When your usual barber is out of town 2 by Mikkojrvinen

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When your usual barber is out of town â€" Part 2

My name is Richard. This is the second part of my story. I recommend you start with the first part to better understand some of the details.

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It had been four months since my last visit to my usual barbershop. It was a visit it would take a long time for me to forget. It was when my usual barber was out of town and I met the young female barber Vera for the first time. It was the first time I got a haircut that was not just a trim with scissors. I was buzzed down to a #2 on the sides and back, with the top kept longer but many inches shorter than before â€" this had been her idea of "a trim".

Even though I had loved the feeling of the clippers running up the side of my head and feeling my head getting lighter as hair was coming off, there was something about this barber that made me feel uncomfortable. It was the feeling I had experienced last time when sitting in her chair â€" that she was in total control and that I had no idea what was going to happen.

As the weeks passed, every morning as I woke up and got ready for school I could notice my hair was growing quite fast. Every time I knew it was soon time for a haircut and I fantasized of the idea of going to Vera’s barbershop in the neighbor city â€" the mysterious address on a piece of paper I had received from her. A new barbershop in a city I wasn’t familiar with and a barber that was full of surprises â€" it was exciting to think about. Would she even remember me â€" we had met only once many months ago? Was my last dramatical haircut just a one-off? What would happen if I sat down in her barber chair this time?

I loved playing with the thought but deep inside I knew all the time that it was not going to happen. I was going to go back to the old gentleman that had cut my hair for so many years before and get another "boring" trim that would not upset anyone in school or at work.

One Thursday morning in the spring, not many weeks before the start of my summer holiday, I had just come out of the shower and was drying my hair with a towel. It had been more than 4 months since my last (surprising) haircut and you could definitely see that. My hair was a mess, many inches long and shaggy all around and it took forever to dry. The hair on top was even longer, it covered my eyes and was in the way all the time when playing sports. That moment I decided I had enough of the mop and it was time for a trim.

I finished school early at 1 p.m. and said goodbye to my friends. My curiosity won over me and instead of taking the short walk to the usual barbershop I jumped on the bus to the neighboring city. I was extremely nervous during the bus journey and started regretting my decision. I told myself, I would step off the bus, locate the barbershop and maybe walk past it a few times to get an idea of it, then I would take the bus back home.
So I got off the bus, walked a couple of blocks until I reached a small square that was completely empty. On the other side of the square was a couple of residential buildings. One stood out. On the bottom floor big red letters formed the text "Step In Barbershop". I walked across the square and stopped outside the window of the barbershop. I could see it was a really small shop â€" one room with one barber chair in the middle. The chair looked huge. And most of all, it was empty. No customers â€" and no barber in sight. I felt a bit disappointed and was going to turn around when a young woman with short bright red hair appeared behind the corner with a cigarette in her hand. It did not take many seconds for me to realize, it was Vera. I was mesmerized, my feet refused to move, so I stood there outside the shop.

"Someone needs a haircut. You have come to the right place. Come" the familiar but chirpy voice said. I could feel Vera eyeing me from head to toe. She wasn’t joking.
I followed her inside and could feel the door closing with a slam behind me.
"I have one appointment with a gentleman arriving any minute, you can take a seat in the chair by the window while you wait. Then I will take care of you and that head of hair of yours, it won’t take long" Vera said smiling.

And true enough, a gentleman, maybe in his 30s soon entered the barbershop. His hair was almost as long as mine, but not as shaggy. Now I got really excited as I was going to see him undergo a transformation by Vera from a first row seat. The gentleman sat down in the chair and asked for "just a trim". Soon he was caped and reading a magazine. But I felt disappointed as no clippers came out â€" only scissors â€" and indeed Vera was only giving him a trim. She worked her way around his head and small hairs were coming off â€" but we were really only talking about trimming the ends. At the same time I calmed down â€" nothing dramatical was going to happen to me either â€" Vera definitely did not remember me I had figured out by now â€" I was getting a trim, maybe getting my bangs cut a bit shorter but that’s it. It did not take long before the gentleman’s haircut was done, he paid and left.

"You had good timing coming in right now as I was actually planning on closing early today" Vera said as she locked the door to the shop and put the "Closed"-sign on the door.

"Alright, the chair is yours" Vera said and motioned for me to sit down. And I obeyed.
I had barely sat down before a black nylon cape was flung over me. The cape felt very familiar and it did not take long before it was fastened very firmly around my neck.
"So, what are we doing with this mop today?" Vera started playing with my hair, which made it look shaggier than ever before.
"Just a small trim please" I said
"Alright, a trim it is" Vera said. She picked up the scissors she had also used on the gentleman before me and started combing my hair. It was completely quiet in the shop â€" you could have heard a pin drop.
" But you can cut my bangs maybe half an inch shorter, so I can see something" I added.
To this my barber did not say anything, she just nodded and continued combing my hair.


