The Makeover Read online

  “The Word of God tells us to honor our parents, and that’s not conditional on how they are either. I don’t think He expects us not to express our issues to our parents. I believe God wants us to communicate with them so that these things don’t become long-lasting issues in the family. I just think He wants us to watch how we express ourselves to our parents.”

  “Well, I certainly sinned today. I asked for forgiveness though and I guess that’s why I was smoking and crying my eyes out.”

  “Understandable.”

  Phoenix sat next to the gorgeous man and tried to not focus on how strong his arms looked. She tried not to peek at the disciplined contours of his shirtless chest. Inwardly, she sighed. She froze when the word “wow” escaped the barrier of her lips.

  “Wow what?” Paulo turned, his eyebrow arched upwards.

  “Nada. Just thinking out loud, I guess. Didn’t mean to.”

  “So can I ask you something else, Phoenix?”

  Gosh, I love how this man speaks my name. His voice is so low and rough. His accent is making me melt. And for him to be even more gorgeous than Cedric? Not to mention his being more kind, more caring in the few minutes we’ve shared, than Cedric has been the entire eighteen months I took care of him? God, this man has to be involved with someone.

  “Phoenix?” Paulo gazed into Phoenix’s vacant eyes. “You know, you really bring new heights to the idea of being lost in thought.”

  She giggled, as heat crept up onto her cheeks. She felt as though Paulo had somehow heard the secret rantings of her heart. “What did you just say?”

  “I wanted to ask, what are your plans now? How do you plan on dealing with this thing?”

  “How can I deal with it, Paulo? I have no idea. I’ve been trying for so long to do the right thing. Been trying to complete my education, take care of everyone, and improve on my own appearance. I just don’t think I can handle it anymore.”

  “Handle what, Phoenix?”

  “Anything, Paulo. I’m serious, Man. Stick a fork in me, ‘cause I am well-done. I ain’t got the energy to do anything. My life has fallen apart, my mother doesn’t seem to think I have a right to be happy and treated fairly because of how I look. And now, I’ve been reduced to sitting on a park bench, in broad daylight, telling a stranger about what a failure I am. What can I do?”

  Paulo paused, afraid to do anything to push this teary-eyed, frantic woman over the edge. But somehow, he felt it would be fine. He trusted his Spirit. And His leading. Paulo knew he didn’t have the answers, but he felt confident in Who did have them. Inwardly, he asked the Spirit of God to lead him.

  “I know you don’t know what else to do, Phoenix. And even if you did, you don’t feel like you have the strength. I get that. I’ve been there. Maybe not for the same exact reasons, but I’ve felt lost and hurt and alone at times in my life as well. I know what it’s like to feel like a failure and not know how to fix those failures. You may not know what to do or how to do it, but I know Who does. Let me pray for you.”

  “What?” Phoenix leaned away from Paulo to throw him an incredulous look. “You serious?”

  “As a broken engagement.”

  Phoenix paused. No one had ever, ever offered to pray for her in her entire life. What can it hurt? “Um, yeah, I guess. If you feel like it would help. I mean, I already prayed earlier…”

  “Sometimes there is strength in numbers. I know you’re used to having to do everything by yourself, and for yourself, but it doesn’t have to be that way…it shouldn’t be that way. Let me pray for you, okay?”

  “Yeah, but do you really think it will—”

  But the electric feel of Paulo’s hand landing on her shoulder, even through the cotton of her tee shirt, effectively cut off all of Phoenix’s protests.

  “Father God, we thank You. I thank You, Lord, for using me to help my sister, Phoenix here, Lord. I thank You, Lord, on behalf of this girl, that is so heartbroken, that You are still in control. I ask You to forgive us both for our sins, Lord God, and overshadow our frailties and failures with the blood of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Lord of the world. Father, on behalf of Phoenix, I ask You right now for strength, and for Your will to be done in her life. She has made some choices and gone through things that I am sure was not in Your plan. But the Word says that all things work together for those who love You. So we are going to believe You, Lord, that this trouble she is experiencing will be turned around to become a blessing for Phoenix that will bring glory to Your name.

