It's pleasant, dim; there are candles and the scent of jasmine hangs in the air. The tub is massive, claw footed. Its brass feet are still, but they seem to move, ever so slightly in the flickering light. I think for a moment that the tub will wrench itself and its fixtures away from where it stands and leave the room. It does not of course, and you bring me to it, and hold my arms as I step over the side. My right foot breaks the surface, through the bubbles that float as clouds, into the warm fragrant water. My left foot follows, and I inhale deeply, enjoying the fragrance.
I kneel. You touch my brows, and I close my eyes. I feel you smooth my hair, twist it, and begin pinning it up, to keep it out of the way. This takes awhile, I have a lot of very thick, wavy hair.
I am always tense. I carry my tension in my shoulders, neck and upper back. You begin with oil at the base of my skull where it is always the worst, and stroke down with your thumbs. You use just the right amount of pressure and move all the tightness from my neck to my shoulders, where you use your entire hands, kneading all of it away. I am beginning to relax… finally.
There are bubbles, but they are not enough. You dip a natural sponge into the water, wetting it, then squeeze some gel onto it. I can feel the coldness of the gel as it touches my back, but it quickly warms and spreads into a warm thick lather. You work it in circles on my back, it is hypnotic, and I feel further lulled, quiet, content to feel only that circling, gentle scrubbing on my upper back.
I feel the lather creeping down in large soft drips, and you spread it further down my back. I move my legs out from beneath me, one at a time and clasp them with my arms, leaning my head down and against my knees.
I feel so cared for at this moment.
You break it finally by pulling me gently by my shoulders back up and you guide me as I recline now against the sloping back of the tub. My knees go under the water, and I push my feet out in front of me. You pick up my right ankle, soap my foot and leg, up to the thigh, and then do the left one. My hands and arms are next. You cannot reach my belly; it is under the water, so you squeeze lather from the sponge onto my chest.