Tug of War 33.3

"C-can I see it?" Timothy asked, anxious to check out the extent of the damage that had been done.

"Not yet, darling" Marlene, who was now rolling his hair with big hair rollers, intervened. "Remember that you agreed to wait until we finish working on you before checking the mirror."

"Oh, you need to be a patient girl, then, Tiffany" Sophia giggled. "Now, while I was working on your brows, I couldn't help it but noticed that your ears aren't pierced. Why that, honey? Don't you want to wear earrings?" 

Timothy almost screamed no, but he controlled himself before it was too late. "Umm... Absolutely, Sophia! I'd totally love that. But... I've always been afraid of needles." 

"There is no reason for that, girl. The procedure is almost painless. I can pierce your ears right now if you want to. Since you came here for a makeover, I think this would be the perfect time for you to start wearing pretty earrings."

"It... It would be superb, Sophia, but I think I need to ask my mom first" Timothy said, hoping that such an excuse would be good enough. 

"I don't think Susan would object at all" Marlene intervened again. "From what I remember, she even mentioned the last time she was here that you recently got a pair of lovely earrings as a gift, and that she could hardly wait for you to get your ears pierced. I'm sure that would be a pleasant surprise for her."

"Oh, that's decided then!" Sophia asserted. "I'll get the piercing gun right now. Just think of all the wonderful earrings you'll be able to wear pretty soon, Tiffany!"

Everything happened very quickly – so quickly that Timothy didn’t have time to think of some way out of that crazy situation. When he realized it, he was already wearing stud earrings, and Sophia was explaining to him how to take care of his ears during the next few days to prevent inflammation. 

Timothy was so stunned that he barely registered the fact that a third woman had approached him, and began to analyze his hands. She was in her twenties, had dark brown hair that was held in a bun, and a round face. As Timothy would find out later, her name was Ellen. 

"Your hands are pretty" the manicure said. "Slim and elegant fingers... smooth skin... but your nails are a bit too short. Would you like some extensions, dear?" 

"Extensions?" Timothy asked, confused. 

"Tiffany isn't very familiar with beauty salon procedures, Ellen" Marlene explained. "But yes, extensions are a splendid idea. Acrylic ones, I would say."

"What about the nail polish?" 

"I think 'you, me & the sea' will suit her wonderfully" Marlene once again answered, and the boy wondered what the hell she was talking about. Did all the nail polishes have freakish names like that one? 

As Timothy understood about twenty minutes later, when Ellen finished working on his hands and feet, 'you, me & the sea' was nothing more than a glorified name for hot pink. He felt very uncomfortable seeing his fingernails painted with such a girly color (just like his toenails), but the worse of all were the damn acrylic extensions. His nails were a lot longer now. This not only made his hands look even more delicate and feminine, but he was also sure that it would be impractical to use his hands to do anything. How could women live like that? He felt almost like Edward Scissorhands.

Timothy was getting more and more worried. It was clear that Marlene wasn't joking when she claimed that Tiffany would leave the salon looking like a new person. The so-called boy feared that this 'new person' would have a lot of trouble passing as a boy...