Liam and Evan find the solution by Manny

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Evan and Liam were going through their pre-bedtime routines.

Evan stood in front of the bathroom mirror brushing his teeth and examining his hairline. As always, he was anxious that he might discover more ground had been lost in his ever-losing battle with MPB. He was just 32 years old, but already his MPB had settled into a defined, clean Norwood Stage 4. The hairline deeply receded into two sharp bays, leaving a shrinking island of hair at the front and a smooth, expanding crown.

Years ago, he had given up the futile efforts to conceal his premature balding. The full sides were cut into a medium taper which resulted in a tidy, professional look. He had resisted every suggestion to grow a big, showy mustache or heavy beard. To Evan, that smacked of compensation or distraction. While not happy about his MPB, he had accepted it. Many times, he'd felt like that staid, solid middle-age look had helped with his career advancement and in other business situations.

But, socially...OUCH!

Evan had struggled to connect...until he found Liam! While just four years younger, Liam projected an entirely different image -- youthful and dynamic. HOT! His clothes were trendy and designed to showcase his physique.

Liam was a gym-junkie and very buff.

The two had met when Evan decided to tackle another aging dynamic -- one that he had more control over...his expanding waist line. Liam had been so helpful with some of the unfamiliar equipment, and charming too!

When Evan referred to his beer belly, Liam chided him. 'Those are love handles!' And, love handles they became! Their relationship blossomed, and they even talked about marriage. It was definitely a case of opposites attracting.

Liam sported thick, marvelously wavy, long dark brown hair. It was perfect hair that required only a vigorous shampoo, some towel drying and a bit of shaking to project a sexy, carefree look. When he'd take the time to blow-dry it, he looked sleek and fabulously wealthy -- an old money type young dandy at leisure in his linen shirts and billowy pants.

"Hey, are you going to be in there all night?" Liam said impatiently, as he waited his waited his turn to occupy the bathroom.

He eased the door open and popped his head in. Then he saw what was taking Evan so long.

"You're staring at it again," Liam remarked.

"Not staring...evaluating," Evan replied, keeping his eyes on Liam's reflection in the glass.

The physical contrast between them was striking. Liam looked like a boyish lead in a Hollywood Rom-COM -- Evan the middle-aged breadwinner.

In the cramped bathroom, a familiar tension began to simmer. At its root was the age gap, exacerbated by their physical differences.

Liam stepped into his 'cheerer-up-in-chief' mode.

He stepped directly behind Evan and embraced him from behind.

Very tenderly, Liam kissed the bald spot. Then, his fingers began tracing the exact curve where Evan's hair yielded to the smooth skin of the emerging MPB dome.

"I love this," Liam murmured as he studied the thinning locks.

"What does it do for you?" Evan asked skeptically, his voice rougher now, not hiding his irritation. "Unresolved daddy issues?"

OUCH. The tensions ratcheted up significantly.

But, Liam continued trying to mollify Evan and didn't react outwardly to the taunt.

"It makes you look grounded," Liam whispered, leaning forward to press his lips against the nape of Evan's neck, right where the short taper met the skin. "It makes you look like a man who doesn't have time for games. While everyone is fussing over their hair, you just look solid. Dominant, even, and manly!"

Evan turned around in the tight space of the bathroom, breaking the mirror's view to look directly into Liam's eyes.

"Don't do that, please," Evan said, feeling his anger intensifying.

Liam blinked nervously, fearing what was to come.

Then, Evan exploded, "Stop patronizing me! Stop trying to make me feel better about going BALD! I'm a man who doesn't have time for YOUR games, pretty boy!"

Evan stormed out of the bathroom and began to stew. The humiliating restaurant scene earlier that evening invaded every cranny in his brain!

'A vintage Cabernet for you, sir, and perhaps a cocktail for your son?' the breezy waiter had suggested when he dropped off the wine list.

Those words still hung in the air -- invisible but suffocating -- even hours later and far removed from the bistro.

