Miss Bloomfield

Miss Bloomfield [part 1] The forced high school haircut

It’s hard to move back into your mother’s house after spending 6 months abroad. Rian had been living on his own during a student exchange program with a British university based in London. Rian only got back two months ago, but he still couldn’t get used to his mother’s rules around the house.

These rules weren’t unreasonable, but you change when you live on your own for a while.When Rian got back to the States, nothing had changed. His mother still treated him like a child and could be very bossy. She was a stern lady and standing in her way was never a good idea. It was in Rian’s best interest to treat her with respect and to show her good results, like Rian’s grades.

Originally Rian grew up in the States in a reasonably sized town. He had been living with only his mother for his whole life, except for those 6 months while he was in Europe. He was now 20 years old and felt like an adult with all this new life experience under his belt.

Rian was studying so he would become a chemist and work at one of the bigger plants in the city. Though he needed another 2 years to finish his education. Unfortunately this would mean another 2 years of living with his mother.

This Monday afternoon Rian was eating dinner with his mother, Lia. She was an intelligent lady in her late 40s. She had long dark brown hair and kept herself in shape by working out twice a week. During the dinner they had some chit chat which meant that Lia ran a live commentary on non trivial things.

“Well have you seen the neighbour’s car lately? They sure need to wash it more and that dog of them, have they taken him to the groomer?” Lia stopped before she finished her boring observation to fill in an otherwise silent moment.

Rian looked up from his plate, she was staring at him with a strange look on her face, it kinda frightened him.

“Speaking of grooming… Look at that hideous hair of yours, when was the last time you got a haircut?”

Rian started thinking, he actually had let it grow since his last haircut which he received when he only just moved to London. His hair was reaching his chin in the front and in the back the hair battled it’s way past his shirt collar to finish the unmaintained look.

“I like it longer mom, it’s much more in these days.” Rian said annoyed like a teenager. “Mothers never understood fashion. I’m 20 years old now, can’t she get off my back…” Rian thought to himself.

Lia had a grim look on her face. “I don’t care what’s in, as long as you are living under my roof I wont allow you to look like a homeless person.” She said with a sense of authority.

Rian had always hated this argument, nothing you could really win after this had been said.

“This is so unfair, I’m 20 years old.” Rian thought to himself. Although he was smart enough not to continue the argument, instead he changed the subject to avoid further conflict. Rian wasn’t planning on getting it cut but he also did not want to poke the bear.

“Do you know, there is this guy in my university class and he even failed that easy chemistry test from last week?”

“Don’t change the subject mister. Your hair is way too long. You should have gotten it cut months ago. I want you to look like a human being again. Don’t make me invite Miss Bloomfield over to give you a haircut.”

A shiver went down Rian’s spine. Hearing his mother say “Miss Bloomfield” and the word haircut. He instantly got a flashback…

***

“Rian!” My mother yelled “Get downstairs, will you..”

Ugh, what now? I was just playing on my Gameboy and I was about to set a new high score. I went downstairs regardless, because I knew my mother didn’t like waiting.

While I walked through the hallway I saw an unfamiliar coat on the coat stand. Did we have a visitor?

As I walked into the living room I saw a chair in the middle of the room. Next to it stood a tall woman who was in her mid 40s. She was wearing a white satin blouse with an over the knee black skirt. She looked professional and threatening. I looked at my mother, not knowing what was going on.

“Rian, I’ve reviewed our finances and your hair salon visits are costing us simply too much money.”

I was confused, I don’t think we ever needed to save money. It had never been an argument before at least.

“One of my co-workers suggested Miss Bloomfield…” My mother continued while pointing at the woman who had a sense of confidence hanging around her.

“… she makes home visits and doesn’t even charge half of what your regular salon does even though she has over 20 years of experience in a children’s salon.”

My mother concluded with a smile on her face.

I just stood there astonished. The lady who was called upon to save us money was just staring at me.

“I’m not a child any more mom. I’m 13, I can go to the mall and…”

“No you can not, we need to save money as a family. Now behave, I’m just going to run to the store to get a few things.”

I just stood there puzzled as my mother put on her jacket and turned to our new hairdresser.

“Thank you for coming on such a short notice. I hope you don’t mind if I step out for some errands. I know teenagers can be trouble.”

Miss Bloomfield replied with a smile on her face. “I was in the neighbourhood anyway, besides I got plenty of experience with unruly teenagers. There will be no trouble.”

As she finished her sentence her cold eyes turned to me with still that dominant look on her face.

I didn’t want to get a haircut, I wanted to grow it longer. I especially did not want to get my hair cut by some children’s hairdresser, I was in high school now for crying out loud!

Miss Bloomfield didn’t like wasting time, she made that clear by getting on with the task ahead of her right away.

“Sit, Rian.” A stern voice echoed between the walls. It was the type of voice from somebody with authority. Somebody you should not mess with.

I looked at Miss Bloomfield, she was pointing at the empty chair which stood in the middle of the room. The area under and around the chair was covered with old newspapers.

Hesitantly I moved over in the direction of the chair.

My bare feet walked over the soft carpet, until I came so close I had to make the first step onto the square shaped area which was covered with newspapers.

My body was warning me that I had to get out of this situation. I should not go through with this… save myself!

But what could I do? As this thinking process was going on, my mother seemed to lose her patience.

“What are you waiting for Rian?” My mother asked with a sense of annoyance in her voice.

“Mom I don’t want to get my hair cut, all my friends…” I was abruptly interrupted by a furious mother.

“You get into that chair RIGHT NOW or I will run upstairs and throw out that Gameboy!”

I couldn’t believe my mother was doing this to me, but I certainly did not want to lose my Gameboy.

I slowly continued into the direction of the chair.

With the crackling noise of the newspapers under my feet I made it to the chair and sat down.

“I don’t want you to give him a trim, he needs to look reasonable for at least the next three months.” My mother said as she moved towards the hallway door.

I looked helplessly at my mother while yelling in fear. “Wait? What? No, I don’t want to go short!”

My mother made eye contact with me and gave me a look which meant “don’t even think about it.”

I backed off.

The sound of the front door slamming shut a little louder than usual sealed my faith.

I sat in the chair, shivering. I really wanted to keep my long rebellious haircut. My friends had it too.

“Your mother’s orders were clear. Don’t cause any more trouble. Consider this your first and final warning.” The 40 year old hairdresser said with her dominant voice.

“Okay” I almost whispered.

“Okay what?” A louder more angry voice countered me.

“Okay miss Bloomfield.” I responded meekly.

“Good boy.” She said in a mocking tone.

While I was staring in front of me, I could look out the living room window. I was sitting exactly on the spot where normally the coffee table was. Just in the middle of the room, in between the TV and the couch. Our living room window connected to the street, which was a quiet suburban street with the occasional by passer.

Behind me I could hear the footsteps of Miss Bloomfield as she walked onto the newspapers. The newspapers were like a battleground in the middle of the room. Now we were both in this boxing ring, although she was the heavy weight champion, and I was somebody who had never thrown a punch in my life. I didn’t stand a chance.

I heard some rustling behind me. With a big swish a white nylon cape was draped over my body. I was just wearing shorts and a tshirt so I could feel the white nylon cape brush over my knees and forearms. The cold soft material made me shiver. The cape was the standard type of cape any salon would have, only it was not the typical black cape that most salons seemed to be going with.

Miss Bloomfield buttoned the nylon cape up snugly around my neck. It felt a little uncomfortable.

I reached with my right hand from under the cape and tugged at the neckline to make it looser. One button snapped open and gave me some more comfort.

“What did I tell you Rian? I told you to behave.” My new tormentor said as she loosened the rest of the snapper closure.

I didn’t understand what she meant but I was glad the cape came off.

Miss Bloomfield turned around and walked over to her beauty case which lay open on the dining table. This was behind me but I could hear her footsteps on the newspapers as she walked away from me.

“I actually only use this cape whenever I’m having to cut the hair of children or teenagers who cannot behave and are really hard to handle. Like difficult teenagers in an orphanage or parents who want to hand out a punishment haircut.”

I didn’t really get what she meant, but she sounded even less friendly than before.

I had the feeling that she was coming closer again. That feeling was confirmed when I heard her foot steps on the newspapers again. With a large swish a new cape flew over me and draped all over my body. The bright pink salon cape was much bigger than the previous cape.

She held the cape out in front of me.

I saw two kind of openings floating in front of me.

These two openings were quite wide and seemed to have elastic bands tailored into the outer ring. There was a piece of elastic cord hanging from each opening with a small metal object attached near the end.

The holes were intimidating, not knowing where they would lead my hands.

“Hands in.”

Still filled with fear I reluctantly slid my hands in.

My hands and arms slid down the sleeves as Miss Bloomfield pulled the cape gently towards herself.

My hands ventured deeper into the unknown until the sleeves just stopped. There was no opening at the end of this nylon tunnel, instead the ends were like mittens, without any fingers or thumbs.

Miss Bloomfield noticed that my hands had reached the end. She wasted no time to pull on one of the elastic cords. Once she gave it a good tug I could feel the opening of the sleeve tighten around my upper arm at the height of my arm pit.

She expertly switched hands which resulted in the other sleeve tightening around my upper arm.

With both her hands Miss Bloomfield pulled up the cape so it was up against my neck.

I heard multiple snaps close, one after another. It must have been at least 6 of them. With every ‘snap’ I felt more trapped.

The end result was an even more tightly fitting cape around my neck.

The pink nylon cape draped all the way around the chair almost touching the floor. My feet were dangling above the floor, Although all I saw was a mass of pink nylon covering me and the chair completely.

I tried to move my arms, but since the sleeves were attached to the salon gown on the inside I couldn’t move them too much. I was moving the whole cape while my hands and arms were encased in these ridiculous sleeves.

“So, now let’s get rid of some of this hair shall we?” Miss Bloomfield announced while admiring her handiwork.

With quick strokes of her comb and the helpful mist of the spray bottle, Miss Bloomfield tamed my hair while making sounds of disapproval.

It didn’t take her long to segment the hair on top of my head with some hair clips.

“Look down for me Rian.” She said like she was talking to a small child.

I looked down at the red carpet in front of me.

A firm grip on the top of my head followed. With some pressure the hand firmly tilted my head until my chin touched the cold nylon material of the cape.

She continued to comb the hair at the back of my head. The combing of hair was a nice feeling although it abruptly got replaced by the cold steel of a pair of scissors against my neck.

I braced myself for the first cut. Thoughts of fear and anger ran through my head.

The scissors remained idle for another few seconds.

“I changed my mind.” Miss Bloomfield said as she pulled her scissors away from my head.

I sighed some relief as I slowly lifted my head up slightly.

“Your mother didn’t seem to think there was such a thing as ‘too short”.” Miss Bloomfield stated as she walked away from the chair.

I could hear her grab a thing or two from her beauty case before adding. “So let’s take the easy way out.”

Now I was really confused. Was there such a thing as an easy way out?

The room filled with the sound of footsteps on the newspapers.

All I heard was a loud click followed by a buzzing noise behind me that was filling up the room.

It couldn’t be?

Before I had time to react I felt her now familiar grip on top of my head. Forcefully tilting my head back into position.

My long haired covered nape was now completely open for an attack of the hungry clippers.

I had shivers running down my spine.

She kept a firm grip while she placed the running clippers at the base of my neck.

Big chunks of hair started to fall down to the floor.

I couldn’t believe this was happening, but I was frozen like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming car.

Once the back of my head felt noticeably cooler without the thick layer of hair, the clippers moved towards my left side.

