Matt Takes Charge - Again! by Mario

---

Matt Takes Charge �" Again!


Matt and Paul were having a great time. After Matt gave Paul his surprise haircut they’d been a steady item for about 3 months. Paul was a hot shot lawyer in the city and it wasn’t very convenient for him to commute from the small town where Matt had his shop, but Paul felt that being with Matt was worth it.

The attorneys in Paul’s office were pretty shocked when Paul came in with his short hair and beard. The men there all wore the standard, mid-length business cut that Paul had before he went to Matt. The women in the office were especially complimentary, but Paul wasn’t interested. He was solid with Matt and happier than he’d ever been.

It must have been a few months after Paul’s initial transformation when Ron, Paul’s co-worker, asked, "So Paul, uh, do you mind if I ask you a personal question? It’s about your haircut."

By then there had already been several interim haircuts keeping Paul’s hair and beard short, so Paul was a bit surprised when Ron asked him about his hair after all this time. "Sure," Paul said. "What’s up?"

"Well, first, I think your hair and beard look great. It was a shock at first, but damn, the new style really suits you. What made you cut it? And who cut it? Which salon?"

Paul laughed. "I’m going to answer your last question first because it helps with the other two. I didn’t go to a salon; I went to a barber shop in Greenfield."

"A barber shop? And in Greenfield? Isn’t that a rural town west of here, like, a million miles away? Some old geezer in a white tunic came up with that?!"

"He did indeed. But he wasn’t an old geezer in a tunic, he was a hot, young stud in a tight black t-shirt. And I’ll be perfectly honest, I didn’t ask for this cut. Matt, the barber, convinced me to let him just do his thing. He told me the business cut I had made me look older and didn’t do anything for my looks in general. My hair this short makes me look … I don’t know … better. Matt says it makes me look hotter."

Ron took a beat after listening to all that and really looked at Paul. "Wow, amazing story. Well, your barbers right. You do look hotter. I’ve noticed the women around the office paying particular attention to you since you cut your hair."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well that’s a wasted effort, if you know what I mean."

"Oh," Ron said. "I didn’t know." He lowered his voice a bit. "If you’re telling me what I think you’re telling me, I’m gay too."

"Well, my friend, if that’s the case, you must see Matt. He’s not just my barber, he’s my boyfriend. The haircut he gave me made me so hot, the barber made a pass at me when he was finished."

Ron was smiling broadly. "Well, I don’t want to take your boyfriend away from you but I’ll take one of his haircuts, please. And if he happens to have any available friends, well, that wouldn’t be so bad. I’m unattached at the moment. "So, what’s his number? How far out is he booked? I’ll make an appointment."

Paul was smiling and shaking his head. "No, dude, you don’t get it. Barber shop, as in stiped pole, uncomfortable plastic chairs and waiting your turn for the barber to call "Next!"

"Oh my god, seriously?" Ron looked shocked. "Your boyfriend doesn’t have some cool little shop with designer chairs and curated artwork?"

Paul looked thoughtful. "No, no, he doesn’t. But maybe he should? Hmm … you’ve given me something to think about. But in terms of getting your hair cut, if you don’t mind going at the end of the day, I can arrange for Matt to take you as his last customer and you’ll be in the shop without the usual crowd."

"That would be great. I can’t believe I’m going to go to a barber and get a new look."

"I wonder what he’ll have in store for you? Anyway, what day do you want to come in?"

"Is tonight a possibility? I’m really fired up about this, and I need a haircut."

"It should be, give me a few and I’ll swing by your office and let you know."

Ron walked back to his office in a daze. Wow! He was going to go to a barber to get his hair cut short. And Paul was gay! Ron figured someone else in this office had to be gay, but I didn’t think it was Paul.

Back in his office Ron went back to the brief he’d been working on. A short while later, Paul came by and handed him a slip of paper.

"Tonight’s good. That’s the address and Matt’s number. It’ll take you about an hour if you leave here at 5. Traffic’s a bitch heading west at rush hour."

"Hey, that’s great. Thanks. Really. And thanks for coming out to me. I didn’t know how it would be taken in this firm, and the closet doors seem shut pretty tight, if you know what I mean."

Paul smiled and said over his shoulder as he left, "Trust me, we are not alone."

