“That sounds like a great opportunity,” I agree. “I’m sure you’ll get it.” I smile a little uneasily as he frowns at his reflection. “Did you—uh, should I still take the beard off? You don’t look happy.” I pause uncertainly.
“What? Oh, no. I mean, yes! Please cut it off.” The clouds in his eyes suddenly clear. “I was just…it’s just been a while,” he explains.
“Since you’ve gotten a haircut?” I nod. Clearly it’s been over six months since he’s even had a trim of any sort.
“No, not that. It’s just been a while since I’ve seen this guy.” He juts out his jaw at his reflection. “I do like it, and I want you to keep going. Thank you for introducing me back to him.” He points at himself. “It’s just been a while.”
“Hey, that’s what I’m here for.” I smile, but it’s weak. My lips twitch slightly as I realize that something as small as a haircut can be so meaningful. “Ready?” I flick the electric razor on and it fills the air around us with a buzz like a hive full of bees.
“Ready.” Luke tilts his head up and sets his jaw.
I swipe the razor over his skin and mark a path through the brambly hairs covering his face. It reminds me of that old poem we studied in school as children. The one about how you can take the well-beaten path or the unknown one. In Luke’s case, this trail of sheared hairs is like a path through the brush, the harder one to take, but the one that will lead to a better future.
Soon, the long beard hairs are no longer attached to his face, but instead slide down the front of his cape and onto the salon floor. When I’m cutting hair, the only thing I see is the hair. Not the person, or much else, but the job I’m trying to do. So, when I take a step back and look at him, clean-shaven, I almost gasp. He’s not just handsome, he’s…sexy. Wow, I can’t believe how different he appears with a fresh haircut and his shaggy beard removed. Now I can see his thick lips, his chiseled jawline, and his blue eyes are bigger and even more intense.
“I think you look great!” I smile and put the razor down along with the comb. “Here, do you want to check the back?” I pick up the hand mirror and start to twirl him around in the chair, but he puts his foot to the floor and stops me abruptly.
“No, I trust you. If you don’t mind, I need to use the washroom?” Luke stands up and plucks the black cape from his neck, shaking the hairs free from it.
“Uh, sure.” I point to the back hall. “It’s the first door on the left.”
“Thanks.” His voice is thick. He picks up his bookbag and disappears down the hall.
I shrug and grab my broom. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but I need to get this all cleaned up again so I can lock up. I sweep all the long and twisty hairs from the linoleum and throw them out. After I disinfect my scissors and comb, I hear Luke come out of the bathroom and watch him walk toward me.
Wow. He looks amazing.
He shaved his jaw completely clean with a razor, removing the little layer of scruff that the electric one left behind. His face is a little red with irritation after not shaving for so long, but he still looks…just wow. My breathing grows shallow and my heartbeat quickens as he closes the distance between us. I don’t know why, but in my mind I let a fantasy whirl around me. One where he walks up to me, wraps his strong arms around me, and pulls me into him. Our bodies are pressed together tight and he kisses me hard with his soft lips.
I blink and shake the thought free from my head. “You look great.” My voice creaks.
“I can’t thank you enough. Seriously,” Luke answers. “I don’t want to take up any more of your time, though, so I’ll be on my way. I’m sorry I can’t pay you, but if I do get this job, I’ll be back and I’ll pay you in full,” he promises.
“No, don’t worry about that.” I lift my hand. “I like doing this. When you get the job feel free to come back as a regular.” I tilt my head and peer up at him from under my lashes. “I’d love to see you again.” I realize what I just said and my cheeks blaze bright. “I mean, to hear about the job, of course.”
“Sure.” His blue eyes twinkle and we walk out to the door. As I lock up for the second time today, Luke easily reaches the bars I struggled to grab earlier and tugs them down. I quickly lock them down and when I stand up, I know our bodies are closer than they should be, yet it feels so right. Like a calm has washed over me and stilled every worry I’ve ever carried on my soul.
I want to kiss him, to feel his arms around me. I want this moment to last forever. But instead I just say goodbye.
