Casting Off – Part 2

Author’s note: This is the original second part of “Casting Off”, which I mislaid. Several years later, I wrote an alternative “Part 2” following a reader request and published it on this site. I think it’s only right to go with my original train of thought. Joanna picks up the story…

 

I looked at myself in the full length mirror. I directed my gaze at Ruth who was standing just behind me and to the side. She was immaculately dressed as usual, her dress moulded to her trim body. She was wearing a long, dark wig this morning, which wasn’t my favourite look for her. I thought she looked more striking in the vibrant red one, but said nothing. She looked ready to go to a cocktail party. In contrast, I was more casually dressed.

My sedate existence had been turned upside down a month ago when I modelled for Ruth for the first time. When I looked back and tried to summarise what had happened since, I found it hard to believe, even though I’d been there! Ruth had shaved my head for a hair video, I’d screwed one of her actors, not knowing that my daughter was watching. Then I’d watched my daughter make a porn film, while being screwed myself. I’d thought that I was about to embark on a relationship with the guy, Martin, but instead he’d become an occasional treat, a “fuck buddy”. My shaved head had, however, become a permanent feature in my life. There was something that I found liberating about it. People said that it made me look younger than my 46 years. They said that I looked more attractive, more striking. Who was I to argue with that? I just had to stay shaved from now on, as if it was some sort of compulsion. My daughter, Katy, had shaved her head too, but hadn’t shaved it since that first time. I think that she’s probably only growing it so that she can shave it off again once it gets to a reasonable length, but who knows? She looks good with or without hair, so I don’t really mind what she decides to do. I was just pleased that she accepts a bald mum without having a problem with it. I’d slipped back into my ordinary life, but now I found myself back in the spotlight.

Ruth had called me and told me that she had an idea for a film and she wanted me to be in it, playing the part of a hairdresser this time rather than as the model. We’d discussed it, I’d said “no” and then she’d used Katy to wear me down until I changed my mind. I kept telling her that I really didn’t want to do more films after that first one, but between them, they got what they wanted.

A key part of Katy’s plan to get me to change my mind was to surprise me by putting the film of my headshaving on one evening after dinner. When it was first made, I hadn’t wanted her to watch it, but things had relaxed between us and we were more like best friends now, than mother and daughter. There is something that changes in any mother-daughter relationship when you have each watched the other getting screwed! Katy had done a couple more films over the past month and was relaxed about the whole thing, so to her it was no big deal to sit and have a glass of wine while watching a film of her naked mother getting her head shaved. She’d been there while it happened, but it’s different when it is on the TV in your living room. It isn’t about getting caught up in the moment anymore, it is deliberate, voyeuristic. She wanted to convince me that I had looked at ease on camera. All I could see was my boobs, on show to any pervert who cared to look. I wanted to turn it off.

‘Look at your expression’ she commented.

I just saw boobs.

‘You’re so relaxed.

Erect nipples.

‘You’re trying not to smile.’

‘Katy, stop that!’ I said, realising that her hand had slid down to where it really shouldn’t be, when your mother is in the room.

‘You and Ruth just look so sexy together. Remember how she touched you afterwards?’

‘Katy! Any more of that and I’m turning it off’ I said.

I did remember how Ruth had touched me. I remembered more often than I should.

I agreed to do the film and Ruth had told me that she had a definite idea for how she wanted me to look. I wasn’t convinced, but here I was a couple of days later, looking at myself as she wanted me, looking at a reflection that was to become etched on film, to be seen by anyone who bought the next release from her production company. She’d asked whether I’d gone through with my plan to get a couple of exciting piercings and was delighted when I told her that I had. All the discomfort was just a memory now, a month down the line, but something that had been meant as a treat for myself and my partner was now much more than that.

I looked from her reflection back to my own. She was elegant. I wasn’t sure what I was.

I looked back down at the black thigh boots she’d magically produced in my size. Not something that I would have ever chosen to wear, particularly not with heels as high as they were. My gaze continued upwards. I worked my way up, so that I could start from my head, freshly shaven before I left the house. I wasn’t sure if Ruth would want to do it as part of the film, but then decided that I didn’t want to go out unprepared. It would save time once I got to the studio anyway.

I worked my way downwards again. I looked at the large gold rings through each of my nipples. They were bigger than the ones that I’d been wearing and bigger than any that I would have bought for myself, but they were part of the theme that she’d decided on, I suppose: big boots, big rings. My eyes traced the arc of the delicate gold chain that was strung between the two nipple rings. Another of her ideas. Something else new for me. I followed the twin chains that went down my torso in a “V”, starting at each nipple and meeting at the ring through my clit. That had been something that Katy and I had joked about, but not seriously considered. The piercer woman had egged us on, challenged us almost, talked about it as mother and daughter bonding. It became mother and daughter discomfort and what I had thought of as something that I would quickly abandon was now an anchor point for something wildly impractical and wildly sexy. I was pierced in my most delicate places, and here I was now, realising the potential for my adornments. I eased my legs apart and allowed my fingers to follow the trailing links.

‘I can’t believe I’m even thinking about leaving the room like this’ I said, turning to Ruth. I hadn’t expected to be quite so much on display. I expected some sort of underwear, a corset at least. Ruth’s vision had me fully exposed, tits and slit on full view, with no hiding place. I tried to decide whether I just looked ridiculous or was actually sexy. The image was so far removed from the image that I had of myself that I was tending more towards the ridiculous end of the spectrum. I was middle-aged, supposedly conventional and respectable and here I was, shaven head, shaven pussy, pierced, chained and horny.

‘I’m not sure I should let you. Everyone in the studio is just going to want to fuck you and I won’t get my film done’ she said with a smile.

‘They’ll just laugh’ I replied.

There wasn’t any distance between us anymore.

‘I want to fuck you myself’ she whispered in my ear, her fingers joining my own.

What do you reply to that?

‘You’d break my chains’ I replied. It wasn’t a refusal. It wasn’t a conscious agreement either. She nuzzled my neck gently.

‘Just say the word’ she whispered, planting a kiss on the back of my neck before taking a step back. She turned back into the business woman that she was.

‘You’re happy with what we’re doing?’ she asked.

‘I just hope that I can do it and it doesn’t look like I’ve never used clippers before.’

‘It’s easy. Just look confident. Don’t act surprised if something unexpected happens. We like to improvise’ she confirmed.

She’d explained all of that, but I still wasn’t sure. I wasn’t an actress, but she’d told me just to play the part, to ignore the cameras and just focus on shaving the man’s head. She’d dreamt up this scenario where a new salon had opened up, one where the stylists wore sexy outfits, or in my case, boots and metalwork. A customer was coming in and would let me do anything I wanted just to have the experience of the salon. It sounded straightforward enough, as long as I didn’t have to talk too much.

In a couple of minutes, I was on the set, nervous, waiting.

‘Remember, this is just one scene in a bigger story’ Ruth said as she was about to leave me alone with the two camera people. Now she was telling me. I moved around the set, trying to take in the detail, trying to feel at home. It felt like anything but home, but it was exciting. The door opened. I looked round to see who it was. Ruth had refused to introduce me to the actor who was going to be my customer. She said that it would help the authenticity if we hadn’t sat and chatted beforehand. I wondered if it would be someone that I had seen around the studio. I looked at him. I hadn’t seen him before. He was in his thirties, slim, fit-looking, not obviously porn-actor hunky, but I didn’t know for sure that he was a porn actor. Maybe he was just an amateur who had a thing about getting his head shaved in an unorthodox scenario. A woman followed him in. Ruth hadn’t told me about that. I tried to remember what the place was meant to be called.

‘Hi, welcome to ‘Stripped Bare’ I said. Awful name. How would that ever get past the authorities in the real world?

He looked nervous. Was he a good actor or was he a fish out of water, like me? I could see his eyes travel from my boobs, linger on my lower belly and then make the return journey at their leisure. Then he actually made eye contact.

‘Hi, I want a haircut, please’ he said.

‘Come on, Dave, we’re not staying here’ the woman said before I could open my mouth.

‘You said I could come here. As long as you could watch what went on, made sure that nothing did go on’ he said.

‘Yeah, well, I was wrong, wasn’t I?’ she said seriously. She was a similar age to him. Again, not obvious porn-actressy at all. She had a cap of dark brown hair rather than the long bleached blonde hair that you would maybe expect from a professional porn actress. She looked like she worked in an office. Passably attractive, not trashy, definitely no sign of a boob job. If those weren’t her own, she should ask for a refund!

‘Please’ I said, trying to decide how to play it. “Improvise” Ruth had said. So easy to say, so hard to do. I tried to shut out the camera people and whoever else was there. It was me, the hairdresser with no clothes and a customer with his chaperone. That was all that I needed to see.

