Thank you, Charlie! - Part 2 by Shant

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If you are reading this, and have not read the first story, "Thank you, Charlie!", I would suggest you read that first because it sets up all that happens in this story. Hope you enjoy. Shant

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Sure enough, early Monday afternoon my phone rang, and it was Logan.

"Everything went just like we hoped it would," Logan said. "Do you have two appointments at the end of tomorrow so we can bring the last two "winners" in?"

"Sure," I said. "I wish you had a top ten, instead of five, because this has been a real blast for me. Tell me a little about the last two guys."

"Jeff is in his late twenties. He’s a good looking guy with a head of thick, tight red curls. He has the sides about two inches long, but the top is a mass of long curls."

"His hair doesn’t look all that long, but if you pulled one of his curls out straight, I bet it would more than double the length his hair looks."

"I’m guessing it is somewhere between six and eight inches long. I doubt he can even get a brush or comb through his hair because the curls are so tight and thick."

"That one sounds like a good time. From your description, I already know how I want to cut his hair."

"I guess we’ll be saving the best for last, and I will cut your boss’ hair after Jeff. You mentioned the other day that he had a huge pompadour? That will be really fun to cut," I said.

"That’s all the three of us have talked about since leaving your shop. We now have a reason to bring Allen in, and we’re really stoked at the idea of getting to watch him lose most of his beautiful hair. It’s going to be a blast! We can’t wait!"

"We hope you take your time cutting his hair, and have some fun with it, because it is going to be so awesome to watch. We know how much he loves his hair. We really want this to be epic!"

"Sounds good to me. I’ll see you guys at 4:00 tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll have a great time."

Little did the guys know, but they were really going to be in for a big surprise. They didn’t know that I had been cutting Allen’s hair for over ten years. We were actually good friends and would get together every once in awhile and spend an evening together.

A little later that afternoon, Allen called. "Hey, Mike," he said. "I see you’ve been getting to give some really great looking flattops to some of my employees."

"I’m sure they told you that it’s my turn to put my hair on the chopping block. I overheard them talking about how fantastic it would be to see me get most of my hair cut off."

"I have a little plan I want you to help me carry out and really surprise them. They still don’t know that you are my barber, and let’s keep it that way."

"Knowing how much they want to see me get all my hair cut off, I really want to freak them out. I’m sure it will be a big rush for them when they see the haircut you are giving me." We then talked about how his haircut scenario was going to play out.

"Even after you finish cutting my hair, I don’t want to tell them we had planned any of this," he said. "When the publicity begins for "Annie," I’m looking forward to seeing if they put two and two together. Either way, it will be fun eventually letting them in on the little performance we performed for them."

Allen was 38 years old and was a very good looking man. He was 6’ 2", and had an impressive build. I already knew what a great pompadour he had because I was the one that cut it for him.

Right now, his hair was longer than he usually wore it. He had played the role John Travolta did in "Grease," last year with one of the regional theaters, and after the play ended, he decided he liked how his hair looked, and had been wearing it longer for quite some time now.

His hair was a beautiful chestnut color with natural blond highlights. The sides were about four inches long and he swept them up and back.

The top was awesome. It was easily over six inches long and he combed it all up and back and it was so thick that it stood up high atop his head. His hair had a slight wave to it and being brushed back into such a full pompadour, made his hair look even better.

Years ago, when I first started cutting his hair, I asked him how he had ended up living here, and how he had gotten into the line of work he did.

"When I was in high school I got hit with the acting bug," he said. "In addition to performing in the yearly school musical, I worked with several of the local theater companies each summer, I really enjoy performing, especially in musicals." I attended one of his performances, ane he really had a great singing voice.

When he entered college, he said he was torn between majoring in business/finance or acting. One weekend when he was home, he talked to his dad about what he thought he should do.

My father said to me, "You know, Allen, whatever path you choose as a career, your mother and I will support you 100%. If you’re asking for my advice, I would recommend you major in something that you know will give you financial security."

"I’m not saying by any means that you should give up acting. Take all the theater courses you can while in college and continue to work in summer stock each year. That way, three years from now, you’ll know whether or not you want to try to work as a full time actor."

"I think if you major in something that you are certain you will be able to make a living doing, and if you then do choose acting, and it doesn’t turn out like you hope, you’ll have a degree that you can fall back on. I don’t know what you can do with a degree in acting, other than acting."

Allen knew that what his father said made perfect sense. The remaining three years of college he did just what his dad suggested.

