On a boring summers day, 18 year old Ricky Waxton found he had nothing to do. With his father gone to work overseas for the summer, Ricky found himself stuck with his step-mother Theresa and her chores. For the first few weeks after school ended it was fine, he avoided her and decline all her invitations. He wanted to tell her; "you're not my mother, so stop acting like you are" but he never could convince himself to do it, for his father's sake and partly for her sake. As the days passed the dishes in his room piled up, all surfaces were a cluttered mess and Ricky didn't care much. Theresa asked him to clean up a bit, he said "no." She agreed to do his laundry on a regular basis if he just tidied up his room, to which he agreed. Eventually the room became a mess, which led to arguments between them. Theresa continued doing the laundry, she didn't want to become another thing he refused to do, but begged Ricky to clean up after himself. Now a month into summer, Rickey found he was able to get out of his duties, Theresa had given up.
Ricky has been awake for a few hours, his stomach turns; he's hungry. Downstairs there is nothing in the kitchen to eat, of course. He rolls his eyes, right now he could go for a double bbq cheeseburger. The thought of the burger only made the pain in his stomach worse.
He found Theresa in the living room, she had yoga pants on and a thin sweater, she was watching tv. "Hey, can I borrow your car?" Ricky asked as politely as possible. He also hoped it wouldn't be a long drawn out conversation.
"Why?" Theresa asked, Ricky internally rolled his eyes. "I just want to get food."
"I'll come! I can drive." Theresa then got up and headed out of the room and into the main hallway, Ricky stood stunned.
"What do you mean? I can go, how about I get food for both of us." Ricky offered, Theresa shook her head. "No no no, let's just go out together."
"Okay then how about you just go and bring me back some?"
Theresa wasn't falling for that. "No Ricky, either you come with me or no burgers."
Ricky rolled his eyes, "Fine."
**********
Sitting in the burger joint, Ricky devoured his burger at a rapid pace. He was so hungry he almost asked Theresa to order him another. Theresa ate her burger slowly and deliberately, she was trying to avoid getting the grease and the burger sauce on her hands. She didn't eat burgers often, instead she opted for healthier food. Ricky found it funny that