My Wife is an E-Ghost!

Brand New Look

The strong chemical smell of hair products invaded Tynan's nose as he entered the salon that he hasn't been to in half a year. His hair was already touching his shoulder and the natural waviness of his red locks was becoming a tangled mess since he hadn't maintained it.

It didn't take long for Laura to figure out that Tynan hated the hair salon with passion. The man kept fidgeting and scowling whenever the stylist touched his hair and praised it. The lady with rainbow fringe kept asking him a volley of questions that Tynan didn't know how to answer or particularly care for.

Hence, the e-ghost took matters in her own hands and texted Tynan to communicate with the distressed programmer.

Laura: Do you want to keep it long or short?

Tynan looked up from his phone and asked the hairstylist if he could maintain the length of his hair. It was a pain to keep coming back to the salon because his hair grew as quick as the unattended grass outside. He didn't want to t*****e himself every two months to visit the salon or a barber. The last time he went to a barber, the old man shaved his side off and Tynan went to work feeling very n***d. Many people stared at him and he knew he had a bad haircut when he had one.

"Your hair is currently at a nice length to tie it up. Could you tell me how you normally tie it up so that I can make suggestions to the style if you don't have any in mind yet?" the stylist smiled and Tynan held onto his phone like a lifeline, hoping that Laura would text him a clue.

Laura: Tell her you don't usually tie it and ask her how she would recommend you to manage it to look professional. You need to take a good photo for a job interview.

After reading her text, the programmer repeated her words to the enthusiastic stylist who was suddenly full of energy. As a stylist, it wasn't often she was given the carte blanche to decide on behalf of the customer.

The hyper stylist brought out hairstyle magazines and pointed at a few pictures for Tynan to refer to.

"Here we have the simple man-bun hairstyle where you can pull everything back so that it looks a little like slicked-back hair. Of course, if you want to cover your forehead and give your face a more defined feature, you could opt for an asymmetrical fringe. Your hair is naturally wavy so I would recommend layering it a little so that the waves can fall nicely for you to tuck behind your ear if you want to part it."

Tynan looked at it and took a picture so that Laura could refer to it. The dirt princess tried to picture that hairstyle with Tynan's personality and shook her head.

Laura: It looks a little too wild and aggressive for you. Why don't we go for something simple? You like to comb your hair to a side, see what she says about it. Something with minimal styling required to change up a look for work as well because you're not very good at styling yourself.

Tynan took Laura's advice and relayed those words to the stylist who didn't look discouraged that her suggestion was shot down. Instead, she brought out even more magazines and showed Tynan a whole variety that he could choose from, meeting Laura's requirements.

"Some of the minimalist styles include this popular Japanese host cut. It's something like an asian mullet so if you're looking for something that you can grow out longer than it is now, you could consider it. Your hair also has a great volume so I assume taming it would be difficult. I highly recommend layers on the inside if you want a neat fringe to cover the outside."

Laura studied the pictures and listed the pros and cons of each hairstyle. Tynan didn't know what he wanted by the end of the discussion and told Laura to pick something she thought would suit him and look good for the picture.

Tynan: Please don't make it too flashy, I don't want to attract too much attention at work. Something simple and easy to maintain would be the best.

Laura grinned and assured him that she would pick something good.

Laura: Tell the stylist you want the simple long fringe that is layered on the inside that is good for any kind of parting. A little uneven length would be alright as long as you can tie the sides and the back. You want to sweep the fringe to a side or be able to tuck them behind your ears. As for the side and the back, tell her to maintain the length but decrease the volume. She should know what to do."

Tynan did as told and the hairdresser looked very pleased.

"Wise decision, customer! Leave it to me! Other than a cut and a wash, is there anything else you'd like to do? Perhaps a treatment or a dye?"

Tynan smiled and rejected the offer politely. "Just a cut and a wash, please."

