Get the make over of your dreams

Mia walked down the street with a huge smile on her face and a pep in her step, she was excited. The emerald slip dress she had been searching for was finally in her possession. After days of hunting for it online, she found it on a small boutique’s Instagram page and had to drive all the way across town just to buy it. 

Which was  a lot of effort for a piece of clothing, but it was worth it. The well tailored garment fit Mia like a glove and hugged her in all the right places.

Mia beamed. Phase three of her makeover was complete. She bought perfect shoes, found a great makeup artist, and now the dress. The last thing on her checklist was a  hair refresh, then her makeover would be complete.

She was going to look perfect for the wedding. Her ex's wedding.

–

As soon as the invitation arrived in the mail, Mia knew she would be attending. He was taunting her, daring her to face him. He loved getting in people’s heads and manufacturing negative emotions. That was his way of asserting control. He did the same thing the night they broke up when he asked “What are you going to do without me?”

It was his way of leaving a mark on her, and like a curse those words hang over her life for the past 2 years. 

No more, Mia had decided. She would break the curse by proving she never needed him. Which for the most part was true. Mia created an amazing life for herself. With a career she was passionate about, great friends and family, and a dog she adored, Mia felt complete. 

However the memory of Chris and the 3 years they spent together lingered in the background. Mia had concluded that the only way to completely rid herself of Chris was to face him and let him know  she was doing so much better without him.

So she would attend, despite her mom's pleas to skip the nuptials, and ignoring  the pang in her heart when she saw the names “Chris & Chelsea'' written in beautiful calligraphy. Mia would attend, and she would do it looking like a bombshell. Hence the makeover. 

–

Her hip length dark moved with the wind as she roamed the busy street, looking for a restaurant. In all the excitement of the dress she completely forgotten to eat something, but she couldn’t ignore her stomach’s pleas anymore.

She was about to enter a bakery when something caught her eye. 

At the end of  alleyway between the bakery and another building, Mia saw a hair salon. “Perfect” she thought.

She had originally planned to get her hair done the next morning, but fate had other plans. Ignoring her stomach’s pleas, Mia made her way to the hair salon. 

It may not have been the best time to try a new hairstylist but Mia was looking for a change, a change she so desperately needed.

Just like the boutique, the hair salon was a bit out of the way and from what she could gather completely empty. Maybe the weird location was working against them. 

She was about to enter the establishment when the store front poster caught her eye. It featured a beautiful model with a vibrant red bob and  a huge smile on her face. The words “Get the make over of your dreams”  above her. Mia locked eyes with the model, unconsciously running her fingers through her long dark hair.

The model stared back at Mia, begging her to come in. 

“You were wrong Chris, I am everything without you” she declared before walking in.

“Welcome to Cut & Color'' a cheerful young lady greeted from behind the counter. Her platinum blonde ponytail bounced as she spoke. She had thick rimmed glasses and wore a black turtleneck that made her look pristine and professional,  the whole place did. However, it still felt warm and inviting.

Mia was about to respond when a man wearing an apron appeared out of nowhere “Hi I’m Mikey. What can we do for you today? Oh wow, your hair is so long!”

“Thanks,”  Mia replied sheepishly “I’ve been growing it for a long time”. People were always amazed by Mia’s hair, especially if it was their first time seeing it. Mikey  towered over Mia as he examined her locks.

He was tall but skinny and had a small face with sharp facial features. Behind the apron, Mikey wore a simple white t-shirt with dark blue jeans which were a  stark contrast to his colorful rainbow hair. His warm smile and kind eyes put Mia’s nervousness at ease. 

Like she knew she was in good hands.

“So what are we doing today?”  He asked.  

“Uhm well … I want that” Mia nervously answered as she pointed at the store front poster.

The hairstylist gasped.

“That’s quite the change, are you sure you want something that drastic?” he asked, and he examined  her lengthy hair once again.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do it”

-

Snip.

“I’m not ready!” Mia panicked.

The sound of the shears cutting through her hair rang in her ears,  as another chunk of her hair fell to the floor. To Mia the shears were louder than a low flying helicopter in a quiet suburban neighborhood. 

An overwhelming sense of dread took her over. “I think I made a mistake. Maybe I should have thought this through. Am I really going to do this? It’s not too late to stop, is it?”

“You okay?” the hairstylist asked, sensing her panic but Mia could barely hear him over her own thoughts.

