Gus Gets An Egghead by Manny

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This is a sequel to "James Transitions to Middle Age"


James woke up early, quite eager to make his debut at the bank sporting his new horseshoe flattop. As he primped into his bedroom, he admired the steely look of authority he commanded. His white scalp still gleamed from the lather shave he'd received at the Maple Street Barber Shop. Running his hand up the back of his silken smooth head felt great. James imagined the surprised looks he'd see on his employees' faces as a result of their manager's makeover!

The shock of the shoe did not disappoint! There were several gasps as James strode into the bank, impeccably dressed in a dark blue, double-breasted suit.

"Mr. Calhoun! Is that really you?" his secretary Mabel exclaimed as he entered the spacious executive suite.

"Yep! The new, improved me! For so long I've wanted a manly shoe. That's how this haircut is referred to -- for the horseshoe shape," James explained.

"Oh, you don't have to tell me about shoes, sir! I dated a marine one who had the most macho shoe imaginable. I was like putty in his arms!" she gushed. "And, you, oh...it'll be hard to stay concentrated on my paper work! I can't take my eyes off your new haircut, sir!"

James basked in the flattery and praise. "Be a dear and go fetch me a cup of black coffee, Mabel," he replied, enjoying his ability to command his staff about for his comfort.

"Right away, sir! Oh, I sent you an email. Mr. Phillips, has asked urgently to see you. There is a delicate employee matter he needs to brief you on."

While Mabel was out getting the coffee, Mr. Phillips scurried into the executive suite.

He burst into James' office and froze in his tracks, momentarily, staring at the radically short haircut on James Calhoun, his boss.

"Oh! I, uh, um....you got a haircut, Mr. Calhoun!" he stammered, staring with rapt attention at James' new shoe.

"How do you like it? It's quite a shock, I know. Big change. But I was ready for it. I feel so good about it," James replied.

Mr. Phillips tried to muster up a bit of enthusiasm, but it fell somewhat flat, "Glad you like it. Quite a change, like you said. And, sorry for the intrusion, but you were out yesterday afternoon. It's that I'm fairly sure, in fact, I'm certain, we have a case of employee malfeasance on our hands."

"What?!" James exclaimed. "Who? Is it serious?"

"No, not too serious, I'm fairly certain. A matter of about $2000 as far as we can tell. And he have a signed confession! It involves one of the tellers, Gus McClintock."

"Gus! The fellow with the long ginger hair?" James asked.

"Exactly! It's hard to tell him from the ladies from behind," Mr. Phillips quipped. "In a nutshell, while performing a surprise audit on his advance, I found that $2000 was missing. I counted several times and had someone else do so as well. Usually, we only do a cash count on the first Wednesday of the month, but we altered our procedure. The change caught him off guard."

"So, how did you get the confession?" James asked. "I mean he could have just denied taking it."

"Well, he really had no choice. He signed for the money and was responsible for it. Turns out, he said he was 'borrowing' it because he needed to pay a bill for some urgent medication his brother needed. Some sort of liver disease and the fellow had no medical insurance. Gus said he had every intention of replenishing the advance when the sale of his motorcycle was finalized on Friday."

"But the point is, we can't have an employee in a bank like this taking liberties!" James snapped.

"I recommend we just write up a reprimand and put it in his file. Warn him, that should dissuade him from doing it again. And it was for a good cause," Mr. Phillips stated sympathetically. "Gus is a good employee. Always on time, never misses a day."

"And corporate HR? What's their opinion?" James asked.

"Fire him and file a police report -- theft!" Mr. Phillips replied.

"Does Gus know that's an option?" James continued.

"Yes, I thought it best to scare him a bit," Mr. Phillips said. "But, I did tell him you would have the final word and might go easier on him."

"Then, I'll handle the matter personally from here. Thank you for bringing this to my attention," James said with a glimmer of excitement in his eye.

"He'll be right down! If the threat of a criminal investigation and getting fired doesn't scare him, that new haircut of yours certainly will!" Mr. Phillips laughed.

