Bed Sheets II

55. Haircut

"Do I really need this haircut?" Draven raised an eyebrow, staring at himself in the mirror from the stylist's seat.

"Give him a fade at the lower end of his neck," Eric and the stylist both ignored him.

Draven furrowed his brows, "I thought longer hair looked good on me, to be honest."

"Trim the sides and leave the front long," Eric continued to explain.

He twirled the seat and faced them, "You didn't think it looked good?"

"Get rid of that filthy beard, trim it nicely and give him a lineup."

"It's not filthy," Draven finally caught their attention, and both of them turned to face him.

The stylist snorted, "Not to be rude but yes, it is filthy. If you walked in the streets, I'd assume you to be homeless."

"How much do you think that would be?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

After twirling Draven in the seat, he said, "Thirty."

"Here—"

"No," Draven extended his hand to reach for Eric's money but the stylist grabbed it before he could. "Eric, take it back, I'm paying."

"Stop being difficult—I'm going to go sit down," and Eric walked away before Draven could protest even more. Once the haircut and the trimming of the beard was done, Eric instantly took a few pictures and felt a warmth flow through his stomach.

Then, as they headed back towards the vehicle, Draven grumbling about he was upset Eric had paid for him, Eric said, "I'm bringing you somewhere for a few hours; you'll know when we get there." Draven was skeptical, but the moment they reached the location, he inhaled a sharp breath and instantly looked down at his physique. That was when Eric nodded his head, "I brought you workout clothes; let's go inside."

"You think my body looks different?"

"Look at your stomach Draven; we're getting that back in control."

He hadn't noticed, but now that Eric mentioned it, he had gained a few unnoticed pounds. Although he had not cared about it prior to today, he descended from the car with unexpected motivation. They did a few workout exercises for about two hours before Eric decided it was enough for today.

Both were dripping sweat when they headed back towards the home, and when Draven attempted to step inside his bedroom, Eric gripped the back of his shirt and shoved him towards the showers, "We're working on all your unfinished projects."

That caused Draven to raise an eyebrow, "What?"

"You got fired because you breached contract." When Draven nodded, Eric smirked and said, "Let's un-breach it then see where it gets us."

"What do you mean un-breach it?"

"In the next four weeks, this will be your pattern. Wake up, breakfast, gym, snack, then work on your projects until the nighttime and then dinner. By the end of the four weeks, you should have finished all four of these projects and be back in shape."

He raised his eyebrows, "But how does that un-breach—"

"The only reason you're in trouble and got fired was because you met no deadlines—not because you went to work drunk or because you lost your team. So show that all your projects are finished and that you can return back to the original deadlines of each chapters."

He tilted his head, "They need to be edited and refined—"

"I'm an editor, aren't I?"

"You really think the Chancellor will take me back? You think this is going to work?"

"I have no idea if it will or not, but we can at least try, right?"

Draven observed Eric for a moment, examining every crease in his face, the way his eyes glinted with hope and how his smile pulled his lips apart widely, as if he could already see the finish line. With a short pause, he then asked, "Why are you doing this for me?"

Eric remembered something Draven had told him long ago, and he tilted his head, "Isn't it obvious why?"