Sarah was generally a fun loving girl, slightly taller than average. She wasn’t incredibly slim but her body was dangerously delicious if she dressed for it. She had a muscular build with an slight bit of extra fat due to being stuck indoors for so long. She was busty and had tremendous powerful thighs. She wasn’t super model material but she would be hard to resist if she wore the right outfit that showed off her assets. But she had refrained from dressing up for nearly four months. He chic bob had which she had cut two months before the lockdown began had now grown out to he shoulders. Her thick wavy hair was becoming unruly to say the least and she regretting not getting it trimmed before the lockdown began.
At long last, the restrictions were lifted and Sarah figured it was time to start putting her life back in order. She had been slacking off with her online studies and her social skills were beginning to suffer to. Her normal bubbly demeanor was becoming subdued and shy. She felt self conscious about gaining weight, though no one but herself would have found her body unappealing. She felt frumpy and wanted desperately to get out of this rut.
One morning after she took her shower, she was combing out her long thick dark hair and sighed. She was in two minds. Should she cut it again? Part of her liked having long hair. She liked how feminine it made her feel. She beginning to be able to style it in new ways. It was long enough now to plait and she liked the way that looked. On the other hand, she liked how having a bob made her feel. Powerful, androgynous, stylish. Dried her long hair and took a long look in the mirror. She thought how cute she’d look in her little orange dress if she cut it back into a bob. It was summer time after all, and she would be look fabulous.
She decided to put the orange dress on for the day. It was warm enough out, and she’d been basically living in pajamas for far too long. She wanted to challenge herself and make an effort, even if only for herself. She zipped up the cute dress. It was sleeveless and her arms were showing. She felt a little self conscious but decided it was better to just brave it now. She applied makeup for the first time in months. “go big or go home”, She thought to herself as she applied her bold red matte lipstick and black eyeliner. She looked very cute and with her vintage style dress and makeup. She put on her shiny mary-janes. She combed her long hair. She felt a flutter of butterflies as she thought of the temptation of tidying up her overgrown bob. She tried to shake off the idea of cutting her hair as she grabbed her keys and purse and left to go into town.
The sun was glaring. She put on her sexy cat eye glasses. Now she was feeling a little more self conscious. Maybe she had put in too much effort. It seemed like lots of people were staring at her. She usually liked the attention, but on this particular day. The first day of restrictions lifted, she was feeling uneasy. She noticed her reflection in the windows. Her eyes flashed to her hair again. Again, she thought about how nice her dark locks would look in a sleek little bob. How put together she would look. She tried not to think about it, but the temptation was nagging her immensely.
As she walked down the pedestrian path, she passed several barbershops and salons. She noticed all the people cuing up to get their long awaited trims an sometimes more. She discretely peered in the window, as she pretended to stop to pull out a cigarette and a lighter. She noticed a young woman getting what looked like 4 or 5 inches cut from her long blond hair. The hair littered the tiles. She wondered how much more the woman would get cut off. Was this just a big trim or was it going to be more? She blushed and continued on her way, strolling down the path and taking in the scene.
She noticed many people with fresh haircuts. It seemed like everyone had gotten it done. She was beginning to feel self conscious again as she noticed her own hair in the reflection of the shop windows. It was overgrown. “Maybe I should get a trim at least. Just to tidy it up” She thought to herself. She had decided. She would go in to the next place she saw and ask to have her hair trimmed. That wouldn’t be so bad. Still, she thought about her bob. “Maybe I should get my bob back. It doesn’t have to be too short. Just below the jaw. That’s just a few inches.” She thought. She passed several salons on her path but they were all filled up. It seemed she wasn’t the only person in town that had this idea.
She went down a side street, feeling a mix of emotions. Part of her was relieved to not have to get her hair cut today. Maybe she was being a bit impulsive. Maybe it was a good idea to think about it for a while. She sighed and walked down the footpath, looking for a café to have a bite to eat in. As she was walking she passed a small asian salon. There was no one inside. It was hardly the kind of place she would normally go to. The menu was posted on the shop window. It was in Madarin and broken english. “dry cut women long £20, dry cut women mediom £15, dry cut women short £10” She read the sign. She thought about it for a while. “I mean, how bad could it be? A bob is a pretty easy cut to do. It’s not like it’s a load of fancy layers or anything. Just a quick clean up” She made up her mind and opened the door.
Her heart was pounding as the chime of the door seemed to seal her fate. She walked over nervously toward the counter where a small plump asian woman was sweeping up hair. The hair on the ground looked quite long. Sarah was beginning to regret her decision but it was too late to back out now.
“Hello, how can I help you today?” The asian woman, asked in friendly broken english.
“Hi I’d like a haircut please.” Sarah replied. She instantly regretted saying haircut instead of trim by mistake.
