Yesterday, my partner and I were forced to go to the mall due to bank shenanigans. She waits in the lobby of the purgatory that is the financial system, after a few failed attempts at looking for what I need for a project I’m working on, I find myself in the Beauty section of Clicks. If you’re not sure what that is, I think the equivalent would be a CVS in the USA, or Boots in the UK. A pharmacy chain that also has a bunch of other tangentially related things, like make-up and health stuff.
I have the worst poker face in the world, so I must have really looked like I was in distress. I was overwhelmed by the sea of bottles and mysterious terms like HIGH ACTIVE OMEGA OILS and NIGHT CARE ULTRA COAT. Nothing was labeled, every brand had its own shelf, so comparing products was damn near impossible. No staff in sight. At that point, the combination of sights and sounds of the mall had left me dazed and afraid.
So when this civilian talks to me, I jump and ask her to repeat herself.
“Honey, you okay?” she asks. She looks like she’s maybe a few years older than me, but something in my brain immediately tells me that she has to be some sort of teacher. Frizzy auburn hair tied with a thick band that threatened to escape, a formless dress made shapely with a strategically placed belt and lots of tasteful costume jewelry that put me at ease.
I found the South African Miss Frizzle, and she’s going to save me.
“haha yeah um okay I’m making a cat and I have matt sealer at home but I just want some gloss varnish for the eyes and PNA wants R150 for a bottle and I need like 2 drops so I thought I could use nail polish top coat but I have no idea where to look…”
I stop talking as I realize that I sound like a crazy person.
But she laughs, and it sounds like a bird welcoming the dawn. “Oh dear, no no no, don’t look here!” She leans in like she’s about to lay out some conspiracy theory that’ll upset the world order. “Go down a few shops, there’s a Chinese shop that has what you want for like R10.” She shows me her bag, there has to be about 50 nail polishes inside.
I could kiss her. I thanked her and told her she made my day. That laugh rings again, and she wishes me luck before she sits on the floor in front of another row of nail polish bottles.
And she was right. I got exactly what I was looking for without fuss.
I’m not convinced that she didn’t watch me with a knowing smile as I left Clicks before disappearing back to heaven in a soft light.