16 Days

Thinking back to the beginning, it all began about like this:

It was early Wednesday morning when I left my house on my way to work, it was around 8:30am. The weather was nice today, there was a cool breeze paired with the usually warm weather. There was excitement in the air, but I couldn't pin-point why. I didn't spend to much time thinking about it though, seeing as I would be spending my entire day indoors. I worked at Arizona Hair Co. in the Tempe Marketplace from 9am-5pm and then walked down to Target and worked at the Starbucks there from 5:30pm-close. I had become a bit of a workaholic, but being a single girl living luxuriously, yet alone, in a large house that could easy fit a family of 6 cost quite a bit.

I arrived at the salon just as Nadia, who happened to be the only other person working this early of a shift, was opening it up for the day. She was a nice woman, in her mid 30's, but not a co-worker I socialized with a whole bunch. I walked in and put my belongings in my locker in the back and went to prepare my station for the, hopefully, busy day ahead. I made sure everything I would need for the day was in the correct place and was sanitized for use. Once I was assure my station was in a proper state for use, I took a seat at the front counter and waited for a customer.

~

Hours passed by with a few customers stopping by every once in a while, not often enough for anyone to have to wait though. Seeing as it was a slow day, Nadia decided to take her first break or the day early. It was around 12:30 when she left, and lunch time business is always weak. So, I sat at the front counter, reapplying my lipstick that had been scraped at over the course of the last few hours, and touching up my mild amount of make-up I had on. It wasn't until I heard the door ding signaling someone had entered the salon that I took my eyes off my small mirror.

"Welcome to Arizona Hair Co. How may I help you today?" I asked with a smile, putting my personal items away before even looking up at the person that had walked in.

"I need a haircut," a deep voice responded. His answer was a common, yet always vague one.

"What are we looking for? Just a trim, or something totally new?" I asked, looking up at the man. As soon as I looked up, a million things rushed through my mind, as it's oxygen supply depleted and I slowly took notice that I had stopped breathing. I quickly let out the breath I had been holding and tried not to blush.

"Just a trim," came from the grinning lips of no one other than Eric Halvorsen.

"Right this way," I smiled, leading him back to the 'wash' room. I patted the back of one of the slanted chairs connected to the hair sink, as I call it, motioning for Eric to take a seat. I gathered up the towels I would need from the overhead cabinets. I placed a towel around the back of Eric's neck and left him sitting up slightly as I started running the water, waiting for it to warm up. I told Eric to lean back, and adjusted the towel under him so neither the towel nor he would get dampened by the spraying water.

I began my first attempt at conversation with him as I started shampooing his hair, "So, what have you been up to ? I haven't seen you since graduation day."

He opened his mouth to speak and I stopped massaging his scalp and cut him off, "Wait, are there any secrets you wanna let me in on before I get too carried away washing your hair?" I asked.

"Ummm," he trailed off, confused.

"No, like, do you have some crazy afro or something? Cause I need to use calming shampoo and conditioner if you do," I informed him, with a slight giggle towards his response.

"Oh, no, my hair's normal, I guess. I just get curls or whatever at the end when it gets too long," he replied.

"Okay, well, then continue with whatever you were going to say about your life since high school," I requested while continuing with my previous washing procedure.

"Ah, well, I did the college thing for a couple of years, then joined my friends band, and now I'm having a break from tour for about two and a half weeks," he summed up.

"Your life seems very," I paused, "eventful."

"Yea, it gets hectic at time, but I wouldn't trade it for anything," he paused and smiled, before continuing, "what have you been up to? Other than apparently doing hair."

"Ahh, well, I've been working a lot mostly. Almost full time here, and I'm a manager at the Starbucks in Target down the way," I informed him.

"You sound like the typical workaholic," he joked.

"Well, I live in a huge house and tend to indulge in the high-end luxurious kind of life-style," I bragged, "I have to be independent and self-supporting."

"I see. I still live at home with my parents when I'm not living in a crowded van," he admitted, as I finished washing his hair. I nudged him forward and wrapped the dry towel around his soaking hair, ridding it of excess water.

"My parents and I never really got along, so that wasn't an option I let myself think of," I replied with an airy laugh. "Back to my station," I told him, holding the towel to his head. He took the towel in his own hand as he stood up, towering over me.

We walked back to my station and he sat down, I adjusted the chair so I would be able to see what I was doing as I cut his hair. We made small talk as I cut his hair, I wasn't as into talking once I got working. I love cutting hair, I prefer to indulge myself in my work, even if it's as simple as trimming the already defined layers of someones hair. Nadia came back sometime while I was doing his hair, but I didn't pay much mind to her. I cut his hair with my usual flawless precision and blow-dried it, not needing to do anything else to it.

"Well, there ya go," I told him as I finished, "would you like a mirror so you can see the back?"

"Nah, as long as it's not all the way down the back of my neck, it's alright, and I'm sure you cut it fine," he shrugged.

"Alright, I promise I didn't shave any words into the back of your head," I winked at him, "but don't be surprised if you get called fruity frequently."

"Ha ha, you're funny," he mocked.

"Your the one with 'fruity' shaved into the back of their head," I defended. We both laughed as he reached up to touch the back of his head.

"Well, how much do I owe you for this grafiti you've added to my head?" he asked, still playing the joke out.

"Twenty-five dollars, please," I replied, walking him up to the front counter. He paid and left me a nice $5 tip.

"See ya around Mary-Jane," he called as he walked out the door.

"Later Fruity," I replied with a smile. Hoping that I would indeed see him again around, or later.

The rest of the day was slow, I had a few customers, but I spent most of my time thinking of possible situations in which I could run into Eric outside of work. Even looking around for him when I left work for my lunch break. My chances of seeing him when I wasn't working were very slim though, especially since I worked every day, even on Sunday after church. I did get off work for the day at 3:30pm the following Wednesday, although I was hoping to be able to work in the Nursery at church that night, I'd ditch that plan if it meant embarking on a night of hanging out with Eric.