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Laura straightened her blouse and stood up when her name was called. It was the 10^th interview she had and she hoped this time, she would get the job.

She had sent dozens of letters, answered hundreds of offers and hardly ever got answers.

Today, she was being interviewed for a job in a huge call center. The company was a big American firm that sold insurance policies. Her job, if she was picked, would be half of the time, to call some prospects and try and sell them a policy and the other half would be dedicated to answering the phone and help people with the questions they might have relating to their contract.

It was not quite what she had dreamed about, with her degree from a very famous marketing school, but she had to pay for the bills. 

Her flat mate had found a job in Province and she was left alone in Paris with a huge rent. She had looked for another flat mate but had not found anybody so far, because the rent was very expensive.

Laura was a pretty 23 year old young woman. She was tall and slim, dressed with taste but no ostentation and had sparkling hazelnut eyes, but what drew everybody’s attention was her hair. It was dark brown and had natural copper highlights that shone in the sun, thick and wavy, it reached below her knees when she untied it.

A schoolmate had once asked her if she kept it that long for religious reasons, which Laura had found quite strange. She kept her hair long because she loved it long. She trimmed it herself once a year and she had never cut it. She loved brushing it every morning, and every evening, she plaited it for the night with loving care. Her bathroom shelves were filled with conditioners, shampoos and other hair cosmetics. Most of the time, she wore her hair untied, but today, for the job interview, she had hidden it in a heavy bun.

She opened the door and saw that there were 3 people to interview her.

A woman, about 40, who introduced her as Mrs Dawn and who was the human resources director and two men.

One of them was the team manager, his name was Ed Dante and the other one was the sales director and was named Marcus Plastirov. Both were between 40 and 45, athletic and dressed in a dark suit.

Mrs Dawn led the interview. She was a very impressive woman. Her piercing blue eyes stared straight at Laura, and her ultra short platinum blonde hair made her look like a domineering mistress.

However, she was clearly impressed by Laura’s resumé.

“I see that you studied for two years in London, this is good, we don’t have many people who speak English here. Well, we have a couple more candidates to see, but we’ll call you whether you are hired or not".

They shook hands and Laura left, quite satisfied with the interview.

Indeed, two days later, Ed called her and said she was hired, if she was still willing to join the firm, and told her to come for an appointment with Mrs Dawn to sign her contract.

Mrs Dawn gave her a 30 pages document.

“This is your contract, you can take it with you to read it at home and then bring it back with your signature. The probing period will be of two weeks, we feel it’s more than enough to assess someone’s abilities. Now, you have to know that we are very strict about the rules. People are given objectives that they must reach by the end of each month. If they don’t, they are heavily penalized. You understand that this is a big company and we cannot afford wasting time and money. Each last Friday of the month, awards are given to the best employees of the month. Naturally, a bonus is then given. Today for instance, we awarded 2 bonuses of 1000 euros to employees who sold the most policies. This figure is tax free, naturally"

Laura nodded and asked for a pen.

“There’s no hurry, you can read the contract at home and bring it back on your first day, I think it’s best if you read it thoroughly" said Mrs Dawn with a smile.

Laura returned the smile and took a pen in her purse.

“It’s all right, I’m going to sign it now, I quickly read through it and saw the most important".

Indeed, she had picked up the information that mattered, regarding computer use, hours, salary and holidays.

She signed and left, beaming.

In the hall, she passed a young woman with a scarf on her head. She was in tears and rushed into the women bathroom.

“Poor girl, she must have learnt some bad news" thought Laura.

She left the building and spent the week end celebrating her job with her friends.

When Monday came, she was very excited to start. She put on black trousers, a white blouse, and tied her hair in a ponytail. She hated tying it, but she thought it would be better for the first day. The truth was, she loved the compliments people paid her when she set her gorgeous mane free. Most people were amazed when they saw how long it was. Of course, she sometimes met people who didn’t like it and found it old fashioned, but most of the time, she got some “Wow ! and God ! and Jesus !".

