I belonged to another man. I was in the home of another man. I was in the bedroom of another man. And yet, there I was, my lips pressed to someone else.
The shower was boiling, yet invigorating, and just what I needed to calm my nerves. In its cleansing, I found my solace, as I felt I was washing away the worst parts of the life I left behind me. Upon stepping out, I wrapped myself in a robe and stood before the thickly fogged mirror, wiping away its blurry condensation.
I finally looked like myself again. There were no more tear stains; the bruises upon my neck, while still there, had finally faded enough to no longer stand out so prominently.
My long hair stuck to my shoulders and back in thick bunches, and at this sensation, I cringed. Then, upon closer inspection, I saw that a large portion of the strands on one side of my head appeared significantly shorter than the other. As I remembered Wilmer's attacks, I quickly reasoned that he'd somehow damaged it, and rolled my eyes in frustration.
"Great," I thought, sighing as I stared at the awkward lengths.
As I went to sift through Blanda's abandoned items, the gleam of the silver styling scissors caught my eye. Glancing at the clock, I saw that I was down to fifteen minutes, and knew immediately that I had to work fast.
I grabbed a brush, stroking the wet strands until they were free of tangles. What I was about to do was a terrible idea; of that, I was absolutely certain. I never imagined that I'd ever be in a position where I'd have to do something so dramatic, but given the circumstance, I decided that something had to be done.
I made my way back to the mirror, styling scissors in hand. Then, I grabbed the shortest section, chose that as my length, and took a deep breath. Once finding a longer set of strands, I held my hair in between my first two fingers, prayed that they were even, and began to snip.
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With each bundle that fell to my feet, my anxiety slowly began to fade. Within a few minutes I was done, with my hair floating high above my shoulders, stopping just beneath my chin. Much to my surprise, I was in love with it. After giving it a quick towel-dry, I moved on to my makeup, highlighting my lips with a bright red lipstick, and coating my eyelashes with a thick mascara.
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