Breaking my leg was the most painful thing that I had ever experienced. It wasn't just the physical pain, it was the sudden need to depend on other people for the most mundane of tasks. The feelings of helplessness and the frustration lasted long after I was able to fend for myself again, after a fashion anyway.
The loss of independence struck me most when I left hospital and realised that I couldn't take myself off to the mall if I needed something. I always had to be accompanied if it was something that my girlfriend couldn't pick up on the way home from work.
The obvious one was follow up appointments at the clinic to get my progress checked, but then there were things like haircuts. I hated my hair to feel shaggy and in normal times would get it cut every three to four weeks. I know that during my convalescence I didn't have clients or bosses to impress, but it was important to me. More important than Victoria could appreciate and initially it was the source of some friction.
Looking good was important to me, but not as important as my regular fix of going to the barber shop to see Kate. I loved the sensation of her cutting my hair, the vibrations of the clippers on my head and the promise of the unknown as she stroked my scalp just a little too attentively to find stray hairs. I knew it was a tease and so did she, but it didn't prevent it becoming an unspoken ritual between us.
There was also the small matter of her hair. This was a woman who liked change. A woman who never had the same hairstyle two visits in a row. There was always something, whether it was a change of colour or length, or even both if I was very lucky. She liked change and I liked to observe. I had never commented on her hair directly, but she knew. She had caught me looking at her a little too attentively on one of my early visits and had stunned me when she said "You know, you're the only one who doesn't try to sneak a peek down my shirt when you sit in the chair." I didn't need to respond. The colour of my face said it all, but from that day there had been something between us. She got a bigger tip from me than from anyone else and I got the feeling that her experimentation was partly for my benefit. Utter nonsense of course, but it keeps me happy.
Our normal routine was interrupted by my lack of mobility and the need to take Victoria with me if I went out to open doors and carry stuff when needed. I knew that Victoria couldn't understand my apparent need to look smart just to sit around at home, but I tried my hardest to call on her help for other things as little as possible in order to keep as much goodwill in the bank as I could.
So it was that Victoria was helping me out of the car outside the barber shop. I made it to the door under my own steam and then waited for Victoria to catch up so that she could hold the door for me. She held the door with her outstretched arm to let me hobble in on my crutches and then followed me in.
I smiled a greeting as Kate looked me up and down, taking in my crutches and plaster cast. I knew what was coming, but I had other things to focus on. A little longer than usual. Probably longer than I had ever seen it. Two and a half, three inches perhaps. And a fabulous plum colour. Obviously decided to grow it out for a while. I was interrupted by a nudge from Victoria. "Fine. Worse than it looks." I said, being well-practised by now in humourous responses to the same old question.
"Can you manage?", Kate asked as I made it to the row of chairs.
I smiled. "This is Victoria by the way" I said. Pleasantries exchanged I could get back to the task in hand. Kate was finishing one guy, with one more before me, so I settled down to wait. Victoria picked up a newspaper and started to read, but before too long I noticed her focus less on the paper and start to look around her to take in her surroundings. She had never been to the barbers with me before. This was my territory, particularly since Kate discovered my secret, and I wanted it to remain my territory. I loved Victoria and intended to marry her and settle down, but everybody needs a little something that they can call theirs and theirs alone. Kate and her shop were mine and I intended it to stay that way.
Kate was just starting on second guy. I don't know if he was having a spring clean or something, but he asked for a number 1 all over which was a fairly dramatic change for him. He said nothing while she worked. I suspect that he was trying to study her in the mirror, waiting for the moment when she might reach a little too far and her shirt would stretch against her breasts. Men are so transparent, but it really is tremendously rewarding. He certainly got his reward, although I did do my best not to be distracted from my study of her hair. But hey, if it's on offer, it would be impolite to refuse. I decided to restrain my surreptitious glances, desperate not to get found out by Victoria. It was while checking that I was still Ok that I noticed that she was enthralled with the sight of this guy getting peeled.
All too soon it was my turn. I knew that our little routine would be less enjoyable than usual, but I had to accept the constraints on me. I knew that normal service would be resumed in a couple of haircuts' time. Kate was methodical and business-like, the haircut as good as ever, but over all too soon. In a matter of minutes we were back in the car, pleasantries exchanged, bills paid. I still had a glow when we got home.
