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Stephanie was so careful all weekend; she even sprayed it with more hairspray to keep the look. She hated the way her hair looked. So old fashioned. It made her even more self conscience, but she had to keep it looking nice. Heavens knows what they will do to it if she comes back to work on Tuesday and it's a not perfect. Tom and her stayed in all weekend. Stephanie didn't want to set foot outside the apartment. She didn't want anyone to see her. Tuesday morning Stephanie undid her 'hair wrap'. "Ah, what do you think, Tom? Looks pretty good to me. Stephanie said, examining her hair in the mirror. The almost pure white, 'ear muff' look still was as stiff as a board to the touch "Maybe they'll just let it go this week."

"Looks just the same as when you came home on Saturday. I can't imagine them needing to change anything" Tom replied.

As Stephanie drove to work, all she could think about was if her hair was going to look good enough for Martha and Edna. If not, she didn't know what they would do. As she walked in Edna looked up from the desk and smiled. "Oh Martha" she called. Stephanie's heart sank for that split second. 'What now', she thought.

"Oh Martha, it worked. Your style held up just fine on Stephanie" she called back to Martha again.

Martha entered the front of the shop. "Now, turn around girl, Oh yes, that looks good Edna. I think we've found a style for Stephanie, at least for a while. I think we can let that go a few more days."

Stephanie let out a huge sigh of relief. "I fixed it a little this morning, but it really held perfect all weekend" Stephanie added.

"Edna, why don't we just block Stephanie's and my book every Saturday at 1? I'll restyle her then so she always looks fresh for the weekends" Martha suggests to Edna.

"Great idea, Martha, she'll always look at her best for when her and Tom go out." Edna answered already marking the book.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that. Saturday's is your busy day. No reason to do my hair that oft..." Stephanie was abruptly cut off.

"Nonsense" both Edna and Martha said at the same time.

As Stephanie heads back to her station she notices a young girl coming out of the back room. "Hi, I'm Zoe" she says as she walks towards Stephanie. "Edna is my aunt".

"And a loving aunt too, isn't that right Zoe" Edna adds walking in from the reception area.

"Yes the best" reaching and giving Edna a hug.

"Zoe's going to be with us for a little while. She's opening a salon by the college and she's going to learn how we do things here.

Zoe is young looking maybe twenty. Tall, about 5'8" shoulder length dark hair with a few bright red chucks in it and red bangs to match cut straight across just above the eyes, and a nose ring in the right nostril.

"Oh Stephanie, I just love your hair", Edna continues. "Martha you were right, at least for now. Zoe, that's the type of style that would look great on you. Mature and sophisticated, if you're going to run a salon you need to look a little more sophisticated. Why don't you let Martha fix you up."

"Are you crazy, Aunt Edna? My shop is going to be totally different than yours. We're going after the college kids. The scene kids. We're going to be the place where the young crowd is going to come and to get a totally new look. A hot look. A look that turns heads."

"Girls let me introduce you to my niece, Zoe", Edna says talking to everyone in general. "She just got married and moved here from New Jersey. She trained at Sassoon, but just look at her hair. She left a sweet little girl with the most gorgeous natural red hair you ever saw and returns like this... and with a hole in her nose to boot. I'd just love to have Martha make a beautiful girl out of her again," Edna continued explaining to everyone.

"Oh Aunt Edna, you love it and you know it," Zoe rattles back obviously having a great relationship with her aunt.

Stephanie's thoughts went back to her hair. She was both relieved that her hair was good enough to get her through the week, but concerned that each week she was going to be in Martha chair having her do god knows what to her and her hair.

The week went by very fast. Stephanie assisted Martha in all aspects of 1960's hair design. She even rinsed a client's hair a light pastel blue and teased another client's hair into a huge bouffant. She was starting to have fun. She just wished they wouldn't do those things to her hair. Saturday afternoon was here before she knew it and Stephanie's hair was showing some wear.

