She seems to me to one of the happiest people I know. Though I recognise that I only see what he calls her ‘public face’. And I can see that things do make her anxious and she cares what her clients think of her. But when she talks about setting off in her camper van on a Friday afternoon (‘We call it Bessie,’ she said) with her beloved W and her dog she is happy. It makes me feel so free, she said. And I share that joy, for those ten minutes I sit with her as she trims my hair. Though as I say her clients do trouble her. ‘The teachers are the worst,’ she said. There was one who didn’t turn up for her appointment and so she called to see if she ‘hadn’t fallen off the bus’. The woman clearly was put out by the call and was unapologetic about missing the booking. ‘How about we rebook now, ‘she suggested, ‘and you can put it on you calendar?’ ‘No,’ said the woman, ‘I’m frying bacon and eggs.’
