Ah Morning Alice

Rebekah Romeo.

That name will be forever etched into my soul. She was my drama teacher back in school. A beautiful, fearsome woman with a good heart and a smoking body. Even now, just thinking back to those days causes my breathing to hasten slightly. You could argue that it was just teenage hormones fabricating a skewed perception of confident elegance, but it didn't matter. That woman was more often than not the sole reason I'd turn up to school some days and that's how I choose to remember her.

~~

Wow, that dream was something else.

It took some serious willpower -

and recalling that scene of Grandad's scrotum hanging out of his shorts

- to calm down enough where I could walk without being branded a sex pest. I've always had a pretty vivid imagination, but that thing with Wendy just now was something else; and what was with that smile as she left? Surely she couldn't have known what I'd been thinking about? Was it that obvious?

I pause for a moment in reflection, trying to rationalise the situation.

Eh, it's probably not terrible if she does know... I mean, she's smoking hot after all, and there was no indication that she was upset about it.

After a pit stop in the bathrooms and a splash of cold water on my face, I finally head towards room four.

The staff corridor leads into a large, high ceiling room. It's designated as a public waiting area for check-ins and stuff, with a coffee and snack machine to the side. Normally I'd walk straight through, towards the freshly renovated rooms, but today my destination is the temporary pedestrian barrier on the left. I use my best contortionist skills to get past -

meaning: I awkwardly climb over the fucking thing like a new-born giraffe

- then precariously negotiate the clusterfuck of construction materials littered through the original wing of the day Spa.

This side of the facility is a real mess nowadays. I recall back to when I started working here, I'd felt an instant fondness for the roman themed decor of the place. It was just aesthetically pleasing, like someone had specifically designed it that way. I remember having the impression that if it weren't for Health and Safety laws, the staff would've been walking around barefoot in loin cloths and tunics or something.

I finally arrive at the entrance to room four. It's literally stacked floor to ceiling with linens and consumables. There's this really odd atmosphere where sound seems to get sucked away. Supposedly, the guy who owns this joint had shipped in a container full of stuff last year as a tax write-off.

Assuming she's in the back somewhere, I call out to Wendy, but there's no answer. Figuring she's probably gone to the bathroom or something, I haphazardly duck and weave my way inside, ready to formulate a plan for tackling the monstrous task ahead of us. Rather than stacking everything methodically in order to easily access it later, the large mosaic floor space is littered with random towers of linen, robes and other junk. It's such a fucking mess.

I spend a couple of minutes pondering the best course of action - definitely not procrastinating - when Wendy appears from behind a wall of towels.

"Heya" a chirp in her voice.

It sounds oddly distant despite how close she is, compliments of the weird sound absorption.

"Hey" I respond vaguely, still somewhat caught up in thought.

"I'd been hoping to focus on the bulkier stuff today, seeing as there's two of us. But it seems they've added some stuff since I was last here... What a fucking mess."

"I know, it's a bit of a disaster" she giggles, looking around in awe.

"From memory, there should be a flat trolley that we can use in that back corner somewhere, so I guess we start clearing towards that."

"Okie dokie" It's cute the way she says this.

We commence digging our way through the myriad of unopened articles, like dumpster-diving archaeologists searching for trinkets of worth. Our joint effort feels slow and arduous but after a while there's noticeable progress in that, small sections of flooring are now visible.

I attempt to make light of the dull work by humouring Wendy, putting on my best (terrible) croc hunter impersonation.

"We're deep in the beasts 'nitural hibitet', on the hunt for a rare and dangerous 'spicimin'." Success, she's laughing.

"According to local 'ligend', an elite team of the world's greatest 'advinturers' stumbled into this remote and isolated landscape and disappeared, never to be heard from again" "Oooh'' she's playing along now.

"There's only one creature I know of that could be responsible for such a 'tirrible' event. They call it," pause for dramatic effect.

"Vampirus Glorius!" She cracks up now and I can't help but laugh with her.

After a few moments, her laughter suddenly turns to a high pitched squeal, then silence.

I turn back to where she'd just been standing only to see legs poking out the bottom of a toppled tower of packaged towels.

"Fuck!" I dart back and frantically start scooping armfuls of the plastic parcels off of the pile, throwing them haphazardly out of the way.

