The Online Job - Chapter 8 (Patreon)

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As Natti was getting ready for bed that evening he made sure that he put the card in his wallet and then turned on the music from his computer and listened to the soft rain sounds for a few minutes before climbing into bed. He didn’t know how just listening to noise all night could help him sleep but it did. He looked it up on the internet and there were conflicting studies, but that first morning when he woke up after listening to it all night really made a difference. He got up and went into the kitchen and saw a note from his mom that wished him a good day saying that she should be back this afternoon at about 4 pm.

He saw that he had about an hour before Tara would be there and found a crème cheese croissant and made a cup of tea. While the tea was brewing he covered the croissant with some strawberry preserves and poured the hot water into a cup over his tea bag. He went back to his room and came back with a pen and some paper and sat down starting to make a list. He leisurely wrote down a few items with their corresponding days. Tara had told him to do this and they would compare the items that they wanted to wear in the next week.

He was ready and when the car pulled in and he went outside Tara was switching to the backseat. He was ready for her to reveal the big secret, but was polite enough to wish her mother a good morning and thank her for giving them a ride. He asked Tara what she had planned but she wasn’t giving anything up and just said that he would see. He was very excited and Tara’s mother asked about how he felt going shopping with Tara. He said that he was looking forward to it, but if Thursday afternoon would be like today he told her that he would enjoy it very much.

As they approached the mall he noticed that they drove past a few entrances and then noticed that they pulled into a parking area in front of some stores that lined the outside of the mall. Tara’s mom stopped and they both got out of the car. They both thanked her and she told Tara that she would be home after 2 but if they needed a ride before then just to call her cell. She held up her phone and Natti noticed that she had a phone case that was a light blue color with images of cotton candy.

He got out and she told him that this is where they were going to start at. He looked up at the sign and saw that it said, “Kute Klips.” He asked what they were going to do here. She replied that they were going to get their hair done, and added come on. Natti wasn’t really sure about having someone cut his hair. No one had touched it since last year when he decided to actually let it start to grow out. He hesitantly followed her in through the door and there was some music lightly playing in the background, Tara walked up to a counter.

The attendant obviously knew her and greeted her by name. She looked at her computer screen and said that she was right on time and that Amy would be right out. Natti whispered that he didn’t think this would be a good idea. Tara told him that he said that he was thinking about doing something with his hair. Well, I thought about doing something but not getting it cut, then added just what exactly are you thinking of getting done with my hair? She said that we were going to get it done, you know styled. Natti didn’t know and wasn’t sure about what she had planned when she asked him about doing something with it.

Their conversation was interrupted by a female voice from behind Tara and she turned and Natti could see a rather tall beautiful lady walking towards them wearing this pastel pink uniform-like dress addressing Tara. “Tara, how nice to see you again, and is this your friend you were telling me about?” She walked over and Tara said, “Natti this is my hairdresser, Amy San Dimas.” Amy just looked at her and said well I think we can do better than that. She turned to Natti and held out her hand and told him that she was, “Tara’s friend who just happens to make Tara’s hair so beautiful.” As he shook her hand he looked at Tara and he thought that he had never seen her smile so proudly.

Tara was indeed beaming and Natti noticed that he had to really look up to Amy as she was very tall, and thought it must just be her shoes, but when he looked down he noticed that she was wearing athletic shoes. Natti looked back up at her and introduced himself, “Hi I’m Natti, I mean Nathan Ainsworth.” Amy looked over to Tara smiling and then back to Natti telling him that she liked Natti better and if it would be okay for her to call him that. Natti said that it would be fine. Amy moved between them and with her arms on both of their shoulders began walking down a short hallway.

Walking next to Amy like this Natti couldn’t believe just how tall she was. She must have been at least 6 feet tall, probably taller than that. They came to a door and they walked in and saw that there were three chairs in front of what looked like a long mirror but was actually three large mirrors. The chairs were kind of like barber chairs but much more stylish, and she brought both of the young people to kind of a small sofa with two chairs facing it in a tiny alcove off to the side. She sat them down on the sofa and then sat across from them. She looked at Natti and she said to him, “Now Natti, Tara has told me all about you and she is right, you do have a beautiful head of hair, but it’s just not under control. That is what I want. I want to give you control of your hair. The hair follicle just doesn’t push the hair straight up but at an angle.

