Tuesday 5 July 2016

Janice & The Express Salon

Janice was in her room surfing the internet, enjoying her long deserved semester break after working hard for the past few months. She was chilling in the comfort of her own room, when the door suddenly clicked open. Her mom’s head popped through partially, and Janice knew at once that she needed a favour. She knows her mom too well after all these years.
“Hey Janice, I hope you’re not too busy right now. Do you mind taking Sam to get his haircut? I have plenty of laundry and stuff to attend to right now you see,” she asked, almost in a pleading tone. On first hand, it may seem plausible for Janice to reject, but she knows that if she did so, mom is sure to “repay” the favour somehow next time. Sighing, she consented to her mom’s request, brought Sam and headed out to the nearby mall. Sam was Janice’s younger brother and only aged thirteen then.
As soon as they stepped out of the house, the heat set in. It was summer and the sun was scorching bright. Through the sunshine, even Janice’s dark brown locks seem to glisten in an orange-like shade. With Sam in hand, they walked towards the nearby mall where Sam usually gets his haircuts. In the mall, there is an express salon cum barbershop where haircuts are done for a fixed price, and guaranteed to complete in 10 minutes. Its fuss-free selling point attracted Janice’s mom to bring Sam there all the time.
In less than five minutes, Janice and Sam stepped foot into the mall, and the air conditioning instantly soothed off the summer heat while they were walking earlier. Janice was already soaked up in sweat, especially since her hair was long and covered half of her back. She gathered her hair at the back and lifted it up with one hand, wiping off sweat with the other.
Janice & The Express Salon (Part 1)
After chilling down briefly, Janice wasted no time as she brought Sam over to the express salon. At the entrance, Janice saw that all the barbers (cum hairdressers) were occupied with customers at the moment. While these express salons cater to men and women, the majority of their customer base are males. It was no different looking at this visit, as most of the customers getting their haircuts were guys too.
As Janice walked in with Sam, a young lady with long jet-black hair entered at the same time. Out of courtesy, Janice prompted for her to go ahead and get the ticket first. The tickets were bought from an automated machine at the corner of the salon. After Janice bought a ticket for Sam, she noticed that the lady was sitting on the bench already. Knowing that the order that the customers sit at the bench determines the queue, Janice prompted Sam to take a seat beside the lady.
“Sis, is it okay if I go check out the comics from the bookstore nearby? I promise I will be back in less than ten,” Sam asked Janice.  Already slightly upset that she had to be mom’s replacement for bringing Sam here for a haircut, she was very reluctant to agree to his request. However, Sam repeatedly pleaded and Janice finally agreed to avoid looking like a mean sister in front of everyone.
With Sam gone for the moment, the seat beside the lady was vacated. Janice had to step in and queue on behalf of Sam while he was away. While she sat, there was nothing much to do but observe the haircuts going on. Sitting at the chair directly in front of the bench was a young man, whom was getting a pretty big change. The male barber was swiftly working on his hair, chopping off inches of his hair. This was evident as the white cape plastered with the express salon’s logo was littered with his hair, especially on the shoulders.
After a brief moment, the man’s haircut was finished and he headed off while the barber quickly tidied the area, swiping the floor around the chair quickly and cleaned his haircutting tools. The barber then signalled for the lady beside Janice to take a seat at his chair. Janice moved over to take a seat at the lady’s place on the bench so as not to obstruct the queue, especially since there were more customers queuing behind Janice already.
As the lady took a seat, Janice began to turn anxious as Sam’s turn was next and he was not back yet. Flustered, there was nothing she could do because she couldn’t leave her place to find Sam. If she did, Sam would have to queue up all over again and it would take up too much time. She prayed desperately in her mind that Sam quickly came back while she continued to sit on the bench.
