Matchmaker Part 1 by myboyfriendisbald

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It’s a normal day in my shop for a Thursday. A few of my regulars come in for a clean-up, I get a handful of walk-ins, but nothing out of the ordinary. Well, nothing, that is, until this guy walks in about a half hour before closing. These are almost always the guys who don’t really want to get a haircut, but definitely need one. This guy isn’t much of an exception. He’s handsome, under his long shroud of chocolate brown hair. I can only tell when he takes one hand and sweeps it away from his face before introducing himself, "You still taking walk-ins? I’m Finn."
"Hey, yeah, I’m Breanne, nice to meet you, Finn. I don’t have enough time for anything other than a wash and trim, so if-"
He cuts me off, "Oh yeah, no that’s perfect. I just need a trim, going to meet my girlfriend’s parents tomorrow and I want to make sure I look fresh."
You’d need more than a trim for that I think to myself, but I keep my mouth shut and motion for him to follow me over to the sink.
As I’m shampooing I can’t help but think how gorgeous he really is under that mess of hair. Now, don’t get me wrong, his hair was actually very healthy, and on the right guy would have probably been scrumptious. But on him it just hid all of his beautiful features, so it wasn’t adding anything to the overall package in my opinion. He had striking blue eyes fringed with dark lashes, and a strong jawline with just a kiss of stubble on it. Had I not been happily married already, I’d have gone gaga for him. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think he’d be a perfect match for my best friend Taylor. She was recently single, and as I got to talking to Finn, I realized they had a lot in common.
"Yeah, I’m definitely more of a cold weather guy myself," Finn is saying, as I wrap his hair in a towel and lead him over to my chair.
"You into skiing or anything like that?" I ask, sliding my cape around his neck.
"Yeah, my folks have a cabin up North, been going there since I was a kid. In the summer we go up to ride dirt bikes, and then ski in the winter."
"My best friend Taylor has a cabin on Lake Winnebago," I say, combing out his tresses.
"You ever get to go up there with her? Nice place."
"Oh all the time," I reply, "She just broke up with her boyfriend like two months ago, we went up there for a girls weekend to get drunk and get over him."
Finn laughs, "Sounds like a good time. My brother is single, we oughta hook them up."
"Does he have flowing long locks too?" I ask, using my comb to part Finn’s hair neatly before I start trimming it.
"Nah, he’s got some jazzy crewcut or something," Finn scoffs, "He used to, though. Bailed on the long hair club a few years ago."
"Well, Taylor is more into the crewcut type anyway," I say, "Hey, show me a picture of him, maybe we can play matchmaker."
Finn digs his phone out from under the cape and shows me a photo of his brother, Liam, who does indeed have much shorter hair than Finn is sporting. He’s got a pretty drastic skin fade, actually, but he’s missing Finn’s strong jawline, bummer.
"He looks a bit young for Taylor, actually," I say, starting to trim the dead ends off of Finn’s lengths.
"Bummer," Finn sighs, "She closer to my age then? I just turned 30."
I nod, "Yeah, sorry, we’re both 29. Didn’t realize Liam was your younger brother. Wouldn’t have bothered you to get your phone out."
Finn shrugs and says, "No harm no foul."
I finish trimming his hair and then use my dryer just to dust the cuttings off. When I’m finished, I un-cape him and he stands.
"Looks great, thanks," he says with a smile. He follows me to the counter and as he hands me his card to pay, "Fingers crossed dinner with the parents goes well!"
I smile, run his charge, and then give him his card back, "Come back anytime," I say cheerfully, and maybe let me chop that hair off… I think to myself.