  God, we thank You for taking her out of her previous relationship. She may not see it right now, but I know You were rescuing Your daughter from a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You care nothing about man’s outer appearance, but what’s in the heart. And I ask, right now, that you will heal her broken heart, and put Jesus right in the center of it as her Savior. I ask that Your will, and Your plan, be done starting right now in Phoenix’s life. I ask also that You heal all the damage that has been done in her relationship with her mother and all of the damage that has been done to Phoenix in her life. Please use Phoenix for Your purposes. And Lord, if it is Your will, please grant her the desires of her heart. Please divinely help her obtain a healthy lifestyle and body. Lord God, Your Word tells us that the human body is to be a living sacrifice and treated as a temple for the Holy Spirit. Help Phoenix to understand the proper use of the body and how to manage it for Your glory. Please grant her healthy relationships with her family and friends, as well as the man You have for her to marry one day. We ask that You grant her the husband that is Your best choice for her. Most of all, grant her a healthy, loving relationship with You. I know Your Word says that if we seek the Kingdom of Heaven first, all things will be added to us. So help her to seek You first, always, Lord. Save her life, Lord, and her soul. In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.”

  Phoenix’s eyed flooded with tears. But these tears were not of pain or remorse or sorrow. They were tears of relief. She was in awe. Afraid to even move a fraction, she sat there, with her head down, filled with a peace she had not felt in so long. She didn’t know what to say. Thanking Paulo for comforting her in a way she had not experienced in her whole life seemed inadequate. Still she had to try.

  Looking up, she placed a hand on his forearm. Paulo’s eyes fluttered open as he turned to her. She gasped at the radiance shining from his eyes, from the genuine peace in his smile.

  “Wow. Paulo, thank you so much. No one has ever—”

  “Not me, Phoenix, thank God.”

  “Well I do, of course,” Phoenix qualified. “But thank you. For coming here, for talking to me and praying for me…”

  Paulo shrugged. “Like I said, thank the Lord. He is the One, after all, who stopped my mid-morning run and told me to speak to You.”

  Phoenix felt her face freeze section by section as she took in Paulo’s complete confident calm. “Uh, He told you to stop and speak to me?”

  Paulo chuckled. “Yes. And no, I am not crazy. The Spirit of the Lord put it on my heart, while I was doing my Saturday morning run, to stop and speak to you. So I did.”

  “Wow, I uh, used to think God spoke to people directly. Nowadays, I rarely come across people who believe they hear from God, unless they are…”

  Paulo laughed. “I get where you’re going, Doctor Psychologist. I am not schizophrenic nor do I suffer from bipolar disorder. I hear from God because I am a Christian and He, through His Holy Spirit, speaks to all of His children that have asked Jesus into their hearts.” Paulo almost laughed as he remembered how close he was to thinking that he was crazy as well. He continued, “And He told me something else, this morning, but I didn’t know what it was for. But I am glad I obeyed.”

  Phoenix slid a little closer to the edge of the bench, prepared to run if needed. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “He told me to bring one of my business cards on my run, which I never do, and to offer my services for free.”

  Phoenix tilted her head. “What? And what kind of business are y
ou into?”

  Paulo threw her another calm, assured smile, and shrugged. “You never know when and how the Lord is going to answer your prayers.” He slid a card into her hand and stood. “So if you decide to take me up on the help He told me to offer, just give me a call. God bless you.”

  Paulo took off in a light sprint that allowed every golden muscle to glint and quiver in the blazing rays of the sun. Phoenix lost her train of thought as her eyes zeroed in on Paulo’s strong legs and the long muscles of his torso.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Phoenix murmured. Speaking His name suddenly reminded Phoenix of Paulo’s words. Looking down, she read the card that caused her to leap up from the bench and gasp, “What the—?”

  Looking right to left, Phoenix felt her heart swell.

  “God, I can’t believe this. Did you really send him to me? That would mean he was already sent before I even prayed for—?”