Trying to keep calm, she decided to focus on the lady who just took a seat at the male barber’s chair. The barber pulled out a neck strip from a dispenser on the shelf beside the large mirror, and wrapped it around the lady’s neck. It was sealed tightly by the back of her neck with a blue-coloured adhesive that was part of the neck strip. The barber then pulled out a haircutting cape off the shelf and skilfully tossed the cape over the lady, draping her entire body and fastening it tightly around her neck as well. The cape was so huge that the lady’s slim silhouette could no longer be seen, except for her high heels that rested on the footrest which peered through slightly from beneath the cape.
Without waiting for the barber to prompt, the lady spoke up and instructed him on how she wanted her haircut. “Give me a classic one-length bob, and thick straight bangs,” the lady instructed the barber. Upon hearing her instructions, the barber looked surprised and so was Janice! She had such beautiful hair and she actually wanted to cut it off.
The barber acknowledged the lady’s desire, and reached for a pair of cordless clippers off the shelf. He unplugged the guard off the clippers, and gave the blades a good swipe with a brush. With the clippers in one hand, he gently lowered the lady’s head forward with the other so that it was easier for him to cut her hair. The lady’s head was lowered till the point where her chin almost touched her chest. The clippers then came alive with a thud. The barber gave the lady’s jet-black locks its final few moments by combing through them a couple more times; it will take the lady a long time before she can comb through such long hair again. With the hair neatened out from the combing, the barber pressed the clippers on the lady’s locks at the nape area in a straight line! It was simultaneous but Janice could catch a clear glimpse as the lady’s locks were sheared off by the clippers’ blades. The sheared locks dislodged from the lady’s remaining hair, and descended to rest on the salon’s floor.
With the back done, the barber moved to her left, obstructing Janice’s view briefly. When the barber was done and moved to work on the other side, she was shocked as she realised that the long locks that framed the lady’s face were gone! What was left was hair that rested at chin-length, allowing the lady’s jawbone and part of her ear to be visible with the hair now gone. Evidence of the cut was obvious as long jet-black locks could be seen resting in the lady’s lap on the cape.
The barber then tilted the chair slightly so that he could position himself facing the lady’s face. He combed down the hair at the frontal hairline, which temporarily covered the lady’s face. He then pressed the clippers fearlessly just above the eyebrows, sending a thick pile of hair plunging down the cape, adding on to the pile of hair already present on the lady’s lap.
With that, the lady’s haircut was almost done and the male barber was almost finished as he proceeded to use the air washer to clean off the loose hairs for the lady. At this moment, a female barber working on a customer seated a chair away from the lady was almost done as well. The customer was already on his feet and strolling off as the female barber cleaned up her station.

“Next!” the female barber called out towards the waiting bench. Janice appeared slightly startled by the prompt, but quickly knocked back to reality from her worry.
She was caught in a spot with Sam still not back from his comics. “Hell damn those comics Sam,” Janice thought exactly at that moment. With the ticket card still in hand, the nervousity made her slightly break out in cold sweat. The female barber looked on mysteriously as Janice continued to sit on the bench with her repeated prompting.
“Alright, I guess I could use a trim. Can’t let the money go to waste after all,” Janice supposed. She finally gathered her bravery to lift her almost jelly legs, and walked reluctantly over to take a seat at the female barber’s station.
Without question, the barber proceeded to pull out a piece of neck strip from a roll attached to a dispenser at the station. She wrapped the neck strip around Janice’s neck by the front, and lifted up Janice’s auburn locks so that it could be fastened in place. A neatly folded haircutting cape was then taken off the shelf, unfolded, and draped over Janice entirely. Similar to the previous lady, the cape was so huge that Janice’s silhouette was no longer obvious. All that could be seen of Janice was her head of long auburn locks, a gift of her mother’s good genes.
“So miss, what will it be for you?” the female barber began to question while tightening the cape around Janice’s neck. Well, that sure caught Janice in the spot, since this haircut wasn’t her original intent at all. With nothing in mind, Janice responded. “Umm, perhaps just a little off the top?” she meekly spoke.
