Walking down Domain street, Kayra Balasuriya gazed perfunctorily at her iPhone 10. She had another 8 minutes to kill before the shops opened for business on a warm Tuesday. The street was hustling and bustling with office goers, shoppers, salespeople, and some rambunctious teenagers. She had not anticipated it to be so busy, back home one restricted the pursuit of self-indulgence such as shopping only to the weekends, evidently not the practice here.
Temporary kiosks and stalls were being set up on the sidewalk, one salesman approached her in an attempt to convince her to listen to the campaign they were offering. She excused herself saying she was only visiting and didn't live in the country. He didn't mind that. Keen on dodging his relentlessness, she ran across to the other side of the street and collided into a bunch of teenage girls engrossed in their talk. She noticed that they were all impeccable looking with alabaster skin, luscious trendy hair, and upscale clothing. Instantaneously she felt a pang of resentment as she reflected on her own appearance. Her shoulder-length hair was crazy curly that didn't tame to any comb, brush, oil, or treatment. The only way to make it presentable was to tie it up in a ponytail. Kayra knew she was average-looking with plain mundane clothes that no one would consider feeling envious about. She also knew she could not be any other way even if she wished to. She apologized to the girls and walked straight into Starbucks, the girls barely had acknowledged her. Was she that invisible, she questioned herself. Eating had been a way of coping with her self-loathing and pitying.
After having bought an almond biscotti and a caramel cloud macchiato, she sat at a table facing the counter watching people. One of the staff, a pretty girl of about 18 or 20, seemed friendly, smiling and chatting with the customers. Some of the men even flirted with her, she didn't appear to shy away and in fact flirted back though the interactions were brief. Kayra sat there for a while longer envying the girl and contemplating whether or not to, just to be spiteful. It didn't seem practical with so many people in line, too much trouble, and decided to stick with the plan.
Back on the street, the first store Kayra chose to visit displayed a wide collection of eclectic home decor that appealed to her aesthetic. As she browsed through the store, a salesman approached to hover around. She noticed how elegantly dressed he was and that made her feel out of place and uncomfortable, so she turned to the sales section to avoid any interaction with him. Tucked away into a corner, as if it didn't belong was a charming little candelabra in pink gold. She turned it upside down to check the price tag. It boasted an ' end of season sale' in red with a 50% discount, final price at a ridiculous amount of $150. Staggered she returned the candle holder to the corner but the images of the teenagers on the street and the elegant salesman danced in front of her. Kayra's fingers lingered around its thin delicate stem, ' will just have to make more deals with the clients to rake in the extra cash ' she thought and headed to the cash register with the candelabra. Happy with the splurge, she felt undefeated by the likes of the rich, privileged, Caucasians she detested most, even though they were the majority of the clients she had to deal with. Curious, she glanced at the name of the store she exited, which widened the smile on her face.
The street was lined on both sides with well-known branded shops, Kayra knew which shop she had to go to before the meeting. Emboldened with the recent purchase, she shopped extravagantly, each purchase adding a spring to her step. At the end of Domain street was a dark purple exterior store with fancy lighting inside, deep purple wallpaper with intricate designs, and rich scents in the air. The store seemed to be set up in three sections, the first with shelves full of body mists and sprays in various aromas and colors, the body lotions and body butters packaged in the most enticing designs. Convinced that one must pamper oneself, she tried out some of the expensive testers and chose one with great difficulty. She could get very easily adjusted to this life of luxury she thought to herself. The middle section of the shop presented an array of divine smelling body oils, face serums, soaps, face washes, hand creams, and massage oils. Kayra moved into the last part of the store after picking up an essential oil with blends of iris, hyacinth, and jasmine. There seemed to be an overwhelming choice of make-up products which she could not begin to recognize. The young woman at the cash register, dressed in a skin-hugging crop tee and low-waisted shorts with a peak of a tattoo to the side of the belly button, looked at her with an understanding smile and walked up to Kayra. "Can I help you pick out the right tones for your gorgeous skin?" Kayra had an uneasy feeling, she didn't like women who had positive things to say. It made it hard to dislike. The young woman had various ear piercings and impeccable eye makeup. Kayra blushed at the compliment and said, " Yes please but not for me. You see, I work with a modeling agency, and I am expected to pick up some good concealers and foundations. Quickly she added without missing a beat," I love what you did with your eyes." She complimented the cashier. The young woman laughed and asked if she would like to learn how to do it. She immediately said yes and the young woman led her to the large mirror in the products section. As the young woman did her eye makeup, Kayra asked if she was a student, the young lady said yes and that she was working part-time and that her name was Tanya. Kayra told that she was visiting her sister and that she loved that the people were so friendly in this country. Kayra told Tanya how comfortably she could be a model with her looks, body, height and how Kayra could introduce her to the agency. The young woman smiled and said she wasn't interested. Kayra persisted by telling her how many young women she had helped in the past into becoming models and that back home she in fact was a model scout. Tanya tried to steer from the topic and asked Kayra if she had any plans for later and Kayra told her she was going to meet someone for lunch. " In that case, let me get the warm bronze shade for you" and picked up a different pallet. Kayra didn't want to seem pushy, so she talked about the weather and how much she enjoyed shopping, till the makeup was done. After looking in the mirror at the finished product, she added, " in case you change your mind, let me know. Will give you my temporary number. I am here until next weekend. " She pulled out a card from her purse with a phone number on it, placed it in Tanya's hand, and smiled warmly.
' An exception, it doesn't change anything' she reassured herself. Getting personal wasn't her way. " Call me Tanya. I will make arrangements for your photoshoot in Sri Lanka. I promise." With that Kayra left the store feeling expensive and positive. Around one o’clock she headed to the Italian place called Siciliana. The glass door of the restaurant was open and she walked in and stood at the end of the foyer looking into the crowded place. It took a second before Kayra spotted the half-circle booth seating a dark man dressed in all white with a straw hat looking completely out of place just like her. Kayra walked straight to him with all the shopping bags and plopped them beside her and sat opposite to him saying, "she will call". He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows in a manner of, ' I am impressed.' He nodded more to himself and beckoned to the waiter. He ordered the mushroom risotto and chardonnay perfunctorily as he browsed through his phone. He passed his phone to Kayra, she looked down at a TikTok of a young woman dancing.
The man in the white leaned forward closer to Kayra and said,
"She is our next target. They want to get her desperately. We will land a huge cheque if we deliver."
Kayra looked from his phone to him and to her shopping bags and the warm bronze shade of her eyes darkened.
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