Eric Longhairbarber
Destiny
After sorting out the business matters, I showed both ladies to the front door. Only now, as Jolande and her friend walked ahead of me, did I notice that Destiny also had a lovely ponytail. Her hair, however, was slightly shorter – it just covered her shoulder blades – and dark brown. Whilst they were putting on their coats, I looked at Destiny and said, ‘Your hair looks great too, by the way.’ Jolande looked from me to Destiny and said, ‘Yes, Destiny, short hair would look nice on you too. I’ve done this for you. What will you do for me?’ Destiny swallowed and looked anxiously in my direction.
An awkward silence fell as I kept staring intently at Destiny. She looked away. I smiled and said reassuringly, ‘Don’t let it get to you, girl. Have a lovely evening!’ Destiny breathed a sigh of relief and opened the front door. As the girls walked out, Jolande glanced back over her shoulder for a moment. She gave me a knowing look and I winked.
Regret
After a few days, I did start to regret that I could no longer brush Jolande’s beautiful long hair – at least not for quite some time. Every now and then, I’d open the box where I’d stored the long ponytail and stroke it gently, filled with a sense of melancholy. During Jolande’s next visit, we tactfully avoided the subject, and things went on like that for a couple of weeks.
In the fourth or fifth week, I tried to steer the conversation towards Destiny. I asked Jolande in a neutral tone how she was getting on and so on. Jolande said bluntly: ‘You’d quite like to do something with Destiny’s hair too, wouldn’t you?’ I confirmed this with a laugh. ‘I’d certainly like to give her a good brush-through at least – for want of anything better.’ ‘I’m afraid she won’t be too keen on that. But I’ll put the idea to her. And money works wonders.’ A glimmer of hope appeared. I gratefully stroked Jolande’s short hair.
A phone-call
Destiny rang me just a day later. In a quasi-light-hearted tone, she said: ‘This is Destiny, Jolande’s friend, you know.’ After some awkward back-and-forth, we agreed that I’d be allowed to give Destiny’s hair a thorough brush at least once. She would come round when Jolande was with me, because she, too, needed the reassurance of having a friend with her. She wanted to avoid me catching her off guard with the scissors. I was somewhat surprised by this reasoning, because Jolande, of all people, had indirectly hinted that she’d quite like to see those scissors in Destiny’s long locks. Anyway, the arrangement was made.
That Friday, just as Jolande had finished her cleaning, Destiny rang the doorbell. When I opened the door, I was even more struck by her beautiful appearance than I had been the first time. As she hung up her coat, I could see the lovely, full, dark reddish-brown ponytail dangling over her shoulder blades. Her hair rippled and shone like silk. I showed her the way to the study, where I asked her to take a seat in the chair by the desk. I’d placed a mirror on the desk again. Jolande joined us, greeted her friend, and I asked Jolande to bring us something to drink.
Whilst Jolande was busy in the kitchen, I sat down behind Destiny and carefully removed the hair tie from her ponytail. A cascade of wonderfully soft hair fell over her shoulders. It was – as I’d said – dark blonde with a reddish tinge. She shook it loose and I could smell the herbal shampoo she’d used. I ran my fingers through it, combing it out. There were hardly any tangles. Meanwhile, Jolande returned with three glasses of soft drink. She handed us a glass each and sat down in a corner with hers to watch. I took a sip, picked up a brush and ran it from top to bottom through Destiny’s gorgeous hair. Although it wasn’t as long as Jolande’s hair had been, it was definitely worth the effort.
A strange dialogue
‘Doesn’t it give you a backache, Jolande? Your hair, I mean?’ Destiny asked unexpectedly, whilst I was busy. ‘Ha ha, no, not at all. I did it for you, darling.’ ‘Thank goodness,’ sighed Destiny: ‘I’m very grateful for that too. That you’ve made such a sacrifice for me. Still, it doesn’t sit right with me…’ The odd conversation distracted me a little, but I soon pulled myself together and went back to enjoying the feel of the long hair gliding through my brush, which I’d let run through my fingers now and then and would occasionally take a whiff of. It was quiet again for a few minutes and I became completely absorbed in Destiny’s magnificent locks.
I’d fallen into a sort of trance when I suddenly felt Jolande standing beside me. I stopped brushing, looked to the side and saw that, behind Destiny’s back, she was handing me a pair of scissors with her left hand. I looked bewildered and mechanically took the scissors. Jolande stroked Destiny’s hair and said in a soft, hoarse voice: ‘Perhaps you can make amends after all, darling. I gave up my headdress for you, because you wanted so much to see me with short hair. I was happy to do that – but it’s no small thing. What do you have in store for me now?’ Destiny swallowed and nodded silently. ‘Well?’ asked Jolande, raising her voice slightly. Destiny looked first at Jolande and then at me through the mirror. ‘Sir, do you have the scissors to hand?’
I didn’t know what was happening. ‘But… This lovely hair… You could let it grow even longer: it’s so thick and healthy. And I’d be happy to pay you every time you brush it.’ Destiny shook her head vigorously. ‘My mind is made up. Jolanda’s right. I’d like to ask you to really go for it with the scissors.’ I looked at her with a look that seemed to say: are you sure? Destiny continued: ‘Go ahead then… And… Don’t be too gentle!’
Scissors
I didn’t need to be told twice. I followed my gut instinct, tucked the scissors Jolanda had handed me into my breast pocket and gave Destiny’s beautiful locks one last thorough brush. I reached for the scissors and raised them: ‘The scissors were already at the ready, by the way! Jolanda and I had already anticipated something like this.’ I combed out a long, thick strand about thirty centimetres long and eagerly sank the scissors into it. A eager crunching sound – and the whole tuft fell to the floor, followed by a second, and so on. Jolande watched, arms crossed, looking pleased. And soon the floor around the office chair was covered in a thick layer of reddish-brown hair, and Destiny had a short haircut.
The friends embraced each other tenderly and left me behind. As the door closed behind them, I knelt down by the pile of hair to clear it away. I felt regret – but I’d enjoyed it like never before.
THE END