“Alright, hopefully you won’t regret this,” the female barber retorted. Regret? Janice felt confused by her using that term since there was nothing regretful about getting a trim, or is there?
The female barber grabbed a pair of cordless hair clippers off the shelf, and retrieved a straight comb from her hairdressing pouch. Janice was not surprised by the usage of the hair clippers, since some of the stylists at the salon she frequented used them as well for trims, since the cut would be more even. But what was coming, Janice would never have thought of.
“Bend your head down for me please,” the female barber asked as she positioned herself behind Janice, ready to render her services. Janice bent down as instructed, but nonetheless was forcefully pushed down further with the female barber’s hand, so forward that her chin almost touched the cape.
The hair clippers then snapped alive with a thud, albeit much softer than that of the corded bad boys that the traditional barbers used. Janice was pretty calm, expecting nothing more than a few runs of the hair clippers over the split ends of her auburn locks. Instead, the female barbers parted her hair into several sections, with the top and crown area one section, and the sides and back another. This puzzled Janice, since that is the usual parting for short haircuts. What was the female barber up to?
All soon became clear. As soon as the female barber was done with the sectioning, she lifted Janice’s auburn locks by the back to reveal her neck line. The hair clippers were then pushed straight upwards from the neck line, only stopping short of the partition between the top and the back section! Janice was shocked by the unexpected sensation felt from the clippers, and was sure that certainly was not just a trim!
Clearly Janice was not the one surprised by the move, as the customers that arrived after her and still waiting by the bench, all briefly shifted attention to her as they watched the hair clippers sever her beautiful auburn locks from her scalp. What was left from that one push with the hair clippers were light brown stubble, so short that it probably can’t be combed.
Janice had a brief urge to speak up about that not being what she wanted, but she realised that the damage had already been done. She can only let the female barber finish the shearing. But beneath that obvious intent, Janice also enjoyed the touch of the hair clippers, which was a surprise to her as well. The vibration of the hair clippers while running through her locks was such a stimulating experience, Janice almost got wet below. She held it in nonetheless, with fear of being embarrassed in public.
The female barber pushed the hair clippers through Janice’s locks again, widening the path of brown stubble. Janice’s auburn locks coasted briefly in the air after being clipped, before landing lifelessly on the floor. Even with just two pushes, the floor was already littered with Janice’s clipped locks. The same motion was repeated throughout the backs and sides, bringing the hair in the section to shorter than even an inch, probably a quarter inch at most. Janice’s scalp was partially visible through all the brown stubble. So much hair had already been cut, the floor around Janice’s chair was covered in auburn, and the cape was enveloped with her cut hair as well. She almost sighed at the sight of her precious locks, which she grew so dearly, all chopped off in minutes.
With the sides and back all sheared close to the scalp, Janice was already feeling pretty light-headed. It has been quite long since Janice felt the feeling of having nothing to cover up her face, nothing to frame her facial features. But all this was restored momentarily as the top section was unpinned, letting her remaining long hair down, covering over the shaved sides and back. Janice reached out to touch the sheared back, and the stubbly touch was really such an exciting feeling. But Janice realised that this had to stop, or she would probably be heading home with a crew cut. In the current state, at least she could use the remaining locks in the top section to cover the sides and back, giving some time to grow back out some hair before deciding what she wants to do in the end.
As the barber was about to run the hair clippers over the top with a different guard, Janice quickly signaled for her to stop. The female barber stopped short of an irreversible process, as the clippers were just inches away from Janice’s frontal hairline.
“I think we can stop here,” Janice said again. The immersed crowd by the waiting bench looked almost disappointed upon hearing Janice’s decision, but quickly acted nonchalant to conceal their interest in Janice’s shearing. Fortunately for Janice, she had plenty of hair, enough from the top to cover up the shaved sides and back. The female barber, slightly upset by the fact that she couldn’t give Janice a complete buzz cut, unfastened the cape off Janice, and used the neck strip to wipe off any loose hairs on Janice’s face.
