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Debbie had toyed with the idea of telling her fellow students that she was a secretary or something when she first started evening classes. She thought that the others would wonder what a hairdresser was doing learning Italian. Perhaps that they would even think that she wasn't bright enough to study with them. They soon put her at her ease and it was actually the second week before she got in to conversatiion with anybody and the subject of jobs came up.

By the fourth week the class had settled down into a routine and people had started to sit in the same little groups when they arrived. There was an uneven number of students in the class and Debbie's group actually consisted of the 'odd' class member, which made the conversational sessions a little awkward. She always felt that it was easier to make mistakes when you were in a pair instead of a group of three. She was stuck with it though and they made the best that they could of the situation. She actually liked Gail, the female partner that she was with, but the guy in their 'threesome' tried a little too hard and spoke Italian with a strange accent which irritated her more than a little.

During the break Gail had been telling them about the problems that she had been having with her car and how it was currently off the road. Debbie sensed at the end of the class that Gail was hanging back a little and then realised exactly why. Her offer of a ride home was eagerly accepted and she even felt obliged to offer Gail a ride to class the following week. Whatever it was that was wrong with Gail's car sounded bad and even sounded like it could be out of commission for a while. Gail declined although she did say that she would call Debbie if the car wasn't ready in time.

Debbie had forgotten all about her offer and was a little surprised the following Monday when the receptionst at her salon told her that she was wanted on the phone.

"Hi Debbie, it's Gail, you know, from college."

"Oh hi Gail, how are you?"

"Great, thanks, how about you?"

"Fine, run off my feet as you might expect, but it's better than the alternative, isn't it?"

"Certainly is. Look I won't keep you, but is there any chance you could give me a lift to college this week. My car's still not ready."

"Sure, no problem. You couldn't come to the salon though could you. I'm fully booked today and it will save time if you could come down here."

"Look that's really good of you. I won't hold you back. I'll see you later on then."

"See you" Debbie said and put the phone down, conscious that she had kept Mrs Evans waiting, which was never a good idea.

Later that afternoon the door opened and Debbie looked across without breaking her rhythm.

"Hi Gail" she said. "One more and I'll be with you" she continued nodding towards the man waiting in reception.

Gail sat down and flicked through the magazine rack looking for something to read. There was a flurry of activity after about five minutes when Debbie finished with one client and came to usher in the last one of the day.

"I'm sorry" she said, stooping down beside Gail as she went back from reception towards the styling station. "It's been one of those days, but I won't be long."

She caped the client and started to sort through the various items on the trolley at her side.

"Okay, young man, the usual?" she asked.

"It's up to you" Gail heard him mumble. Curious as to what "the usual" could be, Gail looked up from her magazine just as Debbie flicked on a set of electric clippers. The man's hair had been a normal, businessman's sort of length, but Debbie was already stripping this off mercilessly with the clippers, leaving bare skin where hair had been only seconds previously.

"Soon have you tidy again Robert" Debbie said, looking at him in the mirror. He sat there motionless, apparently eager for her to carry on.

The clippers fell silent. Gail could see that there was the faintest shadow across his scalp, but to all intents and purposes he was now bald.

"So, are we going for broke this time?" she asked, bending towards him slightly.

He shook his head. "Maybe next time, when the weather's a bit warmer" he said. Quite what difference it could make, Gail did not know.

Debbie undid the cape and brushed the few stray hairs from his shoulders. Robert was already making his way to the cash register at reception. Debbie followed him, shaking out the cape as she walked. He handed over the money, mumbled his farewell and was gone.

"One of my quieter customers" she said to Gail with a smile.

"It must be great to just be able to do that every so often" Gail observed. Debbie appeared to be too busy to get into a conversation at this point. She just wanted to get out of the salon and on the road.

Debbie locked the register and picked up her purse and car keys.

"I'll sort that lot out later, we'd better run" she said, looking at her watch.

