even put on her basic base coat of concealer this morning. She just washed her face and headed out to the store. She figured the Make Up specialist would show her how to put all the makeup on, and in which order according to the video she saw. So she left her face alone. Now…she was almost aghast with shame…he was seeing her…and her face…as they actually are…sans makeup.

A tear sprang unbidden to her eye.

“I…I…I…don’t?”

This time it was him who was stunned. Surely she knows how beautiful she is? But he heard the doubt in her voice. His brain was still reeling at her low opinion of her obvious beauty but his heart understood. So his voice became hard with confidence and honesty:

“NO! Absolutely not. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I can’t believe you are even talking to a scrub like me.”

She was so offended by his calling himself a “scrub” that her heart took umbrage and spoke sharply.

“Well, first of all Buddy, you are no scrub! You are the cutest boy I have ever seen, and second of all Buddy, any girl would be proud to be seen talking with you.”

His eyes lit up. She was angry FOR him…not at him. If he had any doubts about her at all, they were washed away with that furious pride in him.

“So, I am Buddy to you, eh?”

She blushed…again.

He saw she was confused and misinterpreting both his tone and his words. So he spoke up before she could retreat into herself.

“I like when you call me Buddy, and not my name. It makes me feel special.”

“Well you are!”

He made her laugh when he replied:

“Well, thanks Buddy!”

He noticed he was still holding her hands. She noticed at almost the same minute…for when he looked down, she followed his eyes…surprised to see that they were still holding onto each other. It made her feel warm and squiggly inside. When she looked back up, their eyes met. For a long minute, until some nitwit shouted out:

“Get a room, you two!”

That brought them back to earth, and peels of laughter from the strangers around them…good natured laughter…just made them laugh too.

He looked at her …she liked the way he looked at her…it made her feel…pretty.

“Well, we just met …so a room is probably out (her hand squeezed his) but…they do make a heck of a Christmas Peppermint Milkshake here…want to share one?”

“Sure…Buddy.”

He laughed. So did she. They held hands as they turned to walk away from the counter. When suddenly, one of the Makeup Artists, who had witnessed the whole interlude, spoke up quietly…and pointed:

“Hey young man, you might want to take her one aisle over before you head to the restaurant.”

They both followed the pointing hand of the kind makeup artist…it pointed to a bough of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling …one aisle over. They both blushed, looked at each other, and headed directly for the mistletoe. The makeup clerk smiled…and winked when the pretty young girl turned to blow a soft kiss and mouth a “Thank You” towards him. He winked back and caught the kiss.

They stopped and kissed under the mistletoe. (And the watchful eye of the makeup artist, who was thinking he would have to bring his own partner down that aisle later when he came to pick him up from work)

When the check came for the Milkshake (and two orders of fries) she reached into her purse... and realized she still had seven hundred dollars. She laughed and said to him:

“I got this one... Buddy.”

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