At this moment, Sam appeared around the corner of the express salon. His reflection was spotted by Janice through the reflection, prompting her to turn around and stare straight at Sam in the eyes.

“Sam, get over here right now!” Janice remarked angrily as he spotted his presence by the entrance of the express hair salon. She was infuriated by Sam’s broken promise of returning on time for his haircut. Janice stepped off the barber chair and headed straight for Sam, grabbing him by his arm and dragged him straight out to avoid creating a commotion for the customers waiting for their turn.
Sam unknowingly, seemed frustrated at Janice’s anger, since he had not noticed that half her head of long locks were being shorn off. The shaven sides were still covered by her incredibly long locks at the top. “Why are you shouting at me? I was a little late, but shit did not happen within the few minutes in difference right?” Sam retaliated. Janice remarked again that he was late by in fact, a total of fifteen minutes, enough for the barber to shave half her head.
She lifted her locks by the top to show Sam how severely short the shaven sides were. The previously flowing long hair was nothing but super short stubble that allowed a clear peek at Janice’s scalp. Sam was taken aback at the sight of Janice’s plight, and bobbed his head downwards, an act of regret and guilt.
She however, found no comfort in leveraging on Sam’s guilt. After all, there is nothing Sam can do or act to return her the long flowing hair she had. Only time could. But in the meantime, she wanted to teach Sam a lesson, and this time round, in a devilish manner. “You will now do as I say, or if word gets to mum, you are so dead for getting me into this shape,” Janice ordered Sam. Out of pure remorse, Sam nodded in obedience.
Janice then grabbed Sam tightly by his arm again, and pulled him towards the other side of the mall strip. At the far end of the mall, near the entrance into the residential district, a traditional two-seater barbershop laid, serving the older men that live in the area. Today, they will have the pleasure of serving a young man with a severe haircut.
Just by the door into the barbershop, Janice turned towards Sam again, face still seemingly annoyed. She however held it in, and issued instructions to Sam. “You will go in there, and ask for a #1 buzzcut. Following, request for a total head shave with the straight razor and warm shaving cream.” Janice ordered Sam.
Sam seemed flabbergasted at Janice’s request, instantaneously reaching up to caress his thick, curly head of brunette locks. He was after all, not very familiar with barbershop culture as he was brought up getting his haircuts at hair salons. Janice reassured him that it was going to be over in moments and that she would follow him in if that might make him feel better. Amidst her anger and intention to punish Sam for his wilfulness that caused her to lose much of her hair, the kinship between them as brother and sister still existed. Reassured by Janice, Sam nodded and entered the barbershop. Janice followed right behind, and signaled to the nearest barber that she was simply accompanying Sam.
Barbershop
The barbershop had two barbers on duty, one male and female. The man was in his mid-thirties, working on one of their seemingly regular customers, a retired man who was obviously balding by the top. The other was a barberette in actual fact, and she sat on the vacant barber chair. The barber whom Janice signaled, named Wesley, called out to Roxanne, who had not taken notice of her incoming victim.
Upon noticing the arrival of Sam and Janice, Roxanne rose from the barber chair and gave it a few pats while maintaining eye contact with Sam. He moved forward and took a seat on the barber chair, a little uncomfortable with the ambience of the barbershop. Feeling awkward, he took a few glances at Roxanne as she prepped her tools to serve Sam. She looked to be in her late twenties, and was dressed modestly but fashionably. Roxanne donned a plan pullover of a bright turquoise shade, and paired it with washed out skinnies. Her hair was trendily cut in a one-length bob with some layers cut in, and was blown dry to curve slightly inwards in a C-curl. Roxanne was overall, very demure and feminine, making many question why she would work in such a masculine environment such as a barbershop, when she would fit much better in a hair salon.