‘Just have seat Susie. Let the lady work’ the man said, heading for the styling chair.

‘Stop staring at her then’ the woman said.

‘I may as well go to the usual place then. The lady’s made the effort to be different, so it’s only right that I should appreciate what she’s done’ he retorted.

I wondered how long this would go on.

‘Well, wind your tongue in and keep your hands to yourself or I’ll cut your dick off’ she said.

I motioned to him to have a seat.

‘Please, there’s magazines there, we won’t be long’ I said, gesturing to the woman to sit in one of the two chairs against the plywood wall. She sat down. Good, I could ignore her and just concentrate on my pretend customer. I picked up a gown from the coat rack in the corner and tried to look like it was something I’d done a thousand times before. I fumbled with the fastening, but very soon, I’d got him looking like a customer in a barbershop. I felt a hand on my backside.

‘Dave!’ the woman barked. The hand squeezed my cheek. That hadn’t been in my briefing from Ruth, but I decided that I would improvise like she told me. My arse would improvise. I peeked downwards and could see that my nipples were already auditioning for a more prominent part.

‘It’s okay, I don’t mind’ I said, turning towards her.

‘Maybe for you it is’ she said, with an impressively haughty tone in her voice.

There was a stand-off for a moment. She looked daggers, he squeezed, I tingled.

‘What are we doing for you today?’ I asked.

‘Anything you like, darling’ he replied.

‘For fuck’s sake Dave’ she objected.

Improvise, improvise. I walked towards her and sat on the second chair.

‘Maybe this isn’t such a good idea’ I said, looking at her for guidance. I was sure that my face was shielded from the cameras at that point.

‘I’m sorry. It’s his birthday. I said he could come here. He’s been going on about it ever since you opened. It’s just hard’ she said.

‘Yes, it most certainly is’ “Dave” chipped in. A man clearly well-schooled in porn-film corn!

‘I’ll be as quick as I can’ I said to her. I stood up and went back to where my victim was waiting. He was making no secret of what he had done while my back was turned. The camera person was focusing on what was happening under the gown.

‘So you’re looking forward to a new hairstyle then?’ I said with a nod to the moving material.

‘This is all for you darling’ he replied.

‘I’m not so sure that your wife approves of your generosity’ I said, looking over to her.

‘Yeah, well, she should try sitting here looking at what I’m looking at’ he said in his defence.

‘I don’t think I hold the same attraction for her as I obviously do for you’ I said. I was starting to wonder whether I’d made a dreadful mistake.

‘You haven’t seen her checking you out then, have you?’

‘I suspect she’s probably wondering where I got these boots from. Now, what are we doing with your hair?’

‘Like I told you, anything you want’ he said.

I ran the flat of my hand over the top of his head and reached for the clippers. His hair was longer than I expected. It had been so well cut that it lay perfectly. It was rich and dark, healthy and well-cared for. I wanted to cut it off.

‘You’re sure now? What does your wife think?’

‘I think she wants to sit on your face’ he said.

‘I’m sure that’s not what she’s thinking at all’ I replied, looking across at her. She winked at me and licked her lips. Oh God! I turned the clippers on and then turned them off again. I’d forgotten to see what guard they had on. I looked at them. I wondered what I was meant to do. Ruth hadn’t said, this guy hadn’t said. Improvise. I took the guard off and looked at them again. I looked at the actor in the mirror. I wondered if this was his full-time job or if he was an imposter like me. I thought again how his hair was so lovely. It was interview hair, audition hair.

‘What the fuck!’ he said as I ran the clippers across the top of his head. Was that the character or the actor speaking? Had I just ruined his chances of another job for a few weeks? Too late now. I carried on. I wanted to look across at the woman, to see how she was reacting. I wasn’t confident enough of my skill with the clippers to do it without stopping. I didn’t want to stop. I was aware of a cameraman close by. He was obviously interested in what I was doing. No-one had leapt from behind the camera and told me to stop. I went with it, enjoying the power that I wielded in my hand. His scalp was more and more exposed. I was enjoying myself. I felt his wayward hand clamp my thigh. I knew what his other hand was doing. I kept going, hoping that I wouldn’t have to razor-shave him. I couldn’t trust myself to do that. I was trembling with excitement.

I turned the clippers off and looked at him in the mirror. He was trying to get his hand further up my inner thigh.

‘Have a feel, see what you think’ I said.

‘He’s having a feel’ the woman said sharply. She was right, I eased my legs apart slightly. I wanted him to feel how wet I was, but I didn’t want to be seen and certainly didn’t want to be caught on camera. I took a step back, out of his reach. His disappointed hand went to his head.

‘I should’ve expected that, shouldn’t I’ he said.

‘Do you like it?’ I asked.

‘Dunno, but it was worth it just to get my hand between your legs’ he said.

‘I think your wife’s ready’ I said, looking over to her.

‘I’ve not finished looking at you yet’ he replied.

I was flattered, whether it was the actor or the character speaking. I wondered if Ruth would let me keep the boots and the chains. Would Martin like me to wear them for him, or had he seen some other actress done up like this? Surely it wasn’t something that Ruth had come up with just for me. I would have to ask her.

The actress was on her feet, stroking the guy’s scalp.

‘It’s nice’ she said, exploring the hidden depths of improvisation.

‘Why don’t you have yours done, babe, I’m not ready yet’ he said. I noticed that his trousers were still undone. So did the camera.

‘I don’t want to. My hair’s short enough already’ she replied. I thought that I could detect a hint of reluctance in her voice that wasn’t improvised.

‘For me?’ he said, making sure that neither the actress nor I was in any doubt about the effect that the scenario was having on him.

‘I told you, it’s short enough.’

‘Please?’

‘I told you “no”‘ she said firmly.

‘How about if I take her just a bit shorter? Will that satisfy you?’ I asked, looking to “Dave” for an answer.

‘You know exactly how you could satisfy me, darling’ he replied. How I hate being called “darling” at the best of times!

‘You really think I’m going to do anything for you while you’re drooling over her?’ the woman said.

‘I can see her tits. I can’t see yours’ he replied.

‘And you won’t be seeing them for a long time’ she countered. ‘And stop wanking over her!’

‘I’d wank over you if you got your hair cut’ he replied.

‘Really? You’d like that?’ she said, her voice softening for a moment. ‘Too bad I’m not doing it’ she added, back to her previous tone.

I hadn’t noticed, but she had started to play with one of my chains. She smiled at me. That was two women today who’d got friendly with me.

‘I won’t take much off’ I said, wondering why I so wanted to cut her hair. I reached up and ran my hand across the top of her head the way that I had with “Dave” before I took the clippers to him. It was a dark brown colour with a distinct wave, almost the sort of style you’d associate with the 1920s. I suspected that if she let it grow it would be rather curly. Maybe that’s why she wore it short.

‘I don’t want to’ she objected.

‘I think you should and Dave says he wants me to. It is his birthday, after all’ I said. All I needed was to deploy the puppy-dog eyes.

She looked at “Dave” who unashamedly had his cock in his hand. This wasn’t what I’d signed up for, but it was drawing me further and further in. She hadn’t replied.

‘Dave, would you like your wife to take her dress off while I cut her hair?’ I asked. I was really entering into the spirit of things now. She looked at me, slight panic in her eyes. She didn’t want to do it. I suspect that taking the dress off wasn’t the problem though.

‘If she wants’ he replied. T

Thanks for your support “Dave”.

She was making no move towards the chair. I didn’t know much about film-making, but someone was going to have to step in soon; this was getting awkward. Then it came. Ruth marched onto the set and the shouting began. I slunk away to a corner. It had been my idea, I had ruined the film. “Dave” had been scalped for nothing. I wanted to go home. “Dave” came towards me. I didn’t want to get shouted at.

‘Ruth said you’d never done this before. I’d never have guessed’ he said. ‘I’m Charlie, by the way’ he said, holding his hand out in a totally unexpected gesture. He was smiling broadly.

‘Is that the one you had between my legs or the one you’ve been pleasuring yourself with?’ I asked with a smile. He withdrew his hand apologetically. I glanced across at where Ruth and the actress were in intense discussions. Charlie ran his hand over his bald head. I still wasn’t sure which hand it was. I introduced myself.

‘Thanks for the haircut, Joanna’ he said.

‘I hope you don’t mind too much’ I said, thinking how bizarre the whole situation was, with me introducing myself to a man while I was wearing the kinkiest get-up I could think of. I was starting to become self-conscious and tried to cover myself up as much as I could.

‘Don’t do that, you’re beautiful’ he said, surprising me. Why was a man in his thirties, who probably had his pick of beautiful women, telling me that I was beautiful? ‘I’m really starting to get a thing for bald women’ he admitted.

‘Your friend doesn’t seem enthusiastic about a haircut. I shouldn’t have suggested it’ I said.

