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"Nooooo, Beni! Te pareces como CALLOUI!"
Gabriela screamed when she laid eyes on Benito. Her hands flew to her face like the iconic painting The Scream. He at least, thank god, kept his beard.
"Qué carajo hiciste?!" it was like looking at a stranger in the body of the man she knew. She loved his curly hair. Loved it. The bigger, and longer, and curlier, and unruly and mane-like the better. She loved running her fingers through them and allowing her knuckles to get entrapped in the spirals. She loved helping him wash it and brush out the kinks. She loved massaging his scalp so the shampoo and conditioner could foam up in the warm bath.
"Beni..." she was about to full on cry outside her business meeting.
Her jewelry company, Diciembre Veintinueve, had a meeting with designers to create a new line of waist chains. It wasn't even 9 in the morning when her secretary informed Gabriela inside that Benito asked to talk to her. All the women on her team (her team was full of only women), rolled their eyes and audibly groaned.
Gabriela waved her away. No. Benito doesn't get to just come in and out of her life anymore. They had plans last night. He ghosted. She was done with him. Just like the other times, and the dozens of others before that.
Her secretary sighed, "He's not leaving..."
Too bad. Gabriela continued her business meeting. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was him. Ha, sent to voicemail. Nice try. Totally didn't see that coming.
Footsteps were heard from the hall outside. Everyone internally groaned. One woman looked at the designer next to her and whispered, "3...2..."
Benito opened the door of the business meeting, barging in that it was important, with Gabriela's secretary panicking behind him.
"Gabriela, tenemos que—"
She let out a scream before he could finish his sentence. It was long and drawn out. Everyone felt the hair of the back of their neck stand like needles. Even Benito looked wide-eyed and terrified, without knowing why.
What the fuck did he do to his hair?! She sobbed.
Now, they were out in the hallway as the meeting went on without her. Gabriela and Benito leaned on the walls facing each other, leaving the considerable distance of the hallway between them.
"It's a change," Benito muttered, about his hair (or lack of it). "Algo nuevo."
Gabriela felt tears in her eyes. She was overreacting - but she didn't care. His hair was a way they'd bond throughout the years. The way he looked now, too, reminded her of when they first met. He was more baby-faced then, and his shaved-down hair had a decorative shape that added style.