Sam grasped the arm support of the chrome barber chair as he awaited his unescapable fate of being shorn by Roxanne. Roxanne gave her pair of clippers a final few brushes and some oiling before she hung it back by the hook. She then positioned herself behind Sam, ready to serve. “So, haircut for you young man?” Roxanne asked Sam courteously with a gentle smile. Sam, still quite unsure of going ahead with this initially, took a glance at Janice again via the mirror, and saw a menacingly annoyed figure. He had no choice. “Umm, I would like a buzz, buzzcut using a #1 and then a full head shave with the straight razor.” Sam answered stutteringly.
“Wow, okay. You will look great being totally shaved, trust me.” Roxanne remarked. She then lifted the barber cape that was hung over the barber chair Sam sat on. The cape was a plain white haircutting cape, and had minimal detail except for black lining by the neck and the corners of the cape. Before caping Sam, she reached for a roll of neck strip, tore a piece and wrapped it tightly around Sam’s neck. The cape was then tossed over Sam, and fastened snuggly over the neck strip. The width of neck strip that was not covered by the cape was then folded down over the cape.
Sam started to feel nervous, since it was the first time he was getting all his hair shaved off. Heck, this was probably the first time in a long while Sam would be having hair shorter than what he had right now. Usually, his hair would be much longer, close to shoulder length.
Roxanne gave the chair a few pumps to align Sam’s head better with the mirror, before stepping forward to reach for her pair of clippers by the hook. She turned it on with a thud, gave it a few brushes before stepping back behind Sam again. Without room for conversation or words, Roxanne simply combed through Sam’s unruly locks towards the back. As she tugged at his curly mane that almost refused to budge to Roxanne’s comb, his forehead was revealed as Roxanne continuously combed it backwards. When Roxanne finally rid his mane of the tangles, the pair of clippers was put to work. She placed them by Sam’s hairline by the front, and pushed it backwards straight from hairline to the crown. The clippers changed tune as it sliced through Sam’s locks, revealing a wide strip of stubble in the area it went through. Janice watched in astonishment, and almost started to cum mysteriously. She was surprised by her reaction, but held it back.
Roxanne unsparingly, continued with her task. She repositioned the clippers by the hairline, this time beside the shorn area, and pushed backwards once again. More hair was shorn off, and was pushed by the clippers off Sam’s head, landing on the wooden flooring of the barbershop. Sam’s hair was so thick that two pushes from the clippers could almost cover the area behind the barber chair in his hair! Roxanne quickly got through the process, running the clippers up the temple, shaving off Sam’s sideburns and the locks at his back. It did not take long for Sam’s curly locks to cover the white barber cape that enveloped him. Each stroke of the clippers revealed more of Sam’s scalp, and made him visualise better how he would look without any hair. With all his hair shorn down to stubble, he stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror. His head seemed so small now that there was no sheltering from his curly mop of hair, but it certainly accentuated his facial features.
Roxanne hooked the clippers back, and prepped to give Sam the second part of his punishment. Without sweeping off the shorn locks that covered Sam above the barber cape, she applied shaving cream over the stubble that remaining on Sam’s scalp. When she was satisfied with the application, she cleaned her hands with a towel hooked beside the barber chair, and reached for the straight razor. She positioned the blade by the crown of Sam’s scalp, and applied some tension to it as she pushed it downwards. Sam and Janice both could hear mild screeching sounds as the razor blade shaved off whatever stubble was left on Sam’s scalp. As the razor pushed downwards, a clean white scalp could now be clearly seen. Roxanne continued shaving off the stubble with the razor, and without long, revealed a Sam that was fully shaved.
He took his first glance, and found it quite acceptable strangely. He reached out from beneath the cape, and gave his scalp a few rubs. It was totally stimulating, since the scalp is one of the most sensitive parts of the human body. Sam smiled at his new look, almost forgetting that this was supposedly his punishment. Janice on the other hand, was quite unhappy that Sam seemed satisfied, and seemed quite upset.

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