A Barber Shop Quartet

                                                By: Sorceress

 

“Where are you going?” Cale asked from the doorway of the living room. Dais looked up from the book he was reading. Julia was sitting in the middle of the floor, pulling on her shoes.

            “I’ll be back in a little while, don’t worry.” She responded as she tightened the laces on her sneakers.

            “That’s not what I asked.”

            “You aren’t ditching us, now are you , Julia?” Sekhmet sarcastically questioned her as he came into the room.

            “Of course not.”

            “Then where are you going?” Dais leaned over.

            “Why are you three being so nosy?” she returned with a raised eyebrow.

            “Because whenever you avoid a relatively simple question.” Cale raised a finger into the air. “You are up to something.”

            Julia wrinkled her nose. “Oh good grief Cale. Don’t be ridiculous.” A smirk stole across her face. “Don’t tell me you are getting paranoid in your old age.”

            “WHAT?!”

            “What is it now… four, five hundred? I can’t remember.” She continued her taunting, as Cale’s eyes grew larger and larger.

            “Okay, let’s take it easy on the age cracks here.” Sekhmet waved his hands.

Julia chuckled and stood. Walking over to the end table she retrieved her purse. “If you three can manage not to destroy the world before I get back, we’ll go do something tonight. All right?” she offered as she walked out the back door.

The three former warlords heard the door slam closed and the car start. “Whatever. You aren’t leaving us behind girl,” Cale looked back at his companions. Dais and Sekhmet nodded. Dais marked his page and set down his book. The three stood together. “Timing is everything.” Cale pointed out. “Now!” In a blinding flash of light, the three teleported out of the house.

Julia drove along the state highway. “Those three are driving me crazy. I mean, I love ‘em to death, but sheesh! Do they always have to be tagging along and butting into my business?” She shook her head and smiled. “Well, I guess I finally got the better of them this time. Heh heh.”

Suddenly, the inside of the car exploded in a flash of light. Julia screamed very loudly. The navy blue compact car skidded from lane to lane as she lost control of the wheel. Horns sounded on every side. The light faded as she regained control. Looking in her rear view mirror she saw the self-satisfied smirking of Cale and Sekhmet. Beside her in the passenger seat Dais chuckled.

“So where are we going?” Dais couldn’t seem to stop his chuckling. Julia scowled.

“Just what do you think you are doing! You guys are not coming with me this time!” She let her agitation get the better of her.

“Oh yes we are.” Sekhmet smiled. “So just give it up and tell us what it is you are sneaking off to do.”

“For your information, I am not sneaking off anywhere! I just happen to have an appointment to get my hair done this morning and I didn’t feel like explaining the whole concept of it to a trio of pre-industrial warlords.” Julia took a breath and then added, “No offense.”

“None taken.” Cale leaned forward until he was leaning on the driver’s headrest; a position that he knew bugged the hell out of Julia. “Oh, and just for that little outburst, we are not only going to go in with you,” he grinned mischievously “but we are going to sit and watch too.”

“Damn it.”

 

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

 

Julia, Dais, Sekhmet, and Cale walked into the hair salon (due to the nature of the incident, this salon has requested to remain nameless). Julia told the receptionist that she was here for her appointment. The receptionist nodded and gestured to her usual stylist’s station. Her stylist, (all persons in the salon have also requested to remain nameless and thus will receive a cover name) “Bob”, appeared to be somewhere in the back. So, she sat in the chair to wait.

Dais and Cale took the chairs at the stations on either side of her, while Sekhmet sat just behind her in a chair along a row of sinks. Julia inwardly groaned. She didn’t know why the warlords liked to torment her so, but for some reason she always felt picked upon like a little sister with three irritating older brothers. She chuckled. Yes that was exactly how they treat me.

 “Bob” came out of the back accompanied by a few of the other stylists. Two of the stylists she knew: “Ray” and “Cindy”. As “Bob” and Julia exchanged greetings and she explained to him how she wanted her hair done, she cast a sidelong glance at Dais. He was sitting at “Cindy’s” station. She wondered if he would be asked to move.

How boring. Cale’s decision for us to watch was a stupid… Sekhmet was pulled out of his thoughts as a hand fell on his shoulder. He looked up to see a stocky man in his mid 50s, “Ray”. “Sir, could you lift up please?”

“Uh, sure,” Sekhmet blinked and lifted his shoulders off the back of the chair. He then felt something soft, a towel, go under the back of his neck. “Huh?” He was nudged back down until his toweled neck found the edge of the sink. What is going on?