Her left hand was holding on to the loud buzzing predator.

Her right hand was still firmly placed on top of my head as she tilted it slightly to the right so she had a better angle for the shearing.

She placed the angry beast against my head next to my ear and started running them up.

The clippers kept moving upwards until she started the next lane. The massacre continued all over my left side before she switched to my right side.

The right side of my head got the same treatment as the left side. I saw a lot of hair slide down the cape while the loud clippers were buzzing near my ears.

Within minutes I lost almost all the hair on the sides and back of my head.

The room became quiet. She had killed that hair eating monster with the flick of a switch. I was almost thinking that I was saved now, but there was more to come.

She picked up her scissors and comb again and started undoing the clips that held my hair out of the way on the top of my head. The spray bottle made an appearance again to make my hair more manageable and easier to cut.

Miss Bloomfield worked very efficiently. I was staring in front of me as the hair was raining down on the pink cape. Those wet pieces of hair were part of me before, now they were just sliding down to end up on the layer of newspapers on the floor.

This torture seemed to go on forever, but in reality she worked very efficiently. She did not care for opinions or small talk, she was hired to cut hair and LOTS of it.

After a few more minutes of tidying up Miss Bloomfield announced the haircut was complete. “We’re done Rian. Now the next time I want you to behave better, understand? Don’t make me buzz the top too…”

She was talking to me like I was a small child.

“Yes Miss Bloomfield.” I said with the sound of defeat in my voice.

The end result was a crewcut which was still long enough on top for me to style a little bit, about 3cm/1.5 inch. This was the shortest haircut I had ever received.

From that moment onwards Miss Bloomfield would cut it once every three months. She always used that same pink cape to restrict me in my seat and give me that same crewcut. I got kind of used to it and thought it was best to cooperate to get it over with as fast as possible.

Although my mother’s argument was to save money, she herself would still continue to go to her salon. She probably did not want to take me to the mall herself while she could simply have somebody come over to get it over with, which was also the cheaper option.

During the summer holidays I turned 16. It was time again for me to receive a haircut. My mother would call Miss Bloomfield up and inform me two days in advance that it was time for me to receive a haircut. I had already learned at this point that complaining wouldn’t get me anywhere.

The haircut itself proceeded as usual, although the ending was different.

Normally my mother would take advantage of the fact that there was an adult looking after me for half an hour. She would go to the grocery store or run some other errands which she didn’t always have time for as a single mother.

This time my mother had not left the house and walked in to admire the handiwork of Miss Bloomfield while I was just fresh out of the chair.

“Great haircut as always. This will be great for the warm weather.”

Miss Bloomfield folded up her special pink cape as she received the praises for her work.

“Thank you Lia. It’s my pleasure, I always enjoy those summer haircuts. Speaking of which…”

Miss Bloomfield’s cold gaze turned to my mother.

“…why don’t you have a seat, I haven’t gotten a chance to give you a good summer haircut yet.”

This was the first time in my life I saw my mother was nervous and not at ease. She normally was a very strong lady, but not on this occasion. She started stroking her brown long hair that reached the middle of her back protectively while pleading her defence. “No that’s okay, I’ll go to my salon next week.”

My mother was avoiding Miss Bloomfield’s cold gaze.

There was a very strange vibe in the room.

“Nonsense, I got time. Come on, I’ll give you a trim on the house.”

I was still rubbing my neck to get rid of all the itchy hairs that had made its way down my collar despite the tight caping I received earlier.

My mother was standing there uneasy but got a little bit of grip back it seemed as she looked my way. “Rian don’t throw those hairs on the floor. Run upstairs and take a shower.”

I was happy to get away from the intimidating hairdresser and left the tension filled room to make my way upstairs.

Once I showered I played more video games in my room. When it was dinner time I got quite a surprise. My mother’s long dark brown hair which had reached the middle of her back just over an hour ago was now cropped to a short inverted bob.

I reacted surprised and asked her what had happened.

My mother’s reaction was unique. “I got it cut, Okay?! Now sit down and eat your dinner before it gets cold.” She said annoyingly and upset.

That was the first but also final time my mother was home while I received my cropping. After this event she made sure to leave money on the table and flee the scene before Miss Bloomfield would even arrive.

I remember Miss Bloomfield asked me about my mother often. If she was home and if I knew where she was. Also what her hair looked like. Although being a boy and having no interest in haircuts, I simply replied with either ‘the same’ or ‘just long’.

Miss Bloomfield was still the tormentor who would cut my hair, although the last haircut I received was in the summer I turned 17. I expected a haircut somewhere during the autumn break, but it never came.

I was smart enough not to ask about it or bring it up. I just considered myself lucky. Once my hair reached well over my collar that winter I found a note from my mother on the kitchen table with 25 dollars next to it.

The note read ‘Go get a haircut this weekend‘.

I was excited but also confused. Would this really mean the end of the embarrassing haircut ritual?

From that moment onwards I got my hair cut at the salon in the mall. I knew better than to abuse this new privilege and happily got decent cuts from the attractive girls that worked there. They made nice small talk and actually listened to my wishes to keep it a little longer, although nothing too drastic… I knew better than to abuse this new found right and see a return of Miss Bloomfield.

***

“Rian, are you even listening to me?” Lia angrily asked her son.

Rian just snapped out of his daydream. He must have been zoned out for some time while his mother had continue to lecture him on his appearance. Rian just nodded. His mother was not impressed by his lack of response and wanted to make sure that the message had come across.

“As long as you are living under my roof, I will not have you look like a homeless person, understand? Get a haircut already!”

Rian should have paid more attention to his mother, but his daydreaming of those tormented years got him thinking. He glanced over at his mother who was wearing her usual ponytail he had gotten used to over the last few years. It was as long again as he remembered while growing up.

Instead of focussing on his mother’s haircut, Rian was better to care for his own appearance. Although he was not too moved by his mother’s speech. If he had time and felt like it he might go and get a tiny trim at the mall to get his mother off his back.

“It will blow over.” Rian thought to himself.

[part 2] Rebelling against a haircut

Rian was hungry and eagerly asked for the freshly made potato salad from his mother.
While Lia passed her son the potato salad she felt the need to comment on his appearance again.
“Rian, I thought I made my instructions clear to get rid of that hideous hair of yours…” She told him in a tone you would use to address a child.
“She really isn’t going to let is slide now, is she.” Rian thought to himself. Luckily Rian was a quick thinker, so he figured he would just feed her a white lie for now.
“Yes I’m going tomorrow.” He replied with confidence.
“Oh really? Where?” His mother countered.
“At the mall.”
Silence followed.
Rian looked up at his mother who clearly showed that she did not have a lot of confidence in that statement. This worried Rian. He might not be able to get out of this one. If his mother wouldn’t let it go, the next two years living at home would get really annoying.
On the other hand, what could his mother really do anyway? Would she escort him to the mall and make a scene in public? Rian shook that thought out of his head, he couldn’t believe she would be bothered enough by it to resort to causing any kind of scene. He was 20 years old now, there is no way she could treat an adult like that.
Although maybe it was smarter to just go to the mall tomorrow and get a trim or at least tidy it up a bit so he could get his mother off his back for now.
Rian really didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t want to get his haircut, but two full years of arguing with his mother were also far from ideal…
Rian’s phone started vibrating in his pocket. Not now… His mother is definitely not a fan of mobile phones, let alone using them at the dinner table. Rian knew who was probably calling him, he just started dating a girl from his university. Her name was Amy, she had gorgeous blue eyes, and had long blonde thick hair past her shoulders.
Around Amy he was acting more tough to show off to her. The dating, and showing off to her, had been going on since he had gotten back from his time abroad, about two months ago.
Rian had kept this new development from his mother, since he didn’t want her to invite her over or do something equally embarrassing. Things were fine as they were and he didn’t need his mother to get involved in the matter.
The vibrating phone didn’t stop.
“Are you not going to answer that?” Lia asked.
Rian just looked at her like he didn’t know what she was talking bout.
“I’m not deaf you know, that thing still makes quite a noise when you put it on vibrate.”
Her son was looking for words but couldn’t find any.
“Come on, answer it.” She said in a mocking voice.
It kept vibrating so he figured he would just quickly say that he would call her back after dinner.
Rian swiftly grabbed the phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. Amy Barnsfield it said. He tapped answer. 
“Hey, I’m just eating dinner. Can I call you back?” He almost whispered.
Amy was chatting already.
Rian looked over at his mother who seemed to enjoy his discomfort.
“Yea that sounds great, but I’m in the middle of something. I’ll call you later, okay?” Rian tried again.
Finally she responded to his pleads to terminate the call early.
“Alright… yea… okay, bye.” Rian whispered  as he ended the connection by tapping the end call button.
“Who is she?” His mother curiously asked.
“Oh just a friend.” He tried to reply casually.
“Just a friend?”
She kept her cold stare locked onto him.
His face started burning up, was he a teenager again?
“So what does this new girlfriend of yours think of this hideous hairstyle?” The interrogation continued.
“She is not my girlfriend!” Rian almost shouted like a real teenager.
“But you agree that your hairstyle is hideous?” She smiled seeing him so out of his comfort zone.
“No and for the record, she likes my hair!” Rian blurted out.
Now this was a lie, or at least he didn’t know wether or not she likes his unmaintained look. It was simply not something they had talked about yet.
“I see, well better get a job fast so you can move out…”
Rian didn’t respond. He felt exposed and trapped by his tormentor.
“…Because I’m not housing a homeless person.” His mother continued her attacked.
The rest of the dinner was awkward and no words were spoken. As soon as the dinner was over, Rian excused himself and went upstairs.
He grabbed his phone and tapped Amy in the favourites menu. It didn’t take long until she answered.

“Hi there, sorry about that. I was in the middle of dinner.”

“Oh that’s okay, I just wanted to see how you were doing.“

“Oh I’m okay, just annoyed.”

“Annoyed? Why?“

“Just ‘living with my mom trouble’, problems you don’t have since you’re actually employed and have your own place.”

“Ah I know those too well, what is the issue?“

Rian was not ready yet to drop his cool attitude, Amy was a sweet girl and he really liked her.

“It’s nothing. How was your day?”

“Don’t change the subject, what’s the issue?“

Rian sighed, another battle he wasn’t going to win today.

“My mother doesn’t approve of my haircut.”

“Hah, she what? You are 20 years old. Do you need approval of how you wear your hair?“

This backfired, Rian wished he wouldn’t have said anything.

“No it’s not that, she just complains. Of course I don’t need permission, I’m not 12 anymore.”

“Haha, that’s funny. Your mother deciding what haircut you are getting, real mature, hah.“

Now look what mess he had gotten himself into. This had to end. She was right, this was ridiculous.

“Oh don’t worry, as soon as we are done talking I’ll go downstairs and tell her to mind her own business.”

“Ohhh mister tough guy! Good, stand up for yourself. I can’t date somebody who lets his mother dictate his life.“

This conversation gave Rian the confidence he needed to tell his mother once and for all that his haircut, was his business. If she didn’t like it, then that was too damn bad.

“You are right, I’m going to end this once and for all.”

“Good luck my little rebel! I expect a full battle report later, haha.”  

“Sure, I’ll talk to you later.”

