Cole and I had dated the rest of that summer. It was amazing, from the little moments in the shop to the stars at the state fair but all good things come to an end. I go to a boarding school so I couldn’t see Cole as often, only during our winter break. The last week of school I was so excited to see him again until something happened. A picture is worth a thousand words as they say and this picture was not the best thousand words. I don’t know who took the picture of me kissing one of my classmates while being drunk at a party but it happened. After a string of long apology texts from me, Cole said it would be better if we talked about it when I got home.
That’s brings us to the present where I’m pulling into the driveway of my Aunt’s house. She was waiting outside for me, rushing to give me a hug when I got out.
“Welcome home sweetheart.” I hug her back,”Thanks Aunt Jane.” She lets go and helps me get my stuff back in my room. We talked about my school year over dinner but I was anxious about seeing Cole again. “Is Cole working today, I wanted to go talk to him.” Jane nodded but then looked at me with serious yet gentle eyes. “Vanessa, he is hurting right now. I know you feel horrible about what you did and you need to tell him that. Own up to your mistake” I nodded, putting my plate in the sink then heading to my car.
I pulled into the parking lot 15 minutes later rushing down the steps that lead to the shop. I saw him sweeping through the window so I walked in. He looked up with a smile it as soon as he saw me his face contorted with pain.
“Tell me why Vanessa. Why would you do that?” I looked at the ground, “I don’t know. I was super drunk and I missed being around someone like you, someone who loved me. That isn’t an excuse and I know that. I’m so sorry Cole. If you never want to see again that’s fine, I deserve it, but I need you to know that I regret every second.” He placed his broom against the wall and walked over to me. He stopped in front of me and my heart was racing. I was expecting him to get angry to do anything but instead he pulled me in and hugged me. With that I broke down, sobbing against his chest telling him how sorry I was that I would ever do something to him. He pulled away from me and I saw the hurt in his eyes.
“Is there any way I could make it up to you? Anyway I could show you how much you mean to me?” I was practically begging at this point. He raised his eyebrows, “Anything?” I immediately nodded, “Yes anything Cole. I love you so much, let me prove it to you.” I looked up at him with pleading eyes. He walked around me going towards the door, “Anything huh.” When he got to the door he locked it leaving us in here alone. Without saying anything else he pulled the blinds down to cover the windows. When he turned to me he saw my confusion and smirked. “You said anything Vanessa, so here’s your punishment. Strip.”
I was taken back, “Wh-what?” It came out as barely a whisper. He walked back to me placing a warm comforting hand on my cheek, “ I said to strip, Vanessa. You should listen.” When I didn’t move he looked down at me again, “Oh Vanessa, I would follow my orders. You don’t want to make it harder for yourself, do you?” I looked at him but he was totally serious. I started to take off my shoes, pants,shirt, and before long a was standing in just my bra and panties. I tried to cover my stomach as much as possible but that didn’t help. Cole’s hand grabbed me chin forcing me to look at him, “I meant all of it.” I didn’t want to test him so I unhooked my bra and slid it off, then trying to cover my boobs with an arm, I pulled off my panties.
Coles hands pulled me arms away so I was fully exposed to him. “You’re stunning.” He said then started to pull me towards his chair. “Sit down.” I gasped then looked at him with the not again look. I obliged though, sitting at the edge of his seat. His hands wrapped around my shoulders dragging me to the back of the chair. “Stay here, I’ll be back soon.” He left to go to the back and I just stared at myself wondering what the hell had I gotten myself into.
He emerged from the back hallways holding something that I couldn’t quite see. He unveiled what he had to me and my mouth dropped,rope, my boyfriend was holding rope. I didn’t know why he had that on him but I stayed silent. One question was soon answered as he tied the rope around my hand and ankles. I was stuck.
”C-Cole is this really necessary?” I asked him timidly, afraid to say anything that would make him more upset. He crouched down in front of me, his hand caressed my jaw forcing me to look at him. He held his phone and the picture of my drunk kiss was on it. “Look this picture. You see how his hands are tangled in your hair. You see how he’s touching what’s mine.” I nodded not knowing if he was actually asking me a question. He continued, “He ruined all that hair of yours with his greasy fingers that night. When I’m done there won’t be much left of what he touched.”