“Goodbye,” he answers and he lets me walk away.
I mean, I’m not sure what else I thought would happen. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to know that I’ll probably never see Luke again.
Lost in my own world of instant regret, I turn around the corner and walk down the cracked sidewalk to my car. Heavy footsteps thud behind me and I turn with a smile to see Luke’s face again. He must have thought the same thing and came after me.
However, the smirk falls flat on my face as I see a man coming at me that I don’t know. “Give me your purse, lady, and I won’t hurt you.” He tugs my bag and I stupidly hang onto it tight. I know I should give it up. I don’t need the trouble. But my keys to my shop and all my ID is in there. I struggle as he yanks it free from my arm.
“Help! Fuck, give me back my purse, asshole!” I scream, but the man shoves me backward and I land flat on my ass.
Chapter 4 - Luke
My worn sneakers grind against the pebbles on the sidewalk as I take a few steps away from Gabriella’s salon. I stop in my tracks and throw a glance over my shoulder. She’s already rounded the corner of the building and has walked out of my sight. I don’t want to be some kind of stalker, but as I take in the hues of dark blue washing over the sky, I can’t shake the feeling that I should follow her and make sure she gets to her car safe. She doesn’t need to know I’m keeping an eye on her. Once I see her get in her car, I’ll head out to the soup kitchen. Hopefully I can grab a warm plate of food before I call it a night.
Pulling my bag tight against my shoulders, I turn and walk in the direction Gabriella headed in. She’s such a beautiful woman, inside and out. It’s rare to find someone who is so compassionate and genuine these days. Or maybe that’s just me. After spending time on the streets where people passed by me, or worse, stared at me with utter disgust, it stirred my spirit to have someone look at the real me.
Of course, her beauty isn’t the only reason I’m tracking her right now. Call me old-fashioned, but I think men should always walk women to their car. I don’t care if a lady is nineteen or ninety, she deserves to have peace of mind and to be safe.
“Help! Fuck, give me back my purse, asshole!”
The shriek pierces the cool chill in the evening air and runs a shiver down my spine. It might have been years since I was in the army, but as soon as I hear her calling out like that, I spring into action like I just finished basic training yesterday. Sprinting around the corner, I see a hooded man shove Gabriella down onto the pavement and grab her purse. Anger rolls up in my gut like ocean waves on a stormy sea as I narrow my eyes and zero in on him. My feet hit the pavement in long strides and my hands slice through the air as I chase the cowardly piece of shit down and close in on him. I fight my instinct to stop and tend to Gabriella. I could see that she is okay, but there’s no way I’m letting this guy get away with mugging her and pushing her around.
I quickly chase him down and reach out. My fingers grasp the fabric of his hoodie and I yank him backward toward me hard, catching him off balance. The man falls on his ass and I jump on top of him, giving him a sharp jab to the ribs once, twice, three times before standing up and jerking the purse free from his hands.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I snarl down at him. I’m tempted to kick him. To keep pounding him until him limping away isn’t an option he has anymore. Rage is coursing through my veins with every heartbeat. Fire licks up my throat and my vision blurs a little as I str
uggle to get my temper under control. I force myself to stand my ground as the fucker gets up and runs down the street. I breathe deep, letting him go. I know that hurting him won’t really teach someone like him a damned thing. All it will do is take away my chance to finally get my life back under control. He’s not worth it.
I turn and jog back to Gabriella, holding out my hands. I easily lift her back to her feet and help brush her off. “Are you okay?” I hold her against me and she trembles against my chest. She sniffles before clearing her throat and stepping back. She turns her back to me and I can see her wipe away her tears. “Hey, don’t cry. It’s okay. I got your bag back.” I hold out her purse.
Gabriella turns back to me and smiles weakly. It’s easy to see she’s shaken up. I don’t blame her. “Thank you.” Her voice cracks and her lip quivers slightly.
“Don’t thank me. I’m just sorry I didn’t walk you to your car right away. That guy never would’ve pulled that shit if I did.” I look at my feet.
“I’m glad you came when you did,” she answers and clings onto her bag, digging her keys out with her shaky hand.
