The Hairdresser (F)

[NoV]

The Hairdresser (F)

Michelle ran her hands back through her short blonde hair, flicking it out of her eyes, and looked up at the clock for the hundredth time that day. Only a few short minutes had passed since she had last checked and she managed to hold in the frustrated sigh that rose in her.

The hair salon in which she worked was never busy, but today it seemed to be particularly lifeless. Bored, Michelle examined her reflection in the mirror. She crossed her arms and pouted at herself, blowing a single strand of hair from where it rested on her nose. She critically checked out her figure, letting her eyes run up her legs to where they flared into her hips; smooth in her tight blue jeans. She pulled her white t-shirt tight with a smile, allowing herself to indulge her ego for a moment.

A low chime made her jump. The door of the salon swung open to reveal a young woman with a bright smile, seemingly laboring under a cascade of chestnut-hued hair that tumbled down her back and shoulders. Michelle approached her, smiling hello.

‘I’m really sorry to bother you,’ the young woman began nervously. ‘Its just I saw you weren’t busy and I wondered whether…whether you had time to cut my hair right away. You see I’ve got this big meeting tomorrow, and I kinda left it too late to book. Any chance…?’

She tailed off. Michelle’s smile grew broader. Anything that would make the time pass quicker in this place was going to be OK with her. She ushered the customer towards the free chair, assuring her that it was fine and there was plenty of free time.

‘I’m Caroline by the way,’ the woman said, relaxing a little. Michelle raised the chair until it was the right level and ran her hands through Caroline’s hair to gauge what needed to be done. ‘Just something sensible, something more controllable’ was all that the young woman had asked of her.

As she prepared Caroline’s hair, she became aware of a sweet aroma, not altogether unpleasant but one that gave her a feeling of trepidation. She sniffed softly, and found her nose had started to become ever so slightly blocked. She realized it must be Caroline’s perfume, and the more she breathed, the stronger the scent seemed to become.

She moved towards the sideboard to fetch the scissors, feeling an uncomfortable sensation starting to tease the back of her nose. She began to realize that there was a tremendous sneeze building up in her chest, about which there was very little she could do. She put a curled fist up to her mouth and nose, her breath now coming in hitches and gasps. ‘Excuse me’ she managed to blurt out and made a short dash through the staff doors towards the toilets.

She never even made it into the toilet cubicle for the tissues. The full force of the sneeze overtook her as she entered, causing her to grab the doorframe for support and bellow out the sneeze so that it echoed like thunder in the enclosed space. The scent of the perfume was still trapped in her nose, and she fumbled desperately for tissues as the second sneeze came roaring up inside of her. She threw her head back, preparing to deliver the sneeze into the nest of tissue she had made ready.

But she was not expecting the triple sneeze that came exploding out of her, all but obliterating the carefully prepared tissues. She could not remember ever suffering an attack of such ferocity before, although always considered herself to be quite a sneezy individual.

Blinking back tears, she blew her nose forcefully, feeling dizzy and weak. She glanced at the mirror, and was slightly dismayed at how red her nose had become. As she watched herself, she felt her eyes begin to narrow, her chest expand. Her mouth fell open, gasped and then screwed up in another desperate sneeze that she managed to direct over her shoulder to avoid spraying the mirror. Her hair was now in disarray, and suddenly she remembered her customer. What must she be thinking?

Blowing her nose carefully for the second time, Michelle left the toilets and returned to the salon floor. She tucked copious amounts of tissue into her pockets, vowing to get this over and done with as quick as possible, breathing as lightly and as infrequently as she could.

Caroline smiled sweetly as Michelle arrived. ‘Everything OK?’ she asked, looking enquiringly at the hairdresser. Michelle nodded, and began work on Caroline’s chestnut curls.

After only a few minutes, it became apparent that Michelle’s sneezes were not going to be stopped so easily. The perfume was surrounding her like a cloud, drifting into her nasal passages where it tickled and itched like a softy stroking feather. Moving around behind Caroline, Michelle allowed her face to begin to betray the oncoming sneezes as her nose twitched and her features tensed into their characteristic pre-sneeze expression.