The three years passed rapidly. Allen was able to do quite a bit of performing while in college. With his good looks and impressive build, he was cast as the young leading man in a lot of plays.

Doing summer stock each year allowed him to meet a lot of actors. Where he had grown up, he was the "big fish" in a small pond. Being around so many people that were trying to make a living as actors, showed him how many extremely talented people there were, and how difficult it was to just get cast in a role.

It was competitive just to get to perform in summer stock. He couldn’t imagine what the competition would be like in New York, or LA, where there would be literally hundreds of people all auditioning for the same part.

He knew that only a very small percentage of actors were able to support themselves by just acting. The number that really made it big was a lot smaller than that.

He was glad he had listened to his father and had earned a degree that he could succeed in a lot more easily than acting. Twelve years had since passed, and he had built a very successful business.

He didn’t completely give up acting, and whenever a local theater company did a play he was interested in, he would audition. He usually ended up doing a major role at least once a year.

He had not told anyone other than me, that one of the local theater companies was going to perform "Little Orphan Annie" in a few months. Allen had auditioned and had been cast as Daddy Warbucks.

It had taken him awhile to decide if he really wanted to shave his head completely bald for the role, but he had always wanted to play this part. He had always wondered how he would look with short hair, but Daddy Warbucks had no hair at all!

"It was completely a stroke of luck that the firm chose the haircut theme for their charity event, and that the fundraiser would be held about two weeks before the opening of the musical," Allen said. "I figured if I was going to shave my hair all off for the play, I might as well get some enjoyment out of it, and have some company. I encouraged the firm to go all out for the fundraiser. There were several guys with really awesome hair that I wanted to see get buzzed off."

Allen did all he could to encourage the guys to do this fundraiser. The major turning point was when he said he would participate along with all of his employees. All the guys were really suprised when he said he would be willing to get his hair cut really short. Everyone knew how fond Allen was of his hair.

When I opened the shop Tuesday morning, I couldn’t wait for 4:00 to come. The five guys showed up right on time. Neither Allen or I made any indication that we knew each other, and Logan introduced Allen and Jeff to me.

"Okay, so who gets to go first?" I asked. "I’ve been looking forward to you guys coming in all afternoon."

Logan spoke up. With a big smile, he said, "Why don’t you start with Jeff and save the president of our company for last?"

"Makes perfect sense to me. Seeing that he came in first, he should be the last one to get his hair cut," I said.

"Okay, Jeff. Sit yourself down in this chair here and let’s see what we can do with that hair of yours."

Logan had certainly been right in describing Jeff’s hair. I laughed to myself, thinking about Allen being in "Annie," because if Jeff grew the sides of his hair longer, his hair would look pretty close to looking like Little Orphan Annie’s hair did.

Jeff definitely had the most difficult hair to cut. There was absolutely no way that anyone could tame down his curls. It would be impossible to cut his hair to stand up perfectly flat on top.

I figured if I could get the sides, at the very top, to turn out the way I hoped they would, that he would end up with a really edgy looking haircut. I looked forward to the challenge. I ran my hands through his hair in all directions, trying to get a feel for what could be done with his curls.

"I bet it’s really been a long time since you have had clippers used on your hair," I said. "Your hair is really striking, but I imagine there are not a lot of ways you can wear it."

"You’ve got that right," Jeff said. "Basically all I can do is change how long the curls are. At times, I love them, and at times I hate them."

I put the #1 guard on my clippers and placed them at the back. I turned the clippers on and went straight up the back to about an inch below the crown. I went from one side of the back to the other, buzzing off two to three inches of thick, red curls.

Jeff could not see how much hair was being cut, and not being accustomed to having clippers used, really had no idea how much hair was coming off.

I then placed my clippers below his sideburn and ran them up to a little less than an inch below where a part would be, if he could have a part. His eyes really got big when I did that. There was a lot of hair coming off. I then buzzed the other side down, leaving only the top left to cut.

I took my wide tooth comb and placed it where the clippers had ended. I ran the comb straight up the sides, cutting the inch of hair below the imaginary part to less than an inch long and blended it into the sides. Cutting the sides at the top that short enabled the remaining hair to not be long enough to curl and caused it to stand straight out.

I then used my scissors and starting at the very front, pulled each curl straight up and took off about three inches, leaving his hair about three inches long on top. I did this to all his pretty curls. I wanted the hair on top to all be the same length.

After I had finished cutting all his hair on top down to three inches, I ran my hands through it over and over again to see how the curls would fall, and if I needed to cut them any shorter.