Ed Dante and Marcus Plastirov welcomed the newcomers. There were three of them: Laura, and two young men named Pierre and Guillaume. The first week was dedicated to training, so they didn’t meet the other employees of the firm. When the second week came, they were shown the room where they were going to work.

It was a huge open-space platform that occupied the whole landing. There were about 80 cubicles in which sat people with headphones. At the back of the room stood a sort of podium, about 2 square meters. Ed and Markus climbed the two stairs and invited the new comers to join them.

A bell rang and all the heads in the cubicles rose and 80 pairs of eyes stared at them.

Ed spoke briefly:

‘Please welcome our new team members, Laura, Guillaume and Pierre.’

Everyone clapped and returned to their work. Laura was shown her cubicle and set to work immediately. The morning break was announced at 10 by the bell and she followed the flow of employees to the cafeteria. She had so far not met anyone, because during the training session, which had been very friendly, they had always been out for lunch and had had their coffee inside the room.

Most of the employees were under 25 and she noticed that several women had weird hairstyles, either very short or quite longish but totally shapeless, like an overgrown pixie. Others wore scarves or caps, but she assumed it was for religious matters. A couple of guys had shaved heads, or ultra short buzz cuts.

She couldn’t help but notice she was the only woman with long hair. She was quite used to it. Because of the so called fashion trends, women tended to cut their hair, just because they wanted to be in the move. Laura thought this was absolutely ridiculous. Short hair on a woman was definitely ugly. She went to the coffee machine and put some coins. While she was waiting for her drink to be ready, a young girl who must have been about 20 came to her and introduced herself, smiling.

“Hi, my name is Joan. I’ve been working here for a year. Your cubicle is next to mine".

“I’m Laura".

She looked at her colleague: she was quite plump but had beautiful features. Laura thought she would have been attractive if she hadn’t had such sort hair. It was almost shaved to the skin and made her look like a GI.

Joan looked at Laura with curiosity.

“I hope you don’t find me rude but, have you ever cut your hair? I mean, it’s really long and it sort of stands out here".

Laura smiled

“No, I never cut it. And never will"

Joan looked at her, opened her mouth to speak then shut it and swallowed hard.

“Mine was mid-back long two weeks ago. But then, I had it cut. Well, you know what I mean I guess" and her eyes watered. Then Laura remembered her: she was the young lady she had seen on the day she had come to sign her contract. She had been wearing a scarf and crying, that was why she hadn’t recognized her at first. Laura guessed she probably suffered from cancer and had had to cut her hair in anticipation of chemo treatments. She felt sorry for her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know."

Joan smiled warmly.

“I’m getting used to it, which is better because I might have to have it cut again in the future. But it’s good if you’re positive it’ll never happen to you, it would be a real trauma considering the length".

Laura found the last remark a little weird but didn’t really pay attention to it.

In the following weeks, she didn’t mingle much with her colleagues. Her job wasn’t going too well. After three weeks, she still hadn’t sold a single policy, and when she was on an advisor shift, she found it really hard to handle several calls at the same time. As a result, she was constantly under pressure and usually spent her breaks catching up with file work.

The last Friday of the month came. When she arrived in the morning, she noticed that Ed and Markus were on the podium and a chair had been placed between them. Joan, whose cubicle was next to Laura’s, sighed.

“Oh my God, I hate this. Mind you, I should be okay this month, I sold 5 policies. It’s not much but better than last month when I sold none. I had been okay for almost a year and was beginning to relax".

She then rubbed her hair, which had grown a little and was now about 1 cm long and spoke again

“Anyway, I don’t have much to loose this time".

Laura frowned. She hadn’t sold a single policy, and she wondered what the penalties were. She guessed they would keep some of her salary, or make her do more hours.

Ed spoke.

