"Hello?" Laura said into the phone, sleepily. I get a day off and someone's buggin' me, geez! she thought, as she listened to the voice on the other end.
"You sound like you just woke up," the voice said with a mocking laugh, a laugh that was all too familiar to Laura. Nick's laugh.
"That's 'cuz you woke me up, dipshit," Laura said, not amused. "To what do I owe this pleasure, Carter?" she asked sarcastically, yawning as she did so.
"I can't believe you're still sleeping. Even I managed to drag my ass outta bed a couple hours ago. It's almost noon, Evans," Nick continued, badgering her. Laura was getting frustrated.
"Is there an actual purpose in this call, or did you just call to bother me? Wait, no matter what you do, you bother me anyway, so that was kind of a pointless question, I suppose."
"Christ, you're even a smuck when you first wake up. No wonder why none of your dates go all night long," Nick replied with a sexy laugh.
What dates? Laura thought, thoroughly irritated. "Nick, please... I just woke up. Just get to the point as to why you're my annoying 'alarm clock' this morning."
"Yeah, yeah, OK..." Nick said, hesitating. "Well, I guess I've been kinda thinking about what you said."
"What I said?" Laura echoed. "Said about what?"
"Um," Nick continued, "about what you said about my hair. I--I think I want it cut."
"Well, it's about damn time, Carter."
"Yeah yeah," Nick said. "Anyway, could you cut it for me, today? If I'm gonna do this, it's gotta be today."
"Wow, are you getting that massive of a change?" Laura asked, picking up on Nick's nervousness.
"Well I don't know, depends on how you want to cut it."
Laura was surprised by that comment. "You mean you're giving me total creative control over your hair?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Wow, um... yeah, sure we can cut it today. Give me 2 hours to shower, get some lunch and stuff, and we'll meet about two o'clock, OK? I'll come to your room. Have your hair washed for me." Laura smiled. I can't believe he's actually letting me do this.
"Um, ok, sounds good. See you then," Nick replied.
"Bye," Laura said, hanging up the phone. Feeling a sudden burst of energy, she jumped in the shower to start getting ready for her sure-to-be interesting day.
Laura looked at the clock. 1:54 she thought as she packed up her cutting shears, clippers and trimmers, combs, cutting cape, neck brush, spray bottle and some hair gel. "He wants a haircut, and a haircut is what he's gonna get," she thought aloud as she grabbed her room key, and started walking down to Nick's room. On her way there, she passed Howie and Cherie in the hall.
"Ahhh, she's emerged. We thought you were going to stay in all day," Cherie said, smiling at Laura as she approached quickly.
"Where you going in such a hurry?" Howie asked, curious. Laura stopped when she came to them to talk briefly.
"Hell has frozen over," Laura said with a laugh. Howie and Cherie looked at her, both with confused expressions on their faces. "Nick called my room a while ago. He wants me to give him a haircut... like, a major cut. He's giving me total creative control."
Howie nodded. "Yep, you're right. Hell froze over," he responded with a laugh.
"Oh no kidding. Just when I thought it couldn't get any colder for February..." Cherie said, joining Howie as she laughed. "Well, if we hear screams from that direction, we'll know what happened."
"Yeah, 'Disgruntled hairstylist kills Backstreet Boy with scissors, film at eleven,'" Howie said, laughing even harder. He and Cherie were rolling with laughter.
Laura just shook her head as she started walking again toward Nick's room. She let out an amused chuckle. "Oh God, you guys, don't EVEN tempt me," she said laughing, walking around the corner.
Laura was within 20 feet of Nick's room when he walked out the door, standing in the hallway. "...And here comes Laura Evans, hairstylist extraordinaire," he said, talking into his hand like he was holding a microphone.
"Cute," Laura said slightly amused, grabbing Nick by his shirt and pulling him back into his room. "Are we ready for this?"
Nick gulped. "I guess I'm as ready as I'm going to get," he replied, as Laura looked around.
"Where's Becky? I figured she'd be here to oversee this event," Laura asked sarcastically.
"I didn't tell her I was doing this. I just told her I had things to do today, so she went sight-seeing."
Laura breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad she didn't have to see her today, on top of dealing with what might come about with Nick. "Oh, OK. Well, let's get started then," she said, pulling out a chair and gesturing with her hand for him to sit down. Nick looked at her nervously then quickly sat down, taking a deep breath. She pulled a cutting cape out of her bag and wrapped it around Nick's neck. "Too tight?" she asked, securing it. He shook his head no, and she went to get out her clippers and plug them in.
"OK, I may be giving you 'creative control,' but I don't want to be scalped--just keep that in mind as you're cutting, please."
Laura found it funny how little trust Nick had in her. But then again, she had been after him for almost a year to get his hair cut shorter, so she wasn't surprised. "Don't mess yourself, Carter. I promise to leave you with plenty of hair, OK?? I'm just happy to be 'allowed' to cut off more then an inch this time," she said with a laugh. Nick was obviously not amused as he shifted in the chair nervously. "Seriously, Nick. It will be OK, I promise you."
Nick relaxed after Laura said that. For some reason, he knew she would keep her promise. His shoulders lowered and he let out a sigh as he heard the clippers turn on and he felt them sweep up the back of his neck. Laura zipped the clippers two-thirds of the way up Nick's head, then brought it down again to do the same as she worked around to his right side. She carefully dragged the clippers around his ear, bending his ear down, and blended up with what was cut previously. Finishing that side, she had moved around to the back of his head again to continue the process to the left side. She flipped his ear down and Nick shuddered. Laura pulled the clippers away from his head. "What?" she asked, attempting to make eye contact with him.