My recovery progressed well over the coming weeks and I could look forward to being plaster-free in a matter of days. I really was feeling the need for another trip to see Kate though. Partly because my hair was starting to go a little shaggy, but partly because I was at home alone so much and had spent so much time thinking about my numerous trips to see Kate. I had both my own haircuts and hers to think about. The occasional unnecessary caress, if I could call it that, and her sometimes outrageous cuts and colours. I thought long and hard trying to decide my favourite. There had been so many, but using the state of my own arousal as an unfailing guide, the undoubted winner was the crew-cut. A pelt of vibrant orange. Short and striking. If she hadn't already known about my interest at that point, she would have done then. I know that it is rude to stare, but sometimes you just have to. It was beautiful.
I didn't have to ask Victoria twice this time to take me to the barbers. The day that I had looked forward to every day for nearly four weeks was here. I was really good at getting into the car now and was way ahead of her. The drive over was quiet and in no time we were parked outside. As I turned to open the car door, Victoria stroked the back of my head and said "Why don't you get a bit more off this time".
I didn't know what to say. She hadn't ever ventured an opinion about changing my hair before - not that I had heard anyway!!
"What?" I said, a little too abruptly perhaps.
"You know - a change. It's not as if you're back at work for a while is it."
My mind was working overdrive. What had brought this on? Had I been found out? There was nothing for it. "What's brought this on? I asked.
"I don't know, it's just that last time you came..........that guy.....well. I just thought that you would look good..."
She didn't have time to finish before we were interrupted by another driver blaring the horn behind us. He looked sheepish as I staggered out of the car waving a crutch. His hand was held up in apology. I moved as briskly as I could towards the shop as Victoria moved the car to the proper car park. It must have been full round the side as I was at the shop door and there was no sign of her. Suddenly it opened and there was Kate.
"Here, let me get that for you. What no chaperone this time?"
"NO, I mean Yes.......she's parking the car" I managed to get out.
She smiled.
"Do you like it?" she asked.
In one fell swoop, she had broken the rules. My heart was fluttering. She was asking me about her hair and Victoria was coming round the corner.
"Amazing" was all that I could muster before Victoria appeared.
"Hi Victoria" Kate called from her position back behind the chair.
"Hi Kate" Victoria managed with a little more composure than I had managed. Her gaze did linger a little longer than I would have normally expected as she took in the change. "Like the hair" she called across.
Kate was no longer plum and long(ish). Kate was shorn, Kate was white. The crewcut was back. Oh God, how was I going to cover this up?
"You like it?" Kate replied. "I like to transform myself every now and again". She turned to concentrate on her current client, a young boy whose mother was waiting patiently for him.
A sharp pain. An elbow in the ribs and a "don't stare" look from Victoria told me that I had been rumbled. I picked up a newspaper in a vain bid to hide my embarrassment.
She was finished. It was my turn. I made my way to the chair with a degree of expertise that I wouldn't have believed possible on my previous trip almost a month ago. On went the cape and the rubber collar and Kate was about to start.
"Remember what I said in the car" Victoria called across.
"What was that?" Kate asked.
"Victoria thinks I should go shorter" I replied.
Kate looked across at Victoria. "Well, we shouldn't disappoint the lady should we?" she replied. "So, Kate, what's it going to be?"
Victoria looked a little flustered to be suddenly put on the spot. She obviously hadn't expected to be brought into the discussion and just expected that I would take care of whatever instructions would be necessary. She got up and walked towards me while Kate stood with clippers poised. I was just glad that we were the only ones left in the shop at this point.
"I don't know, what do you think, dear" she asked. I didn't get a chance to reply. She ran her hand up the back of my neck from the nape to the crown. There was a good bit of growth since my 'number four for the top and number three for the sides' of nearly a month ago. "It's not as if you have to go to work for a month or so is it" she said using the same reasoning as in the car. "I could have a little bald man for a while and no-one would care".
Jeez, where had that come from, I wondered. I turned to look at her. "A what........?" I asked. I looked the other way at Kate. She smiled.
"I was just thinking about that guy last time we were here. Shorter hair looked good on him. You've only got to look at Kate here......." she said, not finishing her sentence.
"Yeah, but he still had hair and so does Kate" I countered
"Only just" Kate said, again fixing me with that smile. "Anyway folks what are we doing, can't you see I've got people waiting?"
"No you haven't", Victoria said cheekily.
"Oh yes, that's right" Kate replied, joining in the spirit of things. The air was filled with a loud humming noise. The hum changed then as she placed them at my forehead and moved them back. Victoria shrieked. I jumped. "Sit still" Kate said.
"What..?" I started.
"You'll love it" Kate said. Whatever it was, she was probably right and she was certainly speaking from a position of knowledge.