Stephanie noticed Edna and Martha almost getting into an argument. Finally, Edna just nodded her head and walked back to the front desk.

"Come on Stephanie, time to get to work on you. Since this lasted so good I convinced Edna to wait for next week to give you a change I think we'll just refresh this style. It will give your hair a little rest this week." Martha explained to Stephanie.

Stephanie was sooooooooo relieved. As much as she hated her hair, she hated the idea of another 'surprise' every time Martha does her hair. Martha directed Stephanie to the shampoo area and proceeded to shampoo Stephanie's hair. As before, Stephanie was amazed at what a great message Martha did during her shampoo. Before she knew it, it was up to the styling chair and time for the set. Stephanie head ached from being pulled so tight as Martha directed her to the dryers. As Stephanie was reading one of the old styling books under the dryer Zoe came over and sat by her.

"You know Stephanie, like my aunt said. I'm opening a salon up over by the college. It's going to be a very progressive, someplace that turns heads. Do you think you may be interested in joining me? It would get you away from all these old ladies and all. I mean, I love my aunt and I don't want to steel you from my aunt. But I need one more stylist and you should be in a more modern salon like mine. What do ya say? Want to join me?" Zoe asked.

"Leave here?" Stephanie almost shouted.

"Shh shh. Not so load." Zoe whispered. "Well if you really like it here that much. I under..."

Before Zoe could finish her sentence, Stephanie jumped in. "No, no, that's not what I meant. Yeah, yes of course I'd be interested. When are you opening up."

"Well not for a week or two yet, so does that mean you're interested?"

"Oh yeah, oh yeah definitely." Stephanie couldn't get the words out of her mouth fast enough.

"You do know we'll have to change your look. You can't go in looking like this. You'll have to fit the salon's profile. You've got to be on the leading edge. Showing the clients the way. We're after the progressive minded college kids."

"Oh, that's no problem. Look at me here. That's no problem at all. Anything, absolutely anything will be better than this. I mean, I love your aunt and all, but look at me."

"OK then, don't say anything to my aunt. I'll talk to her about it later and let you know." That being said Martha walks over and tells Stephanie it time for the comb out. Stephanie get up, smiling like she hasn't smiled in a long time.

Time in the chair seemed to fly by and before she knew it Martha was lacquering her hair with spray. When Martha turned the chair, sure enough it was ear muffed style, just as before. The pink from the tint had all but disappeared and her hair was as white as snow. The piles up hair on her ears look like white earmuffs she used to wear in the winter when she was a kid. But, this time Stephanie didn't care. Because she knew the end of these styles was in sight. She just wanted to get home and tell Tom the good news.

When she arrived home she couldn't get the words out of her mouth fast enough. She explained everything. All about Zoe and how she was opening a new, modern salon. How she would only have to put up with Martha's styles another week or so. And how Zoe would even restyle her hair and give her a new modern style. No more 60's. She could go out in public again. After Hearing her story and seeing her excitement, Tom was just as excited as she was. The weekend went by fast. Tom and Stephanie went out to celebrate and Stephanie didn't even care at the stares she was getting. Her white lacquered hair almost glistened off the moon light. At night Stephanie was still careful to wrap it. She didn't want to give Edna or Martha any excuse to do anything else to her hair. She figures she can live with her current look until Zoe's salon opens.

She wondered what look Zoe would have in mind for her hoping for a longer layered look with maybe a chocolate color and highlights. She thought how she's changed just in the short time she's worked for Edna. Even that style would have been thought of a too aggressive for her even six weeks ago.

Arriving back to the salon on Tuesday she wondered if Zoe had a chance to talk to Edna. Sure enough as Stephanie entered the salon Edna asked if she could talk to her. "Stephanie, Zoe called me over the weekend and asked if she could take you with her to work at her new salon. She says you are the missing piece, the last stylist she needs. I resisted, but she insisted. I explained your situation to her and she agreed to pay you the say amount as you earn here. But, ultimately it's up to you. There would be no hard feelings if you leave, but you will be missed. You know, we think of you as family here. You need to let us know by tomorrow because she's hoping to open her salon at the end of next week."