“Should we keep going?” 

Mia  silently nodded in approval. This was the change she had been looking for. No matter how hard it might be, she needed it.

The hairstylist continued fumbling with her hair. “So why did you keep your hair so long?” he asked, trying to distract her. Perhaps some conversation would help sooth her nerves.. 

After a long pause, Mia replied. “This is going to sounds stupid but my ex really liked my hair, so I kept it long for the majority of out 3 year relationships and even after we broke up I couldn’t cut it”

“Oh wow” he replied, severing yet another chunk of hair which sent a chill down Mia’s spine.

 “Why cut it now?” he asked, once again distracting her from what he was doing. 

“Well …, he’s getting married in 2 days and I’m attending the wedding”

“What!?” he asked exasperatingly.

Mia giggled,  she could see the shock on his face through the mirror. He had the exact same reaction as her mom  when Mia first  told her about the wedding invitation.

“Yeah, I need to get rid of this hair now, I need to let him go'' she said more to herself than to Mikey.

They had been together for 3 years when she walked in on him in bed with her best friend Chelsea. She was completely blindsided. Had Mia seen the signs or been suspicions of his infidelities, she would have been prepared for what was to come. 

“I’m sorry Mia, it meant nothing” he had pleaded, his face void of emotion. He said he was sorry but she couldn’t believe him.

Snip, Mia winced as the stylist unexpectedly cut another chunk of her hair, yanking her out of memory lane. Most of her hair was now shoulder length Mia observed. 

“It’s too late to turn back now”.

A sense of emptiness fell over her. Like she would never be filled ever again, just like the night she broke up with Chris. 

Back then her life was chaotic.

Mia’s mother was in the hospital fighting for her life  and the doctors weren’t sure she was going to make it. She lost both her best friend and boyfriend at a time she needed them the most. “Assholes” she thought to herself.

Even though the break up had ripped her to shreds, MIa couldn't process anything that happened. How could she when her mom needed her. There was no time for that, so she pushed all her feelings down and never cried about it.

Even when she found out they had been hooking up for months, she never cried.

Mia felt the familiar sting of heartbreak return as her old wound slowly reopened.

Fat tears welled up in her eyes and wouldn’t stop. It was as if all the crying she had detained for so long chose that moment to break free. 

She still couldn’t believe he had done that to her. After everything she had sacrificed for him. It hurt like hell to find out he had been cheating, WITH HER BEST FRIEND. 

That night, he had seemed like a completely different person to the man she fell in love with or maybe she was seeing him clearing for the first time. 

“Are you being serious? After everything I have done for you? YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST LEAVE ME!” He yelled at her, like he wasn’t the one who was just laying in bed with another woman. Mia stared at him in shock. 

“Was he really surprised that she broke up with him? Was he always this soulless”, Mia had thought to herself. This is not the Chris she fell in love with. 

However, she couldn't ignore a fear that was lingering beneath the surface. They had been together for so long, he was all she knew. What was she going to do without him?

Like the manipulator he was, Chris chose that very moment to affirm her worst fears. “What are you going to do without me?” he spat cruelly. 

Snip, the last of her hair came tumbling down. What remained was a shoulder length jagged bob. It looked raw, wild and untamed. 

Mia felt a sense of loss. The numbness she was feeling earlier spread throughout their body like frostbite. 

He’s gone, he’s really gone.

In an instant, her numbness was replaced with fury.

“Why did he do that” she thought “with my best friend of all people. How could he betray me?”

She turned to the hairdresser “what is this?” she asked angrily, pointing at her hair “this is not what I asked for!”

“Woah” Mikey held up his hand defensively, the shears still intertwined in his fingers. 

“We just got  started okay, it will get worse before it gets better but it will look amazing in the end”.

She turned back to face the mirror and glared at her short length, her face hot with fury. 

“You wanted this?'' Mikey reminded her “Please trust the process”

“I know but ..” she stumbled on her words, her anger still boiling “aren’t you supposed to be the professional and give good advice, to stop this from happening” she angrily pointed at her hair once again.  

“He was just like Chris.” Mia thought. “Inconsiderate and never thinking about her or what she needed. It was always about him, she was always making sacrifices for him. Yet he had the nerve to think she would suffer without him. “

“Did he not have a heart all along, was it all just a game to him. How could he have done that right when she needed him the most. “

Mia was now fuming, her eyes still filled with hot tears.

