The New Look

Lucille likes to change her appearance a lot, but is it only for her own self-gratitude?

The New Look

            Lucille rushed through the door and sat in the leather chair, she was late. She bit her nail and panned the room. The burning alcohol smell of nail polish remover and fresh paint fumed the air.

            Travis walked towards Lucille and draped a plum cover over her.

            “You’re late. Now I have to push all my clients back half an hour,” he said.

            “Sorry Travis, the traffic was unbelievable,” Lucille replied as she ran her stubby fingers through her faux red hair.

            Travis ignored her apology and began to play with her hair, “The usual?”

            “Of course,” she said.

            Lucille smiled and felt her muscles unwind in the chair, as if they were tied in a sailor knot. Travis was closed mouthed when she pried him with questions but that didn’t bother her. He was a pair of ears forced to listen to her talk, unlike everyone else she knew.

            “Why are y’all changin’ the color of the walls?” She asked as she squinted her eyes and watched the old paint being sanded off and flutter into piles on the wooden floor.

            Travis stopped mid brush and replied, “Honey, had you seen that nasty maroon color?”

            “Travis, the color isn’t that bad. Hell, half of Mobile’s walls are that color.”

            “Well I think it’s just awful,” he said. “Just like the color you let your hair get. I mean have you seen these roots?”

            Lucille rolled her green eyes and smacked her bubble gum as Travis ran the prickly brush through her hair. She looked down at her wedding ring and felt her heart slip down to her stomach, butter sliding down a fresh batch of pancakes.

            “You know what? I’m feelin’ blonde today. Maybe now that I’m blonde, Beau will talk to me more than his secretary.”

            “Whatever you say darlin’,” Travis said as he reached over for the Buttery Blonde hair dye. “Looks like everything’s getting a color change today.”

            When Travis finished styling her hair, he removed the thin grey sheet over the mirror to reveal Lucille’s new hair. 

            “Oh Travis I love it!!! Thank you Thank you I’m a new woman!”

            Lucille played with her hair as if she were a life-size Barbie doll.

            “It’s my pleasure sweet pea; go show your man the new and improved Lucille.”

            Lucille made her way out the door and turned back to wave to Travis.

            Two weeks passed, and Travis walked into the salon to start his workday. He looked over at his station and saw Lucille in the leather chair. Travis rolled his dark brown eyes as his feet moved like a rocket toward her.

            “Now honey you can’t be back for another change…” he said while placing his hands on his hips and crooked his head at her.

            “Travis, the look you gave me was incredible. Beau looked at me like the day he looked at me on our wedding,” she said as her green eyes widened like a never-ending horizon.

            “Then why are ya here?” He asked while pushing his brown hair out of his face.

            “He’s startin’ to ignore me again and I think he’s spendin’ time with that secretary of his,” she replied as she looked down at her pale hands. “Shelly has short hair so I figured…”

            “No, Lucille…I’m not gonna do that. Your hair looks fine just the way it is. If Beau can’t appreciate it then he just ain’t worth your time,” Travis responded while he took out all his shampoo and conditioner bottles to prepare for the days clients.

            Lucille looked at herself in the mirror. From her pale pink lips to her peach colored skin she always had to add color to her light complexion. The corners of her lips curled as she ran her hands through her blonde hair. It was still as soft as cotton like it was two weeks ago. She liked the way her hair looked but she disregarded her opinion and stopped touching her hair.

            “Beau is a part of my life, and he always will be,” she said. “If there’s something he doesn’t like about me then it’s my job to make him happy.”

            Travis took out several white towels from the top drawer but stopped and turned to Lucille.

            “Lucille, now just think about this.”

            “No, Travis. Hush that mouth of yours and do your job,” Lucille said as she ran her index finger over her eyelid to blend a smudge of brown eye shadow that she didn’t notice earlier.

            Travis exhaled and shook his head. He turned his body away from Lucille and opened the wooden cabinet to get his hairdryer and scissors out. 

            “So tell me…how do you know Beau is talking to his secretary all the time?” Travis questioned after the blade of the scissors began to cut through Lucille’s hair. His cuts were strong to keep his mouth shut from yelling at Lucille’s decision to change her hair.

