Barber Shop

Follow the heartlines..

It was one of the rare days when the barber shop was quiet. The sun had only recently risen so it was expected.

Kenny was sweeping up the floor cussing under his breath. His older brother always did this. He understood that this was his brothers Barber Shop but the money they brought it with wasn’t all his. When their grandma died and they found out that she left money, Kenny agreed to give his brother his half of the money under the promise that they were going to do this together. Kenny had seen the empty shop and joked to his brother that they should open a barber. They both could cut hair well, most of the boys in the estate came to them on the weekend to get there haircut, and although their mum hated the mess, she couldn’t complain as the money that they made seemed to get them by after she lost her job. Kenny was joking, but the idea of one day owning their own barber shop stayed in both of the boys minds, and every night when they closed their eyes they couldn’t stop the dreams of what could be.

And with luck working in the weirdest ways, a week later, their grandma died.

Kyle walked in from the office absent-mindedly going through the bills. The money that their grandmother had left for them was only enough for a deposit and the first 2 months’ rent. The two boys never thought about the insurance, the money they had to borrow from the bank to get the place up to scratch, paying people and all the equipment. Kyle noticed they hadn’t made as much as they had hoped to last month, but with today being the day before Valentine day he knew that they’d just about make it. The next month couple of months however, he didn’t know how he was going to stop him and his brother spiralling into debt.

Kyle stepped over the broom looking down at the bills, ‘’you missed some.’’ Kyle noted to his brother. He didn’t see the middle finger that Kenny threw at him. Kyle was unable to acknowledging people’s emotions, he thought everything cut and dry, black and white, when in fact life was full of greys and sometimes colour.

*

As the stop came to the station, the train spilled out onto the platform like a drink that had been knocked over. Everyone split into separate directions, including Annalise. She was slightly late, she tried to walk quickly, jogging every so often trying not to fall in her new heels. She hated the office rules. It was one of the stupidest and sexist rules she had ever come across. The women weren’t allowed to wear any other shoes on the work floor expect over 3 inch heels. She cursed her boss as she stopped in Starbucks. She ordered his coffee to suit the ridiculous demands t, then again attempted to jog towards the direction of the office.

She gave her best friend Sebastian a quick wave as slid into his office. Her foot had barely been on the ground for a second when his deep voice reminded her that she was late. For the 3rd time that week. On Wednesday. She rolled her eyes knowing that he couldn’t see her. Her boss would never be late for work as he had a Town car chauffer him everywhere, whereas his assistant, Annalise, had to take the train. The train that always wanted to be delayed when she was running late. She painted a tight smile on her face placing the coffee down in front of him.

‘’He was in an extra bad mood today.’’ She nodded agreeing with Sebastian’s observation. Sebastian was a 21 year old intern who thought he was still 17. He dressed as if he had walked of his very own Paris Runway. Every day he had people stopping him asking where he had gotten his jacket, or his shoes or bag from. Every day he explained that he designed and made them.

‘’I heard one of his model girlfriends broke up with him.’’  She replied recalling the gossip article she had read on the train this morning. Sebastian raised his eyebrows.

‘’I’m surprised he even got her. Isn’t he like 50 years her senior?’’ She giggled along with Sebastian.  They could speak loudly and laugh even louder as they were the only people in the canteen. Working in a fashion magazine had its cons and pros. One con for Sebastian and Annalise was that there was never a line for lunch. For people trying got break into fashion, not eating lunch might as well have been the 11th commandment. Sebastian and Annalise could never ignore the looks they got as their co-workers walked past and watched them devour carbs like no tomorrow.