It turned out that an hour in traffic was closer to 90 minutes, but Ron called to let Matt know that he would be late and Matt was fine about it. When he finally got to sleepy little Greenfield and parked in front of Matt’s old-fashioned shop, he had his first real surge of anxiety. "Wow, this is just like the shop I went to as a kid. I can’t believe I’m doing this," he thought. But then he remembered Paul’s before and after and felt better. He pushed the shop door open and there was Paul standing there, offering him a beer. "Surprise! I just got here. Matt and I are going to get dinner when he’s done with you, so I figured I’d come to watch the transformation."

Ron smiled weakly. "Swell," he murmured. "Just what I need," he thought.

A handsome man with a shaved head and piercing blue eyes stood up and offered his hand to shake. "You must be Ron," he said. "I’m Matt. Good to meet you."

"You too," said Ron. "Thanks for staying late to do this."

"No problem," said Matt with a smile. "I figure I’m contributing to better looking men, 1 haircut at a time. Why don’t you get in the chair and let me see what we’re dealing with here."

Ron got into the chair a little hesitantly, but he settled in and Matt caped him up. Matt began combing his hair this way and that, looking at Ron’s reflection with his overgrown business cut and thick mustache in the mirror. "I really like what you did with Paul’s hair and beard. He looks awesome," Ron said.

"Mmmm," responded Matt absent mindedly. "That’s no good for you, though. Give me a moment." Matt gave up on the comb and started pulling Ron’s hair straight back with his fingers, slowly nodding to himself in the mirror. "Ok, got it," he said. "You’re up for a change, right? That’s why you’re here?" Matt was looking into Ron’s eyes in the mirror.

Ron visibly hesitated.

"Ron. You’re adorable, you know that, right?" said Matt. "But this cut makes you look, well, kinda nerdy. I know that I can turn you into a bona-fide looker, but … but it’s a gonna be very different. Much shorter." He drilled into Ron’s eyes in the mirror. "You in?"

Ron was blushing. He looked away from Matt while he considered and his eyes wandered over to where Paul was standing. Paul was nodding. "Go for it. Trust him."

"OK," Ron said to Matt with a hesitant laugh. "I could use some action, you know what I mean? So, you making me eye candy doesn’t sound so bad."

"Great!" said Matt as he turned the chair swiftly around and away from the mirror. "We’re off to the races." And with that he grabbed his largest set of Oster’s hanging from a hook at his station, flipped them on and before Ron could even register what was happening, Matt was clipping the side of his head. He started at the sideburn, and flipped off huge amounts of hair onto the cape as he went around Ron’s ear and along the side of his head.

"Whoa!" Ron literally jumped up out of the chair and stood facing Matt. "What the f*** are you doing?!" He looked at himself in the mirror; he looked ridiculous with the right side of his head full and tawny brown, and the left side of his head little more than a dark stubble.

Matt turned off the clippers and put them down. "Ron. You said you were up for a change. I said it would be much shorter. You want to be eye candy. You want to meet someone. Fine. I’m giving you a flattop. You will be drop dead gorgeous."

Ron gasped, "A flattop! My god, I’m not joining the military! I just wanted something a little edgier. Something more stylish and distinctive than this boring executive cut.

"Yes," Matt said, with infinite patience. "You want distinctive? A flattop. You want to walk into a room, and have people stop talking? A flattop. You want a cut that screams authority? Masculinity? A flattop." Matt went on, "I’m telling you, man, you are going to look mighty, mighty fine." And then he delivered the closer: "Not everyone can pull off a flattop, but I’m telling you, you can."

Ron sat back down in the barber’s chair with a very dejected look on his face, and looked at himself and his his lob-sided haircut. "At this point, I guess it’s a done deal whether I want it or not," Ron sighed. "OK, ok. Do it. I’m taking a leap of faith with you Matt, don’t let me down."

