A New, Better Barber by Forrest

---

The snow had just begun to fall. It was Sunday afternoon, and I had just pulled up to pick up my next Uber passenger. This one happened to be right in front of a barbershop. He was a tall, fit man, impeccably dressed in street fashion. As he approached, I caught a glimpse of his hair. It looked fantastic. Tightly braided on top, and a freshly shaved bald fade on the back and sides. His beard was neatly trimmed. "What a handsome man," I thought to myself.

"You alright?" Amiel said as he stepped into my car.
"Yeah and you?" I replied.
"I’m good man" came the response. As I started to drive off, he reached up and caressed the back of my hair. I hadn’t gotten a cut in a while, and it was a couple inches in the back.
"Who cuts your hair?" He asked. I said "man, I’m pretty new here so I’ve just been going to great clips. I haven’t really found my own barber yet."

He proceeded to tell me all about how he had been going to barber school for the past year, and was looking for new clients. He had been cutting on the side for 8 years, but just now decided to make it a career.

"You know, a real barber can make you look and feel SO much better than those 8 dollar cuts at Great Clips." At this point, we had arrived at his destination and he tapped me on the shoulder and handed me his business card. "I hope to see you in the shop soon!" He winked.
I was so nervous, but I managed to say "alright, I’ll try to make it in sometime. Have a good day." He patted me on the shoulder again, then touched my hair one more time before getting out of the car and walking up to his flat.

I gasped. I had never had someone comment on my hair this openly, and he had been so inviting. I just HAD to make it to his shop.

2 weeks later, I found myself at the door.

I paused for several moments before walking in.

As soon as I opened the door, I could see he was the only one inside. There were 3 chairs in the shop, all empty. He stood next to the chair in the back. I took off my coat, which he grabbed and hung up by the counter. He then told me, "you can slip off your shoes if you like. It’s crazy wet out there." I took them off, and placed them next to the chair. I was standing in front of the chair, about to sit down, when he pressed his hands down on my shoulders, in a motion that was both welcoming yet forceful, and guided me down to sit. The chair was black leather and supremely comfortable.

He said, "you seem a little tense and nervous. Why don’t we do something to get you relaxed?" He reached behind me and pulled out a steaming white towel. He wrapped it around my head, entirely covering my eyes and nose, but leaving my mouth partially exposed. I relaxed into the darkness that the towel created. It felt so good.

I heard him reaching around beside me, and assumed he was going for his clippers. I soon realised that wasn’t the case. He gripped my left hand, and used a padded leather strap which I hadn’t noticed to fix my wrist snugly to the arm of the chair. He then did the same for my right hand. I said nothing. I think we both knew this was enjoyable for the two of us. I’m sure the fact I had worn grey sweatpants didn’t help to conceal my enjoyment.

He patted my chest, then rubbed it, and said "I knew you might be reluctant to go for a new style, so I thought I’d use a bit of persuasion."

He then ran his hand down my leg, towards my ankles, and secured both my feet to the chair with straps as well. I was still comfortable, but couldn’t move at all.

At this point, he removed the towel from my head, allowing me to see again. He said "I want you to get a good look at this before I put the cape on you." He gripped my shoulders again, and I looked in the mirror to see him standing behind me, and myself sitting there secured to the chair.

He paused for a few moments, then grabbed a white neck strip from the counter and straightened it out. He moved it in front of my head, brushing my face in the process, then in front of my neck. He pulled it back so it wrapped around the front of my neck, then wrapped it all the way around, quite tightly. It was soft, but snug. "Just the way we like it!" He smiled.

He then grabbed a black and white striped cape from a cabinet. He asked "ready"? And without waiting for a response, swung it up and over my entire body. He wrapped it around my neck, and fastened it firmly with a snap. I could still see the top of the neck strip beneath the cape. I felt truly under control, about to receive whatever haircut my new barber, Amiel, wanted me to have. He reached from behind me and started to run his fingers through my hair. I sighed pleasantly.

He said "all right, let’s give you something that will make you look really hot." He reached a drawer, pulled out a pair of clippers, and clicked them on.

~To be continued~

---