Robin Alexander - Pitifully Ugly

free, I’d like to take you to dinner.”

Marvin batted his eyes. “If you were a man, I’d take you in

the back and have my way with you.”

“Umm, thanks.” I backed away a step.

He reached out and grabbed my arm. “Come back here. Let

me look at this hair.” He fingered the ends of my strands and

made a face. “It grows so fast, you need a trim, little monkey. I

had a cancellation. You walked in at the right time.” My hair was

washed, and I was sitting in his chair before I knew what hit me.

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“So,” Marvin began with a grin. “Did Hailey take good care

of you?”

I nodded. “She did—”

Marvin planted his fingers firmly on the top of my scalp.

“Don’t nod, never nod when I’m cutting your hair.”

I nodded again out of reflex.

“Do you secretly want to be bald?” Marvin asked as his eyes

went round.

I was tempted to shake my head to really send him over the

edge. “No, I’ll be still.”

Marvin exhaled loudly and went back to work. “No movement.

Did she stay with you that night? Because she said she was.”

“She did and the next night, too.”

“Oh, she’s so sweet.” Marvin smiled as he moved around me.

“I bet she’ll say yes if you ask her out again.” Marvin let the

comment hang in the air, then rolled his eyes when I sat there

looking like a scared rabbit.

“Here’s where I’m at. I’m too afraid to ask and too afraid not

to.” I fought the urge to shrug, keeping my head still as Marvin

clipped and snipped. “I think she wants more, too, but if I push

her and she backs away again, I…hell, I don’t know what I’d do.

Chase or run, it’s all so frustrating, but I have to do something or

I’ll lose my mind.” When I looked at Marvin in the mirror, he was

sporting a toothy grin. “What?” I asked, annoyed that he found

my dilemma amusing.

“I don’t suppose that either of you realizes that you’ve basically

been,” he held up his fingers and made quote marks, ‘“courting’

each other. You’re on a collision course with love, and one of

you has to make the next move to advance to the next level.” He

leaned down and pressed his face against mine, catching my eyes

in the mirror’s reflection. “It’s gonna have to be you.”

Marvin went back to trimming as I mulled what he had to

say. As I thought back on my previous relationships, I’d always

been the passive one, waiting for someone else to make the first

move. I’d made a first move with Hailey once when I kissed her

in the courtyard only to have her withdraw a few days later. This

game of tug-of-war was making me weary. I kept waiting for a

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pull from Hailey’s side of the rope, but all I got was a few brief

jerks.“She’s afraid, she’s admitted that, and you are, too, but I’m not

so sure it’s rejection. I think you’re more afraid of what’s going

to happen between the two of you when things go well.” Marvin

cocked his head and winked.

I swallowed hard. He was right. It was time to confront the

niggling fear that I kept tucked away in the recesses of my mind.

“My dad…was unfaithful.”

Marvin rested his hands on my shoulders and sighed.

“Sweetie, I’m sorry.”

“Kalen never knew, just me and Mom. I think that’s why I’m

so shy, and she’s just so out there. I was so afraid that someone

would take the place of my mom. Like Dad would move her out

and bring someone else in.” I smiled ruefully. “I used to cling to

her leg whenever we had company. If she was going, I was going,

too.”Marvin looked as though he would cry. “Hailey cheated on

her husband. She told me.”

“I know in my heart that things can be good between us, but

I’m afraid that I’ll ruin everything worrying that one day she may

replace me.”

“A hairdresser, like a bartender, is often privy to secrets.”

Marvin squeezed my shoulders gently. “I listen to men and

women.” He lowered his voice. “A few that work here included

brag about their infidelity like it’s the latest fashion. Hailey’s

ashamed of what she did. You can see the pain in her eyes when

she talks about it.” Marvin shook his head. “Cheating is never

justified, but she didn’t step out on her marriage because she was

bored, but because she was coping with her sexuality.”

I digested what Marvin had to say as he dried my hair. Maybe

I hadn’t been tugging on the rope as hard as I thought I was, but

it was time to start.

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Pitifully Ugly

Chapter 28

Fuzzy favors.

On the drive home, I mentally rehearsed several scenarios for

asking Hailey out. I prepared myself for possible rejection, but

Hailey was going to have to come right out and tell me that she

didn’t want me before I’d give up. And if she did? I was moving

to Peru.

When I got off the elevator, I found Hailey standing in front

of my apartment with a leash in her hands. Her eyes were red and

puffy when she looked at me. With a small cry, she moved into

my arms and held me tight. “Fuzzy ran away,” she said with a sob.

“I can’t find her anywhere.”

With one arm around her waist, I opened the door to my

apartment and pulled her inside. “Just let me change my shoes

and we’ll go look together,” I said as I reluctantly let her go. I ran

into my room and tossed my boots into the closet and grabbed my

sneakers. “Where were you when she got away?” I asked when I

came back into the room.

Hailey turned from my window. “We were in the park. I was

talking to this guy who had a dog that sort of looked like her, and

when I turned around, she was gone.” Hailey’s face transformed

from sadness to panic. “She’s never run away. Do you think

someone took her?”

The same thought went through my mind as I pulled her into

my arms. “Maybe she chased a squirrel or something. I promise

that we’ll turn this city upside down until we find her.”

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We left the building on foot, retracing their steps toward the

park with both of us yelling, “Fuzzy,” at the top of our lungs.

Someone yelled back “navel.” At any other time, I would’ve found

that hilarious, but Hailey looked so distraught.

“Was she wearing her collar?” I asked.

“Yes, it has my phone number on it. Hopefully, someone

will call me—” Hailey patted her jacket pockets frantically until

she found her cell phone. “Wouldn’t you call if you found a dog

roaming?”

“Of course I would.” I tried not to let Hailey’s panic infect me

as we walked. One of us had to keep a cool head, though horrible

scenarios were running through my mind. Cars barreled through

the narrow streets of the Quarter without regard for pedestrians,

much less an animal. I worried with every corner we turned that

we’d find Fuzzy lying in the street. I couldn’t bear the thought of

Hailey seeing that.

We passed another couple walking their dog along the street.

“Have you seen a blond fluffy dog that sort of looks like a golden

retriever?” I asked.

The woman looked at us with compassion and shook her

head. “We’ll keep an eye out for her,” her husband offered. “Do

you have a number we can call if we spot her?”

I gave him my number and Hailey’s that he jotted on a card