Chapter 10: A trip to Town
Eli checked her missed calls and messages, most were from her part-time jobs and her homeroom teacher and the others were messages from neighbors and clients from the flower shop. She responded to those she deemed important and ignored the rest.
After taking a quick shower, she made herself a bowl of noodles and then walked downstairs into the flower shop and took care of the plants. While some had lost their vigor due to neglect. Most still held their beauty. Once she was done tending to them, she locked up and left home.
Eli took the bus into the city center in hopes to do a little shopping and get some necessities. While Green City was considered small when compared to the Capital, it was still fairly large and had a bustling Metropolitan area. Artistic-looking buildings and sky scrappers were clustered in the heart of the city.
Dropping off at her stop, she walked a couple of blocks more, basking in the pleasant weather before heading into the mall.
She still had over two hundred dollars from the four hundred she got from the previous host's biological mother, Melina plus an additional ten thousand dollars from the previous hosts' savings. The previous host had worked three part-time jobs and had saved up from the cash prizes she had won from participating in the inter-school competitions.
While she was used to the finer things in life, she was quick to adjust to her current life. As much as she did not enjoy riding the bus or having to buy low-quality clothes, she had to make do. She did not want to spend all of the previous host's hard-earned money on trivial things.
She, who usually did not have much of a conscience or cared about the feelings of others, felt that it would be disrespectful to the former host. Maybe it was due to the fact that she was now living in the previous host's body and still had her memories or maybe the fact that she was growing a heart. whatever the real reason was, she choose not to dwell on it.
Although she could not buy brand items, she insisted on finding the absolute best quality options within her budget. Eli spent over two hours shopping. Due to her injured hand, she had to request for all her items to be delivered to her address before exiting the mall. It was already late afternoon.
Eli stopped by a roadside candy store she had noticed on her way to the mall earlier for some needed sugar rush. After paying for her order, she sat at the open space rest area for a while and engaged in people-watching. She had never had the experience of being able to walk around the streets without being on guard of a possible attack or surrounded by a bunch of bodyguards. It felt nice.
Still looking around, she noticed the signboard of a salon close to the intersection and decided to stop by for a makeover.
The little bell chimed as she walked in, notifying all those inside of the salon of a new entry. Eli walked into the slightly small but cozy salon with her good arm in her pocket while the other was still in a sling and looked around the place.
Excluding herself and the staff, there were only three other clients in the store, one was a middle-aged man getting a haircut and the other was a young girl getting her hair dyed and the third was..asleep with the seat inclined and a newspaper covering his face. It seemed to be a slow day for business, but then again, it was Monday. Most people would be at work or at school.
"Hello there" came a friendly voice. Eli looked to her side to see a bubbly-looking, young woman who seemed to be in her twenties. She had a short bub cut which seemed to be in contrast with her happy-go-lucky personality.
"Here for a trim?' she asked as she dried her wet hands on a towel.
"Yes, I am" Eli replied.
"Oh lovely, come with me dear" the attendant led Eli to a seat and had her settled in.
"I am Claire and I would be your stylist."
"May I?" She asked, pointing at Eli's Head. Eli gave a slight nod.
With Eli's permission, she then proceeded to run her hand through Eli's overgrown bangs. She had a healthy head of Shiny black hair. Pulling the bangs away from Eli's face. She gasped in surprise.
What an absolutely stunning face! she thought.
She took in every part of Eli's face, from her smooth forehead to her perfectly curved eyebrows, down to her straight nose, to her well-defined cheekbones that stood out even without the aid of a highlighter, to her light-colored pick lips and then down to the sharp edges of her jaw.
She was gorgeous and held a slight hint of darkness. The perfect bad boy features if only she was a boy. Having been in the fashion business for a couple of years, she could tell Eli was female right from the onset.
She did not realize how taken she was with Eli's looks until she looked into Eli's piercing hazel eyes and could see a hint of amusement.
"I was staring for a while wasn't I?" she asked facepalming.
Eli gave a slight nod.
She groaned in embarrassment, covering her face with both arms. 'I can't believe I'm simping for a kid, what are you, Claire? a pedophile? get a hold of yourself.'
"Well can you blame me, have you seen yourself?" She asked with an awkward laugh to try to lighten the mood. " Christ! You're absolutely divine. I almost want to pinch you to see if you're real" She added, all feelings of embarrassment gone. Humans were visual creatures after all. Who didn't like beautiful things?
Eli gave her a small smile. She could understand her reaction. She also had a similar reaction when she first got a good look at herself. Finally getting a hold of herself the young stylist asked "Do you have a specific style in mind?"
Eli paused before replying. "No, I just want it away from my face, especially my eyes."
The stylist's eyes shone with glee and pleas. "I have a great idea for your hair! Would you like to give it a try?"
Eli chuckled at her childish antics. "Sure, knock yourself out"
While the stylist did her thing, Eli pulled out her phone and surfed the internet to gather more information regarding her current world. She read so much varying content from global news to business digests and even entertainment gossip. Her eyes never strayed from her phone throughout the process so she did not notice the growing audience the little salon had garnered.
"You can take a look now. I'm done!" the stylist announced.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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