Rian hung up the phone and and with his anger bottled up inside he headed for the stairs. He was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles went white. He was ready to face his mother once and for all. 
Lia was sitting in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea as Rian walked in and started stammering. “You can’t make me cut my hair. It’s my hair! I’m an adult now.”
Rian’s mother was puzzled by this sudden outburst, what was he thinking. “Says who?” She asked as she got up from her chair.
“I do… and so does Amy!” Rian blurted out.
“Oh so you both think you are so mature?” She questioned calmly.
“Yes, it’s my hair and I will decide what I do with it.” Rian almost yelled back at her.
Rian’s mother was far from impressed by this sudden change in behaviour. Clearly this new girlfriend was having a negative influence on him and Lia needed to find a solution before Amy could cause any more trouble between a mother and her son.
“You know what, if you are so mature. Why don’t we handle this like adults? This Saturday, invite Amy over and we will have dinner, just the three of us.”
Rian looked puzzled, this was definitely not the reply he was expecting from his mother. He was in war mode, he was ready for battle.
“Uh okay? I guess…” Rian just stood there dumbfound.
“Why don’t you call her now, so I know for sure I have to cook for three instead of two.”
Lia was back in control of the situation. Her son just stood there confused.
“Come on, chop chop, give her a call or do you want me to call her?”
That was definitely the last thing Rian wanted, so he grabbed his phone and hit redial.

“Hey, it’s me again.”

“That’s quick. How did it go my little rebel. Haha.“

Rian nervously looked over in the direction of his mother. Staring back at him was a woman with a confident smile on her face.

“Uh yea good. So would you like to come over for dinner on Saturday?”

“I guess so? Where are we going?“

“Uhm well you see…”

At this point Lia had enough and decided to intervene. She stepped towards Rian and grabbed the phone from him.
Rian just stood there like a small child that had his lunch money stolen by a bully.

“Amy?”

…

“It’s Lia, Rian’s mother.”

…

“Nice to meet you Amy. I was just telling Rian that I would be so pleased to meet you. Would you like to come over for dinner this Saturday?”

…

“Or do you already have plans this Saturday?”

…

“Great, make sure to be here at 7:30.”

…

“Good. I Look forward to meeting you.”

With that Lia simply hang up the phone and gave it back to Rian who just stood there with his mouth hanging open. This was exactly what he had been afraid of and why he did not want to tell his mother about dating Amy.
“MOM! Why did you do that?!”
“Oh shush Rian, I just want to put a face to the name.” Lia countered her son’s argument.

Rian couldn’t believe it, he was so embarrassed. “Mom, I like that girl. Why did you have to interfere?”

“You always hide things from me, I have to find out in some way. Now go upstairs and clean up your room. If Amy is to see that dump, I’m sure she will change her mind about dating you.”

Rian felt humiliated and with nothing left to say he retreated to his room.

He was 20 years old, dating a gorgeous 23 year old girl who actually had a car and a full-time job. All the way on the other end on the scale of adulthood was Rian who didn’t have his degree yet and was still living with his mother and bossed around by her.

Unfortunately the damage had been done and there was nothing Rian could do now except for damage control. Hopefully the dinner wouldn’t bee too embarrassing and things could go back to normal after.

**

Later that week Rian was in his room wasting time on his laptop. His room wasn’t big and unfortunately only fitted a single bed. Amy had never been to his place. This Saturday it was going to happen though. Just thinking about it made him nervous.

The good news was that his mother seemed to have dropped the issue regarding his appearance. After standing up to her and telling her the truth, not a single word had been spoken about it.

While laying on his narrow bed, the speakers of his laptop generated a notification sound indicating an incoming message.

Amy: Hi Stranger! Are you on?
Rian: Sure am, how are you?
Amy: Good, thanks.

There was a brief pause. Rian didn’t know what to say to her. This was the first contact they had after his mother interfered in their conversation last night. Rian had lost some sleep over the embarrassing moment, but didn’t know if he should bring it up. While thinking of what he should say, Amy broke the silence.

Amy: So about last night… is it me or was that weird?
Rian: I know! I’m so sorry, my mother is quite a handful you know.
Amy: Yea it was a bit awkward. How is she a handful?
Rian: She just always want to have things her way.
Rian: I didn’t know she wanted to talk to you, she just grabbed the phone out of my hands.
Amy: Ah, well I guess we’re getting serious now. Meeting your mother and everything! ;-)
Rian: Hah yea. You don’t mind having dinner at my place?
Amy: Well I didn’t plan on meeting your mother so soon…
Amy: I mean we never talked about any of that, but why not?
Amy: I’d love to see where you live! You never invited me over, we always hang out at my place you know…

That was true. Rian had never invited her over, not only because of his mother but also because of his small bedroom and single bed which was far from glamorous.

Rian: That’s because you actually have a nice place.
Amy: Well sign me up for the complete tour this Saturday!
Rian: I think a quick tour could be worked into the schedule…
Amy: Full tour, I want to see it all!
Amy: Hey, so did your mother said anything about your hair?
Rian: No, I think I made my point and she finally accepted that it’s my hair and none of her business.
Amy: Look at you being a grown up! Haha. No longer listening to his mommy… ;-)
Rian: Hah, stop making fun of me.
Amy: I’ll do what I want! Anyway, I gotta go.

— Amy signed off. —

Rian was feeling a little better after talking to Amy. She was definitely a great girl and he was excited to see her again, although he would have preferred if it wouldn’t be at his place.

Feeling thirsty, Rian got up and walked out his room towards the stairs. He could hear his mother speaking to somebody on the phone while he was walking down the stairs towards the kitchen.

“Yes I know it’s been a long time! How are you?”
…
“Oh that’s wonderful. Yes things here are good. I’m still working 4 days a week at the head office of distribution.”
…
“He is doing good. He went away on a trip to Europe actually, he just got back two months ago.”

Rian stopped in his tracks in front of the living room door. He was curious to hear what his mother had to say about him.

“Oh you know… pushing boundaries and being rebellious as always. I’m definitely not a fan.”
…
“You are still doing that? I don’t want to be any trouble.”
…
“Well in that case, the weekend would work best.”
…
“I was thinking a little later?”
…
“Great, well we can always catch up then. See you soon.”

Rian was curious who his mother had been talking to. He opened the living room door and saw his mother putting the home phone back on the charging station.

“Oh hi Rian.” She said a little surprised.

“Who were you calling?” Rian quizzed his mother.

“Oh nobody, just an old friend. Would you like some tea?” Lia quickly changed the subject.

For some reason Rian had a knot in his stomach. He thought his mother was acting suspicious. What was she hiding?

**

On Saturday morning Rian woke up from the sun penetrating through his thin curtains. The sun was shining on this hot day in the middle of June. All the forecasts promised a hot summer ahead of them. Just being half awake, Rian rolled over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. The screen was showing a new text message.

Amy: Hey cutie, so tonight is the night… hah. What’s your address?

Rian sat up on the edge of his bed as he started tapping on the screen of his phone.

Rian: It’s Admiral St. 153, west of the high school.
Amy: Ah I know that area, nice and suburban. See you at 7:30!

On his way to the kitchen in the hunt for breakfast, Rian ran into his mother who seemed in a very good mood this morning.

“Good morning Rian, how are you today?” She said with a big smile on her face.

It almost frightened Rian, he never saw his mother this happy. “Uh… good, why are you so happy?”

“Oh do I need a reason now to be happy? I was just thinking that today is going to be a good day! Did you remind Amy that I expect her at 7:30?” Lia awaited an answer by staring his way.

“Yea I just texted her.” Rian said while making his way towards the fridge.

“Excellent! It’s going to be an unforgettable night.” His mother laughed as she said this and made her way towards the living room.

“What’s up with her today?” Rian thought to himself.

**

Rian was just looking at the scoreboard after competing online in a new video game he was hooked on. He looked at the clock “It’s already 6:45? I better get ready!” He thought to himself as he jumped up from his bed. He changed into his pair of good jeans and a nice blue button up shirt with collar. Amy told him she liked that color on him since it matched his eyes.

Wearing his good clothes, his personal hygiene was next on the ‘getting ready list’. Rian made his way into the bathroom and started brushing his teeth. He was almost done when he heard the front door being opened. He heard mumbling of voices.

Rian quickly looked out the bathroom window onto the driveway. He saw a nice looking sedan in the driveway, not Amy’s car though.  Good news since he wasn’t completely finished with getting ready yet. Besides it was still early. Rian confirmed this by checking the screen of his phone for the time. Just a few minutes after 7. He still had half an hour.

The next few minutes were spent in front of the mirror admiring himself. Rian’s hair was reaching his chin when he parted it in the middle. He used his hands to tuck it behind his ears to make sure it stayed out of his face.

Rian kept admiring the long hair which represented something more than just a haircut. It meant he was an adult now. He got to decide what he looked like. Besides, deep down inside it felt good to have something he could hide behind. Although just thinking that made him shiver and push those negative thoughts out of his head. He was looking good, a bit like a rock star. He was an interesting personality.

This self confidence session was abruptly disturbed.

“Rian, come downstairs!” The loud and dominant voice of his mother echoed up the stairs.

“What was it now, I don’t have time for this. I need to be ready for when Amy arrives.” Rian thought to himself.

He gave himself a last look in the mirror and confirmed that he was looking very stylish with his blue button up shirt and long hair.

“Rian? Did you hear me?” Lia was running out of patience.

“Yes yes I’m coming!” Rian yelled back while he made his way down the stairs.

When he opened the living room door, his heart skipped a beat.

There was the same scene from around 7 years ago.

A big chair in the middle of the room on top of a big square of old newspapers. Next to it stood the familiar dominant hairdresser.

Miss Bloomfield was a bit older now but was still having that brown dyed hair. She must have dyed it since there was not a single hint of her hair going grey just yet.

Rian was like a deer staring at a pair of oncoming headlights. He just stood there frozen while the cold gaze of Miss Bloomfield locked onto her target.

“Mom, what is this?” Rian raised his voice. “I told you I’m not getting a haircut!”

“I heard what you said. I think it’s a bit naive that you think you can make the rules in this house. Clearly you have no idea of who is truly in charge around here. Now why don’t you apologize for your behaviour and have a seat.” Lia said with a smile on her face. She was enjoying this moment.

“What was my mother thinking? My last haircut from this child hairdresser was almost 3 years ago. I was a changed man since my half year abroad. I grew up, I had taken care of myself. I was dating a beautiful young woman now.” Rian thought to himself.

He was an adult now, she couldn’t force him.

“No, I don’t want to cut my hair.” Rian now said with less power.

“I don’t care what you want or dont want. You’re going to receive a haircut RIGHT NOW!” As Lia spoke those powerful words she stepped in the direction of her scared son.

The proclaimed adult was almost shrinking as his mother stepped into his direction. He didn’t know what she would be capable of. The situation was very different from when they had the argument earlier this week about him not cutting his hair.

“But I don’t want to get my hair cut.” Rian tried again.

Now the situation in the room was shifting with every second. It started with a rebellious Rian who did not want to get his hair cut, but the presence of Miss Bloomfield hung in the air like a thunderstorm at the end of a hot summer day.

Because Rian had undergone this haircutting ritual so many times, it was almost as if he subconsciously knew that it was going to happen. He was like a child fighting his parents because he did not want to go to bed. He was just making matters worse for himself.

Until this point, Miss Bloomfield had not said a word. She had locked her gaze on her victim from the moment he had set foot in the room. She was just standing next to the empty chair in the centre of the room. She neatly draped the folded pink garment over her forearm while watching the events unfold.

Lia had told her that it wasn’t going to be an easy haircut, so she did not even bring her regular cape. All she brought was the restrictive pink garment which was perfect for these kind of punishment haircuts.

Rian was surprised to hear the strict voice of the woman he had feared for years now.

