I smile and glance to Paul who opens his mouth to speak, I'm still having trouble believing he's young, real and that we're kind of but not really together.
"Oh, I just remembered I have to go get me hair cut. Do you wanna tag along with me, love?" he says.
"Yeah, sure. Maybe I'll get one myself too." I reply and he nods his head and we leave the couch to get on our shoes and pile into his car and we drive to the barber shop that he tells me him and the other three always go to and I notice a few other men getting a new hairdo.
"Said I have to wait a little longer until a hairdresser frees up, you wanna look at this book with hairstyles in it?" Paul walks back from the desk where he spoke with an employee.
"Yeah." I reply and he picks up a black and white book from the table on his left and he flips it open, hairstyles back in this time sure are different.
"Hmm, maybe I should get my hair cut too." I think aloud and Paul turns the page.
"No no no, I don't think you should. The long, red hair you have is pretty and I think you should keep it that way." he seems to disagree and I flash him a thankful smile when I meet his eyes.
"Yeah, maybe I'll just get a trim then." I decide and we look through that book and he reads some of the paper before his turn comes and he walks off to get his hair tended to, to say.
I reached over Paul's vacant chair against the walk to retrieve a local magazine that talks about music with the Beatles on the cover and while skimming through the beginning pages I hear the door open. I look up to see Pearl enter in her casual clothing, what a difference it is to not see her in her diner attire. She walks up to the desk with her purse on her hip and speaks with somebody quickly before turning around and her eyes fall on me.
"Well if it isn't Courtney? It's nice to see you again today, love. How are you?" she questions as she approaches me and she takes a seat next to me and I mark the magazine page with my finger.
"I'm pretty good, how about you?" I reply and I look behind her to Paul who sits in a chair with a black curtain draped over him and his eyes catch me and he flashes me a smile.
"I'm doing just fine, thanks. Are you here to get a new do as well, love?" she questions.
"Yeah, kind of. I'm waiting for my uh friend to be finished with his first." I answer and she looks back to Paul who speaks with the person cutting his hair.
"Ah, that young fella, one of the Beatles. Them lads are nice alright, and their voices are just like butter, I reckon. I remember seeing you in the diner with him the other day, before you came to work there. You and him seemed like two peas in a pod: talking so comfortably, laughing and then having that pen war." she comments with a pleased smile and she chuckles, oh Paul.
"Yeah, he's quite the guy, alright." I respond with a smile.
"How about you, are you in for a shampoo or perm?" I ask her the same question and she turns her body.
"Oh yes. I can't keep this mane tamed all by myself, you know. I come in here off and on, they do wonders." she replies and she finds a magazine on the table to occupy her time with, and I look back to the page I'm on with the Beatles, and I look to Paul's smiling face.
I remember how he kept on telling me that Pearl needs to know about what happened with Robbie, and even though I shudder at the memory, I agree with him in my mind. I close the magazine and turn to face her and I open my mouth to reveal to her what went on. I got up the courage to tell Pearl then and there in our seats next to each other in the barber shop the whole story about what happened with Robbie yesterday. Her eyes were on me the whole time, and I was afraid she wouldn't believe me.
She didn't say anything at first after I had just finished, but she nodded and glanced to her lap and folded her hands. She told me that it would be taken care of, and she thanked me for telling her, and then she went off to get her hair cut. I breathed a sigh of relief after getting that off my chest, and Paul just happened to have finished getting his hair done and he paid at the desk.
"Hey, Court. What did you and Pearl chat about?" Paul questions when he sits back in his seat with his shorter hair that just got blow dried I notice.
"I uh told her about what happened yesterday at the diner." I reply slowly and his black eyebrows raise.
"Oh really, what did she have to say about it?" he asks and he stuffs his hands in his pockets.
"She thanked me for telling her, and she said she'd have it taken care of." I answer him and he nods when I look to him.
"That's good, hopefully something will be worked out before your next shift in a couple of days." he comments and I nod my head up and down in agreement.
The hairdresser calls me over and Paul flashes me a smile as I walk over and sit in the chair that he adjusts to rise more and I watch as I see more of myself in the mirror above the sink.
"Alright love, is there a certain style you're going for? Or perhaps do you just want a little off?" the kind barber asks and I look at my hair in the mirror no longer in my braid.
