HER TIME
A Short Story by Baref00t1
This was her time. A much-needed respite from a hellish week of meetings that only served to yield more meetings to figure out what all the meetings were all about. The end result, as always, was that no real work got done while piles of work that needed to be done was left unattended. This was going to take next week down to at least the sixth circle of hell.
The nail salon was going to be a must have for Alana's self-care. The cute Asian woman was working hard to get Alana's rough and tired feet into a more pleasing softness. The spa bomb in the pedicure bowl filled her senses with notes of jasmine. Alana breathed in deeply and exhaled - a cleansing breath.
Alana heard the nail artist speaking in her own language to one of her colleagues in what she could only assume was Vietnamese. The two women giggled behind the medical masks that were covering their noses and mouths.
Alana suspected that they were talking about her, but she had no way to prove that was true. If they were talking about her, maybe it was something good - like how pretty she was - or how both colleagues were going to meet up after work and have drinks.
Alana's habit in this type of situation was to assume the worst. She thought that her nail artist likely thought her feet were gross, and that she was going to have to perform a miracle to get them into shape. To that end, whether Alana liked it or not, the grim assessment of the condition of her feet was not far from the truth.
It had been months since she had treated herself to a self-care day; and it was long overdue. Today was going to be the day when her needs came first. Others, including her small family would have to wait. This time was intended to straighten out all the crooked roads that the week had taken. It felt wonderful.
After Alana's chosen nail color was applied to her toes, the nail artist started the massage. This was the part that Alana loved the most about a pedicure. Her nail artist knew exactly what type of pressure she could apply to her feet and calves. She let out a groggy sounding, "That feels fucking perfect."
The nail artist giggled and continued with her massage. Alana was already calculating a huge tip for this miracle-working woman.
Alana closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. She thought about how humble one must be to be willing to wash another person's feet. She thought of her Catholic upbringing and remembered how Jesus had washed his disciples feet - instead of letting the disciples wash his.
Even though Alana had strayed from the teachings of the church, she could appreciate the symbolic gesture of humility that Jesus - the supposed Son of God - was willing to endure. She wished more Christians would act the way Jesus did. If so, she might still be a believer.
When the massage stopped, Alana opened her eyes. The nail artist looked up briefly but happened to catch Alana's soft, smiling gaze.
"All finished, Ms. Munoz." She said.
Alana sighed heavily and then thanked her nail artist for her work. Alana struggled with her motivation to get out of the spa chair and slip on her flip-flops, but she managed to do so. She headed to the counter to pay and set up her next appointment.
The tip was substantial. The nail artist tried to convince Alana that the tip was too much, but Alana insisted that the nail artist was worth every cent.
It was time to head home. Slowly, Alana's thoughts transported her to the present where it would just be her and her husband tonight. The kids were going to be sleeping over at their cousin's house. Alana's sister had picked up the kids from school. Her husband had come home early. She made sure that he had not made other plans for the night. She was going to order in, so she didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning up.
When Alana pulled into the driveway, she called her favorite Thai food restaurant and placed her order for delivery. She knew that it would not be long before the food would arrive. She went into her home office and found her husband just where she had left him. She walked up behind him and whispered in his ear, "Food will be here in a few minutes."
He nodded but didn't say anything. Alana nibbled his earlobe, which made him twitch.