Matt smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "Atta’ boy. You won’t regret it." and with that, Matt went back to work. He switched the Oster’s back on and methodically worked his way around the sides and back of Ron’s hair, but making no effort to blend with the top. He went through a few different size attachments as he worked his way down to Ron’s nape, giving him a tight taper. Then he sprayed down the hair on the top of Ron’s head and used a brush and his hair dryer to comb the hair straight back from the front, and straight up on the sides. Matt grabbed a large comb, his Osters, and started work front to back making level passes, clipper over comb. Once he got to the back of Ron’s head, he started on the side, making them as flat as possible where the sides met the top. Back and forth, up and down he went, making constant minor adjustments. He stood back and very slowly spun the chair from side to side, scrutinizing the cut.

"OK," Matt said. "I think we’re just about there. Hey Paul, what do you think?"

Ron tried to move around in the chair to get a look at himself in the mirror, but Matt was holding the chair in such a way that so he couldn’t see. Paul walked over from where he was standing and stood next to Matt, looking at Ron.

"Wow," Paul said. "You know, honey, I had my doubts. When you said you were giving him a flattop, I thought you might be joking. But, damn," Paul chuckled. "He looks awesome!"

Paul spoke to Ron, "Wait until you see just how hot you look."

Ron was clearly antsy. "Yeah, swell. Great. When do I get to see the amazing new me?"

"In just a second," said Matt. "I have just one more little, teeny-tiny thing to do to finish you up," and with that he grabbed his smallest clippers turned them on and ran them across Ron’s upper lip, completely obliterating Ron’s mustache.

Ron yelped, but before he could put anything into actual words, Matt swung the chair around to face the mirror. "Meet the new you," he said to Ron in the mirror.

Ron just stared at his reflection. He didn’t move, didn’t say a word, just stared with his mouth open.

"Well?" Paul asked. What do you think?

Ron took a few more beats before answering, then touched his upper lip with his finger, as if to prove to himself that his mustache was really gone. Then he said, more as if talking to himself than to Paul and Matt, "I can see that it’s me. I mean, it does look like me … sort of." Ron still hadn’t taken his eyes off himself in the mirror. "I look, uh, I don’t know. Ok? Maybe? Cool, even? Maybe?"

"Ron, you look cool, definitely," said Matt.

Paul joined in, "You look, like, seriously, totally gorgeous. If I were looking �" and I’m not, he said glancing at Matt - and I saw you in a bar, I would make a beeline for you."

Ron was still looking at himself, but a small smile was beginning to show. "I don’t think I really knew my eyes were that that green."
Matt took the cape off Ron and shook the hair �" so much hair! - onto the floor. Ron stood up and while still looking at himself in the mirror, gently touched the top of his head, feeling the bristle. He finally snapped out of it and turned to Matt and Paul, his smile full on now. "I like it," he said. "I can’t believe it, but I do."

Matt grinned. "I knew you could pull off a flattop."

When Matt grabbed a broom and started sweeping up, Paul pulled Ron to the side. "Hey. Are you really ok? This is a major, major change."

"Yes," Ron said, smiling. "I’m good. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m worried I’ll wake up regretting it, and I’m also worried about what people at the office will say, but I like it. Thanks for putting this all together for me and introducing me Matt."

"Sure thing," Ron said. "But unless you have to run off, I was serious about going out when we’re done here. I think we need to give this new haircut of yours a test drive. Let’s go to The Flame. It’s a gay bar that’s not too far from here."

Ron grinned. "Let’s do it."

Matt finished closing the shop and the 3 men drove to The Flame.

They parked and went into the club. Conversation in the room didn’t exactly stop, but as Ron walked into the club and up to the bar to get drinks, heads did turn. While he was waiting for the drinks, a guy �" he was movie star handsome with hair past his shoulders - sidled up next to Ron and smiled.
"Nice haircut," he said.

Ron beamed. "Thanks, I just got it. Like tonight, about 30 minutes ago. It’s very different than I’m used to."

"Well, it sure suits you. I think you look great. I’m Nick, by the way."

Matt and Paul were still standing close by and Paul smiled at Matt. "Another success, Maestro."

"Thanks," Matt said. "I’d like to get my Oster's going on that Nick guy’s hair. Who does he think he is, Fabio?"

Paul looked at Nick and laughed. "Maybe if they hit it off, you’ll have your chance. But that’s a story for another day, OK? I’m beat."

Matt looked at Ron and Nick at the bar. "Do you think it’s ok to go?"

Ron and Nick were leaning in together close, chatting amiably. "Oh, yes. Definitely."

---