What A Pickle Part II by Deke Cutter

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If you read part one of this story, you’ll know how I came to have a very tightly tapered haircut with a neat pomp administered to me at the home barbershop of a friend of my oldest client and mentor. She tricked me into the barber’ chair, and arranged for me to meet the barber’ drop dead gorgeous daughter who loves men with short haircuts.

I have had the weekend to get used to my scalping. Its not that I look bad, it just so different! Running my hand up and down my neck and just feeling stubble is weird. Today, I’ll see what the staff thinks. Even though I’m the boss, everybody feels pretty open to speak their mind. Well, by midday, I am surprised. Opinion was mixed. After Rose and Josie, I thought the women in the company would like it, but most gave it a thumb down. The guys either liked it or were non-comital (it your head, dude). I did jokingly mention the shop where Andy worked part time and looking at two of the longer haired guys said "sometimes change I good."

That Friday the office jokers Derrick and Ronnie came in and shocked everybody by sporting haircuts every bit as short as mine! "OK you two, what gives?"

Well," Ronnie replied, "I’d wanted to go short for some time, but you saw the reaction you got. I mentioned it to my girlfriend and to my surprise, she was all for it, she said I was way too vane and took too much time on my hair."

Derrick chimed in "when Ronnie told me, I said, what the heck, those curls of mine grow so darn fast, I’ll get scalped too. Let’s see if it freaks the younger guys out and they think we know something they don’t. So we headed to that shop you mentioned since neither of us had been to a real barbers before. We asked "for the older guy, but they said he wasn’t in, but they all knew his techniques. I have to say I was pretty freaked out when those clippers went all the way up the sides of my head! But, this is pretty sweet, I feel like Timberlake."

"And while ‘Justin,’ there was being shorn, I was getting this, he pointed to his fairly severe executive contour. I loved my long bangs and being able to grab a handful an push them back. When that barber hack them away at that crazy angle, I thought I would cry! But those clippers, man, it was worth it. What an awesome feeling" he said, blushing a bit.

"Now listen you guys, I don’t mind a little bit of mind gaming, but do not let me hear that anybody heard from you that ‘Vincent said’ or ‘the boss’ prefers. OK?’ They both smiled sheepishly and walked out of my office.

The following week, I did notice a few more short haircuts among the male staff, but nobody seemed unduly upset about losing his locks so I just let it go. My own preoccupation was with the looming two-week timeframe for my promised return to Andy. On the one hand, I’d get skinned again, but on the other, I might get a chance to see Rose again. The dinner after my haircut had been very pleasant, but I felt too awkward to ask for her number in front of her father and Josie. I figured maybe Jose could help with that. I called Andy who sounded delighted to hear from me and had heard about my "referrals" to the shop. He suggested I come by on Friday when he had another very special regular customer coming by that he thought I should meet. He also said Rose and Josie were planning to cook again and he would be delighted for me to join them and knew "the ladies BOTH would". I was over the moon and accepted.

The remainder of the week went by in a blur until it was time to close up on Friday. I looked at myself in the mirror before I left and asked what the heck I was doing. My sides had hardly grown in at all and the top looked about the same. But, the things we do for lust, eh? When I knocked on Andy’s door, I was hoping Rose would answer so I would have a moment alone with her. Instead the door was opened by Josie who gushed to see me back, pleased that I ‘had finally become serious about grooming standards.’ She then led me directly to Andy’s den/shop and said she had to return to the kitchen. I was surprised to see Andy cutting the hair of a child of no more than five years old. The boy seemed very well behaved. "Aspetto, caro" I heard Andy say to the boy.

Then Andy turned to me and said "ah Vincent, welcome back, I’ll cut your hair in a minute. This is my grandson Nicholas. Nicky, say hello to Nonno and Mama’s friend Vincent."

"Hi Vincent, I would shake your hand the way my nonno taught me, but I’m not s’posed to move when I’m gettin’ a haircut, speshally a flattop. Right Nonno?