“Rian, I want you to take a seat in my chair.” The strong voice of Miss Bloomfield filled the tense room.

It was almost as if Rian had forgotten how forceful her voice truly was.

Miss Bloomfield already knew that her prey would sit in the chair eventually, they always did. The bigger fuss they threw, the more fun the actual cutting always was.

“But I don’t want to cut my hair. I’m growing it long, it isn’t fair!” Rian almost sobbed. He was close to being in tears.

“I will count to 5. If you are not sitting in my chair once I reach 5, I’m not cleaning up that hideous head of hair, instead I’ll only use my clippers to  get rid of it all.”

Rian had butterflies in his stomach and goosebumps all over his body.

“One.”

“She can’t make me” Rian thought to himself.

“Two.”

Rian was looking at the kitchen chair with the intimidating hairdresser standing next to it.

“Three.”

As if Rian had no more control over his body. He felt his right foot step forward, one step closer to his nightmare. He looked at the direction he was moving towards. It was the trap that was laid out for him. Miss Bloomfield’s facial expression had slightly changed. He could see that the serious look on her face started looking more like a grin.

“Four.”

Rian had shivers all over his body. Now his left foot made a big step forward followed by his right foot again which now stepped on the newspapers on the floor.

The counting had stopped. The room was just filled with the noise of Rian’s footsteps on the newspapers.

Rian slowly turned around as he lowered himself onto the front edge of the wooden kitchen chair. He just sat there on the edge of the chair while staring in front of him, afraid of what was about to happen.

Miss Bloomfield put her strong hands on his shoulders. She could feel Rian almost jumping as she touched him. She pulled his shoulders backwards so they touched the back of the chair. This meant that her victim had to move in order for him not to lose his balance.

Rian was not very tall, so his feet were now dangling just a few inches above the floor covered with old newspapers.

Adrenaline was pumping through his veins. Rian’s body and mind were in active mode, ready to flee at any second.

Miss Bloomfield was like a cheetah, she could smell the fear on the preys she stalked.

Rian’s instinct told him to just sit still and play death, maybe there would be an opportunity to escape later on. Although that would be nearly impossible, he had been in this position too many times with the same outcome every time.

With a quick glance Rian looked at his mother who had positioned herself in his field of view. She got a great view of what was about to happen and she was clearly enjoying the lesson which her son was about to be taught by his old tormentor.

The dominant hairdresser realized that even though her next victim was seated on the chair, she needed to make sure he wouldn’t try any last minute escape. It was not like she could chase an adult down the street with her clippers.

Without any sudden movements not to scare her prey, Miss Bloomfield took the folded nylon cape in both her hands and with the help of gravity unfolded the garment. She grabbed the pieces of the cape next to the neckline and with a swift motion she threw it into the air.

Slowly the pink nylon garment settled down on her former regular client.

 [part 3] the Forced Haircut

The 20 year old helpless victim just sat on the wooden kitchen chair. At the moment he still had long brown hair that reached his chin. As Rian sat there, he heard the rustling sound of the nylon as it got flicked into the air. For a brief moment he couldn’t see anything but the pink nylon material in front of him. The familiar instructions would soon follow.

In front of him was the big pink cape being held out open by his tormentor. The special punishment cape still had the hidden sleeves inside that would restrict anybody so there was no escape from the shearing ahead of him or her.

Rian looked at the opening of the sleeves, two big holes in front of him. They were situated about 50 centimeters apart. The openings of these sleeves were currently wide open. Through the seam of each of the sleeves ran a long pieces of elastic cord, like on the waistband on a pair of swimming shorts.

The pink elastic cords just dangled in the air under the sleeves, waiting to be pulled so they would tighten and render the victim helpless.

The elastic cord closure used on the sleeves on the nylon cape.

The elastic cords went through a small metal cilinder object with a button on it. When Miss Bloomfield pulled on the elastic string, it would go through the metal cilinder. It was a system that only allowed the elastic cord to be tightened. In order to loosen up the elastic cord on the sleeves you had to hold the button on the metal cilinder and pull it down with a little bit of force. This elastic cord and locking system is commonly used on hoods of rain jackets to keep the hood firmly in place.

Since the wearer of this humiliating pink nylon cape had his or her arms and hands rendered helpless in the enclosed sleeves, the wearer was essentially trapped until after the cut. It was a heavy duty cape that Miss Bloomfield had gotten custom made after her own design.

The nylon cape was still floating in the air in front of Rian. Miss Bloomfield enjoyed using this cape since it required participation of her victim. The victim in the chair was required to obey her command and by doing so effectively rendered himself helpless. It was just one of the many humiliating tricks Miss Bloomfield had up her sleeves to make sure that her clients would behave.

The cape had never failed. It was almost like shock therapy. The big pink cape, the participation, her strict voice telling them what to do. It was a unique experience that would humiliate and embarrass any client.

“Hands in!” It echoed through the room.

Rian did as he was told and lifted his hands and moved them towards the two opening in front of him. He slowly slid his arms into the sleeves.

While Rian’s arms moved into the sleeves, Miss Bloomfield pulled the cape slightly towards herself. Essentially capturing her victim in between herself and the special cape.

Rian’s fingers found the end of the sleeves. The opening of the sleeves with the elastic cord came just passed his elbows.

Miss Bloomfield noticed this. “I see you have grown a bit since I last used this on you. Clench your hands and make a fist.”

As Rian made a fist with both his hands he felt Miss Bloomfield pull on the pink nylon material of the cape once more.

His clenched fists quickly slid further down the sleeves until they hit the end of the sleeves which was firmly sewn shut.

The opening of the sleeve now reached the middle of his upper arm. While Miss Bloomfield held the cape with one hand, she used her now free hand to pull on the elastic cord of the right sleeve opening. Rian could feel the opening of the right sleeve tighten around his upper arm. It was an uncomfortable feeling. Due to the locking cilinder system, the elastic didn’t ease off.

Miss Bloomfield switched hands and was now pulling on the elastic closure system of the left sleeve which rendered Rian completely helpless.

With her usual dominance, Miss Bloomfield pulled the pink fabric towards her. She was essentially pulling Rian back into the chair until the cold fabric touched his bare neck. She grabbed the two pieces and used the snap closure to tighten the cape just one snapper hole too tight. This was making it difficult for Rian to breathe. Although it was probably not really from the tight closure of the cape, it was more due to the nerves flowing through his body. It felt like he had a whole garden of butterflies in his stomach.

“You are heavily overdue Rian, look at what you did to yourself.” Miss Bloomfield said as she forced her comb through the chin length hair of the young men.

Rian didn’t say anything. He was too busy with the mixture of emotions going on inside of his head. The feeling of anger towards his mother that she would make him cut my hair like this, but also fear… real fear of Miss Bloomfield. She was no laughing matter. She was someone you should be afraid off.

“So what are we doing today?” Miss Bloomfield directed her question to Lia.

“As you can see, Rian is slipping away from me. He is making his own rules. I want him to listen to me and behave.”

“I know just the haircut.” Miss Bloomfield said with a smile on her face.

“Don’t hold back, I called you for a reason.” Rian’s mother said as she stood a few meters in front of the chair giving Rian once more a look of I told you so. 

Miss Bloomfield walked to her beauty case to get her first array of torturing devices.

Rian sat there almost with tears in his eyes. He knew that Miss Bloomfield wouldn’t go easy on him. She enjoyed using her clippers way too much for that.

The high pitched noise of the front doorbell filled the room.

Rian almost jumped up in the chair. He now realized that he had forgotten all about Amy. His mind was too occupied with the reunion that was playing out at this very moment.

This was not how Rian could let Amy see himself. Especially not after she was so impressed that he stood up to his mother about the whole forced haircut ordeal.

“Oh I wonder who that is! Just in time to witness the shearing!” Lia said with a large amount of joy in her voice while giving a wink to Miss Bloomfield.

“No! Wait! Mom!” Rian tried yelling.

Lia simply opened the door to the hallway and closed it behind her.

“Mom?! MOM?!”

The sound of footsteps on newspapers filled the room after Rian’s yelling.

**

Lia opened the front door.

“You must be Amy!”

“That’s right, Miss Thompson I assume?” A nervous young lady responded.

“Well yes dear. Please do come in!”

“Oh thank you.” Amy said as she stepped inside.

“Let me take your jacket.”

Amy handed her jacket to Rian’s mother.

Lia’s first impression of Amy was a good one. She expected some pushy girl who was now telling her son what to do. Instead a very polite young lady stood in front of her. The shy young lady had blonde hair which reached all the way down to her bra strap in the back and got past her shoulder quite a bit in the front. She was wearing a black satin skirt which came just over her knees. The big black heels made her equal in height to Lia, who herself was quite tall for her gender. The white satin top finished off the professional look of her son’s girlfriend.

“You look very nice Amy.”

Amy smiled. “Well thank you miss Thompson!”

“So lovely to see your home. I would love a tour!” Amy added.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll get to see everything!” Lia added with a knowning smile on her face.

**

On the other side of the door sat a very nervous young man on the kitchen chair. Bound by a big pink nylon salon cape, he had no way to escape.

Miss Bloomfield didn’t like wasting time and got to work. With one hand on top of Rian’s head she gently tilted his head until his chin was touching the cold fabric of the cape.

Rian knew that resisting would only make matters worse. He became in a submissive state and simply let Miss Bloomfield control the situation. He was now staring at his knees which were covered by the soft pink fabric.

A loud click brought the familiar beast to life. The buzzing sound of the clippers filled the room. These were some heavy duty clippers. No battery operated hobby kit, the real old school clippers with a thick power cord.

With a big smile on her face the hairdresser placed the loud clippers at the base of Rian’s neck. With one smooth motion she started running the clippers up his nape.

Rian felt the cold steel blades of the hungry monster pressed firmly against his nape. While his head was held firmly by his teenage tormentor, the loud clippers changed in tone as they started buzzing through his thick long hair.

Once Miss Bloomfield got high up Rian’s neck with the clippers, she flicked her wrist sideways to lift off the big pile of hair which seemed to be riding along on top of the clippers.

While Rian was staring at his knees he noticed the large quantity of hair sliding down from his right shoulder into his lap. The 4 inch long hair smoothly slid down the soft sleek material of the salon cape.

Just as Rian realized what was happening the door to the living room slowly opened. Rian could see it from the corner of his left eye while still keeping his head pointed downwards.

Miss Bloomfield turned the clippers off so she could see who was visiting this butchering session.

“What a lovely house you have miss Thompson.” Amy’s sweet voice travelled into the room before she even sat foot inside.

“Thank you dear, just wait until you see the living room!” Lia said with a sense of joy in her voice.

Rian could see the boots his mother was wearing from the corner of his limited vision. The next thing he saw was a pair of killer heels together with a black satin skirt. The heels only made their way just through the door as they stopped in their tracks.

Miss Bloomfield saw a young lady who clearly was new to the concept of home haircuts. She could just sense that Amy was the type of girl that had always had her own say with her hair, which probably resulted in the dull long hair she was having now. It didn’t do her face any good and the amount of time and money wasted on care was just an outright shame. She shook her head as if she had seen something despicable.

“Oh my, what’s this?” Amy asked while taking in her new surroundings.

Amy looked at the square of newspapers on the floor. In the middle stood a kitchen chair with a caped victim who looked very anxious. It was almost difficult to recognize her boyfriend sitting there. He had hair clips on top of his head separating the long hair on top from the rest of the thick curtains. His head was tilted forward so he was staring at the floor.

