The Rockstar Who Loves Me

Song 12 ♫ Dancing with People Your Age

Mom, Dawn and Quinta sat on the couch of my living room, their feet propped up on the coffee table and heads all the way back. I'd put towels on their clothes and on the couch to prevent any accidents. A high possibility, considering neither of the three would stop fidgeting.

"Stop," I commanded to Quinta as she lifted her hand for the third time to scratch her nose. "You're rubbing the mask off."

She grunted. "I can't help it if I'm itchy."

"It's in your mind. Your mask has a lot of honey in it so if anything, you should be feeling fresher than a cucumber."

I put my hands on my hips and inspected my creations. Each one of them had a different mask on. Quinta's skin leaned on the oily side and I'd made her mask to cleanse and hydrate, so her pores didn't have to overcompensate oil production. Meanwhile, Dawn's had aloe in it to help repair a few old scars on her cheeks that still gave her trouble. Mom's was mostly vitamin E based, since she'd also lucked out in the genetic pool and didn't have major issues aside from a few wrinkles here and there.

"Hmm, this feels very good," Dawn said, lacing her fingers over her belly. "But it does smell kinda funky."

I made some notes on the feedback, since it was why were here anyway.

"That could be because you're used to the chemical stuff, but I'll see if I can find a way to improve the fragrance."

After all, part of the use of cosmetics was about the experience. People weren't prone to put stinky gunk on their faces, even if it was promised as the cure to all their blemishes. If I wanted to launch these products commercially, I had to cater to the market—and the market was full of fussier people than these three.

"My mask is running," Mom said, which was a strange mental picture, but when I glanced over her, I noted her mask dripping down her neck.

I adjusted the towel more snugly around her face and made another note. I'd have to research a thickening agent that didn't alter the purpose of the formula, but made the application easier.

The list of observations on my notebook was already over a page long, and this was just the first of many experiments to come. Lost among my scribbles were my marbles, because surely this was a symptom of insanity. This must have been why Bryce insisted on buying the products someone else made, because the task of starting a product line was monumental. And yet I'd never been more excited.

Well, there was one exception. Crashing Tae Yang's date last night and making out with him had sent my head on overdrive too.

After clearing my throat, I said, "It's time to start removing them. Sit still and I'll go one by one, okay?"

With various degrees of enthusiasm they responded, "Okay."

First was Quinta, who I'd put the mask on first. After most of it was removed from her face using damp cotton pads, I instructed her to rinse the rest off with some warm water. Then I repeated the process with Dawn and Mom.

The latter touched her cheeks. "Ohh, this feels good."

My chest grew three sizes larger.

After putting hydrating creams on them with plenty of anti-aging ingredients, I was finally able to sit down and catch my breath. I grabbed the notepad with feedback and assigned priorities to each one of them. There were things I didn't have the means to tackle, because they would cost too much money or too long to research, but others seemed more feasible. Adding more of an ingredient, or less, or changing it for something with a better texture or smell. I had a lot of work ahead of me and I couldn't wait.