"Ah, ah, this is such a surprise. I'll really have to think about it. I really love it here, you know and you really take care of me, especially Martha. Just let me think about it and I'll let you know." Stephanie hoped her real feeling didn't show through. She was so excited but she couldn't let it show. Finally, later in the afternoon she walked up to Edna and explained to her how she just couldn't pass up the opportunity to work at little more modern salon. Edna completely understood and called Martha and Norma to the front to announce Stephanie's move.

The rest of the week went by extremely slow. Zoe's last day observing at Edna's shop was Friday. She had to do some finishing touches on the new salon. She told Stephanie to be ready to start work at the new salon next Wednesday or Thursday. Stephanie couldn't wait. Edna asked that she work for her right up to the day she needed to start at Zoe's salon.

On Saturday Martha called Stephanie as usual for her to do her hair.

"Oh no Martha, you don't have to do anything today. I've been able to keep it looking good all week" Stephanie explained. Besides I've got to leave a little early today. Tom's parents are coming over to take us out. They haven't seen us for a while and they're taking us out to Savoy's tonight and going to church with us in the morning before they leave." Savoy's is 'the' exclusive restaurant in the area. As the words came out of Stephanie's mouth she knew she made a mistake telling her that. Why did I tell them that? She thought to herself.

"What girl, that's even more reason to get over her. Come on this will be the last time I'll get to fix your and it will be for a special occasion to boot" Martha insisted pulling Stephanie by the arm.

"Ok, Ok, but nothing too extreme, maybe just touch up this look a little."

"Oh, I'll come up with something for Tom and his family. What do you say Edna, something a little more formal with a little height for the special night."

"No, no, no more hei...", Stephanie was cut off again.

"That sounds good Martha; after all it will be the last time for you to fix her up you know." Edna added.

No really I think this style is plenty formal now, Martha. Why don't we just touch it up a little and maybe flatten the sides a little more." Stephanie urged.

While Stephanie was talking, Martha turned on the water at the shampoo bowl and pointed for Stephanie to sit down. "Oh, sure dear, good idea". Seeming to not really pay any attention to anything Stephanie was saying. As Martha begins to shampoo her Stephanie again is almost in a trance. Martha gives the best shampoo message Stephanie has ever had. It's like heaven. Stephanie just closes her eyes and soaks it in. Hoping it lasts a long time. Martha just continues to message her hair and scalp. Then rinse and message repeating again and even again. Finally, she leaves Stephanie there resting for about 10 minutes and finally another rinse and message. Stephanie wishes it would go on longer, but this time Martha helps her to sit up and starts to towel her. Again, Stephanie was turned away from any mirrors. Martha starts combing out any tangles in her hair. It dawns on Stephanie that she has not really seen the length of her hair or even been able to touch it other than after it was set and sprayed for over a month now. She can only guess at the length and what condition is it in after all the processes Martha has been doing to her.

"Yep, I'm thinking a little more height this time and definitely something more sophisticated since Tom's folks are taking you out."

Martha says picking up her scissor.

"But Marth......a, I don't waaant..."

(Schick) Stephanie notices about 4 inches of hair from who knows where fall in onto her cape. Not just hair, but Oh my god, pale pink hair. Did she tint it pink again?

Stephanie meekly asks, "Martha, my hair looks pink, did you tint my hair again."

"Oh yes, it looks so good with that little Pink Champaign tint to it. I gave you a double tint today. It wasn't pink enough after the first tint. That's what took so long at the shampoo station. And you know..., Tom likes it. I could see it the way he looked at you the first time we tinted you. He really likes it and with his family coming up you've got to look your best."