Then gravity and as you grow trains the hair on how it should come out and lay or in your case hang. Now the hair on the side of your head grows more or less straight out and curls which makes the sides stick out. What I plan on doing is to make it hang not just down but out to the side framing your face with gentle curls. It will be much easier to take care of, and all you will have to do is to wash, condition, and then blow dry.” Picking up a tablet off of the table in between the two chairs she held it up and said, “Look this way and I can show you. Smile.” She looked at Natti and held up the tablet and he smiled at her and saw a small flash go off she lowered it and then she took a stylus and began to move it around on the screen.

Tara turned to him and excitedly said, “Just wait until you see what she does now.” Natti looked back at her but with the angle that the tablet laid on her lap, he couldn’t see exactly what she was doing. He turned back to Tara and asked if she thought this was all really necessary. She replied that he should just wait and see what she could do. Their attention was directed back to Amy as she said, “Here what do you think?” Natti looked towards her and to the tablet.

He could see on the right the picture that she had just taken and on the left, he could see a picture of himself, or he assumed it was himself, but instead of his hair sticking out on the side like a clowns head he saw his hair swirling around and down the sides of his face. Amy touched the screen of the tablet with her stylus and the picture that she had just created and it filled the whole tablet screen. She asked again what he thought. Natti was what he could say as awestruck. He couldn’t believe that was him. Then she said, “And this is what you would look like if we added some bangs in the front.” She moved her stylus over to the side of the screen and tapped an icon and then back over to the image and pulled down from the hair line in the front using the stylus. Natti could see the hair come down to just above his brows and she said, “There that is what I think we should do.” Natti was again struck if that was possible.

Natti was looking back at a smiling Amy and then to Tara and then back to Amy and nodded, “Oh yes, please. Can you really make me look like that?” She said that she could and that she would.” She then looked back at the tablet saying, “Dear boy if you look half that good I might return to being Andy just to date you, but that can’t happen and I wouldn’t anyway.” The door opened up and an older lady but still very beautiful walked in, Amy said as all three of them stood up, “This is Magdalena or just Maggie for short and she will whip your nails into shape.

The three of them walked over to the chairs as another much younger girl walked in Amy said this is Rene and she will wash your hair for you and then we will get started. Maggie walked over pushing a small cart and asked if they had decided on a style and color. Amy reached down and lifted Natti’s hands and looked at the fingers asking, “You use the computer quite a bit so what say we start with rounded nails and we can work from there?” Natti had given up to Amy and if she had wanted to install claws he would have gone along with whatever she suggested. Maggie came over and looked at Natti’s fingernails and said, “Well I’m going to earn my money today, but don’t you worry, they will be beautiful when I’m done.”

He followed Rene over to the side and sat down in a chair and he just laid back as she asked him. She looked down and asked if this was the first time that he had ever had anyone wash his hair for him, but it sounded more like a statement other than a question and she just leaned down closer to him telling him to just relax.

He was really going to enjoy everything. He finally did relax when she began to wash his hair. It felt so wonderful and he noticed that he felt his hair being moved around but didn’t feel her fingers. He felt her using something like a brush but it seemed as if her fingers grew bristles. He heard Tara on his side and he looked to where her voice was coming from as much as he could and saw her standing there beaming again as she asked him didn’t he think this was just wonderful?

Soon he was done and he had his hair wrapped in a towel and was sat in one of the chairs turned away from the mirrors as he sat there Maggie brought her cart over and asked if he had thought about color for his nails, and Tara suggested a pretty glossy pink color. Maggie looked at Natti and said that she didn’t think so, and then held up a bottle that looked like it was filled with black polish and said that she would suggest Russian Violet. It looks almost like black and then she would put starlight clear over it and it would shimmer in the light. Natti had been reduced to putty and just nodded adding whatever she thought. She went to work straight away and Amy appeared as if by magic behind him combing out his hair.

Between Maggie working on his nails and Amy clipping his hair it was all just a blur. Maggie had finished first. Amy began to blow out his hair as she was brushing it. And he heard Tara’s voice as she appeared in front of him. She looked the same but you could tell that her hair was different, but just barely. She just stood there looking at him and then she looked at Amy who was lightly brushing his hair off to the side. She said without really looking at anyone other than Natti, “Amy I think my mother is right, you’re a hair artist.” Natti just looked at her and then back to Natti. “Let’s see what Natti thinks of his new style.

She rotated the chair and he could see Amy, Tara, and someone else that had to be him. He timidly reached up to the side of his hair and touched it just to make sure that it was his. He couldn’t place him in the mirror. Instead of his hair jutting out on the sides, it hung in long curls down the sides of his head. He looked first to Tara and her beaming smile had turned to one of, “OMG!” Then he turned to Amy who was looking at him with a, “See I told you so grin”, on her face. He looked back to the mirror and then back to Amy.