A couple of times I could see in the mirror Vera was looking at me with an almost puzzled look on her face. All of a sudden that expression disappeared. She had only snipped off some hair at the back of my head when she asked "Have I seen you before somewhere?"
I could feel my heart start racing and I had no idea what to answer to her.
"Maybe" I muttered
"Well, it’s always nice to have a familiar face sitting in the chair" Vera answered, all of a sudden in a very dominant tone. "I always do my best to please my regular customers" she added.
Before I had time to say a word, she pushed my head down almost so my chin touched the cape, and soon the barbershop was filled with a loud buzzing sound.
It was the sound I had feared the most, the sound I had missed, the sound I wanted to hear. I was starting to feel extremely aroused, waiting for the shearing to begin.
But before even one hair was cut, Vera turned off the clippers.
"I don’t know what I was thinking, you asked for a small trim. I don’t need clippers for that. Unless you want, of course" Vera said, looking at me in the mirror with a smirk.
Looking at her expression, she knew exactly what I wanted. She was teasing me.
"I leave it up to you" I answered, without looking her in the eyes.

Not many seconds later, the clippers were flicked on. What I did not know, was that behind my back, Vera had attached a #1 guard to the clippers.
Before I knew it, I could feel the metal blade running up the back of my head. The clippers ran higher and higher, up to the crown of my head in repeated motions, I had never seen such fast work before. Roughly a minute later, without a word of warning Vera moved the clippers to the right side of my head and the butchering continued. Many inches of hair started landing on my lap on the cape and the piles of hair got bigger and bigger. The cape got heavier and heavier at the same time and there was no ending to the hair raining to the cape as Vera moved to the left side of my head. I had NEVER had my hair cut this short â€" the #2 she cut last time felt a lot longer. All I could see was my scalp and little hairs shorn down by the clippers. I could not believe what was going on. I felt helpless and amazing at the same time. Vera worked the clippers really high on the sides and back â€" literally only the top of my head escaped the butchering and was still covered with a LOT of long hair.

Soon the buzzing sound stopped.
"Now that’s some progress" Vera exclaimed wearing the same happy smile I saw the last time I was sitting in her chair.
"Last time we met I remember you saying something that you trust my expertice when it comes to hair â€" that I am the professional" Vera continued while eyeing me in the mirror. "I assume you still feel the same way, otherwise you would not be sitting in my chair?"
My mouth was dry, I did not find any words. But I nodded.
"Excellent. Then there will not be much talking for the rest of the haircut. I will clean up the sides and back a bit more and then I will trim the top" she added. "Does that sound like a good plan?"
"Yes" I said while holding on to the chair. I do not know what it was that happened, but Vera definitely had control over me and I knew there was only one way â€" her way.
Vera kept looking at me and smiling, it felt like she knew what I was thinking at that moment.

With a snapping sound she removed the #1 guard from the clippers and switched them back on.
"What are you waiting for? Head down, Mister" Vera said, which was not necessary because she had already pushed down my head when the sentence was finished.
With a firm grip she pushed the clippers against the back and sides of my head again, again and again. I was practically bald when she was finished with the clippers. I looked ridiculous with my sides and back shaved bald and the hair on top of my head was maybe 3 or 4 inches long.
Vera switched off the clippers.
"You trust me, right?" Vera asked.
"Of course" I said.
"Close your eyes then" she said. And what else could I do than obey.
I had barely closed my eyes when the clippers came back to life and I could feel them running down the middle of my head. Huge chunks of hair flew onto my cape and onto the floor of the barbershop.
I had never felt something quite like it and I almost smiled a little.
"Come on, open your eyes so you can enjoy the rest of it with all senses" Vera said and winked with her eye.
So I sat there, again completely mesmerized, looking at months of hair growth being butchered off my head with no mercy. Vera mowed around my head with the clippers once again, ensuring not one single hair was left unattended.

As Vera finished cutting and removed the cape I admired the new me in the mirror. I really did not know what to think about my bald head. I wasn’t sure if it suited me or not, but it definitely made me look more mature and masculine.

I got up from the chair, took a step closer to my barber to pay her. She quickly took the bill and threw it on the floor. She put her hands on my shoulders, dragged me closer and kissed me.
"You better be back in the chair soon. I hope you understand your new ‘do requires to be maintained every week" Vera whispered in my ear.

A moment later, as I slowly walked out of the barbershop, I could not stop feeling my bald head. I had no idea how I would explain this to my friends and family, but one thing was sure, I was coming back very soon.

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