Stephanie just sat there, numb. Numb to what Martha was saying, numb to what was happening to her hair, just numb. Wondering what else is she going to have to put up with until she starts at Zoe's. She keeps repeating to herself. Be patient, be patient, this is it, this is the last she's ever going to touch my hair, just be patient.

Martha continued haphazardly trimming hair. An inch here, six inches there. No rime nor reason to how its being cut. "You've certainly got a lot of hair here, I should have thinned it out long ago," Martha commented.

Then the pulling and tugging began again as Martha started to set Stephanie's hair. Again, lots and lots of setting lotion pasted on. Rollers tightly pulling at her hair. It hurt, it was pulled so tight. Then Martha grabs Stephanie's arm waking Stephanie from her trance and hurries over to the driers. Again, Stephanie sits under the dryer, sort of staring out into the salon. Looking like a wild stallion that had just been broken. But knowing this is the last time, she will have to put up with this.

"Stephanie, Stephanie". Stephanie head jerked bringing her back into reality. "Come on Stephanie, time to comb you out," Martha told her.

Stephanie slowly gets up and walks over to Martha's chair where Martha's eagerly waiting. She's talking to Norma and moving her hands around her head. She moves her hands high above her head and rounds them around her face and down one side. Oh god, Stephanie realizes she's describing what's she's going to do to her hair to Norma. Norma nods her head and points her hands higher to my hair.

"Norma, Tom's family is visiting Stephanie and Tom this weekend. We want her to give a good impression."

"Oh, most definitely and what you've described to me will be just perfect." Norma answered while Martha started taking out the rollers. When the rollers were out Martha started teasing. Much more teasing than before and the tugging. The tugging was so hard it was painful. Much more than before. The whole process took about her about an hour. While Martha was busy with Stephanie's hair, Norma reapplied her makeup. "Gotta look good for those in-laws.," she said smiling.

'Why did I ever tell them about Tom's family coming up, oh my god why' Stephanie was thinking to herself. Totally helpless to do anything about it.

Finally, the spray. Martha started with the spray, extra hold spray I might add. "Now Stephanie, earlier you mentioned not too fancy you didn't have time to take care of your hair with the in-laws being there and all. You should be able to wrap it in that Velcro towel just like last week and maybe just a touch of a brush. I think this looks much nicer than what Edna wanted me to do."

"Edna what?" Stephanie asked confused.

"Yah, she thinks you would look great with one of those super tight 'poodle perms'. You know cut up around your ears, tight neck line and tight curls all over with a tuft of curls just leaning out over your forehead. Sort of like Elvis had, but tight curls. She thought it would look a little more like the college crowd for Zoe's shop. That's what we were arguing about a before I got you. She wanted me to give you that today." Martha explains as she was clipping button earrings on Stephanie's ears.

"Today?"

"Yeah, but I convinced her that that style looks best with red or golden blond hair and Tom really likes your hair pink. And you know we want to keep Tom happy. And then when you told me his parents were coming, I knew today wasn't the day for that big of a change, but maybe next week before you start at Zoe's.

"Oh no, no, like you said Tom does like my hair color now. He told me just this morning, maybe to try a little pink again. Let's not disappoint him. And besides Zoe wants to be the one to give me a look to fit in with her new salon." Stephanie blurted out, making up anything as to not have to get her hair cut short.

Just then Martha turned her to face the mirror. "Oh my... ... ..., this is um...um nice. And the height... ... um wow and pink ... the tint sure took today. Um Um." All Stephanie could think was that she looks like a fricken fool with a hairstyle from the Victorian era. What would Tom's parents think?

"Edna she's speechless, come and see," Martha calls up.

"Stephanie, you better go so you can be ready when you in-laws arrive. I'll call for you and tell him you're on your way," Edna volunteered.

As Stephanie leaves, tears well up in her eyes. How's she going to go out like this? She barely can fit into the car without tilting her head. She looks in the rear view mirror in the car and bursts into tears.