‘Are you OK?’ she heard Caroline say. Opening her eyes, she suddenly realized that in the mirror she was plainly visible to anyone sat in the chair. But answering was beyond her at this point, and all she could do was shake her head, blonde hair swishing in front of her face.

Michelle brought her fingers up to her nose and pinched tight as the first sneeze tried to fight its way out of her. The force of such a stifling made her bend violently at the waist, the huge intake of breath beforehand almost as loud as the stifled sneeze would have been. Her chest almost exploded from the effort of containing it, as she gasped for more breath to fuel what she knew was coming.

It was the start of a rapid-fire fit of several sneezes that she managed somehow to contain, her head bobbing up and down with each muffled explosion. She managed to maintain the grip on her nose, despite the force of the air inside pushing repeatedly against her fingers. Each one sounded as a long, desperate build-up followed by an almost silent ‘hurmph’ as the sneezes imploded inside of her.

‘Wow,’ Caroline was laughing cheekily when Michelle could eventually open her eyes. ‘That was quite something.’

‘Sorry,’ muttered Michelle feeling deeply embarrassed over her lack of control. ‘Don’t worry’ Caroline said, grinning now. ‘You looked like you really needed those. I know that when I sneeze there’s no stopping them. Although I’m not sure I am quite as loud as you…’

Michelle could not decide whether the girl was mocking her or not. She felt so drained of energy from suppressing the fit that all she felt like doing was sitting down for a while. Horrifyingly, she could still feel the need to sneeze bubbling up inside her and she knew this was only to be a short respite before another bout came upon her.

‘I think it’s your perfume,’ she managed to say, placing a trembling finger up to her nose. ‘Its making my nose itch something terrible.’ Caroline’s eyes grew wide. ‘Oh I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I’ve never met anyone who’s been allergic to this particular scent before. Are you sure?’

But Michelle was certainly sure, so sure that she could hardly hear what Caroline was saying. Already she was making a gradually rising pre-sneeze vocalization that grew in pitch and volume with each passing second. She managed to draw out her tissues and bring them up to her face in time to be all but torn apart as she sneezed another triple that ripped through the peace of the salon like a bomb going off. Other customers turned, captivated at the sight of the attractive blonde girl convulsed in the act of releasing her tremendous allergic sneezes.

‘Bless you!’ said Caroline, digging in her bag for her own tissues to offer the sneezy hairdresser. ‘I’m sorry,’ gasped Michelle accepting the tissue, eyes streaming with allergic tears, voice husky and breathless. As she blew her nose, Caroline said ‘Look, my hair will be fine for tomorrow – this is really not fair on you. How about I come back another time, maybe wearing a different perfume this time?’ She smiled at the sneezy Michelle.

But she could already see that her words were going unheard. There was a faraway look in Michelle’s eyes, a trembling hitch in her breath that spoke of further sneezes building up and soon to be released. With a gasp, she turned and fled back through the staff doors, both hands clasped firmly over her mouth and nose.

As the muffled sound of Michelle’s sneezes began to echo from behind the closed doors, Caroline gathered her bag and coat and made her own way out of the salon. She smiled quietly to herself. She would definitely be back.

[obsessed]

I have to say I wasn't interested as much in the sneezing as the writing.

You have a really good knack for writing, I love it. :]

[zneeze]

Whoa Amazing work as always, NoV!

[Giant Steps]

Ha! I knew that Caroline was up to something.

Very well written NoV, a pleasure to read!

[Nicole]

Ooooh, love this! Michelle sounds like someone I'd like to run into. Thanks for sharing!

[dreamsequence]

This is wonderful, thank you!

[Kiwifruit]

Oooh, nice I enjoyed reading this, your writing style is superb! The story is at least as interesting as the sneezes if not more so Thanks for sharing!

[Demosthenes]

I just need to see your name next to a story to know I'll love it!

[Guest ChrisNatu]

That was really great. Poor Michelle but...well you know

Your writingstyle is really good!

[megacycle]

Wonderful story.

I definitly like your style of writing.

[Animeeze]

How could I have missed this for so long?! NoV, this is brilliant, awesome work!

[dontnoqit]

This is the perfect setup for my favorite kind of story! Many thanks!