“Okay guys, you know why we’re here. This is award day. This month, I have to say that you almost all did really well. Considering last time’s disaster, I suppose you were all boosted up. Anyway, Markus was so satisfied with the results that he decided to award 5 bonuses. Now, I won’t make the suspense last longer. The five bonuses go to Jack Campbell, Jenny White, Mary O’Brian, Jérôme Courvoisier and Anna Rosenthal. Congratulations to you, you’ve just earned a 1000 euros bonus."

The whole assembly clapped weakly.

Laura noticed that several women looked really tense.

Ed cleared his throat and spoke again.

“Two of you did really bad and will therefore be penalized accordingly. Johanna Oliveira, if you could please come up here".

Laura watched as a young woman of about 25 stepped on the podium and sat obediently on the chair, facing everybody. Ed spoke again.

“Johanna, you only sold three policies, and the records of the phone conversations state that on several occasions, clients had to wait for more than a minute before you took their call. You will therefore be submitted to a number three."

Johanna didn’t say a word and sighed. Markus came behind her and Laura saw he was holding something with a wire. He turned it on, put it on Johanna’s brow and drew the device towards him. Instantly, a shower of hair fell from Johanna’s head on her lap. Markus repeated the gesture and before Laura had time to fully understand what had just happened, Johanna’s hair, which had previously been cut into a very short bob, had been reduced to a 3cm buzz cut. Johanna stood up, shook the cut hair from her body and went back to her cubicle, rubbing her head. Laura thought she saw her smile, but she must have imagined it.

She was frozen in awe. Surely, they couldn’t do this to her. She had only been here a month, she wasn’t experienced.

And then Ed spoke again.

“Laura Mauro"

She didn’t move.

Ed called her name again but she still didn’t move.

“Now, Laura, it’s up to you. Either you come here right now, or I make sure you’re fired immediately without compensation".

Finally, aware that everybody was looking at her, she slowly stood up and walked to the podium. She couldn’t afford loosing her job, she was two months late for the rent. With wobbly legs, she climbed the stairs and dropped rather than sat on the chair. Before Ed spoke, Markus took the scrunchie that kept her hair in a ponytail, shook her hair and spread it on her shoulders. Several people gasped and she could see some girls who actually smirked, as if in anticipation.

When she was on the chair, which was quite low, her locks reached the floor.

Ed looked almost disgustingly at it and spoke.

“Now Laura, I must say your results are more than disappointing. Not only did you fail to sell a single policy but you are also the agent who is the slowest in taking the calls. I think it earns you a well deserved zero. We don’t get many zeros, but you managed it on your first month!"

The audience gasped. Laura didn’t know what he meant but she grabbed her hair and started pleading desperately.

“Please, don’t cut my hair, I’ll do better, I promise".

Ed smiled malevolently.

“Well, I hope so. If you don’t, you’ll get the same treatment every month and this glorious mane will definitely be history."

It was obvious that he was enjoying himself. Markus was stroking her hair and weighing it.

Then, he came behind her and said.

“Bye Rapunzel, hello GI Jane" and plunged the clippers in her hair, right in the middle of her brow, before she had time to register what he had just said.

Unfortunately, her hair was so thick and long that the clippers, which were not very powerful, didn’t cut anything. They choked on the furry mass and it only tugged badly at her hair.

Markus frowned and turned the device off, while Laura sighed in relief.

Ed smiled.

“Well, it looks like we’re going to have a bit of a longer show today. I’ll go and fetch scissors".

He left the room. Markus resumed his stroking.

Laura was completely stunned. She didn’t realize what was about to happen. She felt raped by the hands on her head, about to slaughter her most precious treasure.

Then, Ed came back carrying a pair of scissors and handed them to Markus, who seized them eagerly.

“Here we go!"

He grabbed a huge handful of Laura’s hair on top of her head and started cutting through it as close as possible to the scalp. He had to struggle because the hair was very thick and Laura’s head bobbed from the effort. The crunching noise was deafening, and the sensation of the hair parting from her head was sickening. She burst into tears and started wailing loudly. “No, please, don’t cut my hair, please, stop cutting, please, I’ll do anything".