            “I always had a hunch. I came home two weeks ago with my new color and he looked up at me in amazement, but then by the end of the day he just continued to talk about how funny Shelly was that day,” Lucille said as she looked down, her vision blurred from tears.

            After an hour of cutting the 8 inches of blonde hair, Travis showed Lucille her new bob. Lucille jerked her body back a little at how different she looked. She couldn’t remember the last time her hair was this short. It was above her chin. She thought back to her long wavy hair and frowned. However, the thought of getting to show Beau her new look made her want to jump out of her chair that instant and run home to show him.

            “Travis I can’t thank you enough,” Lucille said as she ran the tips of her fingers on the freshly cut hair. “I’m going home right now and wait till Beau gets home.”

She raced her fingers through her leather Juicy Couture wallet to leave a tip for Travis, who forced a smile when she handed the five dollar tip over.

            “Honey, just remember to stay true to what you like…not Beau.”

            Lucille’s mind was balancing Beau and her new haircut, so she didn’t listen to what Travis said. She rushed out of the dark wooden doors of the salon, almost bumping into customers.

            Sitting on the green leather chair at home, Lucille applied more red lipstick on her lips and curled her eyelashes. The lipstick began to wrinkle from all the layers. Her eyelashes dropped pieces of black mascara onto the floor after the third coat. The Revlon powder made Lucille’s face look like it was made of cake batter. She opened her Radical Red nail polish and disregarded the smell that burned her nose as the fifth coat made her nails look like little red glossy shields. The sound of footsteps on the porch made Lucille jump. She made sure her nails were dry and ran her fingers through her hair one last time. As she stood, she fixed her blue and white cotton dress so it wasn’t bundled from under her.

            Beau placed his keys in the glass dish by the door and walked toward Lucille. He squinted at her as his black boots made a thump at each step.

            “Lucille…is that you?”

            “Hey honey, what do ya think?” Lucille strutted from the couch to stand by Beau and twirled.

            “Well, it’s different.”

            “Different is good though isn’t it Beau?” Her white teeth hidden behind bright red lips.

            Beau sighed and walked toward the couch. Before sitting he adjusted black jeans that barely fit over his beer belly. He grabbed the remote control and began to chuckle.

            “Ha! That haircut of yours reminds me of this story that Shelly told the office today.”

            Lucille’s mouth dropped. Her face felt like it was on fire. She walked over to Beau and ripped the remote right out his pudgy hands and threw it on the floor. The impact made Beau jump.

            “I don’t give a s**t about that damn secretary of yours,” Lucille shrilled, making her own ears wince in pain. “She’s all you talk about day in and day out so there is obviously no room for me in this little ol’ connection the two of you have.”

            “You hush your mouth Lucille,” Beau said with his index finger pointed at her like a shotgun. “Don’t you talk to me that way!”

            “I can talk to you however the hell I want,” Lucille’s voice cracked. “I’m getting out of this house!”

            “I’d like to see you try, you have nowhere to go,” Beau yelled at Lucille who was halfway out the room. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on and volume to drown out everything.

            Lucille fled to the restroom. She slammed the door so hard the glass figurines that lined the walls shook. The smell of her Bath & Body Works tangerine body spray was still in the air from earlier. She took out three pink tissues that matched the pink walls and towels of the bathroom and wiped her eyes. She glanced at the Pantene shampoo and coconut soap on the counter and knocked them off with a sweep of her arms. Everything fell to the floor, including Lucille. Clinging to the porcelain sink, she eased herself up. Her reflection in the mirror made her gasp. Her black mascara had run down both cheeks and her lipstick had smeared on her front teeth. She reminded herself of the clown at her fifth birthday party that made her cry for months. Touching her hair made her shake in anger because it just made her miss her long hair. It didn’t feel like cotton, it felt like hundreds of splinters stuck to her head. Lucille couldn’t recognize herself in the reflection and began to sob at the unknown figure staring back at her.

Author's Note

This was from a dialogue exercise I did in a creative writing class. I don't take it seriously I just had fun writing it but comments are always appreciated.