As Stephanie arrives at home she is greeted by Tom's mom. "Oh hi...... Stephanie? Wow, you've changed your look since the last time we've seen you. Your hair ......... and it's not blond anymore."

"Yeah Mom, her new salon styles it for her. She doesn't have much say in what they do," Tom buts in.

"We'll it's certainly... um... um... um... ...... eloquent. Yeah, eloquent," his mom adds.

That's some hair and the color... ... ... my."

"Yeah the place I work at emphasizes retro and they wanted to give me a sophisticated style this time," she self consciously comments.

"We'll let's get a moving" and with that they all headed to dinner.

As they walked into the restaurant all heads begin to turn looking straight at Stephanie. Stephanie feels her face turning red and feels all eyes staring at during dinner. Even as she knows this is the last time for these types of styles, she couldn't help but feel extremely self conscience. She couldn't get out of there quick enough. She could feel the stares. Everyone turning their heads and even people pointing at the girl with the two foot high pink hair. Stephanie couldn't get that thought out of her mind. During dinner Stephanie excused herself to go to the restroom. As she entered, an old lady at least 75 years old stopped her, gave her a hug and commented on how beautiful her hair was. "I had my like that once back in my day. It's gorgeous, simply gorgeous. You don't see hair like that anymore. It's simply eloquent, soooo sophisticated looking," the woman said as she walked away.

Stephanie eyes filled with tears. What was she going to do? And to top it off, if she didn't look like this on Tuesday, they would cut if off and perm her. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Finally, dinner was over. Again, as they left the restaurant all eyes followed Stephanie. She hated it, she just hated that. Again, getting into the car she had to sit low so her hair would fit into the car.

"My you sure had a lot of admirers in that restaurant. Do you always make such a fuss when you go out?" Tom's mom asked.

Again, Stephanie's eyes welled up with tears. "Mom, she's still not used to the new styles they give her. Just lay off for now," Tom interjects.

"I...I...didn't mean anything... I'm sorry."

As they arrive home Stephanie heads straight to the bedroom and doesn't come out until Tom's parents leave early Sunday morning.

"Tom, I can't wait. All week I've been thinking this is it. This is the last time for someone to make me look like a fool. I'm loosing my mind. I can't wait until I start working with Zoe. She said Wednesday or Thursday. I can't wait that long. I'm going to call her and see if I can't start on Tuesday. That won't give Edna a chance to do anything else to my hair. That said, Stephanie picks up the phone and calls Zoe. She explains everything to her. Zoe tells her to it to her. Just go into work on Tuesday at Edna's like they haven't talked and I'll have taken care of it.

"Actually, that will work out better for me too. With us opening on Wednesday we weren't going to have much time to revise your style. Now, with you starting on Tuesday that will give us all day to fix you up." Zoe added. "Yeah that will work out great. I've already told Devon how pretty you were and to start thinking about a style for you."

"Oh, I can't wait. I really can't wait. I just can't wait to stop living in these '60's looks," Stephanie answered.

Stephanie didn't leave the house the rest of Sunday or on Monday. On Tuesday

Stephanie's hair was just as pristine as it when Martha finished it on Saturday. When Stephanie touched it, it was like touching plastic.

When Stephanie arrived at Edna's, Edna met her at the door.

"Stephanie, I just got off the phone with Zoe and she said you needed to start this morning. She wants you there right away. Now go gather your equipment and head out."

As Stephanie put her things in a box, Martha and Norma came over a said there good byes. Edna grabbed her box and helped her out to the car and gave her a big hug. "Now, you be going now dear before I cry. Here's the name and address of Zoe's salon. Now hurry dear. Zoe said for you to hurry."

With that Stephanie gave Edna a big hug and thanked her. As Stephanie started her car she looked down at the card Edna gave her from Zoe's salon. It read "The Purple Marble" in big purple letters followed by, "the Ultimate Transformation Salon.

To be continued...

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