“Me too.”
“My car is just up there.” She nods up at the beat-up Ford Tempo parked half a block up. “I mean, if you don’t mind walking me?”
“Of course.” I smile and stay by her side as we make our way to her car.
“I wish there was something I could do for you.” She almost sounds like she’s thinking out loud, not really talking to me.
“I mean, there is one thing, but I totally understand if you don’t want to or whatever,” I blurt out the words and her eyes grow wide. I suddenly realize she must think I’m about to ask her for some kind of indecent proposal and heat rises up the back of my neck. “I don’t mean anything sketchy. I just, I’d love it if I could take a shower tonight to get ready for my interview. There’s a truck stop that lets me clean up sometimes, but it’s all the way across town. Is there any way I could hitch a ride with you?” I can feel her eyes on me as we stop at the edge of her car. She doesn’t say a word. My question hangs over us like a cloud.
“No.” Her voice is soft but firm. I’m such a fool for even asking. Of course she doesn’t want me in her car. She doesn’t know me from Adam.
“That’s okay.” I try to hide my disappointment and keep my face steady. “I can figure it out.” I take a big step back and look down the street so she won’t see the pain in my eyes.
“No, don’t go!” Gabriella reaches out and her fingers grasp onto my hand. I stop short and my heart pounds hard in my chest. “I meant I won’t take you to the truck stop because you can take a shower at my place,” she whispers.
“Are you sure?” I step in closer to her and admire her beautiful brown eyes.
“Yes. It’s the least I can do.”
Chapter 5 - Gabriella
Luke clicks his seat belt into place as I start the car and pull away from the curb. Normally I would never let a man I know so little about come over to my place. However, there’s something so familiar about him. When I look into his ocean-blue eyes, the same feeling overwhelms me as when I was a kid taking the first steps through the doorway after returning from school. I would chuck my backpack over by the shoes I kicked off and just let the safety and security of home take away the day’s minor pressures and childhood dramas.
I get lost in the memory. The emotions. The once picture-perfect family I was a part of, before it all dissolved into sadness and chaos.
Luke tilts his head. “If you’d rather drop me at the truck stop, I’m completely happy to go there instead,” he says reassuringly.
“What?” I glance over at him before merging out onto the highway.
“You looked so upset. I don’t want to be adding any stress to your life, that’s all.” He winces.
“Oh, I was just thinking. Don’t worry, you’re not adding any stress at all,” I answer gently.
“If you don’t mind me asking.” Luke clears his throat. “Why do you do the free haircuts? Not a lot of people even see the homeless let alone help them out like you do. Is there a special reason you go out of your way? I mean, trust me, it’s definitely appreciated,” he stammers.
“No, I don’t mind. There is a reason.” I take a deep breath and flash back to that serene childhood before Dad’s deployment. The contrast to what our lives became after he came back from Afghanistan, it was night and day. I remember how my father used to dote on me. I was his little princess throughout my entire childhood. Then, when he returned from his second mission in 2003, our entire world was turned upside down. The man who used to teach me simple magic tricks and sing me songs from old movies disappeared. Instead, an angry shell came back to us. His mood swings were violent and, eventually, he was too.
“My father served in the Army, but got released when I was ten,” I explain and turn on the old headlights, slicing a ribbon of light through the darkness of night swirling around us. “Back then, PTSD wasn’t a hot topic, you know?” I glance over at Luke and his eyes grow cloudy as he silently nods. “Guys would come back with it, but the help just wasn’t there. So, well, Dad changed. He became unrecognizable and then, poof.” I blow over my palm like I used to as a kid trying out one of my father’s magic tricks. “He was gone.”
“Gone?” Luke’s voice is tight and his shoulders tense up.
“Yeah, he walked out on us. And, as a child, I couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t make sense of how the man I adored had just stopped loving us. How he could possibly leave. So, I blamed my mother.” Shame billows inside my chest, gripping my guts and wrenching them tight in its grasp as I remember how cruel I became to her. “I told myself that she chased him away because the alternative was just too painful to believe.” I let out a long, shaky breath.