The soft knock on James' door was Mabel with the coffee, "Here's what you wanted. Oh, and Gus McClintock is outside. He said you asked to see him."

Gus was a pile of jittery nerves as he entered the bank manager's executive office. He stood awkwardly while James played a power game, continuing to tap away at his computer, delaying his acknowledging Gus' presence.

Finally, he turned and addressed the petrified employee. "So what's this I heard, McClintock?"

Gus shifted on his feet nervously. "I was going to put it all back. It was for my brother, he's in a very bad way, sir. I'm so sorry about....."

"Stealing from the bank?!" James snapped. "Is that what you're sorry about?! We treat you well and pay you a good salary...and you break our trust and help yourself to the bank's money? No! I won't stand for it!"

Gus bowed his head in a penitent pose. His lush ginger locks cascaded forward. The waist length tresses enveloped him like a pilgrim's mantle. "I'm so sorry sir....."

James abruptly stood and paced about the lowly teller like an eager drill sergeant eyeing the new recruits. His eyes locked onto Gus' beautiful tresses.

"You must be very short on money, Gus, because you've stopped visiting the barber shop! All this hair, it must be quite bothersome. And it might bring in a pretty penny at some wig shop. Instead of stealing from us, you could have made a bundle with a few quick snips of the shears. Did you consider that?" James demanded.

"No, sir. I did sell some blood, though....." Gus explained.

"Our HR recommends we fire you and file a complaint with the police. Your poor judgment could transform you fairly quickly into an unemployable felon. Who would hire you, I might ask, knowing your history here?" James stridently asked.

Gus struggle to stifle a sob, but a few tears streamed down his cheek.

James softened his tone and pointed to a chair, "Sit here, Gus. Maybe we can go a different route. I mean, helping your sick brother is admirable thing. I need to think about the bank, of course, but I also need to think about our dedicated employees, like you."

Gus looked up and blinked gratefully, wiping the tears with fingers. James handed him a tissue. "Perhaps you might agree to an in-house punishment? Just between you and me."

Gus sat silent, waiting for an explanation.

James' eyes blazed as he studied the abundant ginger mane that hung down loosely over the back of the chair. "I'll advance $2,000 out of my wallet to replenish what you borrowed from your til. But, as a placeholder to your repaying me, come Friday when your motorcycle sale is finalized, I will take possession of these pretty locks of yours."

James grasped a thick shank of Gus' ginger hair and held it up to examine the quality of the silken strands.

"Take possession of it?" Gus stammered.

"That's right," James said, grasping the whole mane and pulled it into a thick tail. He scrutinized it closely like it was for sale. "This mass of hair will be your promise to repay. I have a pair of heavy duty shears in my desk. A few snips, and you'll be relieved of your princess hair. If you don't repay me, I will sell it myself!"

"Will you take off 12 inches or so? I mean, how short will you cut it?" Gus asked.

"Are you trying to bargain with me, Gus? Perhaps I should pick up the phone and call the police!" James sneered, reaching for the device on his desk.

"No, sir! Please!!" Gus pleaded.

"I intend to cut off as much as possible. Hack it off very close to the scalp. After all, the haircut will also be interpreted by you as a sort of punishment for stealing. The pretty boy having his princess hair taken from him. Then I will give you a $20 and drop you off at the Maple Street Barber Shop. See my new horseshoe flattop? You will look very handsome sporting the same length."

"A shoe?!" Gus gasped. "You want the barber to shoe me?!"

"I take it you like my new haircut, Gus," James stated.

The lad was trapped. How to answer? "Oh, it looks quite good on you, but I am fond of my long hair. It's part of my identity."

"OK, princess!" James snapped. "Out of here. I know what to do." He reached for the phone.

"No, sir, please!" Gus implored.

James walked to the door of his office, "Mabel! Please escort Mr. McClintock to HR. They need to process his termination."

"Wait!" Gus stammered. "Just give me one more minute to decide."

