Loves Redemption

help me out?” she asked with a smile,
knowing Dalia’s secret desire to dress her.
Although Dalia abhorred everything to do with prostitution, her quirky sense of humor
would assert itself when she’d say the only thing she missed was the dress up part.
She loved the extra high heels, the big hair and over the top makeup. Dalia said she
couldn’t wear her favorite type of apparel at Imani House because she didn’t want to give the wrong impression to the residents or their sponsors. She didn’t want them thinking it was a place for current prostitutes instead of former prostitute, she’d say with a husky laugh.
Maya knew Dalia didn’t care for her standard uniform of jeans and shirt or the
comfortable dresses she wore to work. Dalia once suggested she needed to show off her figure and wear something that fit for a change.
Maya laughed when Dalia took her by the hand and said, “Let us go and see what is in
this closet of yours.” And the two women went to Maya’s closet.
After several minutes of searching Maya’s closet, Dalia threw her hands up in defeat.
“Really mazyte Sesute, you are in dire need of a shopping trip as soon as possible. This is ridiculous. There is nothing, and I mean nothing in here that would be decent for your date with your detective, nothing at all,” Dalia said in a disgusted voice.
“Oh Dalia, it’s not that bad. Is it? I know I have a few dresses in there. I bought them this spring; let me take a look.”
“Please do not tell me you are referring to these?” she said as she took out two
lightweight dresses that hung side-by-side. “These are definitely not suitable for a first date Maya,” she groaned.
“I guess you’re right. I haven’t had the chance to bring out my spring and summer clothes
from storage. I’ve been so busy around Imani House I haven’t found the time.”
Dalia was in the middle of mumbling about how one should always make time for beauty
when she paused in mid-mumble. “Umm, what do we have here, nestled in the back?”
Dalia took the plastic off the dress and a deep smile spread across her face. “Now this,
Sesute, is more of what I am talking about.”

CHAPTER 14
“No way, Dal, I don’t think so!” Maya tried wrestling the dress away from Dalia’s
clutching hands.
Looking down at Maya from her superior height with one raised eyebrow, Dalia deftly
kept the dress away from Maya’s grasp. “Allow me to see this dress, Maya. It is beautiful. Why do you not like it?”
“Dalia, I’ve never worn that dress! Arlinda gave it to me when she donated those other
dresses for the auction we had last year for the House.” Maya mentioned a friend from college with whom she’d kept in contact with who owned a small and very exclusive boutique.
When she’d opened Imani House, it was her friend who’d come up with the idea of an
auction/fashion show fundraiser, and every year had helped her round up the necessary donations to help the auction be a success.
Maya wasn’t sure if she had the nerve to wear it. She had never tried it on, had pushed it, along with the matching red shoes, to the back of her closet and forgot about them. Now as she looked at the dress and at the rest of her wardrobe, she knew she didn’t have much choice.
“Mazyte Sesute, you will be beautiful in this, and I will help you with your makeup and hair if you would like,” Dalia volunteered.
“Dalia, thank you. I would like that very much. But first I need to take a bath after being in my garden all day. I stink.” She wrinkled her nose and laughed, heading to the bathroom.
After she’d finished taking a shower, she sat in front of the small padded stool of her
vanity and willingly placed herself in Dalia’s hands. After semi-drying her hair, Dalia used a few of Maya’s own styling aids to moisturize it, and had allowed the strands to dry on their own and form into their natural curl pattern. She’d then pulled a few tendrils out, and laughed as they sprang back into small bouncy curls framing her face.
Maya didn’t appear to be wearing any makeup at all. Dalia had only applied a light cream
to powder foundation to enhance her natural glow. She’d gone on to outline Maya’s full lips and fill them in with a shimmering bronze gloss.
Dalia had gone all out when it came to her eyes. Maya’s lashes were already thick and
dark, so when she outlined them with a soft brown pencil with layering shades of brown, it gave her slanted eyes an even more exotic look.
Maya was surprised and pleased with the overall job Dalia had done as she looked in the
mirror of her vanity.
After her hair and makeup had been completed, Maya put on silky underwear and slipped
the dress over her head. It fit as though it had been made just for her. The material of the dress clung to her rounded curves, the hem flirting at the top of her knees.
On the hanger the color was the most daring thing about the dress. But once Maya
smoothed it over her body that notion was quickly dispelled.
Turning around, she looked at herself from all angles and felt a rare thrill at the image
that looked back at her.
“Thank you, Dalia,” she said as she turned away from the mirror and back toward her
friend.
“Do not thank me. I polished the gem, I didn’t create it.” Dalia complimented her friend
with a wink. “Those are one sexy pair of shoes, little sister. I feel for your detective; he will not know what hit him.” Dalia whistled when Maya laced the ribbons on the small red shoes she
placed on her feet.
“Do you think it’s too much? I’m not even sure if