The hair had finally been cut: Markus dropped it on Laura’s lap with a smile. The whole top of her had had been shorn almost to the scalp. He rubbed the part he had just freed from hair. Laura realized he had scalped her and wailed even more loudly, her body shaking.

“No, please, don’t cut anymore, please!"

Ed spoke: “Come on, be a good girl. You cannot stay like this anyway, you look ridiculous."

Markus took another handful of her hair on the side of her head and hacked it mercilessly. Again, he dropped the severed hair in her lap.

The sight of it made her shake even more. She was sobbing so hard that she could hardly breathe. Half of her head had been shorn and felt obscenely naked and light. Then, Markus seized the bulk of hair that was at the back. Laura’s head was pulled behind as the tugging quickened. She felt she was going to die. Finally, Markus attacked the last part that was left on Laura’s head, on the side. She felt terrible, her ears and nape were denuded, she no longer felt the comforting soft weight on her head and around her shoulders.

With a yank, the last locks gave up. They were thrown on her lap as well. She could not see it, but her hair, which had been cut as close to the scalp as possible, stood in ridiculous little patches all over her head.

She started to get up but Ed maintained her on the chair.

“Hey, we haven’t finished. This was only the beginning".

Indeed, Markus had turned the clippers on and was already running them on the top of her head, without a guard, sending a shower of very short hair on Laura, who stood frozen. The blades were cold on her skin and she felt air on her head. She shivered uncontrollably and started shaking her head, trying to escape the dreadful device, but to no avail. Markus had now finished removing the last of the short hair and was shaking a shaving foam spray bottle. He rubbed the foam on her head and produced a razor with which he proceeded to shave the very last stubble that remained on Laura’s head.

Finally, it was over. She stood like an automat, sending the huge pile of cut hair on the floor where it landed with a heavy thud. This seemed to wake her up as she spat at them:

“I’ll sue you for this, it’s harassment"

Ed and Markus smiled.

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you go complain to Mrs Dawn then?"

She ran as she left the room. She went to the bathroom to wash her face and cried again when she saw her reflection. She looked simply ugly, with her ears sticking out and no hair at all. She understood now why almost everyone had short hair.

She knocked on Mrs Dawn’s office and was told to come in.

Mrs Dawn was sitting behind her desk. Her hair was even shorter than last time. She spoke first.

“I suppose you’re coming here to complain about our rules? Sit down please"

Laura didn’t sit. She spoke angrily.

 “You have no right to do this, it’s against the law"

Mrs Dawn smiled again and opened Laura’s contract, which had been lying on her desk, at page 15. The whole process of penalties was written very clearly: no policy sold is a zero, meaning a total headshave in front of the whole team, only one is a two, meaning a buzzcut with a 2 cm guard, 2 or 3 meant a 3, meaning a buzzcut with a 3 cm guard.

“I told you at least twice to take this contract home to read it quietly, but you foolishly signed it. There is no way you can sue me, since you accept all the conditions stated in the contract. There are a couple of other girls in your case, your friend Joan, for instance. I must say she did quite well and managed to keep her mop for a whole year, but most of the others had read the clause and accepted it. It’s not my fault you’re silly enough to sign a contract without reading it. Now, between us, you looked ridiculous with all that hair anyway."

Stunned, Laura looked at the contract and saw that Mrs Dawn was right. She left the office and started crying again when she caught sight of her reflection in a mirror in the hall.

Mrs Dawn settled comfortably in her leather armchair, facing the screen of her computer. She clicked on the arrow to play again the film of Laura’s shearing taken by the cameras hidden in the room, and she started touching herself. She was still wet from the first time she had viewed it, in real time. She should definitely try and recruit more long-haired girl. She also made a mental note to tell Ed and  Markus that the shearing with the scissors had been a brilliant idea and they should definitely do it again next time. She came just before the last locks were severed. 

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