James closed the office door again and stared at the cowed young man. "Yes, what is it? I'm getting a little tired of games, Gus!"

"I'll do it. Let you cut off my hair....get shoed at the Maple Street Barber Shop. Anything you want," he panted.

James thought he spied the longhaired lad's cock throbbing as he pushed out the words.

"Oh, our little princess is going to get barbered? He saw my new shoe and just had to get one himself," James laughed. "That's what you'll tell your colleagues, Gus, isn't it....when you walk in tomorrow with a shining, practically bald head! Mr. Calhoun's new shoe was so snappy, you just couldn't resist."

"Yes, sir! I'll tell them how manly and authoritative you looked without that floppy business cut you used to sport," he stated.

James took the liberty of again grasping Gus by his waist length mane and dragging him by it to the chair. "Sit, Gus! Such lovely ginger hair will fetch a hefty price! Write out an IOU. That you will pay me $2,000 by Friday for the money I am advancing to cover your debt to the til."

As the nervous lad scurried to write it out, James opened the desk drawer and pull out a huge set of office scissors. "These will do the job!" he chuckled as he snapped them open and shut a few times.

"Now, sit very still, Gus!" James commanded. "Oh, such lovely unique hair! But not for a man....such a disgrace. We want the men at the bank looking like men and the women looking like women. Is that a hard concept to grasp?"

"No, sir," Gus murmured meekly, keeping his head down and lowering his gaze. He was very submissive and obedient.

James joyfully plunged the shears into the mass of ginger hair, right at the nape. He was gleeful at the thought of delivering the big chop and was just about to do it....

....until, a horrible thought crossed his mind. Gus could sue him for assault! Mabel would be a credible witness -- 'yes, the lad went in with beautiful waist length hair and came out with it absolutely butchered -- like his locks had been sucked into the paper shredder. I felt so sorry for the poor boys, in tears, rushing from Mr. Calhoun's office."

James felt stymied. He reluctantly released the captive mane from his greedy grip. "Your hair has gained a reprieve, Gus," James stated as he set down the shears.

Gus turned around and smiled from ear to ear. "Oh, thank you, sir! You are the kindest, the best! I was sick thinking about having it all chopped off just now. My hair is part of my identity, sir. I've worn it long since I was 13."

James forced out a sweet smile and managed to caress the lovely locks for a bit with his fingers lingering in the silken strands. Inwardly, he was hopping mad that his plan had been foiled.

Then the light bulb went on. He grinned. Yes, it was an excellent idea!! Gus would be shoed after all!

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Gus. I did say a reprieve. Until the end of the day. We will leave the office at 4:30 p.m. Separately. We will rendez-vous at the Maple Street Barber Shop. You will watch me enter. Once I'm caped and in the chair having my head lathered, you will enter the shop. We will not greet or acknowledge each other. You will patiently wait your turn. When you are told to climb up into the big barber chair, you will do so meekly and compliantly. When the barber asks you how you want it cut, you will say just like mine. I will either be in the other chair or make an excuse to hang about so that I can have a front row seat to your transformation to a real man!"

Gus' face fell instantly and the smile evaporated. "Oh, I thought...."

"Well, you thought wrong!" James laughed. "It's that I wanted you to have an authentic barber shop experience, from beginning to end. From princess to marine! You walking in on your own volition and telling the barber exactly how you 'want' it cut."

James was so proud of himself for thinking of that solution right on the spot. Then he added, "Oh, and once you've been made to look like a man, you will not want your hair cut any other way. You will keep the shoe! As long as you remain employed by me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Gus gulped, head submissively bowed.

James could not help but grasp Gus by the hair one more time, like he was a leashed dog, an owner with his pet. He gave the ginger mane a quick yank, just to remind Gus who was in charge. "Imagine yourself with a fresh shoe -- sitting in my big executive desk chair, Gus, learning the ropes of management. I might decide to groom you for an executive position if you behave in the barber shop. Wouldn't you like that?"

Gus smiled gingerly. "Oh, of course, sir."

