Today Madeline started her week's holiday, and lay in bed luxuriously, letting Dan hustle their son Max off to school. She heard with amusement their fight about the sandwiches. Dan had made Max a cheese sandwich and had spread butter on the bread. Max protested, "But Mummy knows I don't like butter and cheese!". Dan didn't back down and a mutinous Max bore his buttery cheese sandwich to the car. Madeline reflected he'd swap it at lunchtime.

Speaking of lunch, she was meeting Dan and kidnapping him for a pleasant hour at La Scalina, the Italian restaurant in the next block which made the most delectable garlic prawns imaginable. Antisocial garlic might be, but Dan had told Madeline his afternoon was free and the only person he'd be breathing garlic on would be his new secretary, Sharon.

Madeline had heard about Sharon. She was young, wore micro skirts like Ally McBeal and almost mainlined on Diet Coke.  This didn't make Madeline too nervous; after all, she herself was thirty five, worked out at the gym and could wear a miniskirt to great effect. An especially great effect on her husband!  Grinning, Madeline selected a short dress that would show Sharon in no uncertain terms just who was Dan's boss!

Three hours later Sharon Kapinski correctly assessed that the gorgeous dark haired woman who'd just walked into the office was her boss' wife. 

Madeline introduced herself to Sharon, who reeked of Giorgio and boasted a low cut top and high cut skirt.

"Dan's told me about you," Madeline said, in a tone that had the gentlest inkling of a warning.  Dan had: he gave a nightly report on Sharon's micro skirts to Madeline and made a big joke out of it.  Idly Madeline walked across the office to pick up one of the newsletters lying on the coffee table. Was Sharon going to tell Dan she was here or did she have to do it herself?

Dan stuck his head out of his office. It was a very handsome head, with dark eyes, a straight nose and firm, wide mouth. It was topped with a head of luscious dark brown waves and curls which Dan wore rather long, over his ears and down to his collar. On him, though, the hairstyle looked anything but dated. He ran his hand through his thick hair and the waves rippled. "Sharon, have you finished that report yet?"

Madeline watched Sharon's reaction.  When Dan's door opened her head swiveled to look at it, and when he touched his hair Sharon just gazed, dumbstruck.

Madeline reflected her husband seemed to have that effect on women.  She cleared her throat.

Dan jumped, and saw his wife standing near the wall.  "Maddy!  Hi, darling!  Sharon, why didn't you tell me she was here?"  With three long strides he reached Madeline's side and kissed her cheek.  Was it just Madeline's imagination, or could she smell Giorgio on her husband's shirt? Maybe the all pervasive scent was just stuck in her nostrils.

"Let's go to lunch," Madeline said firmly.  The sooner she got garlic prawns into her husband the better!  As she waited for Dan to grab his jacket, a plan began to form in her mind.

* * *

Lunch had been delicious, and Madeline had left Dan at his office door with a massive kiss on the lips that Sharon couldn't fail to notice.

Now Madeline was home again, and waiting for Max to come home from school. He loved it when she had holidays and was at home when he ran down the path, with a glass of fruit juice and some munchies waiting on the table. Max was eight, and utterly adorable.

He threw his schoolbag accurately into its usual place next to the fridge, and said a brief "Hi, Mummy!" before gulping his orange juice.

Madeline lovingly tousled his short brown hair. Max was very stubborn, and insisted he wore his hair, which had tumbled in riotous curls when he was younger, in a crew cut. Madeline had cried the first time Max had asked for a crewcut; she'd watched the stylist unemotionally pick up clippers and shear away the beautiful curls in a few short minutes.

She stroked Max's soft locks.  "Time for another haircut for you, I suppose?"

"Yes, Mummy!" Max grinned with an orange juice mustache on his top lip.  "It's getting too long again!"

