“I can’t do it. This can’t be happening, Raj. This is the most important day, possibly in my entire life. Why do things always happen this way. Whenever something important is supposed to happen, this, this stupid thing ruins everything”, went on Dee. Raj tried to pacify her, “Perhaps it is the stress that has caused this.”
“Yeah, that and my super oily skin. A day outside in this pollution and the skin turns to rubber. Ughhh!” exclaimed Dee.
They were nearly there, thought Raj. He had done the dare and asked Dee out for Valentine’s Day in a grand style on the soccer field. The always helpful audience had gone out of the way to cheer them and both had instantly become stars of the college. They were ecstatic, thanks to the brilliant idea by Vik.
And now Raj was on his own, in familiar territory – clueless whether to ask Dee the reason for being upset or just tiptoe around and offer a sympathetic word here and there until she revealed what the problem was.
“Hey, cheer up, it’s not a big deal. Whatever it is, it won’t ruin our day”, said Raj trying to soothe Dee.
“But it will. This ghastly pimple will ruin it. It will be there in all our photos and haunt me for the rest of my life. As soon as I see the photos, everything else will fade into the background and there it will be, the lighthouse of my face, beckoning every eye that wanders to the photo”, said Dee on the verge of tears.
Raj had to fight with all his strength to not let that smile curl his lips. He didn’t really think it was much of a problem, but understood Dee’s concern. To say to her that it didn’t matter would have made things worse.
“Hmmm. OK, I don’t care about the pimple, but here’s what we will do. My friend is a beautician and handles skin problems for her clients every day. Let’s go and have a chat with her and see if she can do any miracles.” Whew! thought Raj, seeing the tears roll back and the frown receding from Dee’s face.
She couldn’t waste any time, with Valentine Day just a few days away. They hopped on to his bike and took off to meet Ria.
The tinkle of the bell alerted Ria who was busy tending to a client.”Hi! Raj. What a surprise! Give me a few minutes and we can talk.”
They flipped through some magazines lying around. Ria joined them in a couple of minutes and nodded to Raj to step out of the parlour. “This angel must be the lovely and beautiful Dee that I have been hearing of? Yes?”, Ria nudged Raj with a mischievous smile as she guided them to the cafe next door. “So what do I owe your gracious presence, after such a long time?” said Ria without hiding the slight barb. After all, Raj hadn’t met her in nearly a year and forgot to wish her on her birthday just last month.
“I know you are angry, but this is important. Dee, tell her”, nodded Raj to Dee. Dee explained her predicament in great detail, which Ria listened to with rapt attention nodding every now and then and asking questions about her skin and any specific reactions.
After a long pause and a few sips of Lattes and Mochas, Ria broke her silence and handed over a sample of face wash.
“What? this? just a face wash, that will do it?” retorted Dee with surprise.
“Yes that will do. This is the new face wash from Garnier – Neem. It is not available everywhere yet and I use this only for my special clients who have skin very similar to you and have the same problems you described. This should work very well for you.”
And then Ria explained the skin types, its requirements and how the Neem and Tea tree oil addressed specific requirements of an oily skin and cleansed the pollutants.
“All right, take this and call me a day before Valentine’s Day. And if your thing isn’t fixed by then, we will try some other skin remedies for you”, Ria walked up and hurried toward her parlour.
But Dee didn’t have to call her before Valentine’s Day. Regular use of the Garnier Neem face wash helped get rid of the pimple and kept her face dry and fresh.
“So we are all set for tomorrow then? I will pick you up at 10”, said Raj as they walked out of the mall.