Long hair love

Chapter 9 - Open but Controlled

Ishan lost the first bobby pin the next morning.

Ritika had attached both pins before leaving for work. By lunchtime, the one on his right side had disappeared.

He checked beneath his desk and beside the sofa. He even shook out the T-shirt he had changed before his first call.

The pin remained missing.

The following day, he removed the second pin before washing his face. He was certain that he had placed it beside the basin.

When he returned, it was gone.

That evening, Ritika listened while he blamed the small size of bobby pins.

"They are impossible to manage," he said.

"You lost two in two days."

"That proves my point."

"It proves that you need a punishment."

Ishan looked at her. "For losing hairpins?"

"A very serious punishment."

Ritika opened her palm.

Two plain black tic-tac clips rested there.

"Those are the punishment?"

"These close properly. You cannot blame them if you lose them."

She asked Ishan to sit at the dining table. Then she stood on his right side and gathered the soft front section that kept falling near his eye.

"Watch what I am doing."

Ritika pressed the curved clip until it opened with a small snap. She slid it over the gathered hair and pressed it again.

The clip closed flat against his head.

"That is one side," she said.

She handed him the second clip.

"You do the other."

Ishan held it between his fingers.

"Which side opens?"

"Press the middle."

He pressed too close to one end. Nothing happened.

"The middle," Ritika repeated.

This time, the clip opened.

Ishan gathered the hair near his left temple. His first attempt caught only the ends, and the clip hung too far back.

"Open it again," Ritika said. "Gather the whole front section first."

She showed him where to hold the hair but did not take the clip from him.

Ishan opened it, moved the section slightly forward, and pressed the clip shut.

It held at once.

He shook his head gently. Both clips remained in place.

"Better than bobby pins," he said.

"Because you can see them?"

"Because they hold tightly."

He moved his head again, harder this time.

Nothing slipped.

Ishan liked the clips immediately. They caught his soft front hair firmly and stayed exactly where he placed them.

"Punishment accepted," he said.

Over the next few weeks, he learned to use them without Ritika.

Sometimes one clip sat higher than the other. On the first morning, he caught only half the hair on his left side and had to start again.

But the small snap told him when each clip had closed properly.

He no longer needed to search for a nearly invisible bobby pin or ask Ritika to attach it.

On Sunday morning, Ishan came to the dining table wearing the black plastic hairband and one tic-tac clip on each side.

The hairband held the longer sections back. The clips secured the soft front strands that still tried to escape.

Ritika looked at all three accessories.

"Why are you wearing the hairband and the clips together?"

"More control."

"You do not need both."

"The clips only hold these small sections." Ishan pointed towards his temples. "The band keeps everything else back."

"The tic-tac clips can hold enough by themselves."

"How?"

Ritika finished her tea.

"Let us try a different hairstyle."

After breakfast, Ishan removed the plastic band and both clips. He placed the clips on the dining table and left the band beside his cup.

His hair fell loose around his face.

Ritika went to her room and returned with a comb.

"Sit properly," she said.

Ishan turned his chair away from the table.

Ritika first combed all his hair from the roots to the ends. The longest strands now reached his shoulders, while the softer front sections remained shorter and curved around his face.

She separated the hair on his right side. Starting near the front, she brushed that section backwards and slightly towards the side.

Then she opened one tic-tac clip.

Instead of placing it close to his temple, she fixed it near the middle of the side section, a little above his ear. The clip held the brushed hair back while the longer ends remained loose.

She repeated the same style on the left.

"Now shake your head," Ritika said.

Ishan moved his head gently from side to side.

The hair did not fall into his eyes.

It felt different from the hairband. The band had pushed nearly everything away from his face. With the clips, the longer hair remained loose over and around his ears. It moved when he turned his head.

He shook it once more.

The hair shifted forward from both sides, but only enough to frame his cheeks. His eyes remained clear.

The loose ends brushed his ears and touched the sides of his neck.

"This feels different," he said.

"Better?"

Ishan moved his head again before answering.

"Lighter."

Ritika looked at the finished style.

"You look cute."

Ishan became still.

"Cute?"

"Yes."

He stood and went to the mirror near the entrance.

Without the hairband, the full length of his hair remained visible. The two clips drew the front sections back evenly and opened his face. The rest curved softly around his cheeks before falling towards his shoulders.

It was clearly a girl's hairstyle.

That was the first thought that came to him.

He waited for the old discomfort to follow it.

Instead, Ishan smiled.

The hairstyle did not look untidy or accidental. It looked soft, neat, and complete. His clean-shaven face suited it more than he had expected.

He turned his head slightly.

The loose side hair moved with him, but the clipped sections remained controlled.

When Ishan returned to the dining table, he was still smiling.

He picked up the plastic hairband but did not put it back on.

"It is really not looking bad, right?" he asked.

Ritika shook her head.

"It looks cute."

Ishan touched one of the clips.

"I like the feeling more. My face is open, but the hair is still loose."

"Open but controlled," Ritika said.

"Yes. Exactly."

"Then keep it."

Ishan placed the hairband in the drawer.

The clips remained in his hair for the rest of Sunday.

The next morning, he tried to create the same style himself.

His sections were not as even as Ritika's, but the result was close enough. He opened his camera before a private call with Naina and Priya and saw the hairstyle in the preview.

This time, he did not consider removing it.

Priya noticed after their work discussion ended.

"New hairstyle?"

"Ritika showed me yesterday."

Naina looked at the two clips. "It suits the length."

Ishan moved one loose section away from his cheek.

"More importantly, it stays out of my eyes."

The explanation was true, but it was no longer the whole truth.

He also liked the way it looked.