"Play your cards right, and I will be your mentor. Oversee your progress myself. Leave behind the dull work of being a line teller and work directly for me here in the executive suite as my personal assistant. Gain critical skills...." James stroked the long, lush locks as he talked. "But, not with this princess hair. No, this prissy princess hair has to go!"

Gus' attitude about the haircut continued to swing towards excitement.

"Getting shoed will be no punishment, sir. It'll be a door to a successful future as a bank executive, a successful one like you yourself!"

"Now, what time did I tell you to rendez-vous with me in the parking lot?" James quizzed Gus.

"4:30 p.m., sir! I will be there!" he panted with delight. As Gus stood, his bulge became more prominent than ever. "I feel like hugging you, sir, but I know that's not appropriate."

James smiled. "Well, perhaps since you are still a princess, we can manage a hug. But, once you've been shoed, well....." With that Gus found himself being nearly suffocated by his boss' affection. James was left with no doubt that Gus was as hard and large as a baseball bat....anticipating the shoe and his new relationship with the boss.

At 4:29 James watched Gus walk quickly across the parking lot. The stiff breeze rippled through his waist length hair, making the ginger mane look like a magnificent brocade cape.

James revved up his luxury sedan and ensured Gus was following him out the parking lot.

His instructions were complied with to a tee when they arrived at the Maple Street Barber Shop.

Gus watched intently from his car as James entered the shop.

"Back so soon? Did you leave something, sir? Uh, James I believe the name is?" the geezer barber asked.

"That's right. James is in fact the name. You have an excellent memory for a man your age. No, I'm back so soon because that satin smooth feel I left here with yesterday is gone; I don't trust myself quite yet to shave around this fantastic shoe you carved!" he replied, touching the thin outline of hair around 3/4 of his crown. "I want my head re-shaved."

"For sure, the chair is all yours. I'm so glad the shoe is a keeper for you. I thought I might never see you again, James," the barber replied. "That was a rather change you got yesterday!"

As soon as the lather was being massaged into the scalp, Gus pushed the door of the shop open, just as he'd been instructed to do.

"Can I help you?" the younger barber, who was lounging in the big barber chair, asked.

"I'm here for a haircut," Gus said, with a nervous flutter in his voice.

'We don't do girly lengths," the barber retorted with a sting of sarcasm in his voice.

"Of course not. I want all my hair cut off -- uh, to the length of that gentleman's there in the chair," Gus said.

"The girly boy wants a shoe!" James exclaimed.

"Then this is exactly the place you need to be! I'll be most happy to get rid of that nuisance on your head." The younger barber dusted off the chair with the cape and motioned for Gus to take a seat.

Gus complied quickly, as if his hurry was meant to preempt any derailing of his intention.

The barber pulled out his waist length mane and let it dangle down the back of the chair.

"Boy! That is a lot of hair that's going to fall to my feet!" he chirped gleefully as he pawed at it.

"Actually, I need to keep it in a bundle. I'm having a wig made for someone. Would it be too much to ask you to fasten it into a tail before you take the clippers to me? Here's a scrunchy," Gus said.

"I'll put it into a plait," the barber suggested, "an then clipper the whole mass off so you can preserve as much length as possible. Some little child with cancer sure will be grateful for the wig you have fashioned out of it.

"I'd like to watch the girly-boy's transformation, if you don't mind," said James. "Could you turn me towards him?"

The geezer mumbled somewhat disapproving, but did as he was asked.

James enjoyed watching every moment of Gus' transformation. The pain and dread seemed to be permanently marked on the face of the subdued ginger lad.

The younger barber struggled to braid the long hair into a tail the size and weight almost of a baseball bat. "This is a tremendous amount of hair! It'll be good riddance for sure!"

Then he picked up the clippers. "Are you ready for this ?" he asked the caped lad.

"I am!" piped in James.

Gus looked at his boss with a glimmer of hope that his cruel sentence would be staid at the last minute, that the braid would be spared and he could leave the barber shop with his flowing locks intact.