The hardest part of the haircut was what I had left to do. I lifted up about half an inch of hair next to the imaginary part and took off about half an inch more on top. Taking just that little more hair off resulted in his curls not falling down onto the sides.

I wet his hair on the sides and about one inch at the top of the sides. I used a blowdryer and brushed up just the sides, getting them to stand up as much as possible.

I wanted his hair on top to dry without using the blowdryer. I then just took my hands and ran them over and over through his hair on top, resulting in the curls to just naturally fall into place.

When I finished, I was really pleased with how it looked. He had his hair on the sides really short, getting a bit longer at the top of the sides, and the curls looked about two inches long and just fell into place. It really looked sharp being so short on the sides and then having his curls being only on the top.

"Well, Jeff, what do you think?" I said.

"I think it really looks awesome! My hair has never looked like this. It looks better than it ever has!" he said. "It’s so different looking, but I love the sides so short and still having curls on top!"

When Jeff stepped out of the chair, Allen said, "Okay, I guess it’s my turn. This is going to be unbelievable!"

I caped Allen up. This was going to be such a rush. In the ten years I had cut his hair, I had never cut it anywhere near as short as I was getting ready to do.

I always looked forward to when he was coming in for a haircut, because he really did have a fantastic head of hair, and I loved getting my hands in it.

"You really do have amazing hair," I said as I combed it. "It is so thick and the color and texture are awesome. When was the last time you had your hair cut short?"

"It’s been years since I’ve had a really short haircut. I’ve never had a flattop. I actually can’t believe I’m doing this, but it’s all for the team," he said.

I had decided I was first going to give him a flattop like Logan’s. His hair would look awesome. I knew that since he had never had a flattop, this was going to make giving him one even more fun. Unfortunately, he would only have it for a short while.

I started the haircut by just taking my comb and combing all his hair back, perfectly into place. It really was beautiful. It was amazing how tall it stood up without any effort.

I then lifted up his forelock and cut off over four inches. It was a rush seeing so much of his awesome hair fall into his lap. I had never cut so much of his hair off. I then worked my way to the back, taking off almost five inches when I reached the crown.

I looked over at the guys, and they were making no effort at all to conceal how much they were enjoying seeing so much of Allen’s hair being cut off.

"With all this hair you have, I bet it’s been a long time since you have had clippers used on your hair. You will have more hair coming off the sides than most guys do when I’m cutting their hair off the top. Are you ready for this?"

"Go ahead," Allen said. "This is really going to be mindblowing!"

I put a #2 guard on the clippers and placed them at the bottom of his sideburn and ran them up to about an inch above the top of his ears. There were huge, thick locks of beautiful four inch long hair being peeled off and tossed in his lap.

I then used a #1 guard and ran them up to the top of his ears and blended the two sections together. I brushed the remaining hair on the sides up and back. His hair was about an inch long.

I placed my wide tooth comb parallel against the side of his head, and buzzed off any hair that stood out beyond the comb, all the way up to an inch from the very top.

That one inch section of hair was still about five inches long, and when I buzzed it down to an inch, it now stood out straight, instead of brushed back.

When I finished the sides and back, all that was left was squaring up the top. Almost every time I had cut off a lock of Allen’s hair, four more inches fell onto his lap. The pile was really getting huge and there was still a lot more hair to come off to finish the flattop.

The guys were practically spellbound watching Allen lose so much of his hair. I again combed it all straight up and back.

I slightly wet his hair, took a little styling gel, and ran it through his hair. I took my blowdryer and vigorously brushed the top all up and back, getting it to stand as tall as possible.

I then took my wide tooth comb, and starting at the front, lifted up a section at a time, making certain that the top was flat as a board. Just like Logan’s haircut, I left the very front about half an inch longer so that he could just slightly brush it back.

I thought that his flattop looked awesome. I could tell by the smile on his face that he really liked it.

Logan spoke up and said, "Hey, Allen. You’ve got a flattop just like mine. We need to get a picture of the two of us standing together."

The guys figured that the haircut was over, but little did they know that the real fun was about to begin.

As I was brushing his flattop, I said, "You know, I think seeing that you are the winner of this fundraiser, and also president of your firm, you should have the most distinctive haircut of all the guys. You need a haircut that will really stand out, and be the most dramatic."

Without saying another word, I placed my hand on the top of his head, and pushed his chin down so that it was almost touching his chest.

I then took the guard totally off the clippers and started at the back, and ran them straight up and over his crown, and proceeded to plow them all the way through the front. You should have seen how much hair was coming off and falling into his lap!

