Andrew's Haircut Adventures, Part 5 by Andrew Smith

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Tracy, the receptionist, was the first person to see Andrew in his new look. "Huh, uhh, umm - what happened to your hair?" she asked. Andrew quickly debated the answer. Should he tell everyone what his f*cking boss had made him to do? Should he protest and fight against his manager that his hair was within the rules in the employee handbook? His hair did not cover his ears or was shaggy. Rather, it was well-styled and neatly tied up in a bun. The hair on his sides and back was shorter than his manager's! What about that Aaron? He always went for weeks without shaving and had a scruffy appearance that he justified by saying, "I am just growing out my beard." Liar. He was just a lazy bum and didn't give a f*ck! Why wasn't any action taken against him? What about Victor's chinstrap beard? That was the ugliest sh!t that Andrew had ever seen. How was that acceptable? Why was Andrew being targeted? Sure, he can maybe make a strong case. Maybe. Or, should he just play it cool? Exposing his boss' attitude would have been good revenge. Definitely, someone from the company would take his side and feel for him. Maybe that's what Mr.Rusakov wanted as well - to have this become public so that other men in the office realize that they should not let their mop grow too long, else they completely forfeit it. "Umm, you know what, I liked the new look - I should say 'old look' now, but wasn't sure I was able to carry it off well. Plus, the coming week is going to get hotter. So, thought that it was time for a change. Then why not go for something drastic!" He lied. He tried to play it cool. "And, this feels so good," he added while rubbing his bald head. "Do you want to rub it?" he asked Tracy. "Umm, do you mind? I mean yeah, sure!" she replied. He bent forward. He could see her brea$ts. Fake, for sure, he could tell. She rubbed his bald head. Nope, no excitement felt. He was gay, for sure. Not hetero$exual. He knew sooner or later he would have to stop hiding. He wasn't ready just yet.

Everyone in the office was surprised when they saw Andrew. As usual and as expected, some of them really did not bother at all, but his close friends and co-workers were all surprised. When asked, he stuck to the same answer that he had given to Tracy. He walked into Mr.Rusakov's office without knocking on the door. "I hope this is short enough for you!" he said with a stern voice, rubbing his bald head. Mr.Rusakov was surprised to see Andrew with a shaved head. Damn! Andrew's hair was much shorter than his own. He said plainly, "I did not want you to shave it. Just look professional. To answer your question, yes, this is short enough. Now, you've wasted some time. Get a printout of the slides for our meeting and meet me in the conference room."

He went to the restroom quickly. He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked handsome. Not quite girly as he looked before. His blue suit looked well on him. The pink tie softened the roughness and the edginess from the shaved head.

The day passed by quickly. The meeting went well. One of the members from the prospective client's team had a bald head as well. He left work a bit early today. Mr.Rusakov didn't seem to mind. Not that Andrew really cared about him today. He rushed home and looked at himself in the mirror and kept on rubbing his bald head. He liked the new look but really missed his long beautiful hair. Last week, he had thick dense shoulder-length hair. Over the weekend, he had got the sides and back trimmed down to a #1. That itself was painful for him. And today, he was shaved completely bald. On his bathroom sink counter lied his hair products - hair wax, pomade, hair cream, hair brushes and his blow-dryer. His shower caddy had a couple of shampoos and conditioner. He would not need any of these for a long time. He promptly collected these items and put them in a bag to shove them under his bathroom sink. The less he saw these items, the less he would miss the long hair. Or so, he thought. He jumped into the shower and cried. He cried a lot. The tears drained along with the water. He grabbed his shower gel and applied it to his bald head. No shampoo needed. That made him cry even more.

There he was. An adult man crying inconsolably over a haircut. A haircut he had fantasized many times; a haircut that he had fantasized on other men; a haircut that he had given to other men. Why was he not enjoying his bald head then? Why did he have to get this haircut? Was it a punishment for him for forcing this haircut onto others? So many thoughts ran through his mind. He stepped out of the shower and wiped himself well. He dabbed the towel on his bald head. It felt strange. The whole day was like a dream. No, a nightmare! No, a dream. He had dreamt of this before. He couldn't make up his mind. He did not feel like watching any haircut videos or pictures online. He did not want to think of anything hair-related. He watched the boring local news. A cat rescued by the firefighters, a new research drug promising to reduce wrinkles and the Mets still performing poorly. Yes, just what he wanted for the evening. He called it an early night and went to bed.

The next morning, he woke up early. He had almost forgotten about his hair - or the lack of it. He was quickly brought back to reality when he saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He had a quick shower. Somehow, in the shower, he made up his mind to embrace his new bald look. Well, how often was he going to stay bald? How often would this happen in his life? Anyways, he knew he looked handsome with the shaved head. Then why not embrace it, at least for a few weeks? Who knew, his new look might be able to get him more $exual action. Haircutting action, even. Who knows. That got him excited. He got out of the shower and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. He wiped off the condensation on the mirror. He took out his shaving cream can and razor. He was going to put in a fresh new blade in his razor but decided not to. This was going to be his first time shaving his own bald head. He better not have a fresh new sharp blade. A nick would not look good on his bald head. He lathered his bald head and his face. He took the razor and shaved the top of his head first, in gentle strokes. The feeling of shaving his own head felt very liberating, and very masculine, in some sense. A macho feeling. He proceeded to shave the sides of his head. He was slightly concerned if he should shave the back of his head. He did not really need to be so concerned. He had watched lots of videos on shaving your own head. He was a pro at this. He continued to shave his face. Suddenly, he thought of taking this one step further. He lathered his head again and shaved himself against the grain. This was the tough part, he felt. The razor did not slide as smoothly as it did when shaving with the grain. Not unusual. He wiped his bald head and splashed cold water over it. He applied some aftershave lotion and was ready to go to work.

Not so ready, he thought. He checked the clock. He still had some time before he had to leave for work. He went to the nearby pharmacy and got some baby oil. He was going to give a nice shine to his bald head. If he was going to embrace the look, he wanted to give it a nice shine and attract attention. The shiny bald head would also show that he cared for his bald look and this was something he wanted. Not something he was forced to do. To be honest, no one was going to realize that this was forced upon him, except his boss. He was actually trying to console himself with that. A shiny bald head is a sign of a healthy scalp and would not look dull. Yes, he had to shine that head. He knew the procedure a little too well. He applied the baby oil to his bald head and massaged it well with the tips of his fingers. He grabbed a washcloth and buffed the bad head with it. There it was - the shine that he wanted to get so well.

He put on his clothes, a nice sports coat and his loafers. He was ready to face the world.

On his way to work, he did notice other men taking notice of his bald head. As before, it was most likely because he was staring at them for their reaction and they were just staring back at him. He did not think of it that way. He stopped by his neighborhood coffee shop to get a cup of coffee before heading to work. A young man seemed to take notice of Andrew's shiny bald pate and kept staring at it. Actually, Andrew had not noticed him initially, but the man had. Andrew looked in another direction and looked back again at the man. He was still staring at him. Andrew had a twinkle in his eyes. He gave a small smile. Puckish thoughts came to his mind.

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