"Shoe him!" James directed with undisguised delight in his voice.

Both barbers look at James, somewhat confused as to why he had any say in what was happening to frightened Gus.

The younger barber forced Gus' head forward and brought the chattering clippers to Gus' nape. He worked quickly to shave off the mass of red hair to the quarter inch length. Up, up, up the clippers climbed, efficiently severing the ginger mass from the scalp. The barber held the hair up by the tail, almost perpendicular from the head as he clipped it free from the scalp. Gus was getting a butch cut, but not one strand of hair was falling to the cape or floor. The whole mass of ginger remained firmly in the barber's left hand as the grasped the plaited tail. With the right hand he wielded the clippers over every part of Gus' hairy scalp until...

"Voila!" the barber exclaimed as he pulled off the mass of red hair, holding it up like a hunting trophy. "It's off, intact!"

"It looks like a silken fox's mane with an enormous tail, hanging like that!" the geezer barber chuckled.

"You could make wigs for a whole classroom of kids with all that hair," James added.

Gus reached out from under the cape and carefully touched his clipped head. A slight smile broke through on his lips. "Wow, it's really gone," he stammered.

"You look so much better without that mass of hair, Gus!" James added.

"You know each other?" the geezer barber asked.

"He's my boss at the bank," Gus admitted sheepishly. "I so admired his haircut this morning, I followed him here."

"That's nothing to be ashamed about -- unless copying his haircut will be seen by all your colleagues as cozying up to the boss. You'll be seen as his little pet, I imagine."

Gus' face turned scarlet! He hadn't thought of that.....

"Little Shoe-Boy, they'll call you. Sucking up to the Big Shoe-Boss! Well, it's time to carve you out a proper shoe!" the younger barber announced. With a set of balding clippers he began peeling off 95% of the red fuzz that remained on Gus' bare head.

Gus watched in awe and anxiety as the ginger pelt gave way to gleaming white scalp. The cut was so severe! His naked head felt chilled until the barber applied some warm lather all over, making him look like he had on a lady's bathing cap from the 1950s.

"This is my favorite part," James said. "Love the way the razor feels being dragged against the grain of the hair....taking it down to satin-smooth skin.

James, whose shoe touch up had just finished, emerged from his chair just as the younger barber was beginning to peel Gus.

"You know, the barber is right. Having matching shoes might be a little awkward in the office. Give him a chromedome! Scraped totally clean. I want his head shining like a naked light bulb!" James ordered.

Gus recoiled in horror. "No hair? Totally shaved bald?!"

"That's right, Baldy! Or will the team members start referring to you as egghead?!" James laughed.

The barber hesitated a bit, waiting for Gus to confirm the new hairless decision....but he soon realized who the boss was and started scraping the cowed and caped lad's whole head smooth.

Once it had been wiped clean, he applied a warm, moist towel to open up the pores well. And, finally, the last jolt -- a generous dousing with witch hazel that made Gus yelp from the sharp sting!

"You liked that?" James whispered in his ear. "Just wait till I turn you over my knee and take my paddle to your virgin ass! You are going to be very submissive and compliant. Am I clear?"

"Yes, boss," Gus whispered back, mouthing the words. The idea of him getting spanked by the boss made his cock stir.

When the barber withdrew the cape, Gus struggled to conceal his unexpected excitement. James grinned ear to ear as he eyed the generous bulge.

Gus felt his naked head for the first time. The look was as shocking as the feeling was awesome. His legs buckled like jelly as he rose from the chair.

"Here's your hair!" the barber said, handing him the bundled mass. "Whose paying for the haircut? The boss is my guess!"

As Gus took it, he knew he would never have long hair like that again. Suddenly he felt emboldened.

As the two left the shop he asked James, "And who disciplines you when you need a few sharp smacks? This heavy braid here will make a fine whip, I would say....."

James was speechless. And then he felt the braid lash his skinny ass. Yes, Gus would make a fine understudy....

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