26 --

TV FICTION CLASSICS

"Where did you get your hair done? It looks like a super job, maybe I'll go there next time."

"Well it's a lady that works out of the Palace. She has a kind of mini salon. Her name is Ann Bergen," Alan replied.

"Ann Bergen? Hey, do you know Mark Richardson, that's his mother's hotel I believe?" Cindy said, surprised at hearing Alan's

answer.

"I don't know him very well, but. . .," Alan launched into the story of how he had been talked into his perm. When he was finished a grinning Cindy said,

"That's amazing! My best friend Evelyn is Mark's girlfriend." "Really?!" Alan exclaimed. He thought about the comment that Mark's mother had made earlier that day about Mark's girlfriend, "She loves to play with Mark's hair and stuff."

"Yeah, they're a fun couple! I'm going out to New York with my mother to visit some relatives this week. But when I get back in two weeks we've got to get together with Evelyn and maybe Mark if he's in town...he's going to be a rock star, you know?"

"Yeah, sounds great," Alan answered. She was talking about more dates already. Was he finally getting himself a girlfriend?

As lunch progressed, Alan began to loosen up a little. He found that Cindy was actually a very warm and fun person as opposed to the beautiful, stuck-up cheerleader that he may have taken her for only a few months ago. She put him at ease and soon she was holding his hand across the table. They were about finished and Cindy was stating that she would have to hurry because her plane left this evening and she had a lot of packing to do.

"I'll talk to Evelyn this afternoon and arrange a night out for the four of us as soon as I'm back," Cindy said. Then with a mischievous twinkle in her eye she added,

"I don't know how much you know about Mark but we're going to have to get you some clothes that are real sharp. I don't want Evelyn's boyfriend outshining mine on a date."

"What do you mean?" Alan asked.

"Oh...Mark dresses a little more trendy, actually more exotic than most guys," Cindy tried to explain.

"His mother said that he sometimes wears his hair in a French Braid," Alan said in a bare whisper so that no one else might hear. "Oh yeah! It looks gorgeous!" Cindy gushed.

"Really?" Alan asked in confusion. "Doesn't it make him look sissyish?"

"I don't know what sissyish is, but Evelyn and I aren't into macho guys. They're just self-centered dolts. We like our men to be sensitive and not afraid to be soft. Maybe that's why I'm so attracted to you Alan...you look very romantic with that curly hair. . .like those guys on the covers of romance novels," she said appearing almost embarrassed or flustered. Was she blushing?

HAIR TODAY, GOWN TOMORROW -27 "Gee...thanks. I'm really happy that I had it done. Otherwise you may have never noticed me."

"Well I have noticed you in a big way," Cindy replied as she rose to leave. "And I'm not going to let you get away." She added with a meaningful stare that went right through the infatuated young

man.

Alan left money for the bill and quickly followed Cindy out the door. He walked her to her car. Cindy stood toe to toe with him. Slipping her arms around his waist she pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.

"I'll miss you Alan," she said with a deep breathy whisper. "But why don't you pick me up at the airport when I get back." She scribbled down some info on a slip of paper and handed it to him.

"That's my flight time." She kissed him again making him almost weak at the knees. Then just before she pulled away she said, "Why don't you get Ann to do you hair into a French twist the day you pick me up. It will drive me WILD," her voice purred with sensuality.

"I...I will...sure!" Alan stammered back. His inexperience with women was certainly showing now. But wow, was he turned on by this delicious temptress. In moments, she was gone down the street with just a hand wave out her window to him as he stood watching. Alan Taylor was in love...or at least in lust! As he walked back to his own car he finally thought to himself, "What the heck is a French twist??"

Chapter 5

Alan was walking on air the rest of that week. He had a hard time concentrating on job hunting. Depending on how his hair looked each evening, he had to face putting it up in rollers for the night.

Alan had become reasonable proficient in setting his own hair, but his mother usually offered her help. He noticed that she changed the pattern she used almost each time. On Thursday morning, after she combed it out he was shocked.

"Mom, I can't wear it like that," he complained as he stared at himself in the mirror. He had been seated facing away from the mirror absorbed in reading a magazine and wasn't paying attention to what she was doing for so long. Now he knew!

His mother had backcombed, sprayed, and PINNED his hair up into what he would later learn is called a "Gibson Girl"! All his hair puffed out smoothly at the sides and back as it swept up onto the top of his head where it was formed into a cute chignon.

"Oh...I guess not," his mother said with a smile. "But I was just dying to try it. Your hair is so manageable now, that I guess I'm jealous." She had had her fun and she now reluctantly removed the bobby pins and proceeded to restyle Alan's hair into a more suitable style. However, each day Karen Taylor modified his setting pattern, making the final style a little more feminine than the day before.