Lia eagerly replied. “As you might have noticed, my son was heavily overdue for a haircut. He wasn’t mature enough to take care of it himself, so I decided to help him out a little and teach him a lesson along the way.”

Rian wished the floor would open up and swallow both him and the chair he was sitting on. Anything was better than the torture he was currently going through. Not only was his girlfriend witnessing this ridiculous haircut ritual, his mother was telling her she organized this punishment haircut.

Slowly Rian lifted his head to make eye contact with Amy.

Rian saw a very surprised and joyful young lady. Their eyes met. Rian’s eyes were pleading, almost telling her to look away. Her bright blue eyes seemed filled with joy. Rian didn’t understand. She seemed to have a smile on her face while he was being tormented like this.

Rian felt the firm hand of Miss Bloomfield on top of his head again.

“Head down Rian.” Were the last words Rian heard before his head was tilted once more and the loud clippers started roaring again.

The buzzing of the clippers continued in the back of Rian’s neck. With great precision Miss Bloomfield yielded the clippers and cropped the poor young man. Piles of hair were dumped on the cape, sliding down until they joined in the pool of hair that slowly started forming in Rian’s lap.

It was only minutes before the aggressive hairdresser also cropped both sides of Rian’s full head of hair. Just the hair on top, which was firmly held in place with the hair clips, was still attached.

Now the sides and the back were done, Rian’s head was no longer pushed down by the aggressive hairdresser. He was now staring in front of him. Still to the left he could see the attractive young lady in her skirt and heels watching the massacre.

Amy just stood there dumbfound, she didn’t know what to say. The whole situation was bizarre to her. She had never even seen a home haircut or heard about this concept. She had grown up with small trims at the local unisex salon while her mother would have her hair done.

“What do you think Amy, much better no?” Lia asked while admiring Miss Bloomfield’s handiwork.

“Well yea, I mean I can see his face now… even his ears!” Amy chuckled.

“Oh but we are not finished yet.” Miss Bloomfield announced as she walked over to her beauty case to swap her clippers for a different set of scary tools.

With a water bottle and comb in her hands, the hairdresser released the hair clips on top of Rian’s head. His hair was now simply falling down in front of his face and partially covering up the short sides again.

While spraying the top of the hair wet and combing it through, Miss Bloomfield took the opportunity to study her audience.

Lia was clearly happy with the results so far. She eagerly followed the cutting process and was encouraging Miss Bloomfield along the way.

Next to her, but with enough space in between them stood the newest addition to the room. Amy was looking on eagerly but also seemed a little scared of the hairdresser.

Miss Bloomfield studied the young lady more and secretly wished she could have Amy meet her scissors or clippers even. She clearly needed somebody to tell her what would look good on her instead of the endless trims she was currently receiving.

“So… what do you think we should do with the top section ladies?” The hairdresser queried her audience.

“Short!” Lia almost yelled through the room.

“What do you think… uhm Amy is it?” The hairdresser made eye contact with the young blonde lady.

“Oh…” Amy said as she returned Miss Bloomfield’s gaze. It wasn’t long before she broke the connection and made eye contact with Rian instead.

Amy was used to seeing this young proud man she thought she was dating, but instead she saw a young insecure boy awaiting his fate.

The thought of having this power over him excited her.

Rian looked at Amy, pleading with his eyes.

Amy started to smile, but not in a cute way.

Rian felt the butterflies fill up his stomach again. What was she thinking?

As her grin grew bigger the sound of her sweet voice filled the room. “I don’t believe there is such a thing as too short, do you?”

“I’m going to steal that line!” Miss Bloomfield said with a big smile on her face.

Rian felt betrayed. He couldn’t believe his girlfriend would go against him on his hair and side with his mother.

Lia was happy to see that her son’s girlfriend agreed to her methods. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all? Even though she was still not happy about the way her son stood up to her after talking to his girlfriend on the phone.

“I don’t want it short!” Rian said with a crack in his voice. It was his last attempt. Resistance was futile.

Miss Bloomfield had heard enough and decided to let her cutting do the talking. It didn’t take long before it was raining down hair onto the cape. More hair was added to the pile. The snipping continued for minutes.

Rian saw all the hair falling down onto the cape. “It’s too short!” He tried again.

“It’s a little late now. But guess what?” Lia spoke to her son.

“Uhm what?” Rian was confused.

“It will grow back! Though it might take you a while, hah.” Lia said with a big smile on her face.

The beaten young man sat in the chair. His arms still rendered useless by the sleeves inside of the salon cape. The snipping continued.

There was only just over an inch left on top of his head. The sides and back were blended so there was a smooth transition from the longer hair on top to the very short sides and back which couldn’t even cover Rian’s skin.

The torture seemed to be over since Miss Bloomfield went to get her little trimmer and the hair duster from the beauty case.

Rian’s neck was very sensitive since it was no longer covered by a thick layer of dark hair, which made him feel naked.

The dominant hairdresser used to trimmers to clean up the hairline around his ears and neck. The feeling was sensational for Rian since it had been a long time since he had any type of exposed hairline like that.

The soft hairs of the hair duster made him shiver as they passed over the back of his neck. It was a special feeling.

Miss Bloomfield picked up the pieces of the cape from the back and opened the snapper closure which was closed tightly around his neck.

Rian felt like he could breathe again as he felt his hairdresser fumble around with the elastic cords and the closure around his upper arms. It wasn’t long before he felt the elastic cord loosen up and he could slowly retract his arms from the sleeves.

With a swift motion the nylon prison, together with the pile of hair that had formed in his lap, was removed and shaken out expertly by his predator.

While staring at his white knuckles from the tight clenched fists he had made during the cut, Rian slowly rose to his feet. Once he was up and moving he quickly stepped away from the chair towards Amy to seek comfort. He turned around to see large piles of hair on the newspapers. Looking at the crime scene almost made him nauseous.

Shivers ran all over Rian’s body as he felt Amy’s hand touch his freshly cropped neck. So sensitive and naked.

“I like this new look on you Rian, what an improvement! You should keep it like this.” Amy said with a big smile on her face.

Rian wasn’t happy about this. The last thing he wanted was to keep this super short haircut. He liked his hair long. It would be at least a year before he would be back on track. What a loss.

Lia now saw her opportunity. “Amy it looks to me like Rian wasn’t the only person over due for a trim.”

“Oh me?” Amy replied while reaching up to touch her long locks.

“Yes I’m sure Miss Bloomfield has time for another client.” Lia said while looking at Miss Bloomfield.

The hairdresser had only just warmed up and was more than ready for another client and nodded eagerly.

“No that’s okay I got my usual stylist in the shopping mall, he does my hair.” Amy said with confidence in her voice.

“How much do you pay for a trim there?” Lia asked.

Amy didn’t like where this was going. “Well a head massage, trim and blowdry go for about 65 dollars I think.”

Miss Bloomfield picked up the pink cape from the back of the chair and folded it over her arm. She knew where this would be going.

“Then I know an easy way to save 65 dollars.” Lia continued.

“No really, it’s okay. I’m growing it out anyway.” Amy tried. She had lost the confidence in her voice.

Now Miss Bloomfield chimed in. “Even when you are growing your hair out you need a trim to keep it healthy Amy.”

Amy was now up against two strong willed women.

“Well yea but…”

The scissor happy hairdresser didn’t let her finish. “Just take a seat and we can take a good look.”

Amy looked towards the hairdresser who had her eyes locked on her. Her eyes seemed cold and evil on the inside.

The helpless young lady didn’t know what to do. She had just seen what Miss Bloomfield was capable off. She only let her own stylist touch her hair since he would never cut it any shorter than she wanted. Now she was trapped in this room. She really had to come up with a good reason why she couldn’t have her hair cut right now.

“Amy, have a seat.” Miss Bloomfield continued more bossy this time.

Amy’s heart just skipped a beat when she looked at miss Bloomfield. “No really it’s okay. I always go to my stylist and he says that…”

The hairdresser had heard enough and said in a very demanding tone. “Nonsense, you are overdue. Have a seat.”

Amy looked at Miss Bloomfield who had the pink cape draped over her left arm while leaning on the kitchen chair with her other arm.

The sound of her fingers tapping impatiently on the back of the chair made Amy even more nervous.

Amy looked at Rian. He just stood there ashamed of his new haircut, not in any position to back her up.

She then looked at Rian’s mother who just stared back at her and made a little head gesture towards the chair to encourage her to take the plunge.

Amy’s mouth was very dry all of a sudden. She felt butterflies in her stomach. Goosebumps all over her body. What was she going to do?

 [part 4] Amy’s turn in the chair

Amy couldn’t say a word, her heart was racing. She was just standing there, at least that’s what she thought. All of a sudden she took one small step towards the chair, and another one. She didn’t understand, like she had no will power to resist. Her body had made a decision even though Amy didn’t agree!

The young unsure blonde lady didn’t know what to do. Her legs kept making small steps towards the crime scene where her boyfriend had just lost his safety blanket.

Miss Bloomfield had her eyes locked onto the young lady. She knew that they would always end up in her chair. It would just be a matter of time.

Amy’s footsteps now made their way onto the newspapers on the floor. The sound they produced made her shiver all over her body. She was now just a meter away from the chair.

“Take a seat.” Miss Bloomfield ordered while pointing at the chair.

Amy took the last step and slowly turned around. She lowered herself onto the wooden kitchen chair so her butt cheeks were just touching the front edge of the chair.

This wouldn’t do for miss Bloomfield. She placed her right hand on Amy’s shoulder and pulled her back.

The insecure young girl almost lost her balance and quickly had to use her legs to push herself back into the chair. Her shoulders were now touching the back of the kitchen chair.

Amy had to shift positions not to be uncomfortable and was now sitting upright with her back completely straight and pressed against the chair.

Miss Bloomfield was happy enough with the new composure and removed her hand from her new victim’s shoulder.

Amy’s feet were dangling in the air. The solid wood of the kitchen chair was not uncomfortable to sit on. She just stared at Rian, who was standing next to his mother in front of her watching the events unfold.

Rian returned her eye gazing. He was looking at a very timid young lady sitting on a kitchen chair with a very dominant older hairdresser standing next to her. He couldn’t help but notice the evil facial expression on Miss Bloomfield’s face. It was in dark contrast to Amy’s frightened expression.

After looking at her defeated boyfriend, Amy directed her gaze a little to the right to meet eyes with her potential future mother in law who she had just met. Amy saw Lia’s very dominant posture with a smirk on her face which read “I told you so.”

The next thing Amy knew or actually heard was the sound of a fabric being picked up and thrown into the air. All of a sudden this big pink sheet was in front of her, ready to capture her.

Amy had walked in on the haircutting ordeal when Rian was already firmly strapped into this special nylon cape. She was unaware of the extra features it bestowed.

Unlike Amy’s normal salon experience, where the cape would be draped over her shoulders, Miss Bloomfield held it out in front of her. Saying the oh so well known phrase, or at least well known to Rian.

“Hands in.”

Amy looked at the pink garment being held out in front of her. She spotted the two open holes in front of her. Amy meekly obliged.

As soon as Miss Bloomfield saw Amy lift her hands and she slowly slid them into the openings of the sleeves, she reacted. Miss Bloomfield was like a predator and Amy was her prey. The predator saw this was the moment to act and she did so by pulling the cape towards herself.

The prey was caught off guard by this sudden movement.

Amy was effectively thrown in a pink nylon prison. Now all there was left to do for her guard was to lock the cell door.