THREE MONTHS LATER


I don’t think much of it when I get an online appointment for a men’s trim under the name ‘Finn Thompson’. The name doesn’t jump out at me as a regular, nor does it ring a bell for any former clients. It isn’t until the doorbell chimes, and I look up from my computer to see a head of long chocolatey brown locks walking in that I remember why the name Finn sounds familiar.
"Hey there," I say with a smile, "Finn, right?"
He shoves his hair out of his face and returns my smile, "Hey, yeah! How’s it going?"
"Great, how about you? How’d your meet-the-parents dinner go?"
He shrugs, "Well, I’m back in the singlton’s club. Her parents liked me enough but then, she went and cheated on me."
"Sorry to hear that," I say, thinking about the fact that Taylor is still single and ready to mingle.
"Eh, I’m ok, it’s been like two months," he drags his fingers through his hair again, "Your friend with the lakeside cabin still single?" He asks with a wink as though he’s read my mind.
"Actually, yeah," I reply, walking him over to the sink, and then, because I can’t help myself, I add, "Still single, and still very much on the hunt for a guy with a crewcut who likes micro-brews and has one-too-many rescue dogs."
I notice Finn blushes slightly, "Well I do like a good micro-brew… Seriously, it’s too bad she’s not the right age for my brother. She got a little sister?"
"Older brother," I reply. Suddenly, a devilish idea pops into my head. "Hold on one sec, I have to use the bathroom before I get started."
Finn nods politely and I scurry off to grab my phone. I shoot Taylor a text, "Hey!! That super cute guy who came in a while ago is BACK!"
I know she’s off of work today, and she texts me back quickly, "You shave him bald yet? lmfao."
"Not yet," I reply with an evil face emoji, "You should come to the shop and meet him, ‘just happen to stop by’."
"Bree, he’s too much of a pretty boy."
"Is not, he’s just clueless!"
Taylor sends an eye-roll emoji and then, "I can be there in 10."
I do a victory fist-pump and then head back over to Finn. "Sorry for the wait."
"All good," Finn replies.
We’re both silent for a while, as I wash his hair and then begin to trim away the dead ends. He stares blankly at the floor, until I fake a look of surprise and say enthusiastically, "You know, I just remembered Taylor is supposed to drop by in a bit. Hope you don’t mind, she left her wallet at my place last night so she needs to stop by and get it."
"Not a problem," Finn says, smiling at me in the mirror.
I let the conversation lapse again for a bit, and then, because I’m hopelessly nosy, I decide to pry a bit, "Your brother still rockin’ the skin fade? What was his name again, Leo?"
"Liam, and yeah he is. You’ve got a good memory," Finn replies.
"I do my best," I say, then ask, "Glad to see you still haven’t caved and joined him."
Finn lets out a low chuckle, "Nah… not yet." The ‘not yet’ is barely audible.
Now I’m on a roll, so I continue, "You ever had anything other than this impressive mane?"
He shakes his head, "Had long hair my whole life. Even as a kid, always left it long enough to tuck behind my ears. It’s just kind of been my thing, I guess."
The doorbell chimes and Finn’s eyes flick over to the doorway. I can immediately tell he likes what he sees. Taylor has always been the prettier of the two of us. We’ve been best friends ever since grade school, and I honestly don’t think she ever went through an awkward phase. She’s got wavy honey blond hair with wispy bangs, and bottle-green eyes that are constantly tinged with a bit of mischief.
"Hey Bree!" She calls, walking over to us. I turn and give her a quick hug, "Sorry to interrupt."
"You’re never an interruption, I always love seeing you," I kiss her cheek and turn back to checking Finn’s hair for evenness, "I left your wallet on the counter in the back room."
I can see Finn staring at Taylor as she walks off, and he flushes a shade of crimson when he realizes I’ve noticed.
"You know, Liam isn’t the right age for her, but you are," I give him a wink, and then because Taylor is about to walk back by us, I gather his hair up in one hand so I can take the cape off of him. I want Taylor to be able to see his baby blues when she passes. And it works, she must suddenly see what I’ve been trying to show her, because she gives me a knowing look and mouths, "you were right!"
"You coming over for pizza tonight?" I ask her, my grip on Finn’s hair lingering a little longer than he probably would have liked.
Taylor nods, "Yeah, sounds good. Love you Bree, nice to meet you, Finn."
My breath catches in my throat, Taylor wasn’t supposed to let on that I’d told her about him! But Finn is too busy studying the floor again, and doesn’t seem to notice Taylor’s accidental slip. After she leaves I finally release Finn from the cape and we walk over to the front desk.
"You wanna make another appointment now, or just book online when you’re ready?"
He bites his lip and says, "I uh, I guess I can make another appointment now."
"I usually recommend a trim every 10 or so weeks… or if you want, since you’ve got a good amount of grow-out since your previous appointment, we could schedule a full cut and blow dry and you can book a maintenance trim after that? Depends on if you’re happy with the current length or not."
He squirms a little bit, unsure of how to answer. It occurs to me he’s probably never had a standing haircut appointment in his life. "To be honest this is all new to me, I'm used to just being a walk-in whenever I felt like my ends were getting scraggly. But your shop is only like ten minutes from my apartment so I just…"
I can tell he’s feeling a bit anxious, and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s because he’s itching to tell me he wants to make a change, but he can’t formulate the words just yet.
"Well, how about you just book online when you feel like it then?" I offer, "And then down the road if you wanna be a regular, I’ll add you to the schedule."
He gives me a grateful smile, pays, and leaves. And I’m left waiting for the email notification telling me he’s finally made his decision…

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