‘I think you just surprised her, that’s all. It was only meant to be me getting the chop’ he said, his hand going to his head again.

‘I’ll apologise to her. What’s her name, anyway?’

‘Jane. There’s no need to apologise. Ruth’ll sort it.’

We chatted quietly for a couple of minutes and then Ruth came over to us. She smiled at me.

‘You’re doing great’ Ruth said, squeezing my arm.

‘Looks like I’ve ruined everything from where I’m sitting. I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure what to say. I feel really bad.’

‘Don’t’ she replied. ‘We’re going to pick up where we left off. Jane’s agreed to let you do a number three all over’ she said. ‘You’re stunning’ she added, taking the opportunity for a crafty tweak of my left nipple.

‘Okay, everyone, back to work!’ came the instruction from the director whose name I didn’t know.

We spent a minute or two getting back to the sort of positions that we were in before I caused the commotion and after a quick reminder of what we’d just said, we were off again.

‘Come on, Susie, please?’ “Dave” said, taking the initiative.

Looks were exchanged and then a reluctant woman climbed into the chair. There was no more talk about her taking her dress off, so she clearly wasn’t prepared to lessen my feelings of exposure to help me out.

I reached for the gown and swirled it over her.

‘We’ll go a bit shorter, but don’t worry, I’ll leave you plenty. You won’t end up like Dave and I, I promise’ I said, trying my hardest to sound sympathetic. I was still reluctant to do it to someone who so clearly wanted to hang on to the hair that she had. Ruth had spoken though and the woman had sat in the chair seemed resigned to her fate.

‘Just get it over with’ she said sharply. I wasn’t sure if Ruth had told her to have that attitude or whether it was the person rather than the character who was so annoyed. I really wasn’t very good at this acting lark.

I looked at the selection of guards on the shelf, hoping that they were clearly marked. A real hairdresser would know which was which. A second-timer like me was going to struggle. That was before I started the haircut. I really hoped that they would turn the cameras off and let someone else make it respectable. I found what I was looking for and managed to attach it to the body of the clippers with only minor fumbling. I flicked the switch and tried to force myself to think of her as a woman who wanted hair, who was losing it under some duress. Duress that I had unwittingly created. If I had kept my mouth shut, she would have been able to get out intact. I was so absorbed in these thoughts that I forgot to ask her whether she was ready and hadn’t even realised that the instruction as to what length she wanted had happened off camera. As far as the viewer would know, I had just picked a guard at random.

I placed the clippers at her neckline and moved them up a couple of inches.

‘You’re not shaving me are you?’ she asked, a note of concern obvious in her voice. It looked like she was trying to fill in the gaps for the viewer. The discerning viewer, interested in the technical details of the haircut, rather than the acres of bare flesh, my bare flesh, that was on display.

‘It’s a number three, it’s okay’ I replied.

‘How short will that be?’ she asked. Bitch. I really didn’t know. “Dave” jumped to my rescue.

‘Don’t worry, love, it’ll be like velvet. You’ll be gorgeous.

‘So it’ll still look like I’ve got some hair?’

‘Of course it will’ he comforted. He had just become my best friend. I carried on up the back of her head and onto her crown. There was something entirely different about doing this to a woman, particularly one doing it under sufferance. To me, it was much sexier than shaving “Dave”. There was nothing unusual about doing it to a guy. Ruth had shaved me, but I was hardly reluctant. I had wanted to do it, although I was hesitant about making the decision myself. The woman sitting in front of me didn’t want to do it, but was doing it anyway. I was taking her somewhere she didn’t want to go, somewhere she never dreamt of going. It was that aspect that I found so exciting. I started again from her forehead, drawing the clippers back towards myself. I closed the gap between my torso and the back of her head, wanting to feel her freshly shorn hair against my bare belly, with no regard for the consequences if one of my chains got tangled in her hair. I kept on going, enthusiastically improving my technique.

I went over her head again from a different direction, eager to ensure that I had made as good a job as possible. I shut the clippers off and looked at the small clumps of her dark hair perched on her shoulders; the other clumps had tumbled to the floor.

‘There, that wasn’t so bad, was it’ I said, as if talking to a child whose plaster I had just pulled off.

‘I thought it’d be shorter’ she said, reaching up to rub a hand over her head. I was looking at it critically, thinking that there must be more to it than that. Surely it shouldn’t be one length all over, there were bits on her neck that needed to be trimmed. I wasn’t sure how much they wanted me to do.

‘I can take it shorter if you’d like?’ I ventured.

‘What do you think?’ she asked, turning to “Dave”. She’d changed her tune since she’d sat down.

“Dave” was thinking with his cock in his hand. He seemed surprised by the question, as if it had put him off his stroke, which in a way it had.

‘Very nice, yeah, whatever’ he replied.

‘Would you like me to take it down?’ I asked.

‘I don’t want to be bald. No offense, but I want to keep some hair’ she replied.

‘I can go shorter, but still leave you some’ I replied, making a move towards the guards on the table. I slid the current one off and picked another.

‘You’re sure now?’ I asked.

‘It won’t be much shorter, will it?’ she asked.

‘Once you’re this short, everything’s a technicality really’ I replied. I flicked the switch. I really wanted to take her shorter now and struggled to understand the compulsion. I’d been sympathetic because she’d been railroaded into doing this in the first place, but now I wanted to rub in her discomfort. She’d done nothing to me, we hadn’t exchanged words as real people, I’m sure that she was a perfectly pleasant woman, but I just wanted to keep on clippering.

My resolve hardened, as did my nipples. I fiddled with the clippers, taking off the number two guard that I had initially selected and reached for the number one. She would have no choice once I’d made the first cut, whatever she thought about it. I placed the clippers at her forehead.

‘You’re both sure you want me to do this?’ I asked, looking from a worried-looking woman to a man who was expressing himself in a different way.

‘Yes, we do’ “Dave replied. That was good enough for me.

I eased the clippers high up the back of her neck. “Dave” repositioned himself so that he could see what I was doing. He was silent, but immediately started to work himself more vigorously. I took more and more from the back of her head, thinking that she was so close to where I was. There was only a fraction between her bristly head and my baldness. I moved to the side, running the clippers up in front of her ear. That was her first chance to see the difference between the number three and the number one.

‘Fucking hell, that’s short’ she exclaimed. Her eyes widened as I ate into the hair higher up and moved towards the top of her head. “Dave” wasn’t holding back. I ran the clippers across the centre of her crown.

‘Dirty fucker!’ the woman exclaimed, shifting visibly in her chair.

I looked down to see what had caused her outburst, only to see “Dave’s” appreciation sliding down the gown slowly. It looked like he had been saving himself for just such a moment. I carried on with my mission, apparently unfazed by the trail that he had created, even when he leant in and wiped his cock on the gown. I wondered whether that had been in the script that I hadn’t seen or whether he really was carefree.

I repeated my earlier finishing-off strokes, going over the woman’s scalp in different directions. She had dark stubble, interspersed with pale scalp that seemed determined to force itself into prominence. Maybe I should have done the number two rather than the one. It was nowhere near as feminine as she had looked with the softness of the number three, even though I tried to tell myself that it was “convict chic”.

‘That is so fucking short’ she said, echoing her first impression. I had to agree, even though that wasn’t the way that the words came out.

‘I think you should just let me shave you’ I said simply. She looked at herself in the mirror, she looked at me. The harshness of her gaze had gone now. She was resigned to what had happened to her, struggling for acceptance in a way. I looked at her in the mirror and slipped the guard off the clippers. I saw her hand come out from under the gown and watched as she reached into the space between her and “Dave”. He moved closed, docking his wilting cock in her hand. I placed the clippers at her forehead and watched them almost make their own way across the top of her head. They knew the route now, knew that there was next to nothing to obstruct their path. She was trying to resurrect “Dave’s” spent cock while I was consigning the last traces of her hair to the floor. I heard her sigh gently, recognising the feeling from when Ruth stripped me of my hair. I remembered the wetness from that time and savoured the wetness that I knew was there now. She stayed perfectly still while I finished, but the moment I turned the clippers off, she was turning towards “Dave”, dipping her head to take him in her mouth. It looked like my work was done. The cameras followed her, I slunk out of view, heading for the edge of the set and safety.

I saw Ruth emerge from the shadows, waited for her to tell me to get back and keep up the pretence, but she melded her body with mine, her head angled, her lips pressed to mine. Her tongue was deep in my mouth, entangled with my own. I was surprised, responding in the only way that seemed appropriate. I grabbed her buttocks, squeezing, kneading, feeling her hands start to explore me. She didn’t have the material of a dress to contend with. I felt fingers from all angles, between my buttocks then moving round the front. She would know just what an effect my first experience of acting had had on me. Her fingers were inside me, our relationship no longer professional.

