* Work of fiction and everybody is 18+ years of age in this story.
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Since I was a kid, I accompanied my Mom (nicknamed 'Dimple') wherever she went in the afternoon as she didn't want to me to be home alone. Like many other Indian housewives, she loved spending her free time doing things that my Dad would not approve of - like shopping for things that my Dad wouldn't buy for her, hangout with her friends that my Dad don't like and so on. In other words, explore her freedom and leisurely do things between 1pm to 7pm till Dad returns from work. Now that I was 18 buy she would still ask me to accompany her but not so frequently.
One of the things Dimple loved most was getting her hair done. No matter what the occasion was, but yes, she loved spending hours in a local hair salon. The salon was for women clients only but the stylists were both men and women. Mr. Kay, a professional certified male hair stylist in his late 30s was her "man" during her visits. Why am I saying this? You will learn that soon. Kay, himself was a handsome tall guy and no less than George Clooney in his looks. I watched Kay spend hours stroking, blow drying, coloring, straightening Dimple's natural long black waist length hair. As a kid, I thought length of her hair is directly proportional to number of hours required on a salon chair. Her 3 feet (36 inches) long hair needed at least 3 hours of grooming. The salon used to be empty/vacant in the afternoon and hence not all stylists were required to be present in the salon due to low business hours. Dimple used to fix her appointments with Kay at least twice a week. At times there would be an impromptu visit around 5pm but for not more than an hour. I used to unofficially accompany her for those ones too.
A typical visit would be like me entering the salon with her. Kay would handover couple of comic books and TV remote so I get drowned in my fantasy world. While Dimple would go and sit on a salon chair, facing those huge mirror with light bulbs around it. She would stare in Kay eyes with lots of glow on her cheeks and frowning eyes. Dimple would either sport a huge hair bun just above her head or in a long thick braid. In that case, her braid would go past her waist.