Corkscrew and Curls

Katie (The Hairdresser)

I’ve been a hairdresser for ten years now, and one thing I’ve learned is that wine and hair transformations often lead to… unpredictable situations. So, when my sister, Ella, called me and said her wife, Laura, wanted a perm and asked if I could do it at my place, I agreed—but I also knew that they’d most likely be stocked up on wine when they arrived.

Fast forward to that evening. My spare room was set up as a home salon, with a salon chair positioned in front of a workstation and mirror. My tools were all laid out on the counter, and the supplies were in a cupboard to the side.

Ella and Laura arrived about 5.30 as arranged, and as expected, Ella had a bag containing several bottles of wine. Ella was soon buzzing around, topping up everyone’s glasses, while Laura sat in the chair with her long, dark hair loose and ready for transformation.

“Ready to go curly?” I teased, snapping my gloves on.

“Absolutely!” Laura said, smiling nervously. She’d been toying with the idea of a perm for months, and tonight she was finally taking the plunge.

After washing Laura’s hair in the bathroom, I sectioned it before wrapping it carefully around the medium perm rods, with Laura passing me end papers as we went along. Laura’s hair was long and thick, so it took a while, but the wine made the process feel less tedious. Ella hovered nearby, watching every movement I made like a hawk.

“You’re really into this, aren’t you?” I said to her, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed, her cheeks flushing. “I just want to make sure Laura gets what she wants.”

But it was more than that. Ella’s eyes lingered on every curl I rolled, her fascination unmistakable.

Once Laura’s hair was fully rolled, I applied the perm solution, making sure to saturate each rod. The strong smell filled the room, and Ella wrinkled her nose but stayed close, sipping her wine.

We sat and chatted while the solution processed. Laura was giggling and swiping through her phone, but Ella couldn’t take her eyes off Laura’s hair.

When the time came, I rinsed Laura’s hair, applied the cold neutralizer, waited, then rinsed again and finally removed the rods. Her dark hair sprang into glossy corkscrew like curls that framed her face beautifully.

“Oh my god, I love it!” Laura said, grinning at her reflection in the mirror.

Ella ran her fingers through Laura’s curls, her face lighting up. “You look amazing,” she said, but there was something deeper in her voice—a mixture of admiration and… envy?

I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then Laura spoke up, her voice playful and mischievous.

“Maybe you should get one, too, Ella,” she said.

Ella froze, laughing nervously. “Oh, no, I don’t think so.”

But Laura wasn’t letting it go. “Come on, Katie has everything here. Live a little!”

Ella (The Wife)

I should’ve known something was up when Laura started teasing me about getting a perm. She was giddy from the wine and clearly loving her new curls, but the idea of me in that chair? No way.

“Katie, back me up here,” I said, trying to deflect.

But Katie just shrugged, a sly grin on her face. “Why not? It’s only fair, and I have everything here.”

Before I knew it, Laura and Katie were both looking at me expectantly, and I felt a knot of panic in my stomach. I wasn’t about to let them bully me into this.

But then Laura said something that made me shiver.

“You’ve been awfully interested in this whole process, haven’t you?” she said, her voice low and teasing. “Maybe a little too interested.”

Katie raised an eyebrow, and I felt my cheeks flush.

“What are you talking about?” I said, laughing nervously.

Laura leaned closer, her wine glass in hand. “Come on, Ella. You’ve been staring at me this whole time. It’s like you’re… really enjoying and wanting this.”

My heart raced. She wasn’t wrong, I had been fascinated. Watching Katie work on Laura’s hair, seeing the transformation take shape, had stirred something in me. But I wasn’t about to admit that.

“Fine,” I said, my voice shaky. “But just a loose wave, okay?”

Laura (The Wife with the New Perm)

I couldn’t believe Ella had agreed to it. Honestly, I’d been half-joking when I suggested she get a perm, but when I saw the look on her face—the mix of curiosity and nervous excitement—I knew I had to push her.

Katie didn’t waste any time, she washed Ella’s hair, and then she started sectioning it. Unlike mine, which is long and thick, Ella’s hair is shorter and fine, so the process of winding the rods went a lot faster, aided by me passing the end papers, but the rods looked a lot thinner.

“Loose wave, huh?” Katie said, smirking as she rolled the first section of hair. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Ella was squirming in the chair, clutching her wine glass like a lifeline.

By the time Katie applied the perm solution, Ella was visibly tense. “This stuff smells awful,” she muttered.

“Beauty is pain, and this is the point of no return.” I teased, running my fingers through my own curls.

As the solution processed, I couldn’t help but feel a little smug. Ella had been so critical of me for hesitating to get a perm, and now here she was, about to join the curly club.

When Katie finally rinsed out the solution, applied the neutralizer and removed the rods, I couldn’t stop laughing. Ella’s “loose wave” had turned into tight, springy curls that framed her face in a wild halo.

“I look ridiculous!” Ella exclaimed, staring at herself in the mirror.

“You look adorable,” I said, still giggling.

Katie grinned. “Give it a few days. You’ll love it.”

Afterwards

The rest of the evening was a blur of laughter, wine, and selfies. By the end of the night, we were all sitting in the living room, Ella and I with our heads full of curls and our cheeks sore from smiling.

But as I looked at Ella, still fussing with her new curls, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. She might not have planned on getting a perm, but it suited her more than she’d ever admit.

And maybe, just maybe, she’ll go through the process again in the future, and keep her curls, I know I will.

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