She broke the embrace.

‘I’ll see you in my office later’ she said with a wicked smile. She moved closer to the set, suddenly professional again in that way that she had. I looked at the long dark hair cascading over her shoulders and wanted to pull it off to reveal her baldness. I looked at her shapely hips and buttocks, corralled by the tight dress. I wanted to slide it off her and do things that I’d never thought that I would want to. I looked beyond her to the two people that I had just stripped of their hair. “Dave” was on his knees, his “wife” sitting on the counter, dress hitched up, legs splayed, while “Dave” used his tongue to induce almost comical expressions from her. I think that everyone would appreciate that she liked what he was doing. I’m not sure that she would be enthusiastic about what I had done to her while she was in the chair.

I had seen enough. I turned my back and returned to the dressing room, carefully unclipping the chains that led from my nipples to my clit. It would be a shame to break them. I unzipped the boots and wiggled my toes, pleased to be free of the weight of them. I put a robe on and just sat, wanting a few minutes to myself before I got dressed and headed back to reality. I knew what Ruth had said, but the moment had passed. I had been caught up in something, but now I was alone, my thoughts turned to Martin again. I wondered what he would think if he saw the film. We hadn’t actually become a couple, as I thought that we might. I hadn’t wanted to be involved with him while he was active in the porn business and despite his good intentions, he hadn’t been able to stay away from the action. I was too weak willed to reject his offer of an occasional go on his cock, so had had to compromise my principles just to get a fix of what he was able to offer.

My peace and quiet was interrupted by a knock on the door. I smiled at the weird idea that someone thought they might walk in on me in a state of undress, after the way that I had been parading round outside. The door opened tentatively and a head peered round the partly open door. I saw a bald head.

‘Can I come in?’ the voice asked.

‘Of course’ I said apprehensively.

‘I’m Jane’ she said.

‘Johanna’ I replied, not quite sure how to act. I stood up. ‘I’m sorry, I know you didn’t want to…’ I said, looking at her hairless scalp.

She interrupted me.

‘I just wasn’t prepared for it. Obviously I’d seen Ruth without her wig and she’s told me about you, but it’s just not something that I thought I would ever do.’

‘You hadn’t even considered the possibility of getting your hair cut?’

‘We’d only talked about Charlie getting his done. We had it all worked out, but no-one told you.’

‘Why did you agree to do it?’

‘Ruth can be very persuasive when she wants to be. Anyway, it’ll grow back.’

‘So you’re not going to be waiting for me outside then?’ I asked with a smile.

‘I just wanted to let you know that I’m fine with it, even though it didn’t look like it out there. There’s something about being bald that’s really erotic.’

‘I’m so relieved, you’ve no idea’ I replied.

‘Loved the jewellery by the way’ she said, touching the collar of my gown as if to have another look.

‘I’ve taken them off.’

‘All of it?’

‘Just the chains. I’ve still got my rings in’ I replied.

‘I don’t suppose you’d let me have a look, would you? You’ve got me tempted, even though that’s something else I’ve said I’ll never do’ she said, her fingers advancing through the gap in my gown. She made for the belt with her other hand, shamelessly undoing the knot and opening it wide. She eased the gown off my shoulders, leaving me naked in front of her. Her fingers touched one of my nipple rings. I felt a tingle. Her finger trailed down my torso. I was clearly in demand today. She bent down and then decided to kneel to get a closer look. Her touch was gentle, but determined. She touched the ring in my clit, but her fingers strayed to brush my lips. It was my turn to sigh.
Fingertips became tip of tongue. She was flicking her tongue across my folds, easing my lips apart with her fingers, kissing me, licking me, fingering me. The pent-up excitement of the afternoon was in danger of flooding out. It was my turn to be perched on a table, legs splayed. I wondered what I had done to have enjoyed demonstrations of the skills of both a male and a female porn-person. I was experiencing things that an ordinary mum shouldn’t and I was relishing it. I surprised myself by not feeling awkward, sitting there propped against the wall, my hands drawing her head into me as much as possible.

‘I wanted to cut your hair off as soon as I saw you, you know that?’ I said. I paused, waiting for a response that wasn’t going to come. Not a spoken one anyway. I felt a little nip of her teeth on one of my lips.

‘I didn’t know how to get you in the chair, but once you were in, I just wanted to run the clippers over your head, make you beautiful. I wanted your hair off, wanted to show you that there was nothing to be afraid of’ I said, feeling the rasp of her shorn scalp against my fingertips.

‘You need to let Ruth shave you before you go’ I managed to tell her. She replied with another muffled sound, slightly different from the sounds of enjoyment that had been rising from between my legs so far. She was very good at what she was doing. My head was tipped back, eyes closed while I let all the sensations wash over me. She broke contact, I wasn’t ready. She was back after a moment and I was content again. She was back to licking me more gently, teasing me. I cupped my hands round her head again. The scalp was perfectly smooth, I opened my eyes and looked down. It wasn’t her, it was Ruth, who must have crept in. I didn’t care.

Jane was standing to my side, completely naked now. I reached an arm towards her, wanting to touch her. I watched her squeezing her own nipples, looked down to her groin, marvelling at the prominent lips protruding from her perfectly smooth mound. They were pouting, ripe, inviting. She was close enough for me to fill my mouth with a generous helping of perfect boob. She prised the fingers of my right hand from Ruth’s head and guided them to her pussy. There was something not right about me touching another woman down there, not right about my fascination at the way she felt, not right about the way the I let her guide my finger inside her. I felt warmth and wetness. There was a confidence about the way that the two of them worked together, almost as if it was a coordinated initiation. I couldn’t have asked for better tutors.

I quickly graduated from the beginner’s level and then found myself face to face with the same pouting lips that I had admired from a distance, just a few minutes before. Jane leant back against the table, almost sitting, legs open, arms braced. I stole a glance at Ruth, as if asking for permission. She gave me a look that said “what are you waiting for?” It was no time to be timid. I closed my eyes and plunged in where I never thought that I ever would. My tongue started to burrow, breaking through the surface and then exploring as deep as it could. All pre-conceptions about what I was doing receded. The longer I toyed with her fleshy lips, the more I decided that it was the most natural thing in the world. Every gasp that she uttered made me want to force another one out of her. I heard her say ‘No, please’ but took that as a signal that I was doing okay. I kept going until I felt hands on my head. It was Ruth’s way of telling me that my time was up.

I stood up, looking from Jane to Ruth, licking my lips. They were both smiling at me.

‘Looks like you’ve found a talent you didn’t think you had’ Ruth said, her hand moulded to my mound. I smiled, taking in what had been going on around me while my entire field of vision had consisted of another woman’s bits. Ruth was still dressed, still perfect.

I saw that Ruth had set up a small table next to a chair. The table was just big enough for the can of shaving foam, a razor and a bowl of water. Maybe that was the reason for Jane’s “No, please” and nothing to do with my skills with my tongue. The same look of reluctance spread across her face as I had seen in the salon, but she took Ruth’s outstretched hand and moved to the chair. She sat down and I caressed her soon-to-be-smooth scalp with my fingertips. I positioned a second chair opposite her, but sufficiently out of Ruth’s way. I made myself comfortable, spreading my legs just as Ruth squirted the first gob of foam onto Ruth’s head.

‘You don’t seem to be as shy as you were’ Jane said, watching me trace the length of my pussy lips with a fingertip.

‘And you don’t seem to be a brunette anymore’ I replied. She smiled at me, her own legs and fingers now mirroring mine. I could see Ruth smiling as she started the gentle series of razor strokes that would bring Jane fully into the world of baldness that Ruth and I already inhabited. Jane’s feet and mine were touching, I was becoming one with another woman! The only thing that I could imagine that could make the current scenario sexier would be that someone was shaving me at the same time. Maybe I would suggest that to Ruth as a future scenario, if she hadn’t already hit upon the idea herself? Jane managed to hold out longer than I did, possibly because she was worried about moving too much while there was a razor so near. I shuddered as the waves washed over me, uncaring that two other women were so close and watching me. My everyday existence seemed so far away, abandoned at the door.

Jane sat in the chair, her hands playing over her smooth scalp while she tried to comprehend just how she had managed to get to where she was. Ruth cleared up, while I watched her closely, fascinated by my new-found interest in the female form.

‘You look beautiful’ I told Jane, echoing what Ruth had said to me the first time she shaved my head. I leant across and kissed the top of her head, savouring its smoothness against my lips before heading for the shower in the corner. Thankfully Jane and Ruth left me to it, because I dread to think how long it would have taken if either of them had come in with me. I put on the clothes that I had arrived in, realising too late that I still had Ruth’s larger rings in my nipples. There was a slight outline which betrayed my middle-aged frivolousness. That pleased me and even though it would have been easy to switch to the ones that I had been wearing when I came in, I wanted to go out into the world in the knowledge that anyone with modest observational skills would know that there was life in the old dog yet.