Evan felt a hot, prickling wave of shame rush from the back of his neck straight up to the smooth, exposed skin of his crown.

Shame of what?! Going bald? No. He'd accepted that long ago. Being mistaken for Liam's father? It wasn't the first time. In fact, it happened regularly.

Evan concluded that he felt ashamed of his outburst. Liam's intentions were good. But, did he always need to be the fixer-up guy? Did he always need to pull out the little hanky to dab Evan's tears away. Yes, it could be sweet and charming. But, tonight, it had felt phony and overbearing.

Liam emerged from the bathroom, brushing his hair.

"I'm going to sleep in the guest room," he said as he passed quickly through.

Evan didn't try to stop him. 'Good!' he thought to himself.

Evan tossed restlessly through the night. Maybe he should try to update his wardrobe -- shed the grandpa look of loafers, button-down shirts and cardigan sweaters. And, Liam had suggested many times that he grow a big spectacular mustache...sport a bit of flair, some panache! He'd had one as a young man.

But, the gnawing inside told him...that's not you. Be yourself. Your grumpy, irritable self!

The morning sunlight cut across the kitchen island, catching the steam rising from their coffee mugs. A bit of tension from the night before still lingered in the air.

Both Liam and Evan had resolved separately to try to patch things up...in their own ways.

Liam fiddled with a spoon as he pawed his freshly washed mane. Damp, sexy waves framed his handsome face.

He had barely slept...the image of Evan's sudden, crushing vulnerability at the bistro kept looping in his mind, alternating with the angry exchange in the bathroom that ensued.

As he tossed in bed, Liam had thought long and hard about the matter. He decided to tone down his own image with the hope of narrowing the disparity in the externals that had provoked the waiter's comment. He would dress more conventionally, like Evan.

And, he would cut his hair. SHORT! Non-descript. At first, he considered getting a standard, short back 'n sides at Evan's barber shop. His only doubt was whether to do it on his own and surprise Evan with the makeover, or tell Evan about his plan.

Then, another option began to percolate -- it continued growing on him during his morning beauty routine. He would have Evan give him a kitchen buzzcut! Buy a set of cheap clippers at CVS and have his sexy, youthful locks mowed off. An amateur butch cut!

Liam reasoned that it might be cathartic for his pal to put an end to what most distinguished them externally.

He imagined himself submissive in the chair, head bowed...his pretty boy locks falling like flies to Evan's feet. Yes, he wanted that! Not only would it solve their problem, but it would tap into his supportive role in the relationship. There was nothing that he enjoyed more than being submissive to the dominant, manly Evan!

"I'm sorry about last night, Evan," Liam said softly, breaking the quiet clink of silverware.

Evan looked up from his phone, "Yeah, me too."

Liam took a deep breath and reached across the counter to touch Evan's hand. "I have a favor to ask, Evan."

He dawdled, still a bit worried that things could backfire in an explosive manner. Maybe it was best to just let the matter rest.

"What is it?" Evan asked.

Evan like the idea that Liam wanted him to do a favor. Usually, it was the other way around.

"I want you to give me a buzzcut. Right here, in the kitchen. Today," Liam said in a calm, clear tone.

Evan looked at the thick, perfect hair mane across the table -- the asset that garnered constant compliments. The request was SO Liam!

He cringed at the thought -- they were right back to the dynamic where 'Liam thinks he needs to cheer Evan up and solve the problem.'

NO!! It was absurd! Evan felt like shouting!

But, he saw the sincerity in Liam's eyes and checked himself.

He simply could NOT explode. He needed to think about the matter. What was the best way to respond?

Evan decided to gain some time with a generic comment or an open-ended question.

"Wow, that would be a big change, pal," he commented in a forced, upbeat tone. "But, we don't have any clippers. Why not just go to a barber shop if you want a short haircut?"

"Because it will be more fun if YOU shaved all this off," Liam answered quickly, flaunting his thick tresses. "I can't wait to see the new me!"