The new inmate soon found out that these weren’t normal sleeves. She kept working her hands further into the sleeves as Miss Bloomfield kept pulling the cape closer to herself. With every moment passing Amy’s hands were reaching further down the nylon sleeves. Amy was expecting to find an opening at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately for Amy, there was no opening. Her fingers simply found the end which was sewn shut.

Amy’s reaction to finding the abrupt stop of the sleeves was to let out a little high pitched noise and to retract her fingers, effectively making a clenched fist with both hands.

Miss Bloomfield felt the sudden hand movements and gave one final good pull on the nylon fabric. Making sure that her clenched fists were now firmly pressed against the end of the sleeves. The hairdresser repeated her earlier performance with Rian. She held the ends of the cape with one hand while she pulled on the elastic cord of the right sleeve of the cape with her other hand.

The poor girl didn’t understand what was happening but felt the opening of the sleeve tighten around her upper arm just below her arm pit. It was tightened so much that it felt uncomfortable.

The dominant hairdresser quickly switched hands and was now pulling the elastic cord on the left sleeve of the cape.

Amy felt the same uncomfortable tight feeling around her left upper arm. Her reaction was to try and pull her arms out.

Rian saw the whole ordeal and it made him feel sick to his stomach. Seeing the young woman he cared so much about being trapped in a situation like that. He saw some swift movements of the cape and realized she was trying to pull her arms out. “Poor Amy” he though to himself.

The helpless young woman now realized that her arms weren’t coming out and she was essentially trapped like this. Little did she know that this bondage ritual wasn’t over yet.

Miss Bloomfield noticed the movement and didn’t waste any time. She used both her hands to quickly close the snapper closure on the back of the pink cape. Her new client’s hair was still stuck under the cape.

The nervous client was still pulling on the sleeves, not believing what was happening. The sounds of the snapper closure locking her in had made her shiver even more.

Amy heard the footsteps behind her leave the squared off arena marked by the newspapers.

After rummaging through her beauty case, the aggressive hairdresser returned with her tools. She started pulling the hair out from under the cape and used a big hair clip to secure it on top of her client’s head.

Amy felt the pins of the hair clip scraping over her scalp which wasn’t really comfortable. She felt tugging on the cape at the back of her neck and it came loose. She got the false sense of security, thinking that maybe she was being released from this nightmare.

The scissor happy lady had other plans though. Now the big bulk of hair was out of the way she firmly pushed the client’s head so it was tilting forward. She pulled the left section of the cape all the way over the right shoulder of her new client. Then the right section of the back of the cape was pulled as far left as she could. This resulted in the snapper closure lining up perfectly for Miss Bloomfield pressing.

*Snap*

Amy felt the nylon material being closed tightly around her slender neck.

*Snap*

“It’s a little tight.” Amy tried.

*Snap*

“I…”

*Snap*

Miss Bloomfield reached for the latest snapper closure while admiring Amy’s slender neck. She almost never reached this far.

*Snap*

Amy could feel the warm breath of her predator on her exposed neck as she leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“It’s supposed to be tight, we can’t have any loose hairs ruining your good clothes.” Miss Bloomfield whispered with a deviant tone.

Rian’s mother smiled to herself. She was about to witness the young woman who was influencing her boy for the worst receive a good haircut. None of these long blonde locks. She looked at Amy, who had a very anxious facial expression. A mixture of helplessness and anger probably pumped through her body. It didn’t matter. She knew that Miss Bloomfield wouldn’t let anybody get out of her chair without losing a significant amount of hair. Especially not somebody she would have carte blanche on.

Amy had trouble swallowing because of the tight closure of the cape around her neck. She felt the pins of the hair clip on top of her head move. The hair clip was being released and with the help of gravity her thick hair spread out around her head. Immediately she felt a comb firmly going through her hair.

“Oh my, your hair is in bad shape Amy.” The hairdresser followed her statement with sounds of disapproval.

“No but I have it trimmed every 8 weeks and…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I’m telling you, it’s in bad shape.” She continued while combing through the thick blonde hair.

Amy sensed that this was going into the wrong direction. “Please I don’t need it cut. Just get rid of the ends then.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you leave with a healthy head of hair.”

A knot started to form in Amy’s stomach. She knew she was in trouble. But what could she do? She felt the hairdresser who continued to comb and gather her hair in the back. It felt like she was making a ponytail. She could feel her hair being threaded through the loop of the hair elastic multiple times.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked nervously.

There was no response apart from more tugging on the back of her head. Her long blonde hair was simply tied in a tight ponytail on the back of her head.

“Now let’s get started shall we?” Miss Bloomfield stated while looking towards Lia who stood there eagerly watching the show.

Lia returned the hairdresser’s glance with a nod of approval.

Amy was simply looking in front of her and noticed the weird nod of Rian’s mother. Why was she nodding? Then she felt a hand being placed on the newly made ponytail.

Miss Bloomfield opened her sharp scissors and rapidly started cutting into the thick hair in between the elastic pony tail holder and the scalp of her latest victim.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

“Oh my.. NO… What?!” Amy couldn’t find words as she felt the scissors snipping into her long gorgeous hair. She couldn’t belief this was happening to her.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

Rian stood there horrified of what he was currently witnessing. He saw Amy pull and fight the sleeves she was encased in. It didn’t matter though, the sleeves were tested so many times already. They never failed to keep the client from interfering with the haircutting process.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

It didn’t take the experienced hairdresser long to cut through the thick hair.

Amy felt like a big weight came off the back of her head. Her mouth just fell wide open.

Rian couldn’t believe what he saw. His childhood tormentor was now taking a turn on his girlfriend. He saw the ponytail come off and it was being held up in the air like a trophy.

The fresh cut off ponytail was being lifted over Amy’s head and lowered into her lap by the scissor happy hairdresser.

All Amy could do was gasp as she looked down at a 10 inch long ponytail which used to be a part of her. She was in shock. She couldn’t even say a word.

How much of a shock it was for Amy, the more normal it seemed to be for Miss Bloomfield. She seemed to be in a good mood and made her way to her beauty case to get another few items that she needed for the rest of the cut.

While Miss Bloomfield made her way back to the awaiting client she noticed the frightened look on her previous client’s face. He stood there with open mouth and a freshly shorn head.

Next to him stood his mother who was also showing a shocked facial expression by the ponytail cut she had just witnessed. Miss Bloomfield saw how Lia grabbed her own long dark brown hair insecurely and felt how soft it was.

Miss Bloomfield had of course noticed the old hairstyle that Lia was wearing again. It was the same dull long dark brown hair she had before she once bobbed her. It was just passed the middle of her back and hadn’t been trimmed for a while.

Even though Miss Bloomfield still felt hurt that after she got Lia in the chair once, she never really saw her again to follow up for another haircut session. She decided not to mention it so early on. She figured it was best saved for later.

The tormenting hairdresser snapped out of her train of thought since she still had a client in her chair. Now the fun part was over, it was time to get it fixed into a more suitable style.

As Amy sat there staring at the cut off pony tail laying lifeless in her lap, she heard the water bottle being worked behind her. It wasn’t long before she felt the cold damp mist surround her head. More quick combing and spraying follolwed.

It was strange, Amy felt upset and betrayed but couldn’t find words or do anything.

The first shock was still laying on her lap, it wasn’t long before there was more to come. The sharp scissors started rapidly closing again and more hair was raining down on the nylon cape. Long pieces of hair joined the thick blonde ponytail.

Miss Bloomfield decided that after cutting the ponytail she could settle for a short bob with a clippered nape. It would suit the young lady well and still look professional.

Even though Miss Bloomfield enjoyed cutting hair, she always wanted her clients to get out of the chair with a fresh look that actually soothed them. That her clients were not always ready for a big transformation, was something that didn’t concern her. If people wanted to fuss about their hair, they should have gone to one of the expensive salons in town. She was simply doing her job by cutting hair and making sure that the people who left her chair would look presentable again.

Lia closely watched the continued shearing of Amy. She was pleased by the quick progress her old friend was making. Well not really friend, it was more that she used to see her often when Rian was receiving his regular haircuts from her.

Amy was not the only one with a knot in her Stomach, Lia also felt one growing bigger by the minute. This was actually the first time Lia remembered the haircut she had received from Miss Bloomfield. She remembered how Miss Bloomfield had persuaded her into the chair for a trim. It was nothing like the shearing she was witnessing now, she had simply ignored her wishes and cut it much shorter. What she was doing now was just a pure demonstration of power and dominance.

The knot quickly faded in Lia’s stomach since she knew a lot of time had passed. Besides she wouldn’t let Miss Bloomfield near her hair again. She had invited her over to sort out the children, that was the special instruction she left with Miss Bloomfield when she asked her to come over again.

Lia was able to sooth her nerves and go back to enjoying the sights of the scissor happy stylist. She saw the poor girl looking down into her own lap. The big blonde ponytail was still laying there, but no longer alone. A big pile of hair started to form around the thick ponytail.

Rian looked at his girlfriend and almost felt sick in his stomach. He couldn’t really see what the haircut was supposed to be, but right now it was still a lot of hair flying through the air and landing on the pink nylon cape. While watching the massacre unfold, Rian reached up to his ear to scratch it and was surprised that it wasn’t covered by his long hair any more. The intense show of power in front of him had made him forget all about his own big crop.

Amy was still feeling butterflies in her stomach combined with a big knot. There were goosebumps all over her body. She was still looking down as she saw more pieces of hair raining down. Much smaller now, but it was still raining.

Miss Bloomfield was happy with the progress that she had made. She had turned the long blonde hair into a short bob. There was just one last thing to take care off that would really put the last nail into Amy’s coffin.

With her scissors in one hand, the aggressive hairdresser started combing the hair on top of Amy’s head to the front.

Amy’s vision was impaired by a thick curtain of hair. The thick curtain used to be longer and was now only just reaching past her chin after the aggressive ponytail cut.

While looking at this thick curtain of hair, Amy felt the cold steel of the scissors about half an inch above her eyebrows.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

The first 3 cuts were made and suddenly Amy could see her future mother in law again watching the cutting unfold. Still with an evil smirk on her face.

Thick hair rained down on the cape joining Amy’s ponytail.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

With another 3 sharp cuts the bangs were created and Amy’s vision was restored. She could now see the frightened look on Rian’s face.

Amy wanted to scream and shout. Throw a tantrum, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have the energy or the willpower to do so. It was as if her lost hair had taken away all the energy she had to fight it. She was still in shock and slowly accepted her faith.

Miss Bloomfield looked at the cut she created and saw a few details she had to sort out, although she was happy with the result so far. Just a few more minutes and her chair would be vacant once more. She threw a quick glance towards Lia who was eagerly following the cutting process. The hairdresser was planning her next move. The worst feeling for her was an empty chair while there were still potential clients around.

These thoughts kept going through Miss Bloomfield’s mind while she was finishing the newly created bob with her scissors.

Amy still couldn’t believe that this was happening to her. Luckily it seemed as if the cutting had stopped. She couldn’t wait to get out of the chair, out of this room, out of this house! She wanted to get away.

While Amy was plotting her escape plan, she heard the familiar foot steps move around on the newspapers until they turned silent as her hairdresser left her alone for a brief moment.

It wasn’t long before the newspapers announced that her tormentor was back.

Amy felt a strong hand on top of her head and the familiar words echoed through the room again.

“Head down.”

With those words she felt the hand pressing on her head until it started tilting. The pressure didn’t stop until Amy felt the cold fabric of the nylon cape touch her chin. The next sound she heard was sharp and short.

*Click*

This loud click brought the hungry clippers back to life.