"You’re a good boy Nicky, that is right. Now, let me finish your haircut and you can go ask Mama and aunt Josie to bring us both a cup of espresso."

With that Andy put the finishing touches on the most perfect flattop haircut I had ever seen on a child. He finished it off with some powder and the little guy giggled. As his grandfather helped him down from the chair he said "Grazie Nonno" and headed toward the door, just as Rose walked in carrying a tray with two cups of espresso and a small bowl of sugar.

"Mommy, I was just coming to ask you to bring Nonno and Vincent espresso and hear you are like magic!"

"Its not really magic my sweet boy. I know your Nonno too well. He likes his afternoon "black coffee." And don’t you look handsome with your fresh haircut. Nonno did a great job!

Nicky turned to me and said "Vincent is Nonno giving you a flattop today too? Its mommy’s favorite haircut for boys. Right mommy? You said real men don’t need to hide under hair."

I’m not sure which of the three adults wanted to disappear at the moment more, with none of us knowing how much any of the others knew. Andy and Rose didn’t know how much I was struggling with hair this short already, and Rose didn’t know that I knew how Andy felt about her long-haired ex-husband. I don’t know what came over me but I said to Rose, "well Rose, if that’s your favorite haircut and if Andy can make me look as good as Nicky, what the heck, I’ve come this far. But you’re going to have to take the heat with me if Josie’s not happy."

Rose said "pop, what do think, I think Vincent would look as good as my brothers in a flat top.

Andy just tapped the chair and said, "let’s get started."

Because I had so much less hair than I had just two weeks ago, I thought this would not take very long, But Andy is a perfectionist. He took his time getting the back and sides down to a very nearly hairless state and then started on the top. The process of turning my pomp into a half inch fence surrounding a landing strip was excruciating, but ultimately, my flattop was as perfect as little Nicky’s. When I looked in the mirror, I could not believe it was me. What the heck had I done. I think Andy understood what has happening because he said to me, "come, we have dinner now, then, Josie and I watch Nicky. He stays with me tonight. You and my Rose, you need some time alone."

After an incredible dinner (homemade cavatelli served with bracciole stuffed with spinach), I followed Rose back to her house. We got inside and we sat down she asked if she could just touch my head. The touching became rubbing, the feeling of her soft hands was a new kind of erotic experience, soon we were kissing and it was only sheer will power that stopped us from going too far. "Rose, I hardly know you and I am cay about you. Until two weeks ago, I never had a short haircut in my life and tonight on the off chance that it would please you, I asked your father to give me this flat top, am I crazy?"

"Vincent, Josie has told me so much about you. She met me after I divorced Nicky’s father. My brothers and I, we grew up around pop’s barbershop and the boys always had short hair. They never cared. My ex was different, perhaps that is what attracted me. But, after we were married, he wasn’t interested in working very hard. That is something that my family couldn’t accept, me included. I sell real estate, but when I got pregnant with Nicky, I had to take some time off and he wouldn’t pick up the slack. Pop offered to save us fifty or more dollars a month by cutting his hair, but he wo-ldn’t hear of it, even for the sake of his family’s well-being. He has shown little interest in Nicky. I’m so lucky to have pop and my brothers both fuss over him when they are stateside. They both have flat tops, by the way. Nicky loves having his haircut like his uncles. And my dad does give the best flats in town. And, I do think it is an incredibly masculine haircut. And as tonight shows , I find that you are incredibly hot and sexy with it. I was so blown away by your gesture tonight, it showed me that there was a real depth to you. But I have to tell you, Josie has been plotting to get us together for months. I have seen pictures of, she’s even shown me her security video after you’ve come to visit. I found you attractive with long hair too. I’m hoping you’ll keep your flattop for a while, while we get to know each other, if that’s still what yo want to do.

So that’s part two. And that’s the pickle I am in. I’ve got the girl I want ad the haircut I don’t. And what the heck will they say in the office next Monday when they see me like this?

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