Satisfied, the stylist went to grab her tray full of pins and scissors. Tynan sat still on the hairdresser's chair and lifted his chin so that she could tuck the hairdresser gown. The fabric was uncomfortable but Tynan put up with it. He couldn't chat with Laura from his position but he could at least give the e-ghost a view about what was going on.

While the hairstylist was busy preparing what she needed for the big job, Tynan propped his phone up on the dressing table in front. Laura hid within the phone's wallpaper and did her best to look like an image or an AI. The messaging app was still open so she could still communicate with Tynan if she wanted to.

Excited, Laura waited for the stylist to return. The messy red locks that tangled easily into a bird's nest were slowly transformed into a mid-length wavy auburn hair, lightly layered and easy to change up. The stylist worked her magic with every snip and tug with the comb. Tynan didn't know how much was getting cut away until she removed the gown and told him to follow her to the washing area.

"Is that all my hair?" he asked in disbelief.

The cheerful stylist laughed and nodded. "You didn't think that I was cutting a lot, did you? That's the magic of layering your hair. It should feel a lot lighter after the wash but the length would still be maintained. I'll help to blow dry and style it so that you can see the difference a good haircut makes. With that, I think you can take a good picture for the job you're applying for. You're wearing quite a nice shirt today so we could help you take one if you need."

Tynan didn't know what to say as he climbed onto the chair and lay down so that his head was in the sink. Laura was still waiting at the dressing table, bored out of her mind now that Tynan was gone. She had to admit, the stylist knew what she was doing. The e-ghost couldn't wait to see the final result and tried not to be caught moving around on the screen and messing with Tynan's apps.

The man returned looking like a wet dog as the stylist twisted a towel onto his head, making it look like a soft serve.

Slowly but surely, the hair dryer did its job and the freshly cut hair was styled with a combination of pulling it with a comb and applying heat. For the finishing touch, she used some hair mousse and combed it with the left parting, l*****g back the sides behind Tynan's ears. The length sat nicely at his collar and Tynan looked at his reflection in amazement.

Laura secretly took pictures of Tynan's reaction and transformation process and was very satisfied with the new look. With this, he no longer looked like the unconfident fresh graduate who couldn't find a full-time job. He looked like a confident young entrepreneur who was hardworking and intelligent. As far as first impressions went, this was the exact look he needed to attract his clients.

The glasses-wearing nerd was now a glasses-wearing professional. It was amazing what a good haircut could do and Laura wanted to thank the stylist for doing a fantastic job.

"There we go, all finished! Check out the back," she said and held up a huge hand-held mirror so that Tynan could check out how his new hair looked like behind.

The programmer was at a loss for words. He couldn't believe that this was really him and kept staring at the reflection in the mirror.

Satisfied that her customer liked it so much, the stylist asked if Tynan needed help taking a good photo for his interview.

"I believe that with this, you wouldn't be losing out in terms of first impressions. Pass me your phone and stand against that wall, the lighting there is great. we should take a few pictures so that you can choose which one to edit and use for your résumé."

Tynan thanked the stylist and passed his phone to her. Laura quickly hid but she monitored the camera app from behind the scenes. To help Tynan, she called out filter applications and adjusted the angle so that Tynan would look the best.

The hairstylist snapped a few pictures and even suggested some poses that Tynan adopted with ease. At the back of her mind, Laura wondered why he wasn't a model. He was good looking when he cleaned up and was a natural in front of cameras. Well, it didn't matter. She now had control over his phone and he wouldn't notice if she installed a social media app in the background and uploaded his photos secretly, right?

"There we go, I hope you like it. That will be a total of fifty dollars," she smiled.

Tynan paid it with his card and thanked the lady once more before leaving with Laura in his pocket, satisfied.

"Did you like it?" he asked the e-ghost and Laura smiled.

"Loved it!"

Although he hated haircuts, it was worth it to see Laura love it so much. Still, he would have to starve for a while to make up for the fifty dollars he didn't factor into this month's expenditure, not that he was going to let Laura know.