College dragged a bit that evening. Debbie didn't really like the topic that had been chosen and sat there wishing that she hadn't rushed so much to get here. If any of the classes was one to miss, it was this one. The break didn't come soon enough.

"What do you think?" she asked Gail.

"What about?"

"The class. I just can't get into it tonight."

"It's alright, I suppose, but it's not one of the best."

They chatted a bit and soon it was time to go back in. The hour dragged and Debbie just sat thinking that if she hadn't been on taxi duty, then she probably would have been home by now.

"Thank God for that" Debbie said as she started the car. "Any more of those and I'm going to pack it in."

"I'll probably stick it to the end, but that really wasn't much fun and I can't say that I learned anything tonight" Gail said.

"Do you mind if we pop back to the salon for a minute, just while I close up properly?"

"No, feel free. It's really good of you to do this. Hopefully I'll be back under my own steam by next week." Gail said.

They drove in silence until they reached the car park behind the row of shops where the salon was.

"Are you coming in or staying out here with the bad men?" Debbie asked.

"I'll come in if it's okay" Gail replied, smiling.

Debbie fumbled with the lock and switched the lights on. She dropped her keys and bag on the desk and walked down the salon.

"I won't be a minute" she said, picking up a broom to clear away Robert's hair, which still lay where it fell earlier in the evening.

"Can I help with anything?" Gail asked, still standing in reception.

"You could tidy those things off the shelf just here, if you like" Debbie replied.

Gail walked down the salon and started to gather grips and spare combs and other bits off the shelf.

"Where do they go?" she asked.

"Just in the bottom tray there" Debbie motioned.

"Anything else?"

"Not really" Debbie replied, looking around at the other workstations. "It's just me who's the messy one." She paused for a moment.

"You may as well have a seat for a minute..." Debbie said, motioning to the styling chair at the end of the row. "...I'm nearly done."

Gail sat down while Debbie crammed the last of the used towels into a laundry bag. She disappeared through a door at the back of the salon and came back without the sack.

"Right, that's about it" she said, walking towards the rack of gowns on the wall. Gail's eyes followed her and saw her pick up the gown on the far left of the row. Debbie walked back towards her and just as Gail started to get up, Debbie swirled the gown around her. She flicked the ends of Gail's mousey bob out of the way as she married the two bits of velcro on the gown.

"It's on the house" Debbie said.

"What is?" Gail asked, still somewhat surprised at being enveloped in the silky material.

"A free haircut."

"It's okay Deb, I only had it done a couple of weeks ago."

"She left it a bit long though, don't you think?" Debbie asked.

"It was a 'he', but he did it the same as he always does" Gail replied.

"Don't you ever get bored?"

"I suppose I do, sometimes, but it soon passes" she smiled. "What about you, I've only ever seen you with the same hairstyle?"

"Ah, but you've only known me for a few weeks. I tend to have a bit of a blow-out every now and again. I don't like to change it every time I have it done as that gets predictable in itself. I just leave it for a while and then let one of the girls loose on it to see what happens."

"And do you like what they do?"

"It depends. I don't always like what they've done, but what I do like is that they will have done something that I wouldn't have asked for. So, in a strange kind of way I'm never disappointed. If I like it, then great and if I don't then at least it is different from what it was before."

"So what do they do, just colour it or do they cut it as well?"

"They can do anything they like. It might be something that a client has had earlier in the week, something they've seen in a magazine or a film or just something that they would like to try."

"What was it like before you had it done this time?"

"Bright pink" she replied. "The cut wasn't much different, perhaps an inch or so longer, but we had a new colourist start and I thought that I should let her have a go. She decided that I would look good as a blonde." Debbie reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. She liked it this sort of length, three inches or so, liked the way that it settled as her fingers passed through it.

"And what about next time?"

"Who knows? Whatever it is, it won't be up to me. I'll just sit down at the end of the day and see who's still here. I'll get whatever they choose to give me."

"You're very brave. I could never do that" Gail replied.

"You don't have to be brave, you just have to sit there. You've done the hard part, you sat down."

