The Dollar Beauty

A Piece from Collection of Short Stories…………………………

By

Sadaf Fayyaz

Muneeza was a born beautiful woman. She took the Iranian complexion of her maternal relatives and delicate features of her father. Since her childhood, she was informally informed by everyone about her splendid beauty and looks. She remembered being a “pretty child”. The lapse of years and time added more grandeur and glamour to her personality.

“You know what, you are extremely beautiful,” said a business client to her.

It wasn’t something new for her. She was used to such phrases and words, from almost everyone.

Looking vainly into the mirror, she said to herself,

“I need only a little work out on my looks, everything is fine for me”.

She picked up the ringing phone and while looking herself in a pose, she thought, she was looking extra stunning. She ordered a cup of tea after the meeting and started stirring the spoon in it. Flashback Ten years: She remembered her ordinary looking friends working hard for getting good grades. She never studied hard, or woke till late nights for studies, as dark circles around eyes, she never liked. She used the other way to get promoted. One week before the finals, she got up, and opened her closet.

“This bright color and lipstick suits me the most.”

After regular lectures, she went to the young student’s cabin responsible for marking her score. “May I come in?” she asked seductively.

Yasser looked at her and thought,”She is indeed very pretty, especially her wavy locks and stunning looks make her extra beautiful”. “Yes, come in,” he replied icily. “How can I help you?” he asked.

She paused for a while and resumed,

”I am not even passing since my internals are very low. I won’t get promoted if I get an F grade. Is it possible to get a passing grade?” Yasser understood at once what she meant.

“Look, I can’t help you and add some more marks to your score. That would be an injustice with other students. This increment in grade seems impossible.”

“What a hard chick this guy is,” she thought annoyingly and quit the room silently. However, she was amazed to see a “passing” grade after the result.

“So this strategy works every time, everything is a product in this world, if God has given me beauty, I will be making use of I,” she got a final solution to her problems.

She scorned her colleagues for working so hard and making notes all the time. Upon finishing her graduate school, she used the same tips and strategy for getting employment. She never worked hard at her resume nor prepared any job interview well. She was regarded as a lucky job-finder among her friends. She never heard words like “Sorry, you don’t have any experience” or “You are not a suitable candidate for this job”. She was lucky. She switched jobs according to her own desires and no one was happy to terminate her. “I am a dollar beauty, and I should continue like this”.