I headed for reception, pleased to see that Ruth was there. Her long blonde hair was now a short red bob. She had such poise, nothing to betray what had gone on in my dressing room so recently.

‘I hope that wasn’t too much. I really don’t want to put you off’ she said.

‘It was fun. Just goes to show that you’re never too old!’

‘You’re a long way from that. You could do really well if you wanted to. I’ve heard the way some of the guys have talked about you. And now it might not be just the guys!’

‘Well, maybe that was just a little lapse’ I replied.

‘I hope not. I was thinking that we could go for lunch sometime. When we can just take our time’ she said promisingly.

‘I do hope you’re not propositioning me’ I said with a smile and a little wave.

I went out into the world, reflecting on what I had done. Would I want to do it again? I really wasn’t sure about the filming part, but I really wanted to see who and what else Ruth could introduce me to.

Katy was at home when I got back.

‘How’d you get on?’ she asked when I joined her in the kitchen.

‘Fine’ I replied.

‘No Martin?’

‘No, no sign of him. Not sure whether that’s good or bad. At least he wasn’t having his way with some starlet.’

‘Or some MILF’ she added.

‘Katy! You know I hate that term’ I chided.

‘You know you love being thought of as a MILF’ she countered.

‘Do not’ I retorted.

I could see that she was about to continue the exchange when something caught her eye.

‘Gone for a bit more bling, I see’ she said, nodding towards my chest.

‘Ruth gave them to me and I just forgot to give them back’ I replied with a smile.

‘Meet anyone nice?’

‘It was a guy and a girl, in their thirties, I think. I didn’t really get a chance for a chat’ I replied. It was true, I didn’t, but only because I was preoccupied with things that I thought I’d never do.

‘So who did you shave?’

‘Both of them. She was a bit of a bonus’ I replied.

‘Really? She didn’t expect it?’

‘It just happened, you know how it is.’

‘And do I have to prepare myself for another film of my mother flaunting her bits?’

‘Might be best’ I said with a wry smile. ‘Now, what’s for dinner? I’m starving.’

A week or so passed and I slipped back into my normal life. I’d put my own rings back in, which signified a return to normality. There was no call from Ruth and I started to wonder whether she was waiting to hear from me. I decided to leave it a little longer.

I was in a bookshop I town, doing what I love to do which is just browsing, in a world of my own for a while and then having a coffee. I hadn’t got as far as the coffee part when I became conscious of someone moving with me from section to section. At first I thought that it was just coincidence, but then I was convinced that he was moving on almost as soon as I moved. I looked across at him and caught him looking at me. He didn’t look like the stalker type, too well presented for that, in his twenties, a nice-looking young man. He knew that he had been rumbled. He attempted a smile. It didn’t get far.

‘I’m sorry, I was just so surprised’ he said, coming closer. There was no-one else within earshot, although a quick scream would attract attention if needed.

‘Surprised at what, if I may ask’ I replied frostily.

‘I wasn’t sure that it was you at first, but then I thought it had to be.’

I tried to wrack my brain to see where I might know him from. He was too old to be a classmate of Katy’s, too young to be someone I’d worked with. I waited for him to explain.

‘I saw the film of you getting that done’ he said, nodding towards my bald head. I felt my stomach lurch. This was not meant to happen. The audience was meant to be people who never left their bedrooms, people who lacked the social skills to talk to another human being face to face. There weren’t meant to be viewers who looked like him.

‘Hope you enjoyed it’ I replied curtly. mortified at what was happening.

‘I’m trying to convince my girlfriend to cut her hair’ he said. He had a girlfriend?

I looked around me, hoping that we were still far enough away from anyone who could overhear us.

‘Good luck’ I replied in the sort of way that you do when accosted by strangers in the street who are trying to sell you something. This young man had escaped from a fantasy world and crossed over into my world. He’d seen me naked and vulnerable. I’d have to move house. Where could I go where I could be sure that there weren’t more of his kind. How could I stop Ruth releasing that second video? How could I put the genie back into the bottle?

‘I don’t suppose I could buy you a coffee, could I?’ he ventured.

I looked at him, a normal looking young man, one of many who wouldn’t draw a second glance from me as I walked through town. I would think of him as someone that Katy might bring home and I would be pleased with that, even if I would view him as marginally old for her. But when you’ve watched your daughter making a porn movie, you tend to be a little more relaxed about the prospect of her bringing home someone slightly older than you’d expect. He was clean, polite, spent time in bookshops. Watched videos of women getting their head shaved. What wasn’t there to like? He could see my hesitation.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I shouldn’t have said anything. I was just so surprised that you’d be in the same shop as me, that’s all.’

‘I didn’t mean to be rude. I’ve never been in this position before’ I replied, mentally kicking myself for my poor choice of phrase.

‘I’ll leave you to it. Nice to have met you’ he said, putting down the book that he’d been holding.

‘No. please. I feel awful now. I’d be happy to have a coffee’ I replied.

We went into the cafeteria-part of the shop, pleased that there was only one other customer. We sat as far away from her as we could. The conversation was stilted and awkward at first, which was probably my fault. I was still shocked at having bumped into someone who had seen my film and had the nerve to admit it. How many others had seen me, but not spoken? I felt exposed. After a few minutes, I relaxed a bit. He was harmless, a junior manager with company a couple of towns away, who just happened to have visited my town at the same time as me. He rarely came here, which was a minor comfort to me. I saw him looking at me occasionally, looking at my bare scalp. We hadn’t talked about hair and haircuts, but it was inevitable that we would.

He told me about how he came to realise that he was interested in hair, how he’d wanted to be a hairdresser, but got channelled into a business career by his parents. He asked me about what made me shave my head, what made me do it on camera and I told him as little as I could, without appearing to be holding back on him. After a few minutes, I concluded that he was a pleasant, well-adjusted young man who just had an interest in women with short hair or no hair. He didn’t know where the interest came from, just as I didn’t know why I looked at women now and tried to imagine them without hair.

‘So, tell me about your girlfriend then, Andy’ I said eventually. I tried to concentrate on what he was saying rather than the fact that he had sat and watched a video of me in the altogether. An image of him sitting in front of his computer pleasuring himself while watching me, lodged in my mind. I’d met him a few minutes before and knew that he’d seen my tits, seen my erect nipples, had his cock in his hand. He’d probably cum while he was watching me. There was something very exciting about that, but the prude in me really struggled with the idea.

‘Her name’s Cara, she’s a fitness instructor. She’s got long blonde hair that she wears in a ponytail most of the time.’

So he told me three things about her and one of those concerned her hair.

‘Does she know about your little interest?’

‘She knows that I like short hair, she knows that I’d like her to cut hers.’

‘But she doesn’t know that you watch videos of other women getting their hair cut?’

‘No.’

‘Don’t you think you should tell her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you going to?’

‘No.’

We paused while someone came too close, before deciding that they’d rather sit in a booth on the other side of the room, far enough away. A phone rang. His.

‘Hi, Cara. In the bookshop. Just having a coffee. No, I couldn’t see anything.’ he said, his comments punctuated by silences while his girlfriend quizzed him. He ended the call.

‘She’s coming to meet me. She’s been looking for clothes. Hates it when I trail along behind her’ he said.

‘I’d better go’ I said.

‘Please, stay. Then you can see her for yourself.’

‘And how are you going to explain who I am?’

‘An old neighbour?’

‘Less of the “old” if you don’t mind’ I replied.

We perfected my cover-story in the few minutes it took for Cara to get to us. I saw his head peer over my shoulder to attract her attention when she appeared and there she was, the girlfriend. Slim, graceful, pretty, long blonde hair in a ponytail, just as he’d described. I could see her looking at my bald head as we shook hands formally. It made me feel old. She didn’t say anything. I was introduced as a former neighbour rather than an “old” neighbour.

Andy went to get her a coffee, leaving us with an awkward silence.

‘Buy anything nice?’ I asked, nodding towards the large carrier bag she’d tucked under the table.

‘Just some shoes.’

That didn’t get us far. I saw her look at my bald head again.

‘Went a bit mad. Could decide what to do with it, so I cut it off’ I volunteered casually.

‘Wow! I thought…’

‘Nothing like that. Just felt like freeing myself from the hassle of washing and conditioning. Told the stylist to take it all off.’

‘Just like that?’

‘It’s only hair.’

‘So it’s just like a fresh start. Start over with a new head of hair?’ she said uncertainly.

‘Not at all. I keep it shaved now. Every couple of days. Can’t imagine having hair again. It’s such a waste of time’ I replied.

‘Wow!’ she said again. ‘Was it long, before..?’

‘Shoulder length.’

‘And you just cut it off, just like that?’

