It helps if you read Angelina's dialog with an Italian accent. Think of a young Valaria Golino ("Rain Man", "Hot Shots Part Deux"). That's how I heard it in my head when I wrote it. Enjoy.
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Gus Gianakis was an institution in our small town. The Greek-born barber cut the heads of many generations of families, including my own. My grandfather, my Dad, and my brother and I all went to Gus for haircuts. He was somewhere in his 80's, though some thought he might be in his 90's or even 100-years old, when he finally decided to hang up his scissors and turn off his tri-color light pole for good.
Gus' Barber Shop was a throwback to simpler times. He started cutting my hair as a toddler...I screamed bloody murder or so I was told...through my teens and into my 20's. We all thought Gus would just work until he dropped dead one day. Everyone was happy for him when he decided to retire, but we were also saddened that his familiar face would no longer be part of our local landscape.
One of the worst aspects of his retirement was that no one wanted the shop. He and his late wife had no children and no one that worked for him was interested in buying/continuing the business. The building sat empty for nearly a year, which meant a lot of bad at-home haircuts or having to take the 45-60 minute drive to get your haircut at a chain whose employee turnover rate was better than 75%. Then one winter's day, I drove past and saw some construction trucks parked in front of Gus' place. There were a handful of people standing around, including one woman. She was dressed all in white, looking as if she was going skiing afterwards. Suddenly she turned around and our eyes met, or at least that's what I told myself. She had the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen. She was either tan or had an olive complexion. Either way it gave her an exotic look.
For several days, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I felt like a complete idiot, but some days I would drive out of my way just on the chance that I might catch a glimpse of her again. And, yes...in my mind I saw her in certain ways and fantasized about her. Which meant I was constantly masturbating while thinking about her. She should only know how much cum I expended from a five-second snapshot of her in my mind. She reminded me of the actress Valeria Golino, so sometimes I would put on one of her movies and jerk off to it. Crazy, I know. But, that's kind of how my personal life was going at the time...less than spectacular.
Then one day, on one of my out of the way "drive-bys", I saw a sign outside the building that said, "COMING SOON, ANGELINA'S SALON". Could it be true? Were we finally getting a new place to get our hair taken care of? I was already picturing some overpriced place with obnoxious stylists.
And, then it hit me. Could my mystery lady be Angelina? When I got home, I googled and googled, but couldn't come up with anything relating to the new salon or anything relevant to someone named Angelina. I asked around town, but no one knew anything about her or the place, for that matter. For whatever reason, everything was being kept quiet. But, now that I knew her name, I had more fodder for my stroking fantasies. She blew me, I fucked her, etc. Yes, life was less than spectacular.
In early spring, the name "Angelina's" appeared on the building. I didn't see any cars around, so I pulled in the parking lot and walked up the steps to the remodeled entrance. A sign on the door said, "Opening May 1st". The windows were still partially covered, but I could see inside to some degree. The place looked completely different; much more modern. I was completely concentrating on being a busybody, so I almost jumped out of my shoes when I heard, "Can I help you?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," the voice said. I turned around to see that it was her. My fantasy woman was breathtakingly beautiful and spoke with a soft, sensual Italian accent.
"I'm okay. I just did not hear you approach at all."
"I was just coming back from a walk around the neighborhood and saw you looking into my salon."
"You're Angelina?" I said, pointing upwards to the sign.
"Yes, I am. And, you would be?"
"I'm Jackson, but my friends call me Jax."
"Well, for now I will call you Jackson until I know you better."
"No problem. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be snooping around. It's just that I went to this place for years and it's just all so different looking."
"You knew Gus?"
"Yes! My family went to him for decades."
"I'm his great-niece."
"Oh, wow...but you don't sound Greek."
"That's because I'm not. My grandmother was Gus' sister, Athena. When she was very young she moved to Milan and married my Italian grandfather, Umberto. I grew up in Italy until I moved to the States almost 10 years ago. In fact my middle name is Gianakis after my grandmother's maiden name. Angelina Gianakis Ricci, to be exact."
"That's really cool. So, the business stayed in the family after all. I'm really happy to know that. Gus is a great guy."
"Yes, he was," she said and suddenly looked sad.
"Was?"
"Yes, I'm afraid Gus was quite ill when he retired. He moved back to Greece for the last few months of his life. He didn't let anyone outside of his family know he was sick."
"I am so sorry."
"Thank you." After an awkward silence, she said, "Well, it's getting cold out here and I need to get inside and finish up things to get ready for our opening."
"Oh, yes of course. I'm sorry to keep you, and again I'm sorry for snooping around."
"No need to apologize. Actually, would you like to come in and get the grand tour? You'll be the first in town to see it."
"Um, sure," I said as I suddenly became very nervous. I never expected to be "up close and personal" with the woman I had been fantasizing about for months.
Once inside, Angelina took off her sunglasses, hat and long coat. She had curly medium brown hair that flowed a little past her shoulders, gorgeous blue eyes, and an incredibly sexy body. Her jeans accentuated her long legs and her incredibly sweet ass. I started to get hard and tried to distract myself in any way possible so it would subside.
"So, of all the places you could have opened up your shop, why here?" I asked.
"I was tired of the city life and looking for a change. And, Gus always talked about what a wonderful town you have here. He would always talk about how nice and friendly the people are here, so I figured why not? I think it was karma that our family still owned the building too. I need a pick me up. I'm going to make some cappuccino. Would you like one too?"
"Sure," I quickly said, having never had a cappuccino.
Angelina showed me all the changes that she made while still preserving some reminders of Gus. In fact, a photo of him hung on the wall near the cash register. Afterwards we sat down with our cappuccinos and talked.
"So what's your story, Jackson?"
"Well, I was born and raised here. I went to college about an hour away. I live in an apartment a short distance from here and work remotely as a software developer. Needless to say, I haven't traveled a whole lot out of the area other than vacations."
"And, who has been cutting your hair? They should lose their license."
I laughed, and said, "One of those crappy chains in the city."
She ran her fingers through my hair, examining it more closely. I was in Nirvana and my erection started coming back.
"You come back to me in a month and I'll make this beautiful for you. You have beautiful hair." Her lips, her eyes, her accent...they were all driving me wild. I felt intoxicated being around her. Suddenly things got a little uncomfortable when she said, "You want to look good for the special person in your life, no?"
"Um, there isn't anyone right now. Not that I haven't tried, but I haven't met the right woman." I was telling a white lie. Living in a small town didn't lead to much opportunity to meet new people. Being shy and anxious around women didn't help me either. Since I graduated college I hadn't dated much and I was in a sexual drought to put it mildly.
"I find that hard to believe. Someone as handsome as you should have no problem finding dates."
"Thanks," was all I could muster. Angelina's words sounded like something my mother would say. I quickly tried to get the focus off of me.
"How about you? What's your story?"
"I already told you my story."
"I mean who's the special person in your life?
Angelina's mood quickly changed. "It's very complicated. I really don't want to talk about it. Actually, I really need to get back to working on this place. It was very nice meeting you, Jackson. I hope to see you at our opening next month.
With that I was escorted/practically shoved out the door and figured my chances with the girl of my dreams just blew up in my face.
~~~
I went to the grand opening a month later, but Angelina was too busy to spend too much time with me. She did cut my hair, but there wasn't much small talk and before I knew it I was out the door with a thank you and a smile. I was beginning to think I was better off taking the long ride to the city to overpay for a shitty cut. But, a couple of months later something changed.
I went for my usual haircut after five weeks and was greeted with a big smile and a hug. "Jax, it's so good to see you." It was the first time she had used my nickname.