Madeline was thrifty; they could afford the mortgage on their lovely big house but her savings made their lives a little nicer. She always bought in bulk when items were on special in the supermarket, and while she didn't stint on her own haircuts – or Dan's for that matter – she refused to take Max to the hairdresser's or barbers every month for a trim.  It was, to her, a waste of money, particularly as Max's hair seemed to grow faster than anyone's she knew. She'd bought a pair of clippers quite cheaply the year before when Max kept demanding his trims, and was by now expert at shearing her son's hair to a number three as requested.

"Well, get started on your homework and I'll cut your hair a bit later.  Was it tonight you were going to a sleep over at Nathan's?"

"Yup," Max confirmed.  "Nathan's Mummy's coming to get me at 6.30 and we're having pizza."

Max had finished his homework and pestered Madeline to cut his hair before Nathan's mother arrived. At six, when Dan was due home, Madeline duly sat Max down in the bathroom and wound the plastic cape around his neck.

"C'n I have a number two this time, Mummy?" Max pleaded.  "I like it really short."

Max's hair was already so short Madeline's fingers almost brushed over it rather than through it.  The kid was obviously destined for a career in the Army!

Madeline agreed to his request and changed the guard on the clippers. She oiled the blades and flicked the machine into life.

Click!  Bzzz!  The clippers hummed and Max grinned.  He sat up straight and said in a deep voice, "Take it all off!"

"Yes, sir!" Madeline said in her best deep voice, and brought the clippers to his forehead. The soft, boy's hair fell away as she ran the shears over the top of his little head.  Heavens, a number two WAS short!  She could see his scalp through it!  With some misgivings Madeline tenderly clipped a second path over Max's head.  "Short enough for you, sir?"

Max peered in the mirror. "Wow, Mummy!  That's SHORT!" he said in his normal voice.  "Yeah, that's short enough!"

As Madeline ran the clippers a final time over the top she heard the front door close and Dan drop his briefcase in the hall. The males in her life had a habit of throwing their luggage down in particular places!

"In the bathroom, darling!" she called.  "I'm just giving Max a haircut!  Come and look, he wanted it really short!"

Dan leaned against the doorjamb and watched his wife clip their son's hair off.  Delicately she drew the clippers up in front of his ears, and tufts of downy hair wafted gently onto his cape.  "That's a real man's haircut, son!" Dan grinned.  "You won't need another trim for a while after that!"  He reached over and brushed his fingers over Max's cropped scalp.

Madeline was onto the back now, and Max automatically bent his head forward so she could shear up his nape.  His little head looked almost naked where she'd cut his hair.  She'd have to persuade him to go back to the number three guard next time. The clippers buzzed merrily as they sang through Max's locks.  In five minutes all his hair had been shorn off to a neat 1/8 of an inch, and stood out from his head in surprised bristles.

Max rubbed his hands over his stubbly head. "That's great, Mummy! It feels really good!"  

Madeline stroked her son's decimated hair; to her surprise it felt even more velvety than it usually did after she'd cut it.  "Well, Mr. Short Hair, Nathan's mother will be here soon. Is your bag packed?"

"Yup. C'n I wait out the front?" 

Madeline agreed.

Then she turned to Dan.  "You could do with a trim, too, darling.  Come and sit down."

Dan pulled a face.  "I'd sooner go to the salon." They both got their hair cut at the unisex salon in the next suburb.

"Oh, come on, be a sport. Let me give you a haircut!" Madeline said winningly.  "Seriously, my love, your hair really needs a trim. It doesn't sit as well as it did a couple of weeks ago, and don't you have that important meeting tomorrow?"

"All the more reason not to let you cut it!" Dan retorted gently, touching his wife's cheek.

Madeline nestled against him, and reached up with one hand to run her long fingers through his waves and curls.  "C'mon, it might be sexy.  Max is out on a sleep over. Hmm?"

"Well…" Dan hesitated.

"I'll give you a great scalp massage," Madeline whispered, knowing that was one of Dan's absolute favorite things.

"Oh, all right," Dan relented, feeling a bit nervous. He'd never let his wife cut his hair.  He was rather proud of his mane; the one thing about which he felt vain.  Dan sat on the bathroom stool and let Madeline fasten the cape around his neck.