My reaction was of pure shock. Here I was tied naked to a chair and my boyfriend is going to cut my hair off. “Cole, please no, don’t do this! I swear it won’t happen again just please that’s too much!” I tried begging and pleading but it didn’t seem to do much. Tears were streaming down my face and the only emotion in my eyes was terror.
“Baby shhhhh, it’s alright.” Cole was wiping my tears away with his thumb but they never stopped. He stood up and walked around to the back of the chair. He ran his fingers through my hair, “Look how long and damaged it’s gotten. Don’t worry kitten, it’ll look brand new soon.” I shuddered at the pet name.
Cole grabbed the scissors off his station and brought my hair to the front. Our eyes connected in the mirror as he held the scissors right under my chin. Then he put them down. I looked at him confused a he untied one of my hands. He grabbed my newly freed wrist and put the scissors in my open palm.I began to open my mouth and question him but got cut off, “I want you to make the first cut Vanessa.”
My heart dropped and I started to shake my head. I closed my eyes to try and stop the tears from falling again but it was of no use. “Cole please don’t make me do this,” I whispered. He just smirked and closed my hand over the scissors. I put my fingers in the correct holes and he raised my wrist up and placed it right above my earlobe. He grabbed a chunk of hair and put it in between the glowing blades. “No closing your eyes. If you do I’ll make it worse.” I nodded showing him I understood. “Go,” he whispered in my ear and a shiver ran down my spine. I swallowed and closed my eyes trying to calm my breathing down before I started. That didn’t help so I opened my eyes and looked at the scissors in the mirror. Then I started. I slowly closed the blades together flinching every time I heard the crunch of my hair being cut. 10 inches of hair started to fall to the floor and I started to pick up my pace. It’s felt like it took hours to saw through that chunk of hair and every snip was excruciating but I finally finished.
I looked at the newly chopped section over my ear. This is going to be so much worse than last time, I thought. I shoved the scissors back in his hand and averted my eyes to the floor. He tied my wrist back to the arm of the chair then kissed my temple whispering,” It’ll be over soon kitten don’t worry. Just try to relax for me.” I felt his hand grip a chunk in the back of my head then I heard the dreadful snip of the scissors cutting through. The back of my neck felt itchy as the newly cut hair laid upon it. I saw the long strand be released from his hand and saw him grab another chunk at the back. That was the process for my entire head, he would grad a huge chunk and saw it off at my ears.
Cole places the scissors in his pocket to be used for later then grabbed something that I wasn’t expecting. Clippers. My eyes widened as he placed a smaller blade at the end of it. I couldn’t help but whimper as he held it closer to me. He gently pushed my head down to my breasts, placing the clippers on my nape. He turned them in and I flinched a little, bit used to the vibrations on my neck. They were moved tortuously slow up my neck and lower head. He ran over that region a few time before changing the guard to a larger one then placing the clippers in the middle of my head, moving them close to my crown. I saw the shorn pieces fall onto my shoulders and breasts. I couldn’t help but sigh of relief when I saw him putting the clippers down and reaching for the scissors again.
He sectioned the pieces on top and cut them until there was about two inches left on top. His movements were precise and swift. I hadn’t realized I spaced out until the sound of a blowdryer scared the crap out of me. I felt the warm air blow the clipping off my naked body. Soon after he put the dryer back then untied the ropes. He helped me up and steadied me when I wobbled a little. He held my waist firmly, practically forcing me to look in the mirror.
I felt ugly. I don’t want to appear vain nor do I want it to seem that I think women’s beauty relies on their hair because I truly don’t. Those feeling didn’t stop me from feeling ugly. My hair helped me gain confidence even if it was a little bit and with this hair I felt so vulnerable. I would’ve started crying again but there were no tears left in me anymore so I just started at the ghost of a girl standing in the mirror. It was buzzed all around with about 2 inches on top giving me a very boyish look.
“Look how beautiful you are.”
“How can you say that? I cheated on you with a guy I barely even knew and now I’m naked with hair that makes me look ugly. I don’t deserve you Cole, I truly don’t.”
”Hey, don’t ever talk about yourself that way. I love you and you’re the most beautiful girl in the world to me nothing could ever change that. It doesn’t matter how long your hair is Vanessa. You’re forgiven now, it’s over, let’s just put that behind us.” He turned my body and kissed me. After I pulled away I threw my arms around his neck, it felt nice to have him back. “Here, why don’t you stay at my place tonight, I’ll text your aunt, why don’t you just get some sleep.” And with that I fell asleep in his arms.