"WENDY!?" no answer.

I launch a few more armfuls, at last uncovering her face. Her eyes are closed but she's smiling at least.

"Fuck me, are you ok?" My voice is more shrill than usual and she seems to pick up on it.

"Aww, did you think the Gloria thing got me" giggling again.

"No!" I stammer indignantly, trying but failing to sound more casual.

"Aww, poor darling, you were scared for me, that's so sweet" I grab a sealed towel packet and place it back over her face - more giggling, only muffled.

Removing the packet once more, "You ok or what?"

"Yeah... It's not that heavy, just scared me that's all"

I extend a hand to pull her free from the linen man trap and yank her upright. However, she's much lighter than I anticipated and the momentum causes her to stumble face first into my chest. This catches me off guard and I stagger back, tripping on something in the process before falling back, pulling her down with me.

The landing is soft enough but then Wendy's knee ploughs into my groin, causing me to simultaneously keel in shock.

The delayed pain kicks in with a vengeance, I'm dying, I'm sure of it.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she breathlessly stammers through fits of laughter before awkwardly rolling off my foetal-positioned corpse. I make no effort to respond, I couldn't speak if I wanted to, my balls now reside in my stomach somewhere. This apparently warrants even more laughter.

We lay side by side like this for a while, me with teeth gritted fighting back the unmanly tears forming in my eyes, and she struggling for breath from laughing so hard.

After what feels like an eternity of agonising pain somewhere in my abdomen, the aching starts to subside, as does her laughter. I embrace the relief and breathe a little easier. The room at last falls silent and the eerie atmosphere returns compliments of the odd acoustics, only now it's almost pleasant.

"You could probably fuck as loud as you want in here." Caught off guard by the comment, I simultaneously snort and choke while she giggles like a mental patient.

Wendy then rolls back onto me, resting her arms and head on my chest.

I look down my nose at her and she's staring up at me, making her eyes appear larger and innocent.

"So... are you gonna tell me what you were dreaming about in that meeting?" Caught off guard yet again.

"Oh, ah..." she cuts me off with another short fit of laughter.

I'm struggling with what to say.

"You know, I've never really noticed it before, but you have really kind eyes." She's almost examining me. "You always look so serious. But now, up close it's... I dunno, it's different."

"Yeah?! I-I think it's the lighting or something."

Lighting?! What the fuck, Mike? Say something cool for fuck sake.

I'm getting that tingle in the back of my neck again.

We're just staring into each others eyes now, it should be cliché and probably awkward but it's not, it feels nice. My earlier groin pain has now transitioned to a dull ache.

On impulse, I strain my head forward and kiss her, holding it for a moment but then becoming unnerved by the way she's still looking at me with eyes wide open. I pull away and slowly lie back again, instantly feeling like a fucking idiot for misreading the situation. She must think I'm some kind of sex offender, I'm probably gonna get fired now.

She doesn't move though, just continues staring with those big eyes while I race for excuses like a guilty child.

Ah fuck it! NO!! What is this impulse?? Stop you fucking idiot!!

My brain does the thing again and I strain forward for reasons beyond my comprehension, this time she leans into me and we kiss once more. That's all I needed, it fills me with confidence.

I take her head in my hands and we press into each other's lips, her mouth opens slightly and I prod the tip of her tongue with my own. She accedes and we begin a chaotic back and forth, driving deep then retracting, taking in the coarse yet soft contours of her tongue as I go.

I eventually sit up and she repositions, parking her arse side saddle onto my lap but not breaking the kiss. I drop an arm around the small of her back and pull her into me, hyper aware of the fact that her tits are now hard pressed against my chest. I lower the other hand to her knee and delicately slide up the outside of her thigh. My fingers make contact with the hem of her shorts leg and proceed to edge further up her thigh under the fabric.

She grabs my arm and then pulls away from the kiss.

"Oh?" is all I manage.

"Not here, sorry." She doesn't sound convincing but I don't push the matter.

We sit like that for a moment before I nod in acknowledgment. This appears to satisfy her and she leans back into my chest, this time putting her head on my shoulder.

"This was nice though."

"Yeah." I agree with a short laugh.

"I guess we can rule out Gloria then," she sort of mutters.

"Hey?"