"Oh, my God, Allen! I can’t believe how short Mike is cutting your hair! You’re not going to have any hair left!" Jared said. All four guys were stunned by what they were seeing happening to their boss.

I was having a great time because Allen and I had talked about how we were going to do this. It was kind of like a scene in a play.

Allen put his acting skills to good use, and gave a great performance as the "pissed off" customer. "What the hell are you doing? You’ve buzzed off all my hair!"

"I really liked the flattop you gave me! Why couldn’t you leave it like that? We never talked about you cutting all my hair entirely off! I would never have agreed to it!"

I was glad I knew what was going on, because Allen really did look pissed off. "Relax, Allen," I said with a big smile on my face. "Sit back and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience."

"With all that great hair you have, I bet there has been at least one time in your life when you have wondered what it would be like to get your awesome mane cut off. I’m just helping you live out a fantasy that many guys with great hair like you, have told me they secretly had."

"I guess I really don’t have any other option," Allen said. "Go ahead and just do what you have to do to finish this, and get it over with."

The guys were amazed seeing how angry Allen was, and knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

I then worked on the rest of the back, running the clippers all the way up to the crown. Next, I buzzed all the sides off all the way up to the top.

Allen looked so wild with the back and sides just stubble and with about two inches of hair still standing on each side of the path I had buzzed down the middle. He looked mortified. I then took my clippers and buzzed off all the remaining hair he had on top.

I glanced over at the guys and they were beside themselves. I couldn’t wait for them to see what was going to happen next. I’m sure they thought the haircut was now over.

I swiftly covered the back of Allen’s head with shaving cream. "What’s going on?" Allen said.

"Don’t worry, I’m just cleaning up the back for you." I then quickly took a razor and starting right below the crown, I shaved off all the stubble on the back side of his head.

"Are you freaking crazy?" Allen said. "You’re shaving my hair completely off, aren’t you?"

"You told me to go ahead and do whatever I had to do to finish your haircut," I said. "You’re such a good looking man, and have such a great build, that I think you are going to look awesome when I’m done."

"I think you are going to look really assertive and look like a man who is totally in charge of everyone and everything around him."

"I’m sure this seems drastic, but actually, only 1/8th of an inch of hair is coming off. That will grow back in just a week. Why not go for the entire look?"

"I think you can definitely pull off having your head shaved. The guys at your firm are really going to be impressed that you went all out for this fundraiser." Section by section, I shaved all the remaining stubble off his head.

The guys were totally blown away. They couldn’t believe what was happening and that I had been so aggressive with a guy I didn’t even know. They couldn’t imagine what was going through Allen’s mind because no one was expecting anything like this.

When I finished shaving Allen, I uncaped him, and he got out of the chair. He immediately ran his hand over the top of his head.

Standing there with a shirt and tie on, he was the ultimate definition of the word, masculine. I thought he looked like a real hunk.

"Never in my wildest dreams have I ever thought about shaving my head. You’re right, there’s not much difference between the stubble and the shaved head. I have to admit that it feels awesome!" he said.

"I actually don’t think it looks all that bad, and it certainly does look different. I think after a few days and everyone has gotten over the shock of my new look, that I won’t give it a second thought. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get one of my flattop buddies here to take the plunge too!" he said with a devilish smile.

"This has been a wild experience," Allen said. "I think this could be a benefit we do often, because it took so little time and brought in so much money."

"If we did do this again next year, one stipulation I will make is that the five guys that won this year, will be eliminated from competing. It wouldn’t be fair if the same guys kept winning every year and had to get all their hair cut off all the time."

"I think it will be great fun knowing we’re not in the running, and we can just sit back and enjoy watching the whole thing. There are still several guys with really great hair that I would enjoy seeing get buzzed off."

"I want to thank you guys for being such good sports about doing this benefit. I think you all look great!"

"I hope if you do this fundraiser again, you can somehow appoint me to be the barber for the winners. All the haircuts will be free," I said. "Getting to cut five awesome heads of hair down into such extremely different looking haircuts has been a real treat for me. It’s a barber’s ultimate fantasy! It’s been the wildest time I have ever had as a barber!"

"I don’t think that will be a problem," Logan said. "We’ve all received some great compliments about our new haircuts. I think you’ve probably gained a few new customers, because not only do we all love our haircuts, but this has been a great time for us too!"

The guys all left the shop together. Allen and I were going to have dinner together later on that evening. We wanted to relive what an unbelievable plan we had just pulled off!

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