She then gave him a net bag and she pulled out a tan-colored bottle telling him that this is his shampoo and how to use it, followed by a dark brown bottle identifying it as his conditioner, and then with a jar of conditioner telling him to use it twice a week for the first 4 weeks and then only once a week alternating with twice a week. He thanked her and she took the bag and gave it to Rene telling him that it will be waiting for them when they left.

Tara reached out her hand and took Natti’s hand as they both followed Rene out. They followed her out and Natti looked at his watch seeing it was about nine-thirty. Rene took them to another room and opened the door and told them to go in and she would take this to the front and be right back. She also told both of them to remove their shoes.

“I thought we were done now”, Natti asked as they these kinds of boxy-looking chairs. She informed him that we were getting our pedicure now. Since it was going to be summer in a few weeks that we both would be wearing sandals a lot more. Natti could understand that since he wore flip-flops a lot during the summer.

He sat back and looked over to Tara and said, “Tara, thank you so much for this, for all of this. I just love the way my hair looks and feels.” She looked back at him and told him not to worry and that she loved doing it, and then told him that she was having such a good time. “You know it is I that should be thanking you.

I mean I think that I have always wanted to do this, you know dress a boy as a girl. Last night I just laid in bed thinking about dressing you and going places with you and all the fun that we would have.”

They both finished taking off their shoes and Natti had to remove his socks. The door opened and Maggie came back in and walked over to Natti and standing in front of him looked at his hair, then looked over to Tara asking, “What do you think of this?”

Tara told her that she thought it was wonderful. Maggie looked back at him and mentioned that Amy is truly magical. She then walked over and pushed a small stool with a foot rest for the heel and about half of the foot but leaving free access to the toes.

She took a packaged towel out of an envelope and began to rub Natti’s toes. It immediately felt very good and she just wrapped it around his toes. She looked at him and smiled saying this would help to soften his cuticle. She did the other foot as well and then moved over to Tara completing the same process on her. Natti was amazed at how quickly Maggie worked and all the while talking to him. Finally, toenails were cut, trimmed, and buffed. She then put on this foam-covered plastic wedge type of thing so that he could rest his feet on the floor and it would keep his toes suspended so that they wouldn’t touch. She applied the same color to his toes that he had on his fingers.

Just as Maggie was finishing his other toes Amy came in with Rene and pulled up a straight-back chair in front of Tara and him. She sat down with Rene standing behind her and off to the side. She put her hand out on his and said that she wanted to speak with him about something. Natti quizzed her as to what and she continued. “It’s about your brows, now you don’t have to but it will greatly improve your look, and Rene here can do it very well. Now I’m not going to lie to you, it will be a little uncomfortable the first time but I’m sure that you will live through the ordeal.” Natti looked at Tara and asked what she was talking about. She replied, “She wants to wax your brows, and she’s being very melodramatic about the experience. Just do it and don’t worry about it, just put yourself in Rene’s hands.”

Rene reached down and used control on the side of the chair and Natti felt the back of the chair begin to incline backward until he was almost laying down. She had a little table that she pulled close. She rubbed crème on Natti’s brows and then as she was cutting the strips told him that she was going to use a hard wax that meant nothing to Natti.

He watched as she cut the strip and placed it on his brow, and then adjusted the cut a little. She placed the strip in position and then looked on the tray and then said to him that she really liked the color on his toes. Natti looked down at his toes and Rene pulled the strip off very quickly. The feeling was like a piece of tape being pulled off and didn’t hurt at all. It was just a little uncomfortable. “See that wasn’t so bad now was it”, Rene asked. He had to admit that it wasn’t bad at all. She then did the bottom of his brow the same way.

Natti’s apprehension at the prospect of the procedure was so silly. Then Rene told him that this was going to hurt ten times as much, but there were a few stubborn hairs that she had to get rid of. She picked up a tweezer from the tray and pulled out 6 hairs that didn’t get pulled out by the strip. She then repeated the process on the other brow and this time she only had to pull out 2 wayward hairs. She sat back and looked at Natti, then picked up a mirror off of the tray. Holding it so he could see himself was an experience that was alien to him. Looking at yourself every day you come to expect what you will see, but to be looking at yourself and not seeing the person that you expect to see was a new experience. Rene gave him the mirror and turned to Tara and said looking at her that she didn’t need the wax, but she could extract one or two bad boys from each brow. When she was done Natti was still looking at himself.