  Again, Phoenix was silenced by the overwhelming awe for the God she had begun to feel had abandoned her long before she was even born. Or was it that she had abandoned Him? Either way, she couldn’t believe it. But she knew, in her heart, no matter how unbelievable it seemed, that the words on the card confirmed what she knew was true.

  God had come to her rescue.

  Even before she had formed the words to pray, he had already sent help.

  Trembling she read aloud the words on the card:

  The Lord’s Table Christian Fitness Center

  Using Biblical Principles for Achieving Weight Loss and Overall Healthy Living

  God’s Way!

  Call now for an appointment

  212-555-7777

  Paulo Elias, MS, RD, CDN

  Owner, CEO

  NYS Registered Dietician and NYS Licensed Nutritionist

  Certified by the American Academy of Sports Dietitians and Nutritionists (AASDN)

  ACE-Certified Personal Trainer

  NCCA-certified in Christian Counseling, Lifestyle & Weight Management

  Chapter 9

  Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?

  Proverbs 20:6

  San and Nic were staring at Phoenix as if her head had exploded all over San’s gorgeous Italian leather furniture.

  “What?” Phoenix rolled her eyes. “Y’all are looking at me like I’m sitting here with a syringe and heroin about to shoot up. What?”

  “Girl,” San flashed a benign smile. “You really think God sent this…this Paul—”

  “Paulo,” Phoenix snapped, “pronounced pow-lo.”

  “Whatever,” San continued, “this ‘Polo’ to help you? Really, Phoenix? Look, it’s great that you got this guy offering to help you and all, but ain’t you going a little too far with the God thing? I mean, for all you know, this dude could be out for something, just like Cedric was.”

  “Yeah, Fe,” Nic was nodding as she reached to snatch another bunch of grapes and slices of cheese from the glass tray. “Maybe he was out generating new business and took a look at you and thought that you’d be the perfect client. Why bring God into it? I mean thank Him or whatever, but don’t go around saying God told this dude to speak to you. Sounds like something out of a Tyler Perry movie.”

  “And what’s wrong with saying God told him to speak to me, Nicola? I thought you both believed in God. I was just sharing with you what he told me and asking if you think I should take him up on his offer. That’s all. No need to make a production out of it.” Phoenix busied herself trying to build a mini sandwich out of Ritz crackers, pepperoni, sliced provolone and olives.

  San eyed her with disgust as Phoenix shoved the entire triple-decker cracker sandwich into her mouth. “Well whoever sent him, it doesn’t matter. Go on and call him Girl. Maybe he can help you better yourself. Ain’t nothing wrong with a little self-improvement. Lord knows you could use it.”

  Phoenix felt her face grow hot as her friends watched her eat. She struggled to quickly chew and swallow her snack. “Why are you insulting me, San? I came here to talk to you guys about this, and get your feedback, and all you do is put me down? Is that supposed to help me?”

  “Oh you know she ain’t mean no harm, Fe,” Nic chimed in, the ever-ready, even-tempered peacemaker between the two head-strong women. She got up to walk over to San’s floor-to-ceiling mirror in the hall. After smoothing her skin-tight mini sweater dress down over her petite, hourglass frame, she finger-combed her waist-length hair. Leaning close to the mirror, she checked her even teeth and peered closely into her green eyes. Blowing herself a kiss, and having the nerve to allow her ivory-colored cheeks to blush, she returned to the sofa. “You know we love you Girl, but you do need to get yourself together,” she smiled.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to do!” Phoenix shouted. “It’s hard for me. I’ve asked you girls to take me with you when y’all work out, but you always go without me. It’s crazy how you guys keep making comments about my weight but won’t even help me.”

  San’s gray eyes narrowed into slits. “Help you? How? You have to help yourself. You have to love yourself enough to get up and work out. You think it’s easy to look like this? I’ve had four kids and I’m about to be thirty-five. I do this because I want to keep myself healthy. I work out an hour a day and go for a walk after dinner every evening with David so that we both stay in shape. Lord knows my husband would pork up if I didn’t stay after him.”