“You want shampoo?”
“No thank you. Just a dry cut please”
“ok no problem. You take a seat please”
Sarah’s wobbly legs moved toward the big black leather chair. She sat down, trying to look as normal as possible. The woman grabbed a large floral vinyl cape and draped it over Sarah. She felt so vulnerable. She was glad to have found and empty salon and not to have other customers see her like this. The woman began to comb her hair. She was somewhat rough. She was clearly a no nonsense woman who looked at hair more of a nuisance than an asset. Her own hair was cut into a crude permed short crop. She combed out Sarah’s hair and frowned.
“Long time since your last haircut”, The woman said, “Yeah, I suppose I haven’t been able to get it cut with all the restrictions in place” Sarah replied nervously trying to smile.
“Yeah many people same thing. How you have it cut before?” She asked.
“I had it cut in a bob”
“Okay no problem” She began to pin up her thick dark waves, leaving only the back loose.
Sarah was becoming very nervous. She hadn’t asked for her bob to be cut again and it just dawned on her that this woman didn’t ask how short the bob was before. Her previous bob was slightly below here jaw. It was the shortest cut she’d had in a long time since she was a child and her mother forced her to keep her hair short. Cutting it into a bob was a difficult decision to make for her. Now this strange woman would be cutting her hair and with very little instructions and clearly very little english. She didn’t like way she looked at her hair. As if it were something in the way.
“Your hair very dry. You need more than trim. I cut it short this time, and next time you can have it longer okay?” The woman told her. It was more of a statement than a question.
“I just want a bob please” Sarah said. Her voice quaking with nerves. She wanted to be more assertive. She felt like a little child being told how her hair was going to be cut.
“I will cut a nice bob for you. Very cute” The woman said as she begin to spritz her hair with water.
“Okay” Sarah tried to smile. She felt her long hair being combed on more time. Then she felt the cold steel against her neck. Snip snip snip. 4 inches of beautiful thick dark fell on the floor. She tried to look but the woman grabbed her head and gently straightened it.
“Keep still please” She ordered in a firm but kind tone.
She was cutting very quickly. She unfastened the next section of hair, closer to her crown and snipped it off. It was too far back for Sarah to see exactly how much she was cutting but she knew it was a lot. Much shorter than her original bob. Still she was snipping away. Sarah caught a glimpse of a long chunk of hair sliding down here floral cape. She tried to remain calm. It was probably a graduated bob she was doing. That’s not so bad. She could live with that. The woman kept cutting. Little snips this time. Taking the back shorter and shorter. She undid the side clip of her hair. Her long waves came tumbling down. The woman sprayed and then took her comb and combed the hair away from her face. She cut the hair at about jaw length. Now Sarah was beginning to panic. This wasn’t going to be good. She thought about telling her to leave the other side longer. Maybe she could have something cute and asymmetrical, but she was completely under the control of this little plump woman.
“Looking much better already” The woman seemed to taunt her. “I give you nice short cut for summer. Keep you cool”
She pulled down the other side of her hair and all hope for something cute and asymmetrical was gone as she snipped the hair clean away. She combed her long sideswept bangs into her face. And snipped them at eyebrow length.
“Now we just clean up the back” She said as she pulled out her electric clippers. This was all too much for sarah. She wanted to cry but still she kept quiet. The woman plugged in the clippers and began to run them up her nape. She ran them higher and higher. Then she put them down and took out a pair of thinning shears. She begin thinning out the hair beside the ears with brutal recklessness. Her earlobes were nearly visible except for the thin whips of hair covering them. She put the thinning shears down began to trim her bangs even shorter. Then she blended her fringe with the hair beside her ears until her earlobes were completely exposed.
“Very cute, Now your not hiding your pretty earrings” She said. Clearly pleased with her work.
She trimmed more and more off the sides then combed her hair and trimmed the stray bits.
“All finished. Very nice”
When she looked at herself in the mirror she could hardly keep from crying. The longest bits of her hair just barely brushed her earlobe and it was still quite damp. But the time it dried it would surely look like a mushroom. It wasn’t a bob. It was a long awful bowlcut. She tried to smile but there were tears in her eyes.
“Thank you. It’s fine” She said, her voice choking.
“You come back in a month for trim”
“…ookay thank you”
“Ten pound please”
She handed her the ten pound note and sheepishly went out the door. Her new hair was already beginning to try into the shape of a bowl. She wished that she brought a hat with her as she had to once again face the crowds on her way back home. She caught her reflection in the mirror. Though she felt sad and violated at the loss off her beautiful hair, new new look made a statement. It was bold and it wasn’t all together bad. She felt a guilty pleasure come over her. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she felt invigorated and relieved.