"Sorry," Nick said, blushing as he closed his eyes to avoid Laura looking at him. "My ears are, um, a kinda sensitive part of my body, if you, um, catch my meaning," he continued nervously, opening his eyes briefly to see if Laura was still looking at him. She was, so he closed his eyes again quickly. "Especially my left ear," he added, now turning several shades of red.
Laura smiled. "Sorry," she said amused, as she moved back to Nick's left side to continue cutting. She flipped his ear down again and he shifted, as she cut quickly around his ear and let it flop back up into its place. "Sorry," she said again, letting out a little chuckle. "I've never cut someone's hair that had that kind of problem with their ears."
Nick smiled shyly as he kept his eyes closed, afraid to see the look that he imagined to be on Laura's face. Hearing the clippers shut off, he sat up straighter, opening his eyes. "Done already?" he asked hopeful.
"Not quite," Laura replied smiling. "I haven't even cut your tops yet." Nick groaned as she sprayed his hair with water, combing it as she did so. She grabbed her scissors and began combing Nick's hair up and cutting. With each snip, Nick let out a little whimper. After about a dozen snips, Laura laughed. "Geez, you make it seem like I'm stealing your life force or something," she said sarcastically as she continued to cut. Laura shook her head as Nick continued to whimper with each cut.
Within a few short minutes, Laura announced she was about done. "Just gotta cut right in front, then trim around the edges and you are done, Mr. Carter," she said proudly, moving around to standing in front of Nick. "Sit up straight, please," she commanded, and Nick did as she asked, looking at her as she combed his hair down over his forehead. Laura leaned down to look at where she was cutting at eye level. Nick looked into her eyes as she concentrated on cutting. She made a couple snips, then combed the section again, grabbing another part and cutting. After she cut it across, she combed it upward and made a few cuts again, blending it in with what she had cut on top of his head. Letting it go, she ran her fingers through it, messing it up as she did so.
Nick tilted his head up slightly as Laura knelt down in front of him, putting one hand on either side of his head, and she pulled the hair away from his head to check if they were even with each other. She moved her hands up to where the sides curve into the top and did the same there, looking back and forth between each side. Noticing one part that was a bit longer, she stood up and picked up her scissors, leaned forward as she cut where it was longer. Nick closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, smelling her perfume, lost in her scent.
Oblivious, Laura backed away, and his eyes followed her as she looked at his hair from a bit of a distance. She smiled as she surveyed her work. Grabbing her cordless trimmers, she flicked them on, moving to Nick's right side to cut his sideburns and trim around his ear, and down to his neck. She then moved to his left side to repeat the process. Once again Nick was startled as she touched his ear. "Sorry again," he said, only this time, not closing his eyes, as Laura moved the trimmers away.
"Not a problem. I'm sure it's hard to ignore," Laura said softly as she moved back to cutting around his ear and down to his neck. "Hard to ignore," boy, she ain't kiddin', Nick thought as she moved around to the back of his head. "Look down, please," she said, cutting his neckline. Shutting off the trimmers, she grabbed her neck brush. "You can put your head up now," Laura said, brushing off the clippings around his neck and ears. Putting the brush down, she walked to the table in front of Nick and grabbed the hair gel, squeezing a bit into her hand. She smiled at Nick as he looked at her, rubbing the gel between her hands. Moving to standing directly in front of him again, he looked up at her. "Just a few finishing touches," she said, rubbing the gel vigorously through his hair. Purposely brushing his left ear softly as she brought her hands down, she sighed and backed away.
"OK, go look," she said, and Nick eagerly stood up, keeping eye contact with Laura for a few seconds and smiling at her before walking to the mirror on the wall. Laura felt butterfies in her stomach as she watched Nick look at himself in the mirror. After a few seconds, he smiled and turned to her, a look of approval on his face.
"I love it! Thank you so much, Laura." Nick smiled enthusiastically.
"Seriously?" Laura replied, a sense of relief coming over her.
"Really, Laura, it's great! I should have had you do this months ago. Thank you again," he said, grabbing her with one arm and pulling her close to him, hugging her tightly.
Laura felt her breath catch in her throat. She hated to admit it, but Nick's arms felt good around her. She put her arms around him, hugging him back. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it," she said softly, lifting her head to look at his face. He was looking at her also, deep into her eyes, and his breathing quickened. His right hand slid up her back to her neck, tangling his fingers in her hair as he leaned down and kissed her, parting his lips as he caressed her lips with his tongue. Laura parted her lips as well, and Nick's tongue slipped in between them, seeking out her tongue. Laura's hands caressed his back softly, and Nick let out a soft moan as he kissed her harder, pulling her tighter to him, enjoying the feel of her so close to him, relishing her touch. The moment was broken as soon as he heard a familiar voice.
"'Things to do,' huh?" Becky said, a look of hurt on her face. She looked at Laura fiercely and looked back to Nick. Nick and Laura broke away from each other quickly, suddenly realizing what was happening. Laura quickly grabbed her things and walked out, leaving Nick and Becky alone, cringing as she heard her shouting at him as she rounded the hall to her room.