‘Best thing I’ve ever done.’

Andy came back, his attention fully-focussed on an over-full cup of coffee. He spilt a bit in the saucer as he put it down. He looked apologetic.

‘I was just telling Cara about cutting my hair’ I said.

‘You do look different now. I barely recognised you’ he said, trying to keep up the pretence.

‘He keeps telling me I should cut mine’ she volunteered.

‘You should. The amount of time you spend in the shower, you should’ he said.

‘I suppose you have to keep it tied back for work’ I ventured.

‘Yeah. Otherwise it just becomes a sweaty mess’ she said. I tried to imagine what she’d look like as a sweaty mess before telling myself that there was something very wrong about thinking along those lines.

‘So why don’t you cut it?’ I asked. The demon was coming out to play.

‘I don’t know. I’m just used to having long hair, I suppose.’

‘So was I and then it just takes an instant to realise that life would be so much simpler without it’ I said.

‘You still have to shave though, so you still have that to do.’

‘You’re right, but I shave once every two or three days. In between I don’t have to think about it, brushing it, styling it. Nothing.’

‘What does your husband think?’ she asked.

‘There isn’t one. I’ve only had positive remarks from people close to me though. But I did it for me and I keep it like this for me. If no-one else likes it, that’s their problem.’

‘But you can say that, you’re older’ she said, before trying to reel the comment back in.

‘I wish I’d done it years ago’ I replied, trying not to react to her embarrassment.

‘You should think about it’ Andy said.

‘She should just do it’ I said. She looked at us in turn.

‘Just like that?’

I nodded.

‘And you want me to have short hair?’ she asked, looking at Andy. I knew what Andy was thinking, but didn’t know if he could say it.

‘I’ve told you often enough’ he replied.

‘I didn’t think you meant it. I just thought you were moaning about me hogging the bathroom’ she said.

I could see him trying to think of an answer.

‘I’ll come in with you, if you like. I’d even do it for you, if you don’t want to go to a salon’ I offered.

She looked at me. Andy looked at me.

‘Have you cut hair before?’ he asked.

I nodded, not thinking it appropriate to go into detail about my recent haircutting experience.

‘Women’s hair?’ he pressed.

I nodded again. I could only imagine the envy that he was trying to suppress.

‘You think I’m just going to cut my hair off, just like that?’ she said to him.

‘It’s not “just like that”. I’ve suggested it loads of times’ he replied.

‘You’ve moaned about me taking too long in the bathroom loads of times.’

‘If you didn’t have to spend time doing your hair, you’d be quicker, so I wouldn’t moan about the length of time you took to get ready’ he countered.

‘So you just want me to do it so you can get in the bathroom sooner?’

‘I want you to do it because I think you’d look sexy’ he replied.

‘So you don’t think I look sexy with my hair the way it is?’

I could see this going round in circles.

‘I need to leave you two to it, I think. It was lovely to see you again, Andy’ I said, trying to maintain the pretence. They both looked at me.

‘Joanna, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t bicker like that’ Cara said.

‘You two need to be on your own to talk things over. It’s a big step’ I said, hoping that my smile was a reassuring one.

‘So you’re going to leave me at the mercy of Edward Scissorhands here?’ she said.

‘Afraid so’ I replied. If only she knew that she was probably safer with him than with me.

‘So you’re not going to hold my hand?’ she asked.

It was time for Andy and I to look at her. There was sufficient in my expression to cause her to continue.

‘I won’t know what to ask for’ she said.

‘Ask for what you want them to do’ I said simply.

‘What do you think I should do?’ she asked.

‘I think you should send Andy here for a walk and we’ll talk about it without any pressure. What do you think Andy, could you amuse yourself for a while?’ I asked.

‘Yeah. Sure. Cara?’ he said, slightly flustered. He knew that he was closer than he’d ever been to a breakthrough and he was getting banished at a critical juncture. Did he want to be there or was it important that he got what he wanted, however it came about?

‘I’ll look after her’ I said. ‘And don’t be getting your hopes up. We’re just going to talk’ I said to him, watching as he stuffed his phone into his jeans pocket. Cara promised to ring him when she was ready. I watched him walk away. We looked at each other. She was examining my bald head, I was looking at her blonde hair, restrained in a scrunchie.

‘I don’t know what to think’ she began.

‘What about?’

‘Why he wants me to cut my hair so much. I thought men liked women with long hair’ she said.

‘You’d be surprised. Some like women with short hair. Not every woman you see with short hair has done it for herself. Some do it because their man prefers it. Because it turns him on’ I explained, wondering if I’d said too much.

‘Do you think Andy’s one of those?’ she asked.

I paused before I answered.

‘I know he is’ I said. She looked at me.

‘Have you always known?’ she asked.

I took a deep breath. Should I tell her the truth? I couldn’t bring myself to. It wasn’t my place. I could be destroying their relationship. It was up to the two of them to work their way through it.

‘Let’s just say that he never really looked at me before I cut my hair. Now I fascinate him’ I explained. It was true. He’d never seen me before he watched my video. Now I really did fascinate him.

‘It is an unusual look.’

‘It is. But it’s a strong, confident look. Believe me, I’ve had more opportunities without hair than I had with hair. Everyone has hair, just about, and don’t do much about it. Doing something dramatic announces that you live on your own terms, want to experience things, regardless.’ I’d almost convinced myself.

‘So you’re saying he finds it a turn-on. The thought of me with short hair?’

‘The thought of it turns him on. Just think what he’d be like, faced with the reality of it’ I said.

‘I’m amazed I’ve been so blind, not picked up on it myself’ she said.

‘You wouldn’t really. You’d have just thought that he was reacting to the bathroom thing. If you’d seen him look at me though, you’d have picked up on it.’

‘And he wants me to do it, too?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘But what would I tell people? When I saw you, I thought you were ill. That’s what they’d think about me. What would I say?’

‘You’re a fit, healthy young woman. You lead an active life and you’ll have done something that is perfectly in keeping with that way of life’ I told her.

‘So you think I should get rid of this?’ she asked, grabbing hold of the pony tail that she had just deftly flicked round to the front. I looked at her and smiled.

‘Silly question’ she said. She smiled. ‘I still can’t believe he’s not been more upfront about it’ she added.

‘In his mind, he probably has, but since he’s not seen any positive signs from you, he hasn’t pursued it.’

‘Would it not be easier for him just to tell me that he wants me to cut my hair off?’

‘In his own way, he has’ I replied.

‘So now what do I do?’ she asked.

‘That’s up to you. You’ve got do what makes you happy and then think about what would make Andy happy.’

‘But I’m happy with my hair like this and he’d be happy with it short?’

‘Okay, then. Would it make you happy to make him happy?’

‘Of course.’

‘Then make him happy’ I said simply.

‘Where did you get yours done?’ she asked after a pause. It was the obvious question. I should have anticipated it, but hadn’t. I pondered whether I should introduce her to Ruth. That would require a whole lot of explaining and would probably lead to Andy being exposed for having a thing about hair. I tried to think what to say, but realised that I wasn’t very accomplished at lies and deceit.

‘I didn’t get it done in a high street salon’ I said. She waited. there was another obvious question hanging in the air, unspoken.

‘I had it done by someone who films haircuts and sells them’ I said. There it was, out in the open. I could see cogs whirring in her head.

‘Why? I mean who wants to watch someone getting their hair cut?’ she said.

‘Some people are just interested. Why do some people go plane spotting? It makes no sense to other people, but holds a certain fascination for enthusiasts’ I said, wondering just how much I was going to have to say.

‘So you’ve got like a souvenir?’ she asked. I nodded. ‘Have you watched it again?’

‘A couple of times’ I confessed. I started to sense that I had made a mistake.

‘You got paid to cut your hair?’ I nodded again.

‘Maybe that’s what I should do? May as well get something out of it’ she said.

‘Wouldn’t it be enough, just to make Andy happy?’ I asked.

‘I could make him happy and buy us a treat, a meal out or something. How much do they pay, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘It depends.’

‘On?’

‘On how much you let them cut off. What you look like. How they do it. Things like that. To be honest, you’d be better to pop into a salon now and see if they can do it. Andy’s going to be wondering what’s keeping you.’

‘I quite like the idea of having it filmed’ she said. She would! That’s young people for you. Want to film everything they see and do, even if they never actually watch it again.

‘But you won’t be doing it on the spur of the moment then, will you?’ I objected.

‘But you couldn’t have either’ she said uncertainly.

‘Let’s just say that I knew that I was going to have my hair cut, but didn’t know what they would do. It was that part that was spontaneous. With you, you had no idea when you came out that you’d be even thinking about cutting your hair. You should just walk into a salon and do it, rather than wait for arrangements to be made.’