She was working quickly, front to back and then round the sides. Then the back. Then silence. I couldn't see what had just happened. I knew what was going on under the cape and I hoped that it would escape attention at least until I was in the safety of my own home. I felt the flat of Kate's palm go over my scalp.
"What do you think?" she asked, turning to Victoria "Short enough for you or do you want it smooth?"
She had really done it. I could see now. The clippers on the shelf in front of me. Clippers, but no guard.
"Look at me" Victoria commanded.
"Do you hate me?" she asked.
If only she knew. She had pulled up a styling stool and was sitting close to me.
"No, I don't hate you." I replied.
Kate had taken the fact that I hadn't jumped up and started shouting as a sign that I was ready for the next step. She started to smear shaving foam on the crown of my head. Gently, sensuously. I had dreamt of this, but never imagined that I would be able to do it. I never imagined that Victoria would let me. I always thought that she would think me weird.
The atmosphere had changed now. Kate knew that what she had done was fine with both me and Victoria (as if she had to wonder about me!) and Victoria knew that I wasn't mad. We were relaxed.
"So Victoria, what brought this on?" Kate asked.
There was silence while she thought. "I don't know. Jon gets his hair cut so regularly, but it's always the same. Then I saw that guy get his cut really short last time and I just got thinking. Then, what with him not having to go to work for a bit, I thought it was time for a bit of fun."
"It's not you that has to explain to people is it" I said in mock indignation.
"Who have you got to explain to at the moment?" she countered.
"That's true", Kate said, all the while working away methodically at the side of my head with the razor.
The salon went quiet again and then the bombshell dropped.
"What about you?" Kate asked, looking up at Victoria momentarily.
"What about me?" she replied.
"You know, your hair. Do you change it much?"
Victoria reached up subconsciously to touch the ends of her shoulder length dark blonde hair. As long as I had known her it had been the same. Ends trimmed every now and again. Worn loose except for weddings and formal occasions.
"No not really" she said simply.
"Have a look in the left hand drawer of the cash desk. There's an album in there" Kate said.
"Anyone want a coffee while I'm over here?" Victoria called. Three coffees it was.
Victoria dealt with her hostess duties and then came and sat back on the styling chair next to me while she flicked through the book. "They're gorgeous" she said. What I would give for a copy of those pictures. Kate's transformations documented, front, side and back. My eyes were starting to hurt from the strain of trying to see across to where Victoria was sitting.
"You're a regular chameleon, aren't you" she said.
"I wouldn't call it that. I'm easily bored, that's all. I hate looking at the same me day after day. So once in a while I reach for the bottle or the scissors".
"Or the clippers" I added.
"Let's not forget the clippers" she smiled, patting me on the head.
She was rubbing my head with a towel, removing the last of the foam. I took the opportunity to stroke my scalp. I don't know what I felt at that moment. I couldn't wait to get up and look.
"Happy now?" I said to Victoria.
I was surprised at the length of time she took to look up from the album to inspect the devastation that she had just caused, but said nothing.
She stood up and placed a hand on either side of my head. She brought my head down gently and kissed me on the top of the head.
"A great improvement" she smiled.
Kate had busied herself cleaning up while we had our private moment, but then the moment was shattered by the flicking of a styling cape. At first I thought that she was just getting the hair (my hair!!) off it, but then she did it again. I looked at her. She nodded towards Victoria who froze.
"Well, how about it?" Kate asked.
"No, I don't think so" she replied.
"So are you telling me that you don't like what you've just been looking at?"
Kate looked at her. She had put Victoria in an awkward position. If Victoria said 'No' she would suggest that Kate didn't look good in the various guises. Say 'Yes' and who knows?
"You look gorgeous in all of them" she said eventually.
"But do you have a favourite?" Kate asked, changing tack. "You must have, surely" she pressed.
Eventually Victoria conceded. "This one, I think".
Kate and I both strained to look at the picture that Victoria was indicating. I was stunned. It was the latest set of pictures. Kate's current look.
"So the lady is showing her true colours this evening" Kate said.
Victoria blushed.
"It's very striking, that's all I'm saying" she said.
Kate was still standing there with the gown. She moved closer to Victoria, the gown held expectantly.
"No, I...........er..............you must be about to close" Victoria said.
"You couldn't get yourself over there to flick the sign round for me could you Jon?" Kate said.
I was stupefied. But not quite enough to prevent me from getting to the door under my own steam.
"No, really Kate. I don't want to do anything impulsive. I like my hair like this, and there's work."