Evan repressed his true feelings a bit longer.

"Really, I don't feel like playing barber," he replied. "Go visit a professional."

Liam shrugged, put his coffee mug in the sink, and murmured, "Okay, I will. You know what? I think I'll have it all shaved off. Bone bald."

Evan exploded, "Bone bald? Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm tired of it, the whole situation!" Liam snapped, matching Evan's anger. "Every time someone compliments my hair -- 'Oh, look at that hair, you're so lucky!' -- I see your eyes drop. I see you pull back. You undercut every compliment I get with your facial antics, as if they're saying 'Look at that bozo with MPB!' I just don't want it anymore. We're going to equalize this playing field, or, I'm...."

Liam could not finish his threat.

"Or, you're what?!" Evan demanded.

"Through with this! Out of here!" Liam stammered, starting to exit the kitchen.

Immediately, Evan realized he'd overreacted.

He reached out, placing his hands firmly on Liam's shoulders. He needed to explain.

"If you shaved your head to zero because of me, every time I looked at your bare scalp, I wouldn't see solidarity. I would see the thing I caused you to destroy because of my own weakness. That would make me feel a thousand times worse than any stupid waiter ever could," Evan explained.

Liam paused and looked at his buddy.

"Let's compromise," he suggested. "Take me to your barber and have him cut my hair just like yours. We can make up a story, that I'm applying for a job or some sort of nonsense."

"You want this?" Evan laughed, running his hand up through the clipped nape. "Tapered short around the ears and up the back?

"Yep, plus a side part and slicked to the side. Textbook 1950s schoolboy look," Liam laughed.

"Oh, Liam, I love you so much!" Evan said, drawing his partner into a firm embrace, fondling his thick long hair and enjoying it for the short time that it remained in the awesome flow.

The ride to the barbershop was filled with harmony and energy. The heavy ultimatum from earlier completely dissolved into a co-conspiratorial thrill. They had agreed on a narrative if one were needed -- an interview for a prestigious firm that favored a "traditional, clean-cut aesthetic."

It was a lie, but it gave them a narrative, should one become necessary.

Evan's guess was that it wouldn't be necessary. Liam would climb into the chair, point to his partner and say, "short, like his." The clippers would roar to life, the barber would nudge Liam's head forward, and the transformation would begin.

Evan's regular barber was an older man named Fred who wore a pristine white smock and sported a tidy salt-and-pepper crewcut.

He looked up from his chair and smiled as the duo entered the shop.

"Evan, good timing. I've been waiting for a client for the past hour," Fred commented casually.

Then, his eyes drifted to Liam's mane. "And who do we have here? Your younger brother?"

"Nope, my better half," Evan replied proudly. "Can you tidy him up?"

Fred blinked a bit, unsure of how to respond as he had little experience with trendy flows and men's scissor cuts.

"Uh, sure, but, uh," the barber stammered. "You know this place, Evan. The chart on the wall there...that's what I'm good at."

Liam ambled over to the chart which was published by the American Barber Supply Company in 1957 and examined the options.

"One of these should work for my job interview," he commented, exchanging winks with Evan.

Evan joined him at the chart. "Oh, yes, how about the Business Man's cut? That's what I get."

A grin spread across Fred's face. "That would be perfect -- a hard taper clean around the ears and a sharp side part. But, with such wavy hair, I'm going to have to sell you some Brylcreme. It's that or an oil-based pomade to keep every strand locked tightly into place with a slick, polished, and combed-through wet look."

"Give me the works!" Liam chirped, eager to begin his divestiture.

"Hop up in that chair there. We'll have all that Hollywood hair gone in no time!" Fred laughed.

Both Liam and Evan felt so excited as the cape floated into place. Their trip to Fred's Barber Shop would certainly be the first of many joint outings. Evan felt glad that Liam had proposed a compromise, one they both felt excited about.

Fred pulled the cloth snuggly around Liam's neck and then fastened it with a huge metal clip.