“Hey listen” she heard Mikey’s voice  over the angry and panicked inner monologue. 

“This short hair will look good on you, trust me okay. It suits you face shape, and the color we picked was made for you ” 

Mia sighed. He was right. She was going to look good and Mikey knew what he was doing. Besides, she was the one who chose to cut her hair.

“Mia, he’s not Chris,” she reminded, calming herself.

The ease turned to hope when an idea came to mind “maybe we can add some extensions after we color, right?”. She looked up at him hopefully.  All is not lost, she could still get extensions in the new hair color. “Yeah, I can just get extensions. I can fix it somehow” she thought to herself. 

The hairstylist gave her a sympathetic look. “Just wait and see what it’s gonna look like before you decide, okay ”

However, his request fell on deaf ears. Mia was still in her thoughts, still looking for ways to make her new length work. Then a new fear penetrated her inner monologue. “What if the extensions don’t blend, my hair might be too short.”

“Oh no” she thought to herself “What have I done, I’ve made a huge mistake. Is it too late to fix it?” Mia wasn't sure if she was talking about her hair or breaking up with Chris. 

A dark shadow fell over her, once Mia realized there was nothing she could do to make it work. Her hair was gone and so was Chris! He was getting married in 48 hour and there’s nothing she could have done about  it. 

The feelings she had been holding down for so long sprung back up.. All the pain, anger, everything she had been ignoring was front and center. Two years ago she forced herself to dismiss her heartbreak, but she couldn't do it anymore. She was drowning in an ocean of grief. 

“Why don’t I get started with the color okay? '' the hairstylist suggested. His voice sounded distant and muffled to her. “Yeah” she replied plainly, that was all she could get out. Fresh tears filled her eyes and she felt like everything was lost.

Mikey was too busy prepping the color to even notice what was happening to Mia, or perhaps he thought she was finally complying. He then went on to bleach, and color her hair and the entire time Mia remained silent. 

What else could she do? It had already happened. The hair was gone, Chris was gone too.

Once the color was set,  Mikey shampooed and rinsed her new hair, before placing her in front of the mirror once again.

As he was blow drying her, Mia caught a glimpse of the new hair color for the first time and it actually looked good. Mikey was right. 

It was a vibrant Auburn Brown that brought out the natural flush in Mia’s cheeks; perhaps the crying was behind that. Either way, the color was amazing on her, it was a beautiful contrast to her pale skin while complimenting her green eyes. The length wasn’t too bad either. Mikey lightly curled her ends which beautifully framed her face and exposed her chubby cheeks. 

The hairstylist smiled as he noticed the sparkle in Mia’s Eyes. She almost looked like an anime character. 

“It looks good right?” he asked.

“Yeah” she replied “it looks really good”

“The long hair was great, but this is more you. I don’t know you very well but even I can tell this is you and that’s  because you made the decision to cut your hair. You weren’t doing it for anyone else but yourself”

Those words had hit Mia harder than Mikey would ever know and strangely, she felt free. Like the weight she had carried for so long was finally lifted. Was it the weight of the hair, or Chris? Perhaps, it was both. 

What Mia knew for sure was that she never needed him or the hair to feel beautiful. In fact, she was so much better without him. “I’ve proved it to myself time and time again. So why do I keep doubting?” Mia asked herself.

In that moment, Mia promised herself she never grow her hair so stupidly long ever again. She never wanted to in the first place. It was all for Chris, to make him happy and gain his approval. 

For the first time, that realization didn’t send a twisting pain in her heart. Instead she felt a sense of relief. 

“I’m glad it only lasted 3 years, because I didn’t give you more of myself. “

Tears welled up in her eyes once again except this time, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace. 

Like she was floating on air or laying on the beach on a sunny day. Mia felt good and for the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to just be Mia. This light feeling began to spread throughout her entire body from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet.

“Final thoughts?” Mikey asked once he was done curling her short strands. Her once long dark hair was now short and vibrant, and it made face glow like never before. 

She ran her fingers through her hair with a huge smile on her face.

“I love it!”

48 hours later.

Mia decided to not attend the wedding afterwall. Why would she?

She had nothing to prove to Chris. Mia knew what she was completely without him. She had proved that to herself time and time again. More importantly, she didn't need him to approve of her new look. 

She loved her hair, and that was all that mattered.