‘Maybe you’re right. But that supposes that I’m actually going to do it’ she said. My relief was palpable. I had navigated the treacherous waters around Andy’s viewing habits and come out unscathed, as far as I could tell anyway.

‘Come on, let’s go’ I said, pushing my chair back. She looked at me hesitantly, but then stood up, gathering her bags.

‘Andy’ll be wondering where I’ve got to’ she said.

‘He’ll wait’ I replied with a smile. We headed down the stairs to the ground floor and back out onto the street.

‘Do you know anywhere?’ she asked. I stopped and looked at her.

‘You know, Cara, you don’t have to do anything. Andy’ll understand. You mustn’t feel like you’re being pressurised at all. If you’re going to do something, it has to be for the right reasons, otherwise you’ll resent him every time you look in the mirror.’

‘You’ve been so patient though’ she said.

‘Don’t worry about me. It’s been lovely meeting you, but I’ll go home happy, whatever you choose to do.’

‘I want Andy to be happy, that’s all I want.’

I tried to remember a time when I could have said something like that.
It had been a long time. I squeezed her hand.

‘Your choice’ I said. I could see her battling with herself.

‘You choose for me’ she said. I looked at her.

‘You’re sure?’

She nodded.

‘No pressure then’ I laughed. We started to walk again. I wasn’t sure where to go. I wracked my brain. I wondered about going to see if Darren was free at the salon that I went into and left disappointed, before Ruth stepped into the breach. They couldn’t take me when I walked in off the street, so what were the chances of them being able to take Cara without an appointment? Slim, I decided. I took a right turn and headed for the mall. There was a walk-in place there, so at least we could see without going in what the likelihood of getting a haircut straight away was. I wondered whether I was diminishing the experience for her, taking her into a soulless place like a mall salon. I decided that it was preferable to betraying Andy’s secret.

We walked down the middle of the mall, not committing to going in anywhere. I looked to my left as we approached the salon. It was empty. Cara was out of luck. I stopped a few yards past it and turned to her.

‘Looks like you could get in there without waiting’ I said.

‘Aren’t you coming in too? I won’t know what to ask for.’

‘I told you, just tell them what you want to do.’

‘I said that you could choose.’

‘I thought you meant the salon.’

‘I did, but you know what Andy wants. You tell them.’

‘And you’re going to be perfectly okay with that?’ I asked.

‘I’m doing it for him, whatever you say about me being happy with it. If he’s happy, I’m happy.’

I looked at her with the look that I used to give Katy when she was choosing something that I didn’t think she’d like. I headed for the salon. Either Cara followed me or she didn’t. We got to the reception desk almost at the same time. The only sign of life was in the room at the back of the salon. We must have triggered some sort of signal when we came in, because a young woman emerged into the salon without any prompting from us. She put on her welcoming smile as she walked towards us. I looked for signs of surprise when she looked at me, but there was nothing to suggest that there was anything out of the ordinary.

‘Hi, what can I do for you?’ she asked as she reached the reception desk. I had already done my preliminary assessment. Twenties, could do with losing a couple of pounds round the middle, but attractive. Shortish hair, black. Natural? Possibly not. Nice mover, nice figure. Would I? Yes, I would.

‘Do you do headshaves?’ I asked, thinking it best to get down to business straight away.

‘Of course’ she replied, as if it was a silly question. I didn’t dare look at Cara.

‘I could do with a bit of a refresh, but my friend here wants hers done too’ I said.

I looked at Cara for a reaction. There was none visible.

‘So we’re shaving you both’ she said, looking from me to Cara.

‘Yes’ Cara replied.

‘Okeydokey’ she said. ‘Let me just give Billy a shout’ she said, turning away.

‘You have her. She seems nice’ I said.

‘But that means you get the guy. Are you okay with that?’ she replied.

‘It’s more important that you’re comfortable’ I replied, conscious that I’d intended to hold her hand while she had her hair cut.

Footsteps were coming back. Our fears were unfounded. “Billy” was actually “Billie”, a slightly older stylist, but not by much. She also passed the “Would I?” test, but then very few women had failed it since it had become a factor for me. She had long fire-engine-red hair, definitely out of a bottle, but it was cheery.

‘Hi there’ Billie said.

We returned the greeting.

‘If you’d like to go with Billie’ the first stylist said to me. I looked at Cara and squeezed her hand.

‘It’s okay, you can sit next to each other if you want’ the first stylist said.

‘That’d be nice, thank you’ I said. Cara was worryingly quiet.

‘I’m Jenny, by the way.’

‘Joanna’ I replied and then introduced Cara to Billie.

Neither of them was chatty, which I really liked. It was all business. Billie had got the shaving foam out while the gown was still settling around me. I hadn’t really meant to have mine done, but it had been a couple of days and it was a little treat to have someone else do it, so I thought why not? I wondered whether seeing me getting razor shaved would put Cara off. I tried to pay more attention to what was going on round her chair than what Billie was doing.

‘When you say “shaved”, you really mean shaved, like your friend?’

‘I think so’ Cara replied.

‘We need to be sure before I start. I can’t put it back on’ she said with a chuckle. She had busied herself with taking Cara’s hair out of the ponytail and brushed it out so that it lay across her shoulders in its full glory. I could see why she hadn’t associated Andy’s complaints about the time she took to get ready with actually cutting her hair. As far as she knew, he loved her for what she was and that was an attractive young woman with long blonde hair. Except that I knew better. Would he be content with Cara as a short-haired woman? Probably, but my outlook was different now.

I reached a hand out from under the gown. She did the same and I squeezed her hand to encourage her.

‘I want to be like Joanna’ she said resolutely.

Jenny didn’t need to be told twice. The clippers were taken from their hook, the switch was flicked and Cara was looking into her lap. Before she knew it, the first hank of hair from the back of her head was separated from her scalp. A second pass came and then another. There was a sense of purpose about Jenny that was at odds with the leisurely strokes that Billie was using on my scalp. Jenny was clearly determined to catch up as quickly as she could. I squeezed Cara’s hand and wondered what was going through her mind.

For me, it was one more scenario that I had tried and found to be a good way to get wet. I wanted to watch directly, but was having to content myself with the reflection in the mirror. I could see long tresses almost pulled away from her head, although I’m sure it was nothing like that. I thought it might have been better to cut it short first, but Jenny knew best. Cara’s head was level now, the clippers in front of the ear on the side nearest to me. I watched them slide up the side of her head, come back down and then slide back up even higher. Jenny was working very quickly indeed and had got Cara past the point of no return very rapidly. A quick change of angle of attack and the first strip was off her crown. That merited another comforting squeeze. I was barely aware of Billie’s languid strokes, just thinking how much easier it is when someone else does it for you.

I watched more and more of Cara’s scalp emerge. The guardless clippers had made light work of the hair that Cara had cherished so much. Hair that she had never dreamt of cutting and had it not been for a chance meeting between a fetishist and an object of his fetish, she would have still been a long-haired woman. Now she was sitting next to me, shorn and forlorn, her hair in piles around her. It made me wetter.

‘You’ve got a lovely shaped head for it, hasn’t she Billie’ Cara’s stylist said, one hand rubbing over the scene of the crime, scattering any evidence that was left.

‘Lovely’ Billie replied, seemingly unwilling to be distracted from her own task.

The clippers went silent and Jenny asked for the can of foam.

‘Just a sec’ Billie said. She picked up the can and squeezed a generous dollop on the top of my head before passing the can over. She was going round for another go. I watched in the mirror as Billie spread foam over my scalp at the same time as Jenny smeared some over Cara’s. Another squeeze of the hand was called for. I closed my eyes, my work done. To me that was a sign of wanting to lose myself in the sensations of what Billie was doing. There was little left of Cara’s transformation now, so I could enjoy my second shaving. I still had pangs of conscience about having lured Cara down a path that she didn’t want to go, even though I thought that she would enjoy it once she’d got used to it. I thought about the two of us entering the salon, her with a full head of hair and me with a couple of day’s growth, barely a rasp. We’d both be leaving looking the same, with the same lack of hair. There was something that made me feel guilty. She was losing so much, caught up in other people’s fantasies. Images flashed through my head, oddments that I’d seen on the internet. I thought of a way to redress the balance.

‘Could you do my eyebrows too?’ I said, without opening my eyes.

I wasn’t sure whether she’d heard me or not, because there was no response. I wondered what I’d look like without eyebrows. Would it be really odd? I realised that she had heard me when I felt a light touch above one eye and then the other. The touch of her fingertip was followed by the sensation of the razor. Would I regret this little gesture of contrition? Maybe, but the very fact of having asked for it was making me more aroused than I would have imagined. I abandoned myself to the pleasure of what was happening to me.