"Yes, but that wasn't in preparation for a haircut, I was just waiting for you."

"Well, here I am. I'm ready, you're sitting there. So...?"

"So? What do you have in mind then?"

"I was just wondering whether you were going to let me do what I think or whether you just want to tell me what you want me to do."

"I just can't believe that you just give someone a free-hand like that" Gail said, still trying to understand the implications of what Debbie had told her.

"I suppose I was lucky. The first time, there were two of us who decided to be reckless and just sit there while somebody else just did their stuff. After that it just seemed like the thing to do. It gave the stylist a bit of freedom and it gives me a bit of an edge from time to time. I don't think that I would do it any other way now."

"But you work in a salon. Nobody would bat an eyelid if you did something wild with your hair."

"And would anybody bat an eyelid if you did the same? People might be a bit curious, but they're hardly likely to take you out and flog you in the town square are they?"

"No I suppose you're right" Gail conceded.

Debbie picked up a pair of clippers from the trolley next to her and flicked through the selection of guards in the tray. She selected one and fitted it to the body of the clippers. Gail watched intently, not sure that she liked what she saw.

"You just need to tell me to stop and I'll stop" Debbie said.

"Stop!" Gail said almost immediately.

Debbie turned the clippers on.

"Stop" she said again, less insistently than before.

"That's what Robert said the first time, but I knew that he didn't mean it" Debbie said.

"I couldn't" Gail said meekly.

"You don't have to" Debbie said as she switched the clippers off. Almost immediately she switched them on again and moved to stand behind Gail. She moved her left hand up the curve of Gail's neck lifting Gail's hair as she went. She placed the clippers at Gail's hairline and started to move them upwards slowly, moving her left hand slowly up the back of Gail's head, urging her to tilt her head forward. At this point Debbie had only moved the clippers less than an inch from Gail's hairline. If she stopped now the freshly revealed skin would have been easily covered by Gail's hair and wouldn't have been visible to anybody.

Debbie paused as Gail initially resisted the change of position. But then felt Gail lower her chin in acceptance of what was about to happen. Debbie thought for a moment and then took her left hand from Gail's head. Gail remained motionless, waiting. Debbie thought about what she was about to do to Gail. She thought about whether she should let Gail decide whether she actually wanted to go through with it. She thought about Robert and Gail's interest in what she saw earlier on. If she was going to do it, there was no point wasting time and effort. A number three would suit her, but this wasn't the time for a number three. She paused and then removed the guard from the clippers and with a single fluid motion slid the blades up the back of Gail's head. She moved around to the side of Gail's head and continued to reveal more and more of Gail's scalp. Lengths of Gail's hair plunged to the floor, their fall broken by her shoulders. Debbie moved the clippers round to Gail's forehead and moved them backwards in the same smooth motion.

Gail closed her eyes, aware of what was happening to her, but completely absorbed in the sensations of the moment. There was no thought about what anyone would say, no thought as to how she was going to explain what she had done. The clippers were hardly touching her scalp. She had always thought that they would be more brutal, but in Debbie's hands they were barely there. The last remaining section of her hair fell and it was like a release.

Debbie turned off the clippers and stroked Gail's scalp to assess her work.

"What do you think so far?" Debbie asked, putting the clippers back on the shelf.

"What do you mean 'so far'?" Gail asked.

Debbie didn't answer, but bent down to the bottom shelf of the trolley and picked out a large aerosol can.

"You're not going to..?" Gail asked, as the realisation dawned on her as to what was going to happen.

"You only have to get up and you'll hang on to what you've got left" Debbie said, the can primed in her hand. She pressed the button and the first swirl of foam squirmed out of the nozzle. With her free hand she started to smear the foam over Gail's scalp with a circular motion.

"That looks so weird!" Gail exclaimed.

"So you're not getting up then?" Debbie asked.

"It's a bit late now" Gail replied.

Debbie stroked Gail's head with the razor, pausing only to wipe the excess foam from the blade from time to time. In minutes Gail's scalp was completely smooth.