"Welcome to Madeline's salon," Madeline said playfully.  "We have a special service today, a free scalp massage with every haircut."

Dan grinned, playing along. "Can I have an extra long scalp massage?"

"Sir has extra long hair," Madeline agreed, privately adding to herself he'd be getting an extra haircut as well.  She plunged her fingers into the warmth of his hair, and began to slowly and languorously move them in a circular motion against his skin.

"Aaahhh." Dan closed his eyes in pleasure.  Madeline could give a scalp massage as professionally as the girls in the hair salon.  Even better, he could be assured of great sex afterwards – a service the salon definitely didn't provide! 

For almost five minutes Madeline massaged Dan's scalp, until it and her fingers tingled. Dan was utterly relaxed, his eyes still closed.

Silently and carefully Madeline picked up the clippers.  She pushed Dan's head forwards, still caressing his scalp and nape with one hand.  Dan thought it was all part of the massage, and groaned softly.

Then with a practiced motion, Madeline flicked the clippers to life. Dan didn't even realize what she was doing until she placed them against his neck.

"Maddy?"  He said drowsily.

Regretting for a moment what she had to do, as Dan's hair truly was gorgeous,  Madeline pushed the clippers up his neck and into the locks at his nape.  The clippers howled and growled when they met the thickness of his hair, but they were up to the task. As Madeline clipped up Dan's occipital bone, inches of hair fell away and onto the floor.

"Maddy, what are you doing?"  Dan woke up in an instant when he felt the blades nibbling at his hair.

"Giving you that long overdue haircut," Madeline said pleasantly, her heart pounding. Dear God, it was short!  Of course! She remembered.  She was using the number 2 guard instead of the number 3 as she'd planned!  "Don't move," Madeline warned, steadying her husband's head with one hand planted firmly on top of it.  She kept shearing up the back, until she'd clipped a neat path all the way from his nape to his crown.  Now there was really no turning back!

"How short is it?" asked Dan nervously. There was a part of his head that felt suspiciously cold.

"Shortish," Madeline replied non commitally.  "Looking good!"

"Why are you doing this?"  Dan winced as he felt the clippers at his neck again. They moved up the back of his head.  He tried not to think about how much hair was being cut off.

Madeline watched as the top layers dropped uselessly away.  There were locks of hair there almost six inches long.   "Because I've always wondered what you'd look like with short hair," she lied.

"Bull!" Dan snorted.  "You only ever want me to get just a little trim."

"Relax and enjoy it," Madeline suggested.  Would Dan look truly awful with his hair shorn almost to his scalp?  She'd soon find out!

Again she placed the clippers on her husband's neck. Dan gave a huge sigh but didn't move.

Slowly, gently, now her prey was captive, she pushed the humming blades into his hair.  "How does that feel?" she inquired.  Max always said it felt great!

"Peculiar," Dan admitted.  "I haven't had a haircut with clippers since I was a kid."

Madeline brushed her fingers over the clippered section of his head and Dan quivered. While his shorn hair looked hard and spiky, it was velvety soft, just like his son's.  Encouraged, Madeline finished shearing the back of his head.

Dan couldn't see the damage she'd done – yet.  He was about to, Madeline thought nervously.

She started behind his right ear and drew the clippers up the side of his head.  Dan's eyes opened as locks of hair tumbled onto his shoulders and then slid down the cape to his knees.  "Maddy!" he exclaimed.  

"Hush," Madeline said more soothingly than she felt. Her hands were trembling as she pushed the blades to the top of his head.  "How long has it been since you've seen your ears?" she said jokingly, stroking the remaining long hair on the side of his head one last time.

"I can't believe you're doing this," Dan muttered, aware now of the ferocity of his haircut.  He watched intently in the mirror as his personal barberette positioned the clippers in front of his ears.  Then the blades were into his hair, gobbling it up and spitting it out. Clumps of hair dropped from the blades. Dan saw his right ear revealed and knew it would be months before his hair was long enough to cover it again.  Madeline was shaving it almost to extinction, for some reason best known only to herself.

