Page 3 of Somewhere We Belong

“Blanche, you know as well as I do that’s a bunch of horse shit,” I said, lowering the dryer head. “Just say you don’t want to go home yet or you wanna gossip more with Betty.”

Blanche laughed, “Fine, let me soak in my time away from Tony, but can I have one of those pretty can drinks.”

“Yeah, I can get you a Poppi,” I said, turning the dryer on for thirty minutes.

The loud dryer turned on as I left to get her a drink and when I returned, she and Betty were side by side already gossiping. How they gossiped with the loud dryers was beyond me.

I cleaned my station, sanitized everything, getting ready to head to the breakroom to sit while I waited for Blanche. As I put away my shears, Michelle, the girl who worked the front desk, came up to me, looking nervous.

“No,” I said immediately.

I knew that face, which meant she wanted to squeeze someone in.

“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say,” she huffed.

“Yes, I do. I know that face,” I said, wiping down my chair.

“Theodore was wondering if you could squeeze him in,” she said quickly. “He’s here now and I know you like to make an exception for him.”

I looked up to see him. Theodore was looking at me with so much intensity that I thought he could hear what I was thinking. He was burly, tall and the gray shirt he had on did nothing to hide his wide shoulders and big arms. He was exactly what I imagined a mountain man would look like with his thick dark blonde beard and long hair that was usually pulled back in a man bun. I was exhausted and all I wanted was to sit, but she was right, I always made an exception for him.

“Come on!” I said, waving him down.

“Such a pushover for that man.” Michelle grinned.

I shrugged, not wanting to say anything that would give her and the girls here more ammo to tease me. There was a reason he was my exception, not because he was devastatingly handsome, but because he was amazing with my daughter, Sol.

“Hi,” I said, feeling shy even though I had known him for more than five years.

He nodded as he sat down in my chair.

Theodore was a man of few words, one of the many reasons I didn’t mind him in my chair.

“What are we doing today?” I always asked, even though we always did the same thing. Just a small trim, he liked his hair long.

He held up his phone to me, showing me a picture of something completely different. I raised my brows as I imagined the haircut on him. It was very short on the side with it longer on the top, enough for it to get slicked back.

“Do you want this exact haircut?”

He nodded. “I like his beard too.” His deep voice was always a shock to hear.

“Is there anything you want to change about the hair and beard?” I undid the ponytail he had his long hair in, being as gentle as possible.

“No,” he said, looking a little uncomfortable, but that wasn’t unusual.

I didn’t think Theodore was particularly fond of the salon since his visits were usually few and far between, but I also had a feeling he didn’t like being around people either.

“I’m gonna have to use the clippers, is that ok?” I pulled out my bag that had them in it along with different clipper guards.

He stared at my bag as I opened it, pursing his lips a little.

“We don’t have to use these, and we can leave the sides a little longer,” I said, getting a feeling he might not like the clippers.

“No,” he snapped. “Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I mean I want to go short.”

“Ok, I’ll try to go as fast as I can,” I said, plugging in my clippers and putting a guard on it. “How about we listen to music while I cut your hair?”

I grabbed some earbuds and handed them to him. He stared at them for a minute, nodding slowly as he took the buds and put them in his ear as I handed my phone to him so he could choose music.

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