Amy felt the cold steel of the blades touch the base of her nape. It sent shivers down her spine.

The tone of the loud humming machine changed as it moved up and encountered its first resistance in the form of her short blonde hair.

You could barely call it resistance since the loud vibrating clippers was a heavy weight champion compared to her short neck hair. It simply got rid of the hair at the base of her nape in a matter of seconds.

This was the first time that Amy had ever experienced the clippers being used on her. She didn’t know what went through her body when the vibrating monster touched the base of her neck and moved upwards.

Miss Bloomfield was a real veteran with this aggressive hair eating monster and soon finished the look.

Another flick of the switch killed the clippers and the room went completely silent.

“There you go.” Miss Bloomfield announced Amy was done as the tight snapper closure around the young woman’s neck was opened.

Amy felt like she could breathe again.

The aggressive barberette leaned forward so she could reach the elastic band on the sleeves inside the cape and opened them one after the other.

As Amy felt the tight sleeve openings loosen up around her upper arms she eagerly pulled her arms out.

The cape was carefully moved away and with that the huge pile of hair fell to the floor joining Rian’s safety blanket that was shorn away earlier. It was a big mixture of Rian’s dark and Amy’s blonde hair.

Amy didn’t need any encouragement and jumped up from the chair and carefully stepped over the piles of hair. She wanted to get as far away from the arena where she had just lost her dignity.  She made her way over to Rian to seek comfort.

Rian eagerly welcomed Amy and put an arm around her as if to tell her “It’s alright, it’s over now.”

With her right hand Amy felt up the damage. She could feel the short clippered nape under her inverted bob. It was a short bob but the feeling of her freshly clippered nape sent shivers down her spine.

Rian glanced over his shoulder to watch the back of Amy’s haircut. It seemed rather daring and short but he had to admit that it wasn’t a bad haircut. He looked back at Miss Bloomfield who didn’t seem very eager to pack up her tools just yet. She simply hung the pink nylon cape over the back of the chair and laid down her tools back on the kitchen table.

There was a tension in the room. Nobody dared to say a word.

Lia felt uncomfortable now. She enjoyed the shearing of the youngsters but for some reason her gut was telling her that something bad was about to happen.

It didn’t take long before Lia wanted to be back in control.

“It’s still 12,50 each, right?” Lia asked while she walked towards her purse which was laying on the couch.

Miss Bloomfield didn’t reply. Instead she was organizing her stuff on the table.

“Here we go, 25 dollars.” Lia announced as she paraded through the room holding two bills in her hand.

The hairdresser was finished with organizing her tools and turned towards her potential next client to accept the payment.

“Thanks Lia, but I don’t think we’re done just yet.

[part 5] You’ll be my last customer

Miss Bloomfield’s eyes were locked onto Lia.

“Thanks Lia, but I don’t think we’re done just yet.” Miss Bloomfield stated as she accepted the money.

Amy started to feel a little better after the traumatic experience she had to endure and noticed the odd tension in the room.

“No? Well don’t worry about the clean up. I’ll take care of it.” Lia pointed towards the chair while backing up towards the other side of the room.

Miss Bloomfield had that same confident smile on her face as when she invited the previous two clients to the chair. Without saying anything she slowly made her way back to the chair.

Lia looked with agony towards the chair which was surrounded by piles of hair. She had to get away from this scissor happy hairdresser. The only time she was persuaded into Miss Bloomfield’s chair she lost over 10 inches and ended up with a short inverted bob.

The dominant hairdresser slowly picked up the pink cape from the back of the chair. She did it carefully as not to scare away her prey with any sudden movements. It was almost like watching a Discovery Channel documentary on cheetahs stalking their prey.

Amy noticed the shift in power and was intrigued by this weak side of her boyfriend’s mother. Even though she was just freshly cropped and wanted to get away from this crazy persuasive hairdresser, she couldn’t make herself leave and miss out on what was to come.

“Have a seat Lia.” The hairdresser’s words filled up the room.

“No really, it’s fine. Also I was on my way out and…”

“When was the last time you had a trim?” Amy interrupted her.

Both Lia and Rian were surprised by this persuasive comment. Normally Miss Bloomfield was the aggressor in the room.

“I had a trim about… 6 weeks ago?”

“Sure looks like more than 6 weeks to me.” Amy continued with a bit of a grin on her face.

Lia noticed and shot Amy a look that said ‘you better not try.’

Normally Amy would have backed off in such a situation. Right now though, she was rubbing her freshly cropped nape with her right hand and even though it felt good, she was furious over her loss and realized that Miss Thompson had something to do with it.

The manipulative questions from her son’s girlfriend had thrown Lia off a bit. She had failed to respond any further.

Miss Bloomfield now got her cape ready and started tapping on the back of the chair with her fingers.

“Have a seat Lia.”

The impatient tapping continued.

“No but I already paid you and…” Lia tried desperately.

“When I have two or more cuts on the same address, the third chop is always on the house!”

Rian noticed how Miss Bloomfield put emphasis on the word chop.

Lia looked towards the dominant hairdresser holding the pink cape who had a big smile on her face. She then turned her head towards Amy who had a real grin on her face.

This seemed to be Lia’s final attempt. “No but you cut it too short last time.”

It almost sounded like a small child pleading with their parents.

“Come on, I don’t have all day.” The hairdresser responded a little impatient now.

Rian couldn’t believe it even though he saw it with his own eyes. This was almost the same scene he saw when his mother ended up in the chair all those years ago. His mother was always the bossy type, except for back then and at this very moment.

Lia was staring at the fingers tapping impatiently on the back of the chair. The scared lady did not want to move but also did not see a way out.

All of a sudden Lia felt a hand on her back, a soft comforting hand. She looked to her right and saw Amy standing next to her.

“It’s okay. Don’t be scared.” Amy almost whispered.

Now Lia was really confused. It was all too much. How was this happening and why didn’t she simply walk out the door?

Amy’s soft comforting hand on Lia’s back changed for the worse as she applied more pressure to push her into the direction of the empty chair.

Lia looked over at Amy to tell her to stop. The firm pressure on her back combined with looking over her shoulder resulted in Lia almost losing her balance. In order not to trip she stepped forward.

It might have been just a small step to steady herself, but it was also one step closer to the chair.

Lia had been put in motion.

Miss Bloomfield was eagerly following the events unfold in front of her chair. She was pleased to see that her latest victim was now on her side and wanted to see her boyfriend’s mother in the chair.

Another two slow steps were taken. Now the training wheels had come off, Amy’s hand was no longer forcing her into the direction of the chair.

Unfortunately it didn’t happen too often that Miss Bloomfield could hand out so many surprise haircuts in a row. Most visits were just regulars or a single surprise haircut. On occasion there was an unexpected follow up because Miss Bloomfield was just too persuasive for her next victim to decline. But three special haircuts in a row? It felt a little like Christmas morning.

The hairdresser locked her eyes on her next victim. She could see that she was a little closer to the chair, but still too far from her sharp scissors.

“I… I… I don’t want a bob again Sandra!” Lia pleaded as she stopped in her tracks.

Rian couldn’t believe what he just heard. Her name was Sandra? He never heard anyone use her first name. It was always Miss Bloomfield, even her mother normally addressed her as Miss Bloomfield.

“Alright, it would look good on you, but if you don’t want a bob again… no bob!” Miss Bloomfield stated as she pointed towards her chair.

Only a few more steps would get Lia onto the square of newspapers.

“You p… promise Sandra?” Lia stuttered still stuck in between the safety of her previous vantage point and the immediate danger of the chair.

“I promise, no bob.” Sandra said with a bit of a smirk on her face. She would say anything to get Lia in her chair now.

Lia lowered her head and put herself slowly into motion again.

The sound of footsteps onto the newspapers filled the room once more. Lia had to be careful not to step into the huge piles of hair already covering the makeshift salon area.

Rian’s insecure mother stood right in front of the chair. She could smell the sweet perfume that masked the dominant hairdresser.

Miss Bloomfield gave a nudge with her head towards the chair, as if she was saying ‘come on, have a seat’.

Lia slowly turned around and lowered herself onto the kitchen chair.

Miss Bloomfield didn’t waste any time. With her right hand she gave a quick tug on Lia’s shoulder so her back was now firmly pressed against the chair.

The pink nylon garment was flicked into the air so it settled in front of her last client of the day.

Lia stared at the pink cape in front of her which covered her lower body. She had only received a cut once by Miss Bloomfield, and that was with an ordinary cape you would see in any normal salon.

“Hands in.”

Familiar words echoed through the room.

“No… That wont be necessary Sandra.” Lia pleaded while she left her arms laying in her lap.

“Lia, one piece of advice, do not upset the person that is about to cut your hair.”

“But I…”

“HANDS IN.”

Lia’s heart skipped a beat as the angry words were spitted out near her ears. Her body immediately reacted and sent shivers down her spine. Lia hesitantly moved her arms upwards and put them into the openings of the sleeves, as if they would bite as soon as she would enter them.

Miss Bloomfield pulled the cape towards herself, capturing her new model in the pink nylon prison. She noticed the sleeves only reached to her new client’s elbows so she gave Rian’s mother the same instructions as she had given her son earlier.

“Make a fist.”

Lia had never experienced anything like this. Her hands were already buried deep in the sleeves and the tip of her fingers were touching the closed off section of the sleeves. She slowly clenched her hands to make fists and felt the cape render her even more helpless. The cape was now touching the front of her neck and her fists were firmly pressed against the ends of the sleeves.

With a quick firm tug on the elastic cord Miss Bloomfield rendered Lia’s right arm trapped in the nylon sleeve. The same procedure followed on her left arm.

Miss Bloomfield latest victim felt the restrictive elastic cord tighten around her upper arms followed by the snapper closure in the back of her neck which was done up by the woman who was in control behind the chair.

The snapper closure was only closed with two buttons before the hairdresser walked away from her prey towards the kitchen table. The familiar sound of the snapper closure sent Lia on a trip down memory lane.

Nervously Lia sat down on the kitchen chair. Typically she would plan her trips to the salon herself instead of having a pushy hairdresser who persuaded her into the chair.

The sound of fabric flicking through the air almost made her jump. Lia’s vision was temporary blocked by a big mass of white nylon which soon covered her body.

Lia felt her hair being lifted up while the impatient hairdresser was swiftly closing up the cape in the back.

“That feels a little tight Sandra. Can you loosen it up a little?” Lia asked as the snapper closure was firmly pressed shut by her new hairdresser.

“I don’t want to ruin your beautiful outfit with any loose hairs Lia.” The hairdresser stated as she made sure her client was draped completely by the white nylon cape. 

What small hairs could possibly defy gravity and travel upwards from the middle of her back and end up making it into her collar?

The sound of Miss Bloomfield’s footsteps as she approached the chair again brought Lia back to her current compromising situation. She realized that the tight caping was a sign of what was to come, a shearing just like the one she received all those years ago.

Lia felt that the current cape wasn’t closed so tightly, which made her think that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad this time.

Miss Bloomfield had only put the cape on her unruly client so she could get the tools she needed without having to worry that her anxious model would see an opportunity to run off.

Lia felt the strong hands of Miss Bloomfield pull out the hair that was trapped under the cape. Lia’s long hair was now free to fall down the back of the chair reaching past her bra strap.

With great expertise and within only a few seconds the hairdresser collected the hair and used a big hair clip to pin the loose hair together on top of her client’s head.