  Phoenix eyed her high school friend, washed in a wave of bitterness. It’s not fair God how good she looks. She’s as dark as me but looks gorgeous. Her eyes skinned over the vanilla bean-colored silk that was San’s skin. Her natural eyes were a slate gray and her hair a thick, natural mass of waves and curls that landed in the middle of her back. Standing at a curvy five-foot-eight, she was the tallest of the trio and the most slender, with most of her weight settling on her wide hips and curvaceous derriere.

  “Yeah, you guys work out, but you forget I’ve known you both from high school. You guys have always had the best skin and figures. You may exercise to keep it, but you’ve always had it. And Nic, you eat worse than me! All your weight goes to your backside. The other day, I watched you polish off a whole rack of ribs, a mess of fries, and chocolate cake. I could never eat all that in one sitting and look at me.”

  Nic was busy putting on an extra shade of lip gloss. She gave a lazy shrug. “I guess I’m blessed is all. All San and I want for you to do is put in a little effort. I know you try but it ain’t hard enough. And look, ain’t everybody out there got nice shapes. Plus, since we’re both Haitian, we grew up on that starchy Haitian food. My sister has always been thick, taking after my papi’s side, but you can’t tell her she ain’t gorgeous. She dresses nice, keeps her hair and nails done, and always looks her best. You could have been doing that ‘til you lost the weight, but you don’t.”

  “Again, I ask you guys to go shopping with me to help me pick out stuff and you refuse. I don’t always know what to wear.” Phoenix felt tears burning at the back of her eyes but she blinked them back, knowing her cries would destroy the last of San’s patience.

  “Go shopping with you?” San laughed. “For what? So that you can feel bad about the fact that you have to go into plus-size stores while me and Nic don’t. We’ve tried that, remember? All you ended up getting, after hours of shopping, was a new reason to feel sorry for yourself. Now look, your man done left just like I warned you. I kept telling you to get yourself together but you refused, and now, you’re trying to say we ain’t good friends because we didn’t make you do it?” San waved her hand and sucked her teeth. “Yeah right, Phoenix, just like I didn’t make you put down all those crackers and cold cuts you’ve been inhaling? You see fruits and veggies, why go for the fatty meats and cheeses?”

  “I haven’t eaten since last night. It’s three o’clock! Why put them there if you think I shouldn’t eat them?” Phoenix snapped.

  “Why should we suffer ‘cause you don’t have self-control? Come on, now. That’s not right
, Fe. You should be the one to control yourself. How you going to be a psychologist and can’t change your own behavior?” Nic jumped in as she reached for a slice of swiss cheese, popping into her mouth with a flourish and batting her eyes at Phoenix.

  “That’s why I am doing it, so I can learn for myself, even as I counsel others on how to do it.”

  “Well, Physician heal thyself! I hope you learn soon, girlfriend, ‘cause you need to really do something about your weight, your style, and your overall situation. We have tried to help.” San threw her a nasty sneer as she reached for a plate and loaded it with crackers, bleu cheese, carrots, and dip. “I can’t do it for you.”

  “But when I came here, telling you I have someone who can help me, and how God blessed me with the help I asked for, you guys make fun of me.” Phoenix jumped up to pace.

  “You’re talking about how God sent him and all,” San snapped. “At this point, I don’t care who sent him. You didn’t call. It’s been two weeks and you haven’t even called the guy. See that’s what we’re talking about. You’re sitting here saying God sent you help and then you don’t even take Him up on it? If you are not serious, so why should we take you seriously?”

  Phoenix gulped back the anger that was clawing its way to the tip of her tongue. “I wanted to get your feedback first. I haven’t been able to get a hold of you guys for the past month. Even with everything going on.”

  “We were out of town, Phoenix,” San retorted. “We went on a trip to Miami for two weeks. Before that, we were, you know…busy, I guess.”

  Phoenix’s face grew cold then hot then cold again. “You guys went on a vacay and didn’t invite me?”

  Nic and San looked at each other and Nic looked down.

  San leaned forward, her eyes cold and unrepentant. “Don’t blame Nic, blame me. I thought we should go without you.”