"As in, who you were dreaming about."

"Ohh..." I'm laughing loudly now, more from the confirmation of being busted than anything.

"How do you know I wasn't?"

"Oh?" She feigns surprise.

"I'll have you know that our mutual love for cat sweaters has triggered something within me, we're actually kindred spirits." Now she's laughing, fuck I love her laugh.

"So you're saying this thing that's poking me in the butt is for Gloria?" She wiggles her arse on my lap, making me even harder. What a fucking tease...

"You know, if you keep doing that, I might just have to take advantage of this soundproofing." She pulls away from my shoulder wearing that same devious smile from back in the meeting and then kisses my half open mouth.

"Well then we really would have a Gloria Monster after us." She stands up and irons out her uniform.

"Come on, before you start drooling again." She then exits the room, leaving me sitting on the floor pondering what the fuck just happened.

1300hrs

I spent my lunch break in relative solace, nibbling on a semi stale sandwich from the vending machine. That thing with Wendy earlier was great for curbing my anxiety over any potential confrontation with Alice's

possibly

-ex-husband, Dave. But since then, like a circling shark, this morning's events have slowly skulked back into my head.

Alice was Jacob's mother, and she'd pretty much raised Jacob alone until Dave entered the picture. Jacob was one of our good mates through school but also a kid from my block, so we'd knocked around together for years. That is at least until he and Sarah hooked up, then it was like he didn't have much time for the boys anymore. I guess that absence started affecting Alice as well, because it wasn't long after that that I started seeing Dave around their place.

Alice was always like the mum that the rest of us wished we'd had, caring, fun and always willing to lend an ear to your problems. I'd often end up over at Jacob's house after a bout with my old man, he was a vet with PTSD and he'd treat it by drinking from morning till night almost every day of the week.

My mum on the other hand had come from a strict religious family, and so doing something improper like leaving Dad just wasn't on the cards. I wish she had though, maybe then she'd still be alive. Dad didn't kill her or anything -

I should clarify

- but he's certainly not innocent in the matter. He'd get abusive and treat her like shit, then when he grew tired of that, he'd start on me. Early on, Mum would intervene, but when Dad started getting physical with her, she eventually backed off. It didn't shock me much to learn that she'd started drinking too, likely as a coping mechanism. Although considering how she put up with Dad's bullshit, she was probably drinking long before the physical violence, just hid it better than he did.

I was fourteen at the time, Mum had been out for lunch with friends - which I now know means that she'd been at Mandy's house drowning the sadness in vodka. On the drive home to make dinner for the old man, she was T-boned by a rich girl who'd run a red light, in the corvette her dad had bought her a week prior. Witnesses said the girl had been fucking around with her phone, but the alcohol in Mum's blood had the girl's lawyers salivating.

I should've been shattered at the time, but I just wasn't. I feel more guilt about that than anything else. She deserved so much more than my apathy... She deserved happiness in a life without Dad, but she'd been too scared to chase that happiness alone. And in a way I'd blamed her for that, blamed her for being too weak to walk away. At the time, it felt like the crash had given her an exit from this shitty life and I couldn't help but feel relief for her. I know I'm a piece of shit for having those thoughts, but what was worse was that the people in my life still accepted me. It felt sickening, like I was hiding a monster in plain sight and nobody even suspected it.

Alice changed that. Alice reminded me that I was still human, made me realise that despite hardship, families can still care for each other. And parents spiralling into darkness is the exception and not the rule. Once I figured that out I started spending a lot more time over at Jacob's place, and Alice inadvertently became everything I'd missed out on from my own parents. She became my teacher, giving advice on anything and everything, school, women, life, and perhaps more importantly, she helped me understand my feelings towards mum.

Excluding the subject of Mum, Jacob had already benefited from years of tutorship regarding these subjects. It'd paid off too because he'd hooked Sarah early on, probably the prettiest girl our age. Now it was my turn and I soaked that shit up like a sponge.