"You can feel, you know, it's your head" Debbie urged.

Gail lifted her hand slowly and as she touched her scalp she let out a tiny shriek. Debbie undid the cape and patted Gail lightly on the scalp.

"You should probably get used to that, you know" she said.

"Never in a million years did I think that I would ever do something like that" Gail smiled.

"Technically, I'm not sure that you did do it, but I know what you mean" Debbie countered.

Gail stood up and leant in towards the mirror to look at herself. She stood back and tilted her head from side to side while she assessed the new 'Gail'.

"So?" Debbie asked.

"I love it" Gail replied. "I really didn't think that I would, but I do. Thank you."

"I would say that the pleasure was all mine, but I don't think that would be true, do you" Debbie replied. She moved to the other side of the room and picked up a broom. As she turned around she saw Gail standing by the styling chair holding out the cape that she had just been taken off her. She paused for a moment.

"Don't worry about it, I'll tidy everything up" Debbie said.

"Have a seat" she said. Debbie paused and looked at her. She nodded slowly while she pondered her response.

"Okay" she said slowly, "that's a new one."

Debbie walked toward the styling chair and propped the broom against the counter. She looked at Gail and then sat down slowly, crossing her legs before placing her hands flat on her thighs. Gail swirled the gown around her, pausing only slightly as the seam of the gown caught the arm of the chair. She fastened it around Debbie's neck and looked at her in the mirror.

"Now madam, what are we having today?" she asked, entering fully into her new role.

"I thought that I might leave that up to you" Debbie replied.

"What do you think about a little off the ends?" Gail asked, as she ran her fingers through Debbie's hair.

"I don't know, it's pretty short already, but if that's what you think I should do..."

Before she had finished her sentence Gail had picked up the clippers from the tray and flicked the switch. Debbie half-turned her head to look at Gail, but as she did the clippers were touched to her hairline at her forehead. Before Debbie could turn around again, the first pass had been made. It was only two or three inches back across her scalp, but it announced Gail's intention.

"I was wondering if you would do that" Debbie said.

"I don't see why I should be the centre of attention at class next week" Gail responded. She carried on her work, not quite as smoothly as Debbie, but she was anxious to try to replicate the same light, gliding motion as she had had the pleasure of experiencing.

"You've got a good touch, I'll say that" Debbie said appreciatively.

"I'm alright with this part, but I don't think I'll be doing the rest. I can put up with the scrapes when I shave my legs, but I wouldn't want to inflict them on somebody else's head."

"Don't worry about it, I'll get one of the girls to finish it off in the morning. At least that way they'll feel like they played a part in it" Debbie said.

Gail went over and over Debbie's scalp, eager to make the finish as good as she possibly could. Finally satisfied, she flicked the switch on the clippers, restoring the quiet in the salon. Debbie turned her head from side to side, eyes fixed on her reflection in the mirror. She smiled.

'Not bad for a first attempt' she said. 'Now, let's get this little lot tidied up. I think that we deserve a drink. On me.'

'Well, at least we won't be troubled by the local Romeo tonight. He'll think we're an item' Gail said.

'It's not the local Romeo that bothers me, it's Robert. I have a sneaking suspicion that if he sees us like this the barman will be mopping the floor early.'

'You're disgusting, you know that, don't you?' Gail countered.

'I certainly do, but the thing that really worries me is that the way I feel now, I may not turn him down.'

'I think that we'll still be able to do better than that, now come on, or the day shift will wonder what's been going on in here.'

'We could always give them something to wonder about.' Debbie said.

Gail paused and looked at her.

'Just because I've let you give me a man's haircut doesn't mean that I want to be a man, you know' Gail said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

'And who says that you would get to be the man?' Debbie asked, making a crude gesture with the broom handle.

'I think we should go to the pub, don't you?' Gail said.

'You're right, come on, let's leave it at that' Debbie replied with a smile, propping the broom against the side of a washbasin.

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