Simone glanced at the clock in the corner, one that I hadn’t noticed in my sleepy daze. “You have an hour before you need to leave for Judy’s house, and you don’t need to worry about that anyway. Her driver is picking you up.
“Now, we need to choose your outfit for this dinner with the mysterious Timothy Caldwell. I know him well, and he is sincerely delicious.”
Simone was not a young model of femininity. I think she was closer to fifty, so the expression she’d used sounded odd coming from her lips. But I was far from reacting to anything at that point. I was numb. Sitting in the chair where she’d put me felt calming and comfortable. If I had a singing voice, I’d be in danger of crooning something like Some Enchanted Evening, my grandmother’s favorite.
“I’ve never met the man,” I said, wondering why I was saying that. I mean, it was true.
“Yes. I know, Penelope. But he will find you pleasing, and you will . . . well, let’s just say, you will find him incredibly dashing and somehow the perfect man to complete your life. It really is that easy, you know.”
I was awake enough to almost giggle at that. Simone sure didn’t know me. She couldn’t imagine how I bored every man Judy had arranged to sit beside me. But I kept that thought to myself and played the good client. I didn’t even crack a smile with her words, as if accepting everything she was telling me. Besides, what did I have to lose?
“Did you put fake eyelashes on me? I have the strangest feeling of having hairier eyeballs than before.”
Of course, I knew how silly that sounded the moment I’d uttered it, but Simone nodded approvingly. “Yes, you are perfect for him. Timothy will be amused by your humor. He likes women who are modest as you are and well-read. I am positive a fire will be struck this very evening.”
I sighed. Lighting fires made him sound like he was a smoker, something I absolutely couldn’t/wouldn’t tolerate, but I let Simon’s comments dangle there, hoping all of her reassurances would retreat from my mind. They would only make me more self-conscious, and this Timothy was sounding like he was more work than he was worth.
“How do you take off false eyelashes?” I asked Simone. “Do I need to buy some special goop for that?”