"Could I just get a few inches taken off?" I question and he nods to himself.
"Certainly." he answers and I glance to Paul who patiently sits in the chair several feet away from me with his one foot propped up on his knee while his eyes are glued to a section of the paper he reads.
The hairdresser asks if I want my hair washed and since it's hardly any more than a regular cut I agreed with that, and he went to shampoo my hair and then take off a couple of inches, then he blow dried it.
"Well, what do you think?" he spins my chair around to have me look in the mirror and I smile at my appearance, I hardly look different.
"I love it, thank you."
"Of course, miss." he comments and I run my hands through my shorter hair that is still fairly long, he only took off a little bit that isn't even really noticeable.
I follow him to the desk where I pay with my new check and he gave me the large remainder of it and I turn to see Paul and his eyes lift to me.
"You look fantastic!" he comments with a smile and I grin.
"Thanks, you look pretty great yourself." I reply and he still smiles and he sets the paper on the table and we leave the shop to encounter the London sidewalks and other citizens who walk along them.
We reach his car to get into it and he puts on his blinker and merges into the busy lane. I flick my still long hair over my shoulder and I notice a few young kids and an older looking teenager walking on the sidewalk with their beagle and I remember my dog back home.
"Paul, do you like animals?" I ask a question I already know the answer to, but that kind of slipped my mind.
"Yeah, I love 'em. How about you?"
"Yeah, I love animals too." I reply and we make a turn and the kids and their dog leave my sight.
"Do you have any pets back home, Court?" Paul questions.
"Yeah I do. He's a golden retriever named Bailey." I answer with a smile as I remember my lovable dog back home who I miss dearly.
"Aw, he sounds like a sweet dog. Is he your mums or your dads?" he questions with a fond smile on his lips.
"My dads." I respond and he takes one last turn before we end up in front of the flat and he parks and we walk in.
"Ah, I bet you miss him."
"I do." I comment as we enter the vacant kitchen and I pick up today's paper that somebody must of picked up and I flip to the recreation section where a list of activities and fun classes are in columns.
I sit up on the counter while Paul digs in the fridge for something or other while I read through these few columns. Paul closes the fridge and comes to stand by me and he sets down two Cokes by me and opens them both. He hands me one with a smile and I accept it with a thankful grin and we both take a swig from our own bottle.
"Have you ever done any of these classes at this recreational center?" I ask him after setting my drink down on the counter and he gets up on the counter and he looks over my shoulder at what I'm reading.
"Nah, I never have. Why do you ask?" he inquires and I lift my eyes to meet his while he drinks from his Coke.
"I think they sound fun, especially this pottery one. Have you ever done pottery?" I reply and he sets his drink on the counter and I hand him the paper that he skims over with his eyes.
"Pottery? No, I've never touched clay, except for maybe in like primary school," he answers and I spot the listing for a pottery class that's soon. "What about you, have you ever thrown pots or sculpted any masterpieces?" he finishes with a friendly smile.
"Yeah, I took a few pottery classes at my high school and the college. It's really fun actually making bowls and mugs out of clay. I didn't make any real masterpieces, but i loved going to those classes." I reply and he looks to me with a smile on his face.
"I can see why you want to be an art teacher, you seem pretty artsy." he comments and I shrug with a smile.
"Do you think we could maybe go to this pottery class? There's hand building and the wheels, so we both could be doing something." I ask a bit nervously and he purses his lips while seemingly thinking.
"Yeah sure, I always like to try new things. Just don't be teasing me when the bowl or whatever I make turns out horribly and yours is beautiful." he remarks and I grin at his playful words.
"We'll just have to see, maybe we'll both make something spectacular." I state and he shrugs his shoulders.
"Lets hope so." he responds and he drapes his arm around me and he folds the paper in half to focus on the little box about the pottery class.
"It says it's a two day long class; tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock and two days from now at the same time. It seems like a reasonable price for a two shot class, I think we should go," he reads aloud and then adds on to it and he looks to me. "You come up with great ideas, you know." he ends the sentence and he kisses my cheek, I still can't fully wrap it around my head that this is happening with him, and that I'm here. It was something I dreamt about, I never thought it could come true.