He stared at the sign.
The Executive Men's Salon.
He'd heard great things about the place. He didn't usually come to these fancy men's haircut places. The chains at the mall were generally enough. But he'd also heard that the female barbers were not only good but extremely attractive. So, while he wasn't here for anything more than a haircut, at least it would be nice to have some eye candy.
"Can I help you?"
Charles had entered and looked up to the attractive girl at the counter. "I have an appointment. Charles."
"Hi, Charles. Welcome to the Executive Men's Salon. If you'll follow me." She led him through a big room with four barber chairs on either side, and then down a hallway with enclosed rooms. She led him into the second room. "Have a seat. Your stylist will be right with you."
"Good afternoon."
Charles turned to the angelic voice. He was instantly smitten. She was beautiful.
"Charles?"
Then he recognized her.
"Holly?"
"Yes."
Her smile was mesmerizing. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. They'd known each other since elementary school, their families had lived around the corner from each other. He'd watched her grow into a gorgeous young woman. But she'd attended a private all girls high school, and he a public high school, and so, they'd seen little of each other through those years. Their younger sisters were close friends and had even engineered them dating a couple of times—literally a couple. And then it had been off to different colleges hardly ever to be seen again.
Until now.
She had taken his breath away the two times they'd dated. And she did so again now—to the point that he felt light-headed.
"Are you okay, Charles?" Holly asked stepping closer to the barber chair.
He smiled nervously. "I seemed to have taken a little trip down memory lane. But I'm back now."
Still smiling, Holly asked, "Memory lane? And what was there?"
"Missed opportunities. I remembered a beautiful girl I dated a couple of times."
Holly seemed to blush. "Missed opportunities? With me?"
Charles shrugged. "Perhaps only in my mind."
"I never knew you wanted more."
"I guess at the time, neither did I." He took a deep breath. "So, you're back in town?" Charles asked. "I heard you had moved to New York."
"I did."
"Fashion design or something like that?"
"Yes. Went to a school there, graduated and worked in the fashion industry for a while."
"And now you're cutting hair?" he asked with surprise.
"When I graduated fashion school," Holly explained, "one of my instructors suggested I learn another trade to fall back on. She said the fashion industry could be tough. She said one could always find work as a barber or stylist. So, I learned to cut both men's and women's hair. She was right."
"Were you . . . did you . . . what—"
"I'm divorced. That's what you really wanted to know, wasn't it?"
"Uh, well, uh—"
"I met a man in New York. A year or so later, we were married. When I lost my job in fashion, I decided I wanted to return home, but he refused to leave Manhattan. We couldn't agree on a compromise. That left only one solution. It wasn't really a tough decision. It wasn't a particularly loving marriage."
"I'm sorry."
Holly shrugged, picked up her scissors and a comb. "So, I returned home and here I am. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I guess I'm here for a haircut."
"What's your pleasure?" she asked draping the barber's cape over him.
"Are you any good?"
"Best
you've
ever had," she said seductively.
"I never had you."
They both laughed and it reminded him of their second date. They'd gone to dinner, and afterward, neither wanted to do anything else, but neither did they want the evening to end. So, they went to a coffee shop and talked for hours about their hobbies and aspirations. And there was laughter. Just like now.
Holly read his thoughts. Softly, she said, "I remember that night in the coffee shop."
"I didn't want it to end," he admitted.
"Neither did I." With her experience, it was easy to see the kind of cut he had, so she started trimming.
It was a revelation, not to mention a slap in the face to Charles. His expression showed his surprise. "Really? I had no idea."
Holly shrugged helplessly. "You never really ever asked me out. Our sisters arranged the two dates we had because neither of us had anything else to do on those nights. So, I figured you didn't really want to date."
Charles let out a regretful single chuckle. "You were so popular; I didn't think you'd really date me except when you had nothing else to do."
"That would not have been true. But what is really interesting is that of all the things we talked about that night, the one thing we really did not discuss was us."
"Missed opportunities."
"Indeed. So, what about you?"
"I manage an insurance agency. Nothing exciting. It's a living."
"Married?"
"Was. I'm divorced also. Met a girl at the first job I had after college. We dated. She eventually started pushing to get married, and I gave in. Being married to her and living with her was way different from just dating her."
Holly nodded her understanding. "Yeah, some people really change from one lifestyle to another. You liked to write back then. You wanted to become a writer. What happened to that?"
Charles shrugged. "I still write. Quite a bit actually. But only for my own enjoyment."
"Did you ever submit anything to be published?"
Shaking his head, Charles grimaced.
"Why?"
"I want to write what I want to write," he explained. "I don't want to have to conform to some saleable format. Actually, some of what I've written is not really publishable."
"Not publishable. What does that mean?"
Charles didn't expect to have to explain. "I, uh, I, well, some of it has some very descriptive—"
"Sex?"
She finished for him. "You write
adult
stories?"
He shrugged helplessly, somewhat embarrassed.