Hair by Ann by M G

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After having giving it some thought over a few weeks i had decided to have my below collar length hair cropped short. So one cold wintery afternoon in the late seventies, one week after my 20th birthday i decided to visit R J's Barber shop situated opposite the local hospital. Upon arriving at the barbers i saw the red and white electric globe rotating above the shop door, i looked inside, the lights were on, but there was no sign of the barbers and the door was locked. After a moment or so i decided to try my luck elsewhere, when a voice behind me said,
HELLO ARE YOU WAITING FOR ME, SORRY I JUST POPPED OUT FOR SOME CIGARILLOS.
I turned around and standing in front of me was a rather plain looking but not unattractive fifty something bespectacled woman. She had shoulder length brown wavy hair and wore a dark green coloured knee length leather coat. I told the lady that i usually went to unisex hairdressers but now i wanted my hair cropped short and with that she unlocked the door and we went inside, once inside she directed me to the middle of three chairs, whereupon i took my coat off and sat down. The lady then caped me up and lit one of her cigarillos, she then started playing with my hair with a comb adding,
RIGHT MY NAMES ANN, GOODNESS YOU CAN TELL IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU'VE BEEN IN A BARBERS CHAIR, NOT TO WORRY MY CLIPPERS WILL SOON MAKE SHORT WORK OF THAT HAIR, I WILL SORT THAT OUT FOR YOU.
And with that she attached a cutting comb to a set of electric clippers and commenced to methodically shear my hair off onto the cape. She talked incessantly about anything and everything, she complained about the owner not repairing the radiators in the shop and how she had to keep her coat on all day just to keep warm, she also bemoaned the fact that the owner was hardly ever there and that she and another lady called Cathy did all the work and virtually ran the shop, but despite her incessant chatter she really did put me completely at ease. In turn i told her about myself and my job and as we were talking i had barely noticed that the hair on the top of my head had been reduced to a quarter of an inch in length, furthermore i didn't notice her removing the clipper guard and firmly running the clippers first up the back of my head ,then both sides, she then teasingly but gently rubbed her fingers up the back of my shaven head which i must admit gave me goose bumps. She then laughed and said,
THERE YOU ARE A REALLY GOOD CLOSE CROP
After razoring my neck and applying some talc she then released me from the chair. What a thoroughly enjoyable experience, unlike my previous experiences with the young girls at the unisex shop, who to be honest although attractive i found quite boring to talk to, whereas Ann was really easy to talk to. I told her i was really pleased with my new look and that i had really enjoyed speaking to her and that i would definitely visit her again for a haircut, she smiled and said,
WELL I'M PLEASED YOU LIKE YOUR NEW HAIRCUT AND I REALLY ENJOYED SPEAKING WITH YOU TOO, I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AGAIN VERY SOON. JUST FOR YOUR INFO WE ARE OPEN 6 DAYS BUT I DON'T WORK ON A MONDAY.
And with that i left the shop and made my way home, albeit my head feeling somewhat chilly. Four weeks later i returned to the shop but this time it was busy with both Ann and a blond lady working, upon seeing me Ann nodded and gave me a warm smile. My turn came and the other lady who looked in her late thirties invited me to sit in her chair, i hesitated but slowly and awkwardly rose from the customer seating. Ann who was cutting another customers hair sensed my reluctance winked at me and much to my relief said,
IT'S ALRIGHT CATHY HE'S WAITING FOR ME .

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