Eddy looked up from the magazine he was reading at his regular hair salon while he was waiting for his highlights to set in. A few staff members of the salon had come by to remove the chair adjacent to Eddy's in order to make room for a young girl, possibly in her very early teens, who had arrived in a wheelchair. An older woman, possibly the girl's mother had a forced smile on her face and when her eyes met Eddy's curious gaze she froze. Eddy gave his most benign smile and went back to his magazine. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the woman's relief.
"Eddy."
Eddy looked up and acknowledged his hairdresser in the mirror standing next to him.
"Brett."
"Okay, Eddy, In 15 minutes I'll get my apprentice Clyde to wash and dry your hair, yeah? I promise I'll personally check the colour and style it before you go."
"Sure Brett, no worries."
And with that, Eddy's hairdresser Brett turned to greet the customer that had just arrived next to Eddy.
"Hi!! I'm Brett!! It's so lovely to meet you!"
It was his usual cheerful greeting. Then he lowered his voice to a more discreet tone.
"Okay, would it be okay if I remove your hat and see what I can do for you today, please?"
Eddy gave a quick glance up from his magazine. He was able to see the young girl in the wheelchair in the mirror in front of both of them. Eddy's eyes had widened but he hoped it wasn't obvious thanks to the foils he had dangling around his eyes. The young girl's hair was very thin, grown unevenly and missing in large patches. It may have been due to an illness or medication or radiotherapy or.. Eddy thought it could be due to many things but all he was certain was that it must have not been an easy trip to the hairdresser for this young girl. She looked scared and the woman who Eddy assumed was her mother kept whispering reassuring words to the girl, it seemed it was the elder's idea to bring her here.
Eddy then heard Brett speak in his gentle tone.
"Hey, would you trust me to cut it short?"
Eddy furrowed his brows.
Short? Is he nuts?
"I promise, I'll make your hair as gorgeous as you are."
Eddy's heart melted.
Eddy went back to his magazine. He heard snippets of the conversation that went on next to him, Brett was talking non-stop in his soft tone, occasionally the volume would go a bit higher to deliver a punch line of one of his stories and after a while, Eddy started hearing a soft giggle from the young girl. Her laughter continued till Eddy was called by Clyde who invited him to the chair where his hair could be washed.
When Eddy returned to his chair to have his hair dried, he couldn't believe his eyes. He saw the young girl in the mirror in front of him as he sat down. Her hair was cropped very short. Her natural soft curls which weren't noticed when the hair was longer, made perfect C shapes all around her head, providing much better coverage of her scalp than when the hair was longer. Her hairstyle looked gorgeous, but what surprised Eddy even more was her radiant smile as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"What do you think? I think I was able to make it almost as cute as you."
"I.. I love it..!!! Thank you...!!!"
"Wow.."
"What was that Eddy? Hey this is looking really good."
Brett was drying Eddy's hair with a hairdryer, finalising the styling as he checked the streaked strands as he gently combed through Eddy's hair with his delicate fingers.
"What you did to that girl's hair.. You're like a magician."
Brett momentarily stopped his hands and looked up. Their eyes met through the mirror in front of them. Brett then shrugged.
"I just did what I could."
"I think you can do incredible things."
Brett smiled.
"Thanks."
Two months later, Eddy went back to his hair salon for some touch-ups for his highlights. He was told upon his arrival that Brett, his usual hairdresser was away, something urgent had come up. Eddy was happy to have his hair done by Clyde as he often helped Brett do highlight touch-ups. When it was all done, Eddy requested Clyde to book him in for his next appointment.
"Sure thing Eddy..."
Clyde flipped the appointment book to Eddy's page.
"Lemme fetch a pen..."
Clyde stepped away and the breeze from the fan blew a page from the appointment book and it opened up the next page.
On the page, there was the description of the hair that was of the girl who had sat next to Eddy in her wheelchair. Brett's initials; BY was listed as her hairstylist. Her calendar marked the first day she came to the salon, which was 2 months ago when Eddy had met her. Her subsequent booking schedule was a mess. She had put in fortnightly appointments since, each one was postponed by a week, then cancelled, repeating the pattern for two months. Then there was a cross placed on the date 3 days ago, followed by a line crossing out the rest of the calendar with a very strong penstroke, so much so that the pen had created a thin groove along on the page. Next to the cross, there was a note written down "Mother called - client was v happy with style cut" with initials BY. Eddy recognised Brett's handwriting albeit being much messier than usual.
Eddy felt a tight squeeze in his chest.
Eddy hoped the girl had moved house far away and couldn't come here anymore.
Eddy hoped the girl decided she didn't like Brett's hairstyling after all and decided not to come here anymore.
Any reason. Any reason except the reason he suspected it might be.
But most people don't ring up and give a definitive "I'm not coming to this hair salon anymore" notice to their hairdressers.
"Eddy..."
Eddy turned around to the familiar voice. It wasn't in the happy tone Eddy was familiar with though.
It was Brett in a black suit. Eyes red.
Eddy's voice hitched as he failed miserably to hold back his tears.
"Brett.. I'm.. so sorry..."