“I’m sorry.” Luke folds his hands together like he wishes there was something he could physically do with them to help, but he can’t.
“Yeah, me too,” I admit. “So, when I grew up a bit and became a teenager, all that rage got directed at my mom. I was miserable to her and rebelled pretty hard. I’m not proud of it, but I was awful,” I confess.
I hit the turn signal and exit off the highway, turning down the familiar ramp that leads home. The darkness of night has engulfed the world now, leaving everything in shadows and hues of gray.
“Well, I don’t know anyone who was an angel in their teen years.” Luke tries to lift my spirits.
“I hear ya.” I nod and turn down the road toward my subdivision. “But I was worse than most, I think. Don’t get me wrong, Mom and I are great now, but then, it was terrible. Anyway, so when I was fourteen, she and I got into another huge fight and I screamed in her face that I hated her. I was shaking with rage, like every cell in my body was just livid. I accused her of forcing my father to leave us and told her I wished she had left instead. I said I would live with him if she hadn’t chased him away.” I frown at the memory. The pain that flashed across her face when I spewed those hateful words at her still haunts me today. I swallow a lump growing in my throat and take a deep breath. “She didn’t yell at me or freak out or anything. She just calmly told me to get in the car. I remember I was so confused, I thought she’d ground me for the rest of my life, or something, but she just grabbed her keys and purse and just drove.”
“Where did she take you?” Luke watches me closely as he hangs on my every word.
“We drove for quite a while and she took us to the sketchiest neighborhood I’d ever seen. I mean, there were prostitutes pacing the sidewalks and junkies slumped against the sides of spray-painted buildings with needles still poking into their arms. It was scary. I asked her where she was taking me, half afraid that I’d pushed her over the edge and she was going to abandon me there. She pointed to a park full of homeless men, some of them carrying all of their worldly possessions in a shopping bag, lying around on the grass. It wasn’t hard to see that they were all addicts of some kind. They were mostly passed out drunk or high. She pointed to
them and said ‘You see them? Your dad is probably in there somewhere. You think I chased him away? I fought with everything I had to keep him from leaving, but he was sick, Gabriella. He got lost in dope because he couldn’t deal with the demons the war left him with. Now I don’t want to hear another word about him again. You’re old enough, you know the truth, that’s the end of it.’”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Luke’s lips tug down in the corners. It’s hard to tell through the tears forming in my eyes, but he looks like he might cry too.
“Yeah, me too. Mom got a call almost a year later from the coroner. She had to go identify his body.” I swallow hard as my emotions make my voice quiver. I pull down my road and head toward my townhouse.
“Fuck,” Luke whispers.
“So, when I got older, I promised myself I’d help out the homeless in a meaningful way. And I have a soft spot for struggling veterans.” I smile at him shyly. “I figure it’s only a few hours of my week, but a fresh haircut might help someone get a leg up. Maybe even help them in a job interview, like you.” I pull into my driveway and throw the car in park. I brush the tears from my eyes and sniff loudly.
Luke reaches across the car and grabs my hand in his. I gasp, not expecting his warm touch to envelop my hand. “You’re a beautiful person, Gabriella. I’m sorry it took so much pain to create such an amazing soul.” He meets my eyes and the tears I’ve been trying so hard to hold back, the ones I’ve been trying to hold down for years, well up and spill down my cheeks. Luke unbuttons his seat belt and wraps his arms around me, holding me close as I cry for the father I lost. As I cry out the pain I’ve carried all this time, but refused to experience.
I’m not sure if I’ve been crying for a minute or an hour, but when the tears finally stop flowing, I feel a million times lighter. I pull back and look at Luke’s chiseled chin and full lips. How is it that we can meet the people we need the most in the unlikeliest places? When I woke up today, I didn’t even realize the void that was in my life. Obviously, I understood the pain I carried, but it wasn’t until I met Luke that I really understood how much that sadness had chipped away at my very being. And it wasn’t until tonight that I started to feel whole again.
Hot, Quick & Dirty: 12 Steamy Short Stories Page 10