"Nice hair, but too much of it!" Fred commented as he began to pull a comb through the wavy tresses as best he could.

Fred grabbed a pair of professional barber shears and delivered the first chop.

WHACK!

A huge clump of Liam's iconic mane fell to the floor.

WHACK!!

Off came another mass.

All those compliments and fawning over his 'perfect hair' were not to be heard in Fred's Barber Shop!

Liam watched in a trance as the locks of dark hair fell to the cape and accumulated on the linoleum floor of the shop.

"I'm just removing this overgrowth now. The real haircut will start shortly," Fred explained. "My, my! When was the last time you had a haircut, young man?"

"In a shop like this...I can't even remember," Liam quipped. "Keep cutting! I want to look just like Evan there."

Next came the clippers. The loud, rhythmic buzz vibrated straight through Liam's skull. Fred worked the machine with precision. He began executing a sharp, tight taper that cleared the hair completely away from Liam's ears and buzzed the nape of his neck into a clean, severe gradient. Liam's head was pushed into a low bow as Fred worked the nape and then wrenched his head to one side and then the other. Shorter and shorter the taper became.

Evan became a bit antsy as Liam entered the "scalped" zone.

"Uh, isn't it short enough?" Evan piped up from the waiting area.

"Just a bit of action with the thinning shears. This hair is SO thick...too thick," Fred explained defensively. "Need to get it laying down nice and close to the scalp for a very clean-cut look."

The thinning shears crunched their way repeatedly through Liam's locks. Thinner and wispier the once abundant mane became.

Finally, Fred combed a generous dollop of high-shine pomade through the remaining top length, crafted a razor-straight side part and slicked the hair flat to the side.

A whisk brush loaded with talcum powder was followed by a slap of witch hazel to the newly shaved areas around the ears and at the nape.

Fred made one final adjustment before he declared the haircut over.

He combed the short, wispy bangs down and snipped them EVEN SHORTER.

SNIP, SNIP, SNIP!

Just above the middle of the brow!

When the chair spun around, Liam gasped slightly at his own reflection. The soft, romantic boy was gone. In his place stared a stunned young man with an impeccably neat, disciplined haircut. Now, instead of a Hollywood leading heartthrob, Liam looked like an innocent 1950s schoolboy!

Fred held up the mirror to show off the shorn back.

Liam struggled to smile and make a pro-forma compliment.

"Nice, uh, that's good," he heard himself saying devoid of enthusiasm.

Evan stepped up behind the chair, staring at the transformation. He reached out his palm and gently smoothed the slicked side part. His thumb lightly brushed the freshly exposed tapered at the nape.

"Perfect," Evan said. "You look incredible, Liam."

Liam glanced at the floor around the big barber throne. There were the vestiges of his former self -- his real self?

As they walked out into the afternoon air, the cool breeze hit the naked skin around Liam's ears and neck for the first time in years. He reached up, running his fingers through the tight, slicked-back style, feeling totally transformed.

His mouth felt dry and clammy.

He swallowed clumsily, then asked, "Do you really like this haircut, Evan?"

What a conundrum! The answer was NO! He hated the way it looked.

The pair got to the car without a clear answer being given.

Once they were pulling out of the barber shop's parking lot, Evan asked, "How about doing ME a favor now, Liam?"

Liam was nervously staring in small visor mirror.

"Uh, what?" he asked, absentmindedly.

"Let it grow back out?" Evan asked.

Liam burst out laughing, "It is absolutely AWFUL!!"

Evan touched the brittle strands that were plastered across the top.

"And this smell is making me nauseated!" Evan added. "Let's wash the pomade out together in the shower."

As they approached home, Liam shouted, "Hey! Stop! There's a CVS!"

"Home set of hair clippers?" Evan asked.

"You bet!" Liam exclaimed.

"Kitchen butch cuts for both of us?" Evan asked.

"You bet!" Liam laughed.

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