Time ticking very slowly and without knowingly, the MC announced for all contestants for the Man's Cut and Blow Dry category to come on stage. The results for the Top 10 finalists will be announced soon. The whole room was filled with anxiety and excitement. I believed every contestant at this moment were so nervous and hoping that they are able to get into Grand Finals.
One by one, the MC called out each of the name of the contestants who made it to the Grand Finals. One of my Seniors name was called out and he had made it to the Grand Finals. We were so happy for him and we cheered so loudly that I thought; we looked like a bunch of monkeys jumping wildly around the room. As the number of finalists increased, the situation started to get tensed. The MC called out: " The 8th finalist goes to contestant no. 11, Mr Thomas Foo from Win Cut House. I was completely stunned and all I did was just to stare at my mentor. At this time, my model reacted faster than me; he pulled me along and both of us walked towards the front of the stage. All the audience were cheering and whistling very loudly, this feeling is indescribable. Still, I can't believe I had made it to the Grand Finals.
All 10 Finalists were called out and we were all standing on top of the stage with our models and Letter of Invitation to the Grand Finals. The first thing I did when I got off stage was to run to the public phone and called home to break the news to my mother. She sounded so happy on the other end of the call and she kept giving thanks to God.
I hung up the phone and walked towards my mentor and my seniors. All my seniors failed to qualified for the Grand Finals in the other categories except for that one senior who qualified for the Man's category together with me. My mentor told us that the Grand Finals will be 1 month away and need to start searching for new models and creations. Sad to say, the rest of my seniors didn't even congratulate me on my qualifying but instead they kept telling me that I was super lucky and I got a model with a good and nice hair texture and hairline. I happily acknowledged all that and I totally agreed with them.
The next day, everything was back to usual. There was no hype about the oncoming Grand Finals and I'm back to my usual salon cleaning chores. In fact, I didn't really went to search for a new model, as I reckon that my model's hair will out grow very fast in a month time. I decided to take the risk and I told my model to shampoo his hair twice or thrice a day; hoping that his hair will grow faster. ( is that a myth or what?) :)
Time passed very fast, in a twitch of the eye; the Grand Finals is here. On the day of the hair competition, I felt confident and in fact; the only thing that I worry about is that my model's hair might not grow long enough for the competition. I'm sure that I do not want to get some points deducted as a pre-cut model. The rest of my seniors did not attend the Grand Finals and only my mentor and his brother came along to support both me and my the other Finalist senior. The atmosphere of the Grand Finals was totally different from the Qualifying Rounds. There were a lot more audience in the Grand Finals as it was held in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. The Grand Ballroom was decorated like a grand wedding and 8 course dinner were served.
The procedures were the same and I waited patiently for my turn. However, the good thing about this time is; I didn't get "jelly-legs". After the Ladies' category, the MC announced for the Man's Cut and Blow-dry Finalists to get ready. As usual, our names were called out one by one to go up stage. When my name was called out, I walked towards the stage with confidence and no trembling of legs at all.
Up on the stage, I was kneeling down busy setting up my kit bag and when I stood up; I took a glance at the main entrance. There, standing right next to the main entrance; someone I never expected to see........