What seemed like only moments later, Billie intruded on my enjoyment by telling me that it was time to be rinsed off. I opened my eyes, wanting to wait until she was completely finished before I looked at myself, but knowing that there was no way that I had the willpower to do it. I looked in the mirror and chuckled. What would Katy say when I got home? That was so strange just seeing skin above my eyes! I joined Billie at the basin and lay back as she instructed, wishing that there were someone to ease my legs apart and lick me. Sadly there wasn’t, so I had to make do with the sensation of water and fingertips on my scalp. I’d have a bit of work to do when I found somewhere private, but not much. I was aware of other people nearby, the sound of more water.

When Billie sat me up and wrapped my head in a towel, I saw Cara reclined at the next basin. My over-active mind kicked in again. I wanted to run my hands up her firm body, lick the rivulets of water from her smooth scalp. Billie was patting my head dry while I stood, possibly having similar thoughts to myself, I didn’t know. I watched Jenny do a final swirl of the jet and then Cara was done. She sat up, the enveloping towel chasing her as she moved. It caught her, encircling her dripping head. I tried to read the expression on her face, but she was giving nothing away. She looked at me. I smiled at her and waited for the few seconds while Jenny dried her.

In moments we were both gownless, standing up and looking at each other in the expanse of the brightly-lit salon.

‘Dare I look? Cara asked.

‘Of course. You look stunning’ I told her, reaching up to stroke her scalp. I could see the tiniest flinch, as if it hadn’t really happened, unless anyone confirmed it by touching her. It most certainly had happened. She was smooth, she was beautiful. I took her hand and led her to a full-length mirror at the side of the salon. She stared at herself.

‘Oh my God! Is that me?’ she exclaimed.

‘Yes it is and you’re beautiful’ I told her.

‘He won’t be moaning about me taking too long in the bathroom now, will he?’ she said.

‘That he won’t.’

I’d better ring him, tell him I’m ready’ she said.

She pulled out her phone and I went and paid while she talked in hushed tones. I thanked Jenny and Billie for what they had done, told them how nice it had been just to sit in peace and enjoy their work.

Cara and I waited in the mall for Andy to get to us. We childishly hid behind a pillar so that he wouldn’t see us until the last moment. When I saw him approach, I told Cara to wait and let me go first.

‘Hi Andy’ I said.

‘Hi’ he replied, the subtle change in my appearance not escaping his attention.

‘Like it?’ I asked.

‘Just when I thought you were already perfect’ he replied.

Cara clearly heard him complimenting another woman in terms that she would have expected would be reserved for her. She emerged from hiding and stood, awaiting his verdict. He said nothing. He just looked at her for what seemed like an age. He turned to me.

‘Thank you’ he said.

‘I think it’s Cara you should be thanking, I told him. He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

‘You look beautiful’ he said. It was exactly what she needed to hear. I could see her relief.

‘You really think so?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Better than with hair?’

‘Yes.’

‘Weirdo’ she replied with a laugh.

They kissed. I felt surplus to requirements.

‘I’d better leave you two to it’ I said.

They broke their embrace. Andy hugged me. I wanted more than that.

‘Take her home and show her how grateful you are’ I whispered.

‘What was that?’ Cara asked.

‘She said I’ve got to take you home and fuck you senseless’ he said, surprising both of us.

‘I’m sure she didn’t, but it sounds good to me’ Cara replied with a laugh.

Andy let her go and reached out to shake my hand. I felt something there, something that he didn’t want Cara to know about.

‘Keep in touch, won’t you?’ he said.

‘I will. Lovely to have met you Cara’ I replied, slipping the piece of paper into my pocket as I turned away.

When I got to a safe distance, I looked at what he had given me. It was his phone number. Maybe I hadn’t seen the last of them after all. I headed for home and when I arrived, I made straight for the bedside table to get my faithful battery-powered companion. I had already started to take my clothes off while hurrying up the stairs and in moments I had finished the job. I wanted to put something sexy on, but my need was too pressing. I moved over to the mirror, trying to take in everything at once.

I looked at my immaculate scalp, my browless face, and my pierced nipples. I slid the vibrator home, trying to silence it by muffling it with my pussy. I gasped, trying to recall as much of the afternoon as I could. I closed my eyes and pictured Cara sitting expectantly in front of the mirror, I pictured her blonde hair just before the clippers took their first piece. I pictured her expression when she saw herself perfect and hairless. I eased myself onto the bed and slid the vibrator deep, my eyes firmly closed.

I lay back and tried to get more comfortable, easing the vibrator out, touching it to my clit.

‘Here, let me’ I heard a voice say gently.

Katy, fuck! I opened my eyes. Katy was standing there as if it were the most natural thing ever.

‘Christ Katy, no. I didn’t know you were home. No, get out’ I blurted out.

‘Shhhh’ she said, laying her fingers over mine on the end of the vibrator. She pressed gently against my hand, pushing the vibrator in. Our eyes were locked together.

‘Lie back, just let me’ she said gently.

If you had to come up with a list of things that were wrong in more ways than anything else, this would be at the top. I had tensed up, but that only served to tighten my pussy-grip on the source of my embarrassment. Our eyes exchanged argument and counter-argument. I leaned back, supporting myself on my locked arms.

‘Close your eyes and just let it happen’ she said.

‘You know we’re both going to Hell for this, don’t you?’ I said, gasping as she slid the thing right in. Our eyes were still locked.

‘There’s plenty of time for me to better this’ she replied with a smile.

‘You’re going to have to go some to beat using a vibrator on your mother’ I replied.

‘I like your eyebrows’ she said, pressing home a little further.

‘I’m shaving yours as soon as I can get up, just to remind you what a bad girl you are every time you look in the mirror.’

I still couldn’t believe that I was half-lying there like that while my daughter was slipping a vibrator in and out of me. In a way, it was depraved and disgusting, in another it was a tremendous turn-on. I was powerless to resist though, after what I’d witnessed in the salon, I just had to get this out of my system.

Katy slid the vibrator out. I wasn’t ready for that. I needed more. She started playing with the ring in my clit. A vibrator was one thing, but this was altogether too personal.

‘Katy, no, please’ I said, just as a wave forced my head back.

‘Isn’t that better?’ she asked.

‘No, Katy, please’ I begged. She had fingers inside me.

‘Think about getting your eyebrows shaved off. Think how that made you feel. Think about it making you wet’ she was saying in her best porn-actress voice. It wasn’t Katy if I closed my eyes. I was close to comimg now. She carried on, her fingers getting more urgent. I supported myself on one elbow, my freed-up hand pinching my nipples in a bid to speed the process up. Her fingers slowed, they stopped. They withdrew. They were back. There were too many. I wasn’t big enough. I was stretching. She was stretching me like she had all those years ago, only now she was trying to get back in. The sensation changed. Her fingers went back to the frantic movement. I threw my head right back and came, not caring anymore how I’d got there. I lay back, crumpled, spent. I’m not sure how long I was like that.

A voice called up from the kitchen.

‘Mum, do you want tea?’

I opened my eyes. Looked at my clothes lying around on the floor. I saw the vibrator lying there, desperately in need of a home. I tried to tell myself that nothing had just happened.

‘Please’ I called downstairs. I got up slowly and went to revive myself in the shower, wondering if I could ever face Katy again.

I eventually went down, wearing just a summer dress to go with my new minimalist look. No bra, no knickers, no brows.

‘Hiya’ Katy said breezily, sitting at the kitchen table with two cups in front of her.

‘Katy, that must never happen again. In fact, it never happened’ I said, taking a seat.

‘What never happened?’ she said, a wry smile on her face.

‘You know’ I told her.

‘You did tell me that you want me to help out around the house a bit more’ she replied.

‘There’s some things that I prefer to do myself.’

‘Sometimes it’s nice to have a helping hand’ she replied.

I picked up my cup, pleased that it had cooled enough for a first sip.

‘Tell me about your day’ she said as I put the cup down. I did, in as much detail as I could remember. I watched her smile.

‘What?’

‘No wonder you felt the need’ she replied.

‘I’m still shaving your eyebrows off.’

‘Don’t you think Ruth would want to film something like that?’

‘Probably, but you’re my daughter and you do what I say’ I said, trying to keep a straight face.

‘Since when?’

‘You’d used to’ I replied, a hint of regret in my voice.

She nodded and took a sip of her tea.

‘Things have changed, mum’ she replied, without a hint of irony. I took another sip of my tea, trying to picture Katy without eyebrows.

‘You know, you should go bald again’ I suggested.

‘Why do you say that?’

‘It suits you.’

She looked at me and shrugged.

‘Maybe I’ll get it done at the same time I get my eyebrows done. If you’re paying’ she chuckled, running a hand through her cropped hair. She smiled and raised her eyebrows at me.

‘Deal’ I said. I finished my tea, still embarrassed about what had happened, but suspecting that it wouldn’t be the last time that Katy and I trespassed into each other’s more intimate world.