The soft curls at his temple were lopped off. Dan watched in increasing bewilderment as his hair was shorn. One half of his head still had long hair, the other a brown pelt that lay flat against his skin.

Delicately Madeline pushed his ear forward and clipped around the back, cutting off any stray hairs.  It was a strangely erotic gesture, and Dan began to enjoy his unusual, if brutally short, haircut.

He held his breath as she started on the other side of his head, mowing his hair away.  Now he was resigned to it, he started to like the feel of the clippers running through his hair. Madeline's fingers steadying his head were cool when they brushed over the clippered bristles.

Dan watched as his left ear was denuded of its hairy curtain. Thick locks of hair fell onto his lap. He hadn't realized his hair had grown so long.  Then his masterful barberette  was folding his left ear forward and tenderly buzzing around it.  Dan began to feel aroused.

Madeline was relieved her husband was taking this decimation of his hair so well. She was also relieved that her haircutting techniques had been so well honed on her son. Dan's emerging crewcut looked very professional!

She stood in front of her husband.  "That's the back and sides.  Now I'm going to cut the top."  She ran her fingers into the long hair left on top of his head, tousling it one last time before committing it to the floor.

Dan closed his eyes as Madeline brought the clippers to his forehead.  The floppy forelock which reached his eyebrows suddenly vanished as the clippers ploughed into his hair.

Madeline drew them back over the top of his head, watching the shorn locks pile up in front of the blades.  She tossed the hair over the back of his head and onto the tiles.

No more would Short Skirt Sharon gaze at her husband's fine head of hair! Madeline thought as she made the second pass over the top of his head, clipping the hair so short she could definitely see skin through it. There was only one more pass of the clippers to go, she estimated.  Feeling a bit sad, she cut off the last of his long hair.

Then Madeline clipped all over Dan's head, making sure the crewcut was even. Again and again she stroked his scalp, not so much to cut his hair closer to his skin, but because she saw how much his erection was growing when she buzzed him.

"I think your haircut's complete," she whispered finally.  

She moved away to the side, and Dan saw his new look for the first time. He gasped as he realized just how short she'd buzzed his hair. He looked older and harder, close to the forty he was instead of appearing to be in his early thirties.  Dan reached up and touched his shorn head in disbelief.  To his amazement, it felt great to touch.  He ran both hands all over his clippered head, astonished that his wife had chosen to cut it all off.

Madeline stroked Dan's head, rather sad that she'd taken the action she did. Still, it felt wonderful to caress, and she could feel the warmth of his skin through the short bristles.

"Mmm," Dan said, nuzzling his shorn head against her and enjoying the sensation of her skin and clothing against his hair, "That feels good. If I'd have known having you cut my hair would be like that I'd have let you do it years ago. I suppose another scalp massage is out of the question?  It should be easier, now I've got no hair.  And I have a hunch it's going to feel great."

"Maybe," Madeline grinned, relieved he wasn't angry.

"Where did you say Max was?"

"Sleeping over at a friend's."

"What good timing," Dan said.

"I think of everything," Madeline said modestly.

"You'll have to send him away for the night every time you trim my hair," Dan said, unbuttoning his cape and looking dispassionately at the useless locks on the floor.

"So it's going to be a regular thing then?"

Dan kissed Madeline, showering her with hair clippings. "Oh, I think so.  I'll just have to get used to it."

"Your secretary probably won't like it," Madeline couldn't resist jibing.

Dan stiffened. "Sharon? What's she got to do with it?"

"I saw the way she looked at you."

"Darling, Sharon's gay. She's into girls.  She told me I have  - or had – the same haircut as her current lover."  Dan suddenly realized the reason behind his shearing and didn't know whether to be angry or amused. Recalling how the clippers felt when his barberette wife pushed them through his hair, he decided on the latter.

Madeline started to laugh. She was still laughing when Dan carried her to the bedroom, her arms around his neck and her fingers touching his closely clipped head.

© Copyright Sabrina S, 1999