A couple of years later, Jacob landed his first part-time job and in doing so, discovered the independence that comes with having his own money. He and Sarah were in it for the long haul and once he could afford to take her out properly, it was rare to find him home when I'd visit. On the other hand, although her usual jovial self, Alice became more animated than usual when I'd turn up. I guess in Jacob's absence, she was just grateful for the company. After Mum had died, I'd been spending more and more time at their place, to the point where I didn't even care if Jacob wasn't home. Alice would enthusiastically ask all the regular parent questions and I was happy to oblige with answers. How was school, did I do well on X exam, which girl was I chasing that week, was I studying for my driver's licence etc. She'd really become the guiding figure in my life that I hadn't realised I'd needed.

Then one night, we'd been watching a movie together. Jacob had gone to bed halfway through because he had work early the next morning, leaving Alice and I on the couch. None of us had realised that the fucking movie was a director's cut as it'd dragged on for hours. At some point I must've dozed off because the next thing I recall is waking up with Alice snuggled into my shoulder, hand resting on my lap. The movie had ended and although I had no idea what the time was, it was clearly pretty late.

"Oh wow, sorry, I must've fallen asleep." I muttered sleepily.

This was enough to wake Alice because soon after she started stirring. It took her a moment but she suddenly sat upright and scooted away from me like she'd just touched a leper.

"Oh! Umm, wow it's late, huh!" She jumped between words in oddly high tones.

"Yeah, it dragged on for a bit." I chuckled.

Then she abruptly rose from the couch, darting looks between me and the TV.

"Well ah, okay darlin', I'm off to bed, night!" and she disappeared without another word.

A few weeks later, I walked in through the back door of that house looking for Jacob. I'd barely taken a few steps into the kitchen when vice-like hands grabbed me around my neck and shoved me against the wall. That was the first time I met Dave.

1400hrs

I push open the large wooden door and enter Room 9. The lighting is significantly dimmer than the rest of the building and it takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. For some reason it reminds me of Mediterranean pirates who'd wear eye patches to avoid being ambushed by waiting defenders. I chuckle at the thought of Gloria's annoying fucking voice questioning why the hell I'm suddenly wearing an eye patch.

Excuse me, Gloria, but I feel that your insensitive comments about my people's cultural dress are borderline vilification.

I chuckle again.

Stupid Gloria...

"Care to explain?" A woman's voice emits from the darkened room.

"Oh hello, haha. Sorry I didn't realise you were back there, It's just taking me a moment to see in here."

"Ah yes, it's lovely and dark in here. It's so nice after staring at a screen all day." There's a touch of rasp to her voice but it's smooth and sensual. It's clear that she's older, but her annunciation gives an air of refinement that I've come to associate with the higher class women who frequent the spa.

My eyes at last catch up to my surroundings and I can see the room clearly. The woman is already lying face down on the table with a towel covering her arse.

"Okay, I can actually see now. I'm just going to set a few things up first and then we'll get started."

"Oh I'm looking forward to it." That voice again, like honey in my ears, if honey in my ears wasn't gross.

I peruse the tray table that's already been set up as per the booking. Most bookings come with a choice of scented candles and oils, creams and complimentary beverages. The deluxe booking includes even more, like champagne, face masks, cleansers, toners, moisturisers, basically a bunch of stuff that I didn't know existed before working here.

I light the candles and place them around the room.

"Hmm, lavender and bergamot. A very nice choice."

God I'm so fucking full of shit.

I know the scents because of how many times I've had to restock them but I'm sure I'll get PTSD from this shit one day.

"Yes, it's one of my favourites, I nearly went with the eucalyptus and lemon but I'm glad now that I didn't." There's something vaguely familiar about the way she speaks, it's strangely captivating.

"Ah yes, that's from our new mountain breeze range. It's been surprisingly popular."

Fucking shoot me.

"Okay, I think we're just about ready to go, the oil should be nice and warm by now. Is there anywhere you'd like to focus on today?"

"Oh yes, If you could, my lower back has been so painful lately."

"Of course. Let's start with your back and shoulders and see what we find. Now please let me know if there's any discomfort along the way."

I take the small pourer jug and drop a small amount of warmed oil onto my wrist to check the temperature, and the sleek fluid runs down the skin into my palm. Satisfied with the warmth I pour out a line up and down the woman's back, following with the other hand and spreading the liquid as I go. She recoils slightly on the bed and I feel her skin break out in goosebumps, always a good sign. As soon as there's liberal coverage across her skin, I pour a little more into my cupped hand and commence the massage.