"Hey Kate, could you come in here for a minute?"
The request came from my supervisor Ryan, so I got up from my desk and made my way to his office. These meetings were almost always very unpleasant. Ryan is a 24 year old recent college grad that likely spent the whole five years drunk in a frat house, but since the owner happens to be Ryan's dad, we get to put up with him.
As I walked in the office, Ryan's gaze fell where it always does, to my chest. After being here almost a year, he doesn't even try to hide it anymore. Most of us have taken to wearing sweaters, or other types of tops that hide as much as possible.
"What are your plans this weekend," he asked me, almost with an actual hint of caring.
It must have caught me a little off guard, because instead of the usual excuse to avoid whatever beer fest party his friends were throwing, I told him the truth. "Jim is leaving tomorrow morning for a weekend golf trip with a few of his buddies, so its a weekend of relaxing and pampering myself," I told him pretty proudly.
Jim and I have been married for just over five years, and he goes on these golf trips two or three times a year. I usually take advantage of the time to get together with a few girlfriends for a girls night, but none of them were available this time, so some time to myself actually didn't sound too bad.
Ryan smiled, and said "perfect, I bought two passes to the new spa that opened up downtown and my plus one just cancelled on me, you interested?"
Either I was taking a very long time to answer, or he could see on my face that I was trying to figure out his game, because he started to clarify things a bit. "Look, I know I've been pretty immature, but I bought these passes really hoping to impress this new girl I've been going out with. If you want, you barely have to see me. We pick what services we want sometime after we arrive, and you can go the complete opposite way as me. The only time we need to see each other is at the start and end of the day. Pamper yourself for the day, on me."
I really couldn't see the downside, no matter how hard I tried, so I agreed to go. He told me that he would pick me up at 8:00 the next morning.
Ryan was actually on time the following morning to pick me up. I chuckled a bit as I walked out the door and saw him. He had on black athletic pants, a sleeveless t-shirt, backwards fitted hat, and aviator sunglasses, pretty much the standard uniform for a guy still trying to live out his college days despite living in the grown up world. He looked exactly how I figured he would away from work, cocky pretty boy in the expensive sports car his dad bought him as a graduation gift.
For me, I was in my typical weekend attire, black yoga pants, a long t-shirt that came down just past my butt, my brown hair up in a high pony tail with a pink narrow head band. I don't usually mind showing off a bit on the weekends, I just turned 30 but I go to yoga classes three times a week and the gym a couple blocks away the other three days a week, using Saturday as my rest day. While I know the inevitable is coming, my stomach is still pretty tight and my 34C breasts are still pointed in the right direction.
Getting in his car did nothing to change my mind of Ryan. Strong smell of cologne with the bottle sitting in the cup holder, loud music, and a gym bag just behind the driver's seat. Again, really fitting into a certain stereotype that I couldn't help but think he must be proud of at this point.
We pulled up to the spa, and the place looked amazing. A young man came over and assisted me out of the passenger side while another took Ryan's car to park it.
The reception area was immaculate, with a small fountain in the middle, a large chandelier overhead, and three desks for checking in instead of one long counter like a lot of these places have. We were immediately handed mimosas from a very professional looking, probably mid 40s blonde woman that introduced herself as Beth. She went over what our day would look like, a light breakfast, followed by choosing what services we would like, spend the next four hours being pampered before ending the day with two hours of massage. Sounded like the perfect day to me!
Beth led us into a large dining room, and I noticed that all of the tables were set around the outside of the room, with enough space between each that you felt like you had the place to yourself. Despite it's size, the room felt cozy, and the staff waited patiently on each person as if they were the only one there. This really was getting off to a great start, despite the company I was with.
After Beth left us, I looked at Ryan and told him how amazing the place was, and how it was too bad his date wasn't able to make it, she was really missing out. He smiled, "I'm happy you like it, not a lot of women would have taken me up on my offer to come today," he said, with what almost looked like a touch of sadness. Which was immediately replaced with that arrogant persona as two cute blondes walked by, causing Ryan to pop up and follow them, quickly catching up.
As he walked away with the two blondes, I got up and got myself some food. The spread was impressive and when I got back to the table, my drink had been topped off, and a list of available services was waiting at each of our spots. Ryan made his way back with a plate of food, bragging he was going to be finding those two again later.
While eating, a young host came over and took our lists of chosen activities, looking them over to be sure everything would work out. He gave a nod of approval and told us to enjoy the rest of breakfast and someone would come get each of us for our days to be started.
To say the day was amazing would be a huge disservice to this place. I spent the day getting a pedicure, manicure, complete facial, mud bath, and for my final service, an hour of the best hot yoga class I've ever taken. The hosts and hostesses were all young, attractive men and women that went above and beyond. Snacks, a light lunch, and the exact right timing of bringing me water and refilling my drink to keep me at almost a perfect light buzz all day. I really couldn't ask for much more, and made a note to myself to talk to my husband about regular trips here.