Seema stood at the door and took a deep breath. “come on Seema”. she whispered to herself, “You have come this far, don’t chicken out now!” It was a Sunday morning and she was standing at the door of a very busy barbershop. She had driven around the barbershop for almost an hour waiting for it to get empty, but the place was busy this morning. After parking her car across the street, she waited for 30 minutes but the barbershop was still busy. This barbershop was not slowing down and it was near lunchtime. She had finally mustered up the courage to get out of her car and go to the door, and there she stood, frozen in time. Her heart was beating so fast and she was just about to turn around when a young man opened the door for her. As he waited for her to go in, she realized there was no turning back now. She smiled at the young man and thanked him as she went into the shop. This was her first time visiting a barbershop. The smell of shaving cream and barricades filled in the air. She listened and took in the sounds of clippers humming as they did their work on all of the clients in the chairs. Her eyes looked around and saw all of the men reading magazines while waiting for their turns. There were no women there except for Mary and a lady barber. The lady barber was tall and slender, rather attractive for a fortyish woman. Her hair was short. This would be the barber that would do it, Seema thought to herself as she sat down in a chair to wait her turn. Now it was time. At the age of 34, she would shave her head bald. No more hair on this skull. She did not know how long she would stay bald, but she did know she had to try it just once. Her long hair was very attractive, but the maintenance was just too much! It was time to rid herself of her crown and show the world the real Seema. “Please come” The lady barber smiled at Seema and motioned for her to have a seat. The chair was so big, so unlike the salon chairs, she was used to it. It was comfortable too. “What can I do for you?” the lady asked. Seema began to tell the woman that she wanted her to shave her head when she noticed that everyone was staring at her. “It’s now or never,” she thought to herself and then told the woman. A surprised look came over the woman’s face and she questioned Seema’s state of mind. Seema smiled and explained that she had wanted to do this for years but had never had the courage until now. After a few minutes of conversation, the female barber acquiesced to Seema’s request. She turned Mary toward the window, slipped the cape over her and fastened it. Seema took a deep breath and noticed that it had gotten very quiet in this usually loud barbershop. She could not see what the woman was doing but she knew that she would soon hear the sound of clippers humming. Pop! Seema was startled by the sound, and the humming noise got closer when she felt the woman push down her head. She felt the clippers press against her nape and begin to move upwards at a very fast pace. Within seconds, it seemed, she was feeling a cool breeze on the back of her head. She saw the clippers move up to her forehead and cut through the top of her hair. Hair began to fall onto her lap and she knew there was no turning back. It seemed like just minutes before she felt the warm lather cover her head. Because she was facing the window, she could see nothing of what was going on. However, she enjoyed every moment of it knowing that the day had finally arrived. She would have her wish. With precision. Then the lady barber covered her scalp with the shaving foam, took a straight razor and started shaving her buzzed hairs which were now covered in the shaving foam. She was running a straight razor very slowly and carefully. There was a strange chill passing through Seema's body every time the lady barber ran the straight razor on her head to make it smooth. The lady barber first shaved her head from the top and once it was shaved clean she pushed her head down and shaved the back of her head. Soon the lady barber shaved her scalp clean and smooth then he wiped it down with a white towel and spread it with some warm oil. The oil felt soothing to Seema’s scalp and she pulled her hands out from under the cape and felt it for the first time. She used to feel hair there when she would rub her scalp, but now it felt so smooth! Now She is bald and more beautiful than before.
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