"Ok," both Amanda and her mother chorused. They hugged and went their separate ways. Amanda went to have her makeover and her mother went back to her hotel room.
* * * * *
She felt a bit uncomfortable. She had on more make-up and less clothing than she was used to. And she knew she would probably break her ankle in the boots she was wearing. But this was what her mother wanted and Amanda always found it difficult to go against her mother's wishes. She was in a small but nicely appointed dressing room. There was a bouquet of flowers and some drinks and snacks on the table. She sat on the couch and fidgeted and nearly jumped out of her skin when the production assistant from the morning before knocked on the door.
"You ready?"
"Yep," Amanda replied nervously.
"Well then, let's go," the PA smiled and beckoned Amanda to the door. As they headed down the hallway to the stage, she took several breaths to calm her nerves.
The PA moved her into position behind the heavy curtains. She quickly attached a lav microphone to her blouse with the battery pack clipped to her belt in the middle of her back. "Smile," the PA said just before she darted to the wings.
"Now you've seen the before pictures, here are the results," Amanda heard Rosie say just before the curtains opened. She put on her best smile and walked out.
At first the lights blinded her, but her eyes quickly adjusted. Rosie walked over and stood beside her. "How do you feel?"
"Very different. I'm such a jeans and tee-shirt type of girl that this is so," Amanda was a loss for words.
"Different?"
"Yes," she replied as she looked over the outfit again. She wore a tied blouse with bell sleeves. It was made of a white gauzy material and its ties criss-crossed down her torso to end just above her navel. Her short skirt was a patchwork of differently colored denim with an asymmetrical hem line. A wide white belt covered the waistband. The denim boots she wore came to a couple inches below her knees. They had put layers in her hair and added a few subtle red and blonde highlights. When they did her hair that morning, they styled it so her ends flared out a bit. The make-up, while more than she normally wore, was just enough to accentuate her face.
"Very rock star," Rosie pointed.
"Very Britney," Amanda replied with a laugh.
"Well, come with me," Rosie said and took her by the hand and led her to the chairs by her desk. The first thing Amanda noticed was her mother was not sitting in any of the chairs. The second thing she noticed that JC occupied the second chair. A look of confusion crossed her face. "Sit, sit," Rosie commanded. Amanda did as she was told and gracefully crossed her legs.
"Now Amanda," Rosie said, "We really didn't bring you here just for a mother daughter makeover, just a you makeover." Amanda was about to speak. Rosie held up her hand. "We received a letter from your mom two weeks ago about your little run in with JC and how he's bought you several gifts. And how you have donated all those gifts. You even turned down a house," Rosie finished. Amanda noticed how Rosie had said nothing about the budding relationship and decided she would not bring it up unless Rosie or JC did.
"Yes. While I appreciate all the gifts he tried to give me, I couldn't accept them," she explained as she looked back and forth between Rosie and JC.
"Why not?"
"He didn't owe me anything. Insurance took care of my car and I felt that if JC wanted to spend money on someone, he could donate to charity or something."
"Now you did get into an argument about this. You told him that if you were to forgive him that he needed to do something with his heart not his wallet," Rosie led.
"Yes. That was when he tried to give me the house. He wanted for me to live there for free."
"What was his reasoning?"
"To help ease my burdens so I wouldn't have to work as much or worry as much about bills."
"How many hours do you work each week?"
"Between sixty and seventy. But I make ends meet with a bit left over just in case. So that's why I wouldn't accept it the house. There are a lot of other people out there that are more deserving than I am. Families that have had difficulties because of the downturn of the economy. Men and women that have lost their jobs because of plant closings. So I told him to take the house and do something with it to help those people."
"And what did you do JC?"
"I did just that," he said as he reached for Amanda's hand. "Amanda, I've started a new charity organization. It's small, just in Orlando right now, but I'm hoping it'll grow. It's going to take houses that people donate to the organization and place residents in them. The residents will go through an extensive screening process and those that qualify will be ones like you described, mainly those hit hard by the economy. Rent and utilities will be based on what the residents can pay. The residents can stay for up to a year. The organization will also work with other organizations to help people find work. And right now we've got three houses and seven families going through the application process." He looked at Amanda and thought he saw tears in her eyes.
"Wow, that's great," Rosie said. "What's the name of the organization?"
"Amanda's Houses," he said and saw tears trickle down Amanda's face. Rosie handed her a tissue.
"Amanda, what do you think?"
"I think it's great. Exactly what I was hoping for," she said and then turned to JC.
"And to think, it all started with a celebrity and a fender. Thank you for coming," Rosie said.
"Thank you for having us," JC and Amanda said together and then laughed.
The show broke to a commercial and Amanda looked over at JC once they were off stage. "So, how about dinner tonight?"
JC smiled, "I'd love dinner," he said and leaned in to gently kiss her.
