The kitchen, a dull yellow illuminated by the minimal lighting. At least to Carmen it was. Sitting here in the middle of it, Carmen couldn’t help but feel all the apprehension. Was she really going to take this step? Did she really ask Shane to do it? She knew she had to start anew, she had to pick herself up and move on. But… what had that got to do with getting her hair cut?

She slouched her shoulders in and sunk deep into the dining chair as she waited for Shane to come back with her tools. As the seconds tick by, she started to wonder about her decision… It was going to fall off anyway, she reasoned, but still, the thought of having minimal or no hair caused a shudder to surge through her veins.

“Ya sure, peach? Wanna reconsider?” Shane said softly. Carmen looked up to see Shane standing at the doorway of the kitchen. ‘She must have been standing there for a long time now.’ Carmen thought.

“No…” Carmen said as she let out a deep breath. “I’m sure…”

 “Okay then,” Shane agreed as she came up to kneel in front of Carmen. She fingered through Carmen’s hair one more time, shaking of the locks that attached to her hands. Carmen wondered if Shane was going to baby her or was going to go all professional on her. But Shane did neither, she just silently fingered through the long luscious locks, almost as if she couldn’t bear to part with them either. Shane’s apparent reluctance boosted Carmen’s determination somewhat, and she placed a hand softly on Shane’s cheek, looking reassuringly into her eyes.

 “Shane…”

“Huh? Wha…” Shane appeared to come out of a daze as she stared back into Carmen’s tired brown orbs.

Carmen placed a chaste kiss on Shane’s lips unexpectedly and straightened up. Signifying that she was ready, Shane had no choice but to stand and prepare her tools. As slowly as she could, she laid out her 3 pairs of scissors, 2 combs, plugged in her electric shaver, and laid out all the different tweezers, and clips and mirrors. She knew she was probably not going to use most of the stuff, but she was trying to buy time. The woman in the hot seat waited patiently for Shane to finish arranging her stuff. Both of them waiting, dreading the inevitable.