“Ray” was rubbing some lotion onto his hands. “Okay son, what color of dye did you want? A blonde? Black? Brown? Or a red?” He tilted Sekhmet’s head back for him and began to run water over his hair. Son? Dye?

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Ray” didn’t seem to understand Sekhmet’s confusion. “Tried to dye your hair yourself, eh? I see it all the time, but never this completely. You managed to turn you whole head of hair green!”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“Don’t worry, I have just the stuff to do the trick.” “Ray” winked and began working something through Sekhmet’s hair.

“Hey! What are you doing?! HEY!”

Cale did his best to suppress the urge to burst out laughing at his friend’s precarious position. Poor Sekhmet was now at the mercy of that half-deaf old man. He was so caught up in watching his friend that he didn’t hear someone come up behind him. A woman’s soft cough caught his attention. Cale turned around to see a young woman about 23 standing beside the chair. “Excuse me sir, but did you have an appointment?”

Cale smiled slowly up at her. “And what might your name be?”

“’Robin’,” she offered him a handshake.

“A lovely name, “Robin”, for a lovely lady.” Cale slid her a smooth smile as he gently squeezed her hand. “Robin” blushed. He let go of her hand. “No my dear, I am afraid I don’t have an appointment. Perhaps you could find a little time for me in your busy schedule? After all, what is the point of a workday without a few moments of pleasure? Hmm?”

“Well, I uh… I’ll have to check my schedule…” she moved to go into the back.

Cale stood. “I’ll go with you.”

Julia saw Cale leave out of the corner of her eye. Now where is he going? As “Bob” worked away at her hair she tried to get a glance at what Dais was up to, as best she could without moving her head. She knew that he was still in “Cindy’s” chair, but she couldn’t tell what was going on. It appeared as if they were talking about something.

She decided it didn’t matter and put herself to enjoying the rest of her styling. There was a faint melody of music flowing through the speakers of the salon. Julia shut her eyes and hummed along with the lines: “Akuyaku nante itsumo kanashii sadame no lonely guy…”

Finally “Bob” handed the girl a mirror. “Well, what do you think? Is it alright with you?” Julia smiled at her reflection. Her newly defined layers and bangs softly lined her face and her longer hair was just barley trimmed up.

“It’s great. Thanks ‘Bob’,” she stood as he removed the cover sheet from her neck. She was shocked to physically bump into Dais as she was standing. He smiled.

“Do you like it?” Dais’s hair was in perfect coils around his face and his longer locks tucked neatly into gentle waves. His hair seemed to be a bit brighter in its white color, softer, and shinier.

“I, uh, er, yeah it looks great,” she floundered. He had his hair done? A warlord?

Dais was about to start bragging on himself when Sekhmet ran pass them in a frenzy. Actually it was more like a state of shocked panic. He was screaming obscenities and remarks that couldn’t be deciphered. Their eyes grew as large as saucers. “What was…”

“Brown hair?” Dais finished her question in a whisper.

Julia shook her head. “You know what. I don’t want to know.” She then paid the receptionist for their services, continually apologizing for her unwanted accompanists. Julia turned around when she had finished. Dais was admiring himself in a mirror.

“Excuse me, oh extremely vain one.” Dais turned with a scowl. “Where happens to be our wolf-loving friend?”

“Cale? Uh, I think that is something else you really don’t want to know.”

“Dais.”

“He uh…”

“Where is he?” Dais surrendered in a shrug and pointed to the back room.

Julia frowned. She crossed her arms and shouted towards the back. “Cale! If you are done, we are leaving!”

Cale appeared in the back doorway, apparently making excuses to someone back there. Julia’s face turned red as Cale came toward the front, tucking in his shirt as he came. Dais gave her an innocent look. “I told you, you didn’t want to know.”

As they walked out of the hair salon Cale gave them a big, wide-eyed “What?” Outside they found Sekhmet sitting in the car with a bag over his head. Julia kept staring straight ahead, veins popping out of her neck, but she said nothing. They walked out to the parking lot and Cale and Dais entered the navy car. Before she climbed behind the wheel, Julia landed both fists on the roof. “AAAAHHHH!!!!!”

Sekhmet glared at Cale. “Thanks a lot Cale! This is all your fault!”

“What?” He blinked. Sekhmet hissed at him and pointed to the bag on his head. Cale shrank down in his seat all the way home. Dais thought he heard Cale mumble something about curiosity and a cat.