The hair clip didn’t feel comfortable to Lia, but it was nothing compared to the next inflicted ordeal. She felt a hand on top of her head which firmly pressed it forward. She felt the hands move to the snapper closure of the pink cape once again. Briefly Lia felt like she was free again as the cape no longer secured around her neck.

Miss Bloomfield could sense the feeling of relief on her client which made her smile. If only her client knew what she had in store for her.

Now the long hair was no longer in the way, Sandra pulled the cape tightly around Lia’s neck so the snapper closure was aligned on top of each other. She noticed that even though she had put some tension on the cape, the snappers were just a little out of sync. With some elbow grease she managed to pull the cape even tighter which made for the perfect line up.

The hairdresser could feel her client tense up as she started pressing down on the studs.

*snap*

The first stud was firmly closed.

*snap*

“S… Sandra.” Lia almost whispered as the cape was closed too tightly around her slender neck.

*snap*

Lia could feel the shivers go down her spine with every stud that was being closed.

*snap*

“Sandra it’s too tight.” Lia tried again.

*snap*

Miss Bloomfield ignored her client, she heard enough complaining for today. She knew this was the moment that her victims would try to use their arms to tuck on the neckline of the cape. The hairdresser wasn’t worried about this behaviour, the cape had been tested on so many unwilling clients already that she could safely head over to the kitchen table to grab her tools for the first round of this shearing session.

Amy was watching everything unfold from a safe distance while holding onto Rian’s hand for moral support after her own shearing. It was a whole different experience, not sitting in the chair and actually watching the haircut.

From a spectator’s point of view the pink cape seemed rather big and covered her boyfriend’s mother really well. You couldn’t see the sleeves although Amy saw the nylon material of the cape move slightly which was a clear indication that the client was having doubts about her decision to sit on the kitchen chair in the first place.

Lia tried pulling on the sleeves and started to realize that her arms were useless. She looked up in panic and saw the Amy’s condescending sneer. This only upset Lia more, seeing how the young woman was part of the reason, she was sitting on this chair, with her smart remarks.

Miss Bloomfield returned to her new client and followed the same procedure as with her previous long haired client after releasing the hair from the top of her head by removing the giant hair clip. With her comb the hairdresser started gathering all of the long hair in the back, followed by an hair elastic which she used to create a pony tail.

“Hey! What are you doing Sandra?” Lia said clearly annoyed but also with a hint of fear in her voice.

The hairdresser didn’t respond and simply continued with tying the hair elastic tightly around the thick newly created ponytail.

“You said no bob! You promised!” Lia was now violently trying to pull her arms out of the sleeves.

Amy was enjoying the sight of her mother in law sitting helplessly in the chair. The hectic pulling on the cape only made it even better for the spectators. Clearly this was no ordinary cape, well Amy would know, she had been trapped in it not too long ago. She knew that resisting was useless, Lia was trapped.

Miss Bloomfield enjoyed the struggling of her latest victim. Lia was just like any other teenager, thinking that there was a way out or that they could stop the inevitable from happening.

The cape had been tested by so many rowdy clients before. It wouldn’t rip, it wouldn’t give. This was not a garment you could buy in a store, Sandra had it made especially for these moments. Dubble lining on the sleeves would prevent even a strong male from ripping it. All the tugging did was pull on the already tight neck closure of the cape. It never took the rowdy clients long to be out of breath. She enjoyed those one or two minutes of struggle, it made the actual shearing so much better.

“Are you listening Sandra?” Lia tried again with even more anxiety and anger in her voice.

Sandra had clearly chosen to ignore her client and let the scissors do the talking.

With a swift motion she grabbed the ponytail and placed her sharp scissors in between the hair elastic and the scalp of her unruly client.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

“Hey! What? I said no!” Lia tried one last time while trying to pull her arms out of the sleeves.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

Amy saw the quick change of emotion on Rian’s mother’s face. It went from anger to pure anxiety.

*Snick* *Snick* *Snick*

Sandra finally responded. “It’s Miss Bloomfield for you. If you do not behave right now, so help me God I will simply fire up those clippers and shave it all off.”

Lia froze completely after hearing Miss Bloomfield’s threat and was breathing heavily to compensate for the lack of air her failed escape attempts had given her.

*Snick* *Snick*

The ponytail was liberated.

Lia felt her shorter hair fall freely around her face into a rough long bob kind of model.

Miss Bloomfield admired the long ponytail in her hand and placed it on her client’s lap.

Lia’s mouth sprung open as she stared at the ponytail which was laying on her caped lap.

Miss Bloomfield enjoyed this moment of silence since it meant she could focus on cutting more hair off instead of dealing with an unruly client. She didn’t want to buzz all of her client’s hair off, simply because she didn’t think that it would suit her. Although whatever style she would decide to give her latest model  would call for the loud clippers at some point.

For a brief moment Lia was left alone as her opponent left the arena to get the next set of tools. Feelings of fear, anxiety and confusion went through Lia’s head as she sat there staring at the former long hair which was displayed on her lap.

Miss Bloomfield returned to her client while she carried her trusty sharp scissors, black comb and water bottle. With swift motions she started spraying the hair of her final customer of the day.

“So you said you didn’t want a bob… What should we do instead?” Miss Bloomfield stated as she kept spraying and sectioning off the hair.

Tears started forming in Lia’s eyes.

“You don’t have that much left to work with honey.” Sandra continued teasing her client.

“Please not too short.” Lia said while fighting back the tears which were trying to escape her eye sockets.

“Oh I don’t believe there is such a thing as too short… or is there Amy?” Miss Bloomfield diverted her gaze to her previous client who stood nervously holding on to her boyfriend.

Amy felt goosebumps all over her arms as the woman who had chopped her hair off admired her handiwork once more.

“It really suits you.” Miss Bloomfield added while she kept her gaze locked on the bobbed young lady.

“Thank you.” Amy said nervously as she reached up to touch her clippered nape once more.

“I wanted to give you two matching haircuts but since I promised not to give you a bob…”

Miss Bloomfield paused as she thought out loud.

“We need to come up with something else.”

The tension in the room seemed to have peaked. Without any input Miss Bloomfield decided to continue.

“How would you feel about short layers?”

“No please.” Lia almost begged.

“I wasn’t asking you.” Miss Bloomfield said as she directed her gaze back to Amy.

The young bobbed woman got a feeling of excitement as she was put back into play. She noticed the helpless caped victim look at her with pleading eyes. The eyes were begging her… Telling Amy that she was sorry about what happened… She didn’t have to do this.

“I think…”

Amy left a deliberate pause to build tension while keeping her eyes focussed on Rian’s mother facial expression.

“short layers wouldn’t suit her.”

Lia let out a sigh off relief as the words were spoken.

“But a pixie would!” Amy added quickly after seeing the facial expression change.

The look on Lia’s face changed into pure disbelief.

“You got talent Amy.” Miss Bloomfield stated while meeting Amy’s gaze with a smile.

Amy chuckled as she watched the hairdresser get her scissors ready while lifting a section of hair at the front of her client’s head and with the angled scissors open and ready to attack she moved on.

*Snip* *Snip* *Snip*

Hair started raining down onto the cape.

“But it will be a rather short pixie.” Sandra added.

*Snip* *Snip* *Snip*

More hair started pouring down joining the cut off pony tail.

Lia was beyond shock it seemed and simply realized she could only accept her faith now. Her eyes were pointing downwards as the cutting continued.

Everyone seemed to be paralyzed in the room except for the scissor happy hairdresser who happily snipped away.

It didn’t take Miss Bloomfield long to have the top to the length she was after before heading for the right side of Lia’s head. More damp hair slid down the cape.

Forcefully Lia’s head was pushed forward as the scissors went to her nape area to get rid of the bulk. With every snip Lia lost more of her willpower. It was a good thing she was sitting down, because she would have probably collapsed if she was on her feet.

Then all of sudden the snipping stopped and Miss Bloomfield went for the table for the weapons of her choice for the final round.

The loud sharp click brought the hungry monster to life. The low buzzing noise of the clippers filled up the room. With one hand Lia’s head was kept under control while the other drove the clippers up her nape.

With a flick of the hairdresser’s wrist the shorn hair was thrown into the air only to join the rest of the casualties on the newspapers.

Like a real expert, the hairdresser showed everybody in the room how effective these hair clippers were in the hands of a true professional. The sides soon followed.

Lia felt how light her head felt without all the hair attached to it. She was still in disbelieve.

The clippers died off but were soon replaced by an even higher pitched sound. With the trimmer in hand, Miss Bloomfield cleaned up the neckline before grabbing her hair duster to get rid of any loose hair.

With a firm tug the snapper closure was opened and Lia almost gasped for air as if she had been under water for too long.

Lia could feel the tight closure around her upper arms loosen up and immediately pulled her arms out of the restrictive sleeves of the cape.

Miss Bloomfield dragged the cape to the side making sure none of the hair that was accumulated on top of the cape fell onto Lia’s clothes.

Once the pink prison was no longer holding Lia down she almost jumped up out of the chair and with a few quick steps walked away from the butcher who had betrayed her. She turned around to look at Miss Bloomfield who was eyeing her up and down with a big smirk on her face.

“Suits you much better than that long hair. You’ll love it, I’m sure of it.” Miss Bloomfield pointed out while admiring her own handiwork.

The three shorn victims just stood there anxiously watching the predator pick up the cape once more. They all seemed afraid of that pink garment.

Miss Bloomfield noticed and it made her chuckle.

While folding up her special punishment cape she looked at her customers of the day and announced what the near future would hold for them.

“With short haircuts like these you need regular touch ups to keep it neat and tidy.”

Nobody dared to speak.

“Here I’ll make sure you don’t forget.” She added as she grabbed something to write on from her beauty case.

Miss Bloomfield checked her watch for the date and scribbled something down.

“I will be here exactly 4 weeks from now. Don’t worry, I wrote it down on my business card so you wont forget.” Miss Bloomfield spoke to her audience as she handed her business card to Lia.

Lia looked down at the piece of thick paper she had just received.

Miss Bloomfield haircut services.
Specialized in short haircuts.

Haircut – $12,50

At the bottom it stated the date of their next appointment including the time, 7:30 pm.

“Alright, it was a pleasure seeing you again Lia. You look at least 5 years younger.” Sandra said to her most recent chopped client.

Lia didn’t respond but just stared at Sandra.

“Thanks again for calling me. You were definitely right that these youngsters needed a good haircut.” She added.

The youngsters weren’t supposed to hear this, but it was too late anyway. They realized by now what had happened. Although this didn’t make it any less embarrassing for Lia that she was called out in front of them. All Lia could do was blush and lower her head in defeat.

“As for you Rian…” Miss Bloomfield stated as she shifted her gaze onto Rian.

“Nice and short is the way to go, we can’t have you look like a homeless person.” She added.

Rian fell back into old habits. “Yes miss Bloomfield.”

“As for you Amy.” The hairdresser said as she walked closer to Amy.

“You should have gone shorter a long time ago, it really suits you.”

Amy shivered as Miss Bloomfield stood so close to her.

“Thank you.” Amy managed to whisper even though she wasn’t sure the dominant hairdresser had heard her.

“Al right I’m off. See you all in 4 weeks.”

With that final statement Miss Bloomfield opened the hallway door and left the room.

The victims of the shearing just stood there quietly hoping they would all wake up from this nightmare with a full head of hair.

Miss Bloomfield took her coat and pulled the front door shut behind her. As she walked towards the side walk she reflected on a successful day.

The power she had over her clients was unbelievable. She was even surprised that she had managed to get all three of them in her chair today.

Today was an excellent day to be a hairdresser.

The end.