Jessica could practically feel her gran’s arms wrap around her, smoothing out her frayed nerves. This is going to be a long ass day, she thought as she looked around the locker room, hoping no one would notice her more-than-yoga-pants-and-a-sweatshirt attire. The boots were a dead giveaway, so she yanked those off quickly, swiftly stuffing them into her cubby.
“Hey, hun,” Marnie said from behind. “Interesting evening?”
Jessica jerked her head up quickly, hitting her head on the locker shelf. “Dammit,” she swore under her breath. “Um, hi, Marnie. What do you mean?”
“We missed you last night. I was really hoping you’d join us, and I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Darren.”
“Oh! Yes, sorry about that. I ended up having a last-minute client added to my books.”
“Oh alright. Next time then?” She sounded sincerely sad.
Jessica all of a sudden felt compelled to touch Marnie. She reached out and placed her hand on the woman’s arm.
“I really appreciate you Marnie and the continual invites out. I have a hard time with new people, but you’ve been incredibly kind and welcoming. I promise I will make more of an effort.”
Jessica thought Marnie’s smile would reach her ears. Not only could she see the change in her coworker, but she received an overwhelming sense of elation, replacing what had been rejection. Before she could stop her, Marnie lunged forward and gave Jessica a huge hug.
“Okay, Marnie,” Jessica chuckled a little, “let’s get to work.” Marnie released her and went to her own locker to get ready.
All Jessica hoped for was to have a better workday than yesterday. Although yesterday did have some unexpected, welcomed surprises, but she left Roman’s in such a state of confusion. Will I ever see him again? she wondered as she prepped the room for her first client.
“Hello, Mrs. Sisko. I’m Jessica; I’ll be your masseuse today. Do you have any medical conditions or injuries I should be aware of?” Or any open wounds that would cause me to touch your blood and freak out? she almost added but thought better of it.
“Hello, dear. Every so often I get a pinched nerve in my upper middle back. It seems to have been agitated by the flight out here so that area is a little sensitive.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Yes, it’s quite frustrating really. Once it starts, I usually have to just rest for weeks. But of course, here we are in Vegas, of all places for it to flare up.” The woman almost looked like she was going to cry.
Again, Jessica had a compelling sense to reach out to the woman. She touched her arm and offered a warm smile.
“I will do whatever I can to ease your pain,” Jessica said and surprised herself with the conviction with which she replied. The tension Jessica hadn’t really noticed in the room started to lift a little, and Mrs. Sisko wiped a tear from her eye.
“Thank you, dear.”
“I’ll just pop out for a moment. Please undress to your level of comfortability and get situated under the blanket, facedown.”
When Jessica had given her a few moments, she returned to the room and situated the foot pillow. She then began to lightly touch her client on top of the blanket to connect herself to the person and get them used to being touched. She moved around in front of the headrest and slowly combed the women’s hair forward, brushing her scalp with her nails.
“I’m going to start with very light pressure, and we can increase it if you’re feeling alright.” Jessica warmed up some massage oil with citrus notes between her palms. The second she placed her full palms on Mrs. Sisko’s back, she sucked in a breath, receiving an intense shock of pain—but she wasn’t in pain, not at all. The pain was radiating from the woman on the table. Jessica couldn’t believe Mrs. Sisko had walked in here; she was more than a “little sensitive.”
“Oh dear,” Mrs. Sisko said and tensed up for a moment.
Jessica pulled her hands away. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you alright?”
“I… I’m not sure.” Jessica saw her back muscles moving around a little as the woman shifted her weight around. “There was a little bit of a strange sensation at first but that seems to be over. Probably just an initial reaction to the oil or something.”
Jessica was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the massage oil. She had a feeling she knew exactly what this was, but she really wasn’t in the mood to open up that can of worms; she had enough to deal with already.
She again placed her hands on Mrs. Sisko; this time the pain didn’t shock her as much, and she was able to begin working on her back. The more Jessica loosened the woman’s muscles, the more at ease she felt, or rather, they both felt. Not only that, but it felt like the room itself was changing color. Before, it seemed almost tinted in gray as soon as the client had entered the room. Now, it was more like a soft yellow, becoming clearer and brighter.
By the end of the massage, Jessica couldn’t feel any pain coming from Mrs. Sisko at all. When she removed the eye pillow sachet, it looked like tears had fallen from the corner of the woman’s eyes.
“Oh, ma’am. Are you alright? You should have spoken up if something wasn’t feeling right.”
“Oh no, dear. That’s not it at all. I’m… I haven’t felt this good in… well, probably years if you must know. I feel like I could get back into running or kayaking. I honestly feel incredible, and I’m so grateful. Thank you. Thank you very much.” This pushed her over into actively crying.
“Oh. Um. Yes. You’re welcome; glad I could help. I’ll just give you a few minutes. Take your time; stay there as long as you’d like. When you’re ready to leave, I’ll be waiting outside the room with some water.”
All of Jessica’s clients usually left seemingly very happy and satisfied with her work. This was a bit different and caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Well great, this day is off to a weird start, she thought as she stood outside the room. Although, she couldn’t ignore the fact that she also felt pretty damn good considering she’d been up now for just over 24 hours.
Over the next few hours and clients, Jessica tried to be more intentional with her work. She always listened to her customers, but now she paid more attention to what their bodies were telling her. Mrs. Sisko was not the only client to leave in tears of relief. With every person that she treated, she also felt re-energized and calm.
Throughout the day, whenever her thoughts shifted to Roman and started spiraling, they would stop as soon as she started with another client and her anxiety melted away. Instead of feeling drained when it was time to go home, she felt restored.
But at the end of the day, when all she had left were thoughts of Roman and realizing she’d probably never see him again, she settled back into a familiar feeling of depression wrapped in confusion.
Guess it’s time to have it out with Gran, she thought as she headed out to Uber home.
CHAPTER 5
“Hey old man, did you get enough rest after you pussied out last night?” Vance started in on Roman before the meeting had even started. “I bet your wrist is just as sore as your shoulder now. You really missed out on the females; Leighton didn’t seem to mind fucking me instead.” Vance gave Roman a wink and elbowed him in the side.
Roman didn’t have a chance to respond before Tanner cut in. “Wait. I thought I saw you wandering around last night outside The Venetian. You seemed pretty fucking cozy with that human woman you were with.”
“What? A woman? What’s he talking about?” Xavier asked, concern and curiosity mixed in his voice.