"And there's excuses. What does your man think. It's only fair. We asked you about him." Kate said
There was no arguing about that. I had looked again at my new hairless state in a mirror on the way back from the door. It would take some getting used to, but I was prepared to put the effort in.
"So, Jon, what do you think" she asked, putting me on the spot. She knew that I had a thing about hair, everything to do with hair. She also knew that it was her hair at its' shortest that got the best response from me. Victoria didn't know about this side of me. Was I about to be betrayed? I felt sure that Kate would be discreet, but I wouldn't be able to hide it from Victoria. Kate was giving me the choice. Stay in the closet and regret it for ever or move into the light.
"I ....I would leave it to your professional judgment" I said lamely.
"That fence must really hurt" she said laughing. "My arms are getting tired holding this thing for you......"
And then it happened. Victoria held out her arms. Kate moved towards her slowly, swathing her in the gown.
"Come on, we'll use this one" she said, easing the tension a bit.
Victoria sat down timidly. Silent.
"So, Mr. Decision maker, what's it to be?" she said as she started to brush out Victoria's hair. It moulded itself over her shoulders. Excellently conditioned. Silky. Beautiful.
"Same" I said, my voice cracking as that single word came out.
Kate's chin jutted forward, her eyes wide.
"Excuse me?" she said, excitedly. Victoria was sitting at a station with a mirror unlike the one that I had. Her eyes fixed me, intense, frightened.
"Same" I said again, a little stronger this time.
"As me or as you" Kate asked, knowing how absurd her question was.
"As me" I replied.
Now that really did provoke a silence. It provoked a series of exchanges of glances amongst us all. Kate had put the brush down and stood with both hands on the back of the chair, her fingers touching Victoria lightly. Her hands moved up and squeezed Victoria's shoulders either side of her neck.
Victoria turned her head slightly and fixed me in the mirror with an inquisitive look. Perhaps it was a pleading look. I preferred inquisitive at that moment.
"You don't start back at school for another six weeks" I said, grateful for probably the first time that she was a teacher.
"It worked for him" Kate said "I think the argument has backfired a little".
Victoria sat silently. Her thoughts her own.
She didn't move. Kate switched on the clippers. There was no way that my zipper was going to survive this. Just no way. I thought that Kate would ease Victoria towards a short cut, but there was no guard. They were at her neck. Just behind her ear. Kate moved them upwards. Victoria said nothing. She didn't flinch. That was all the confirmation that Kate needed. She took the clippers away and placed them at Victoria's forehead. She paused for a fraction of a second and then they were ploughing backwards.
I don't know what I felt. There were so many emotions. Then they were cancelled out by complete horniness. It always comes down to the lowest common denominator. I saw Victoria relax a little. It was too late for her to turn back now.
Kate sensed it too.
"Enjoy it, you may as well. I'll do it like mine when it grows out a bit."
Victoria exhaled loudly and smiled. In a matter of moments her treasured hair was in her lap or on the floor.
"Do you want me to shave you? Kate asked.
"I wouldn't miss it." she said.
The last evidence of Victoria's hair was scraped away and then she sat before me. Bald. Victoria bald. I couldn't believe it. I reached over to stroke her head, but she moved just out of my reach.
"You'll have to wait" she said, teasingly. She stood up and slipped off the gown, admiring her new-found vulnerability in the mirror as she did so.
She walked over to where Kate was cleaning the razor and as Kate stood upright Victoria embraced her. "Thank you" Victoria said.
Kate dried her hands and reached up to stroke Victoria's scalp. "It looks fabulous on you, it really does."
Victoria smiled. "You know what this means though" she said.
"What?" Kate asked.
"There's going to be some new pictures in that album of yours"
"You really think so?" Kate said quizzically.
"You tease" Victoria replied "of course you will and you know it".
"We'll have to see next time won't we. Anyway, the shop's closed. And I need to run.......I have to go visit a friend." she said, the biggest smile in the world on her lips.
We left in silence. Funny how being on crutches doesn't prevent you from goosing your girlfriend as she walks in front of you!! The crutches didn't detract from any other activity that evening either.
When we got up the next day we both knew what we were going to do. We even skipped breakfast and drove straight to the mall. I didn't think that it would be possible, but there I was threatening my zipper again. I almost fell in my eagerness to get out of the car, desperate to be at the shop before the first customer came in.
I stopped. It was locked. Closed. Empty.
I looked around at Victoria. She pointed to her watch. It wasn't quite opening time. I heard a clicking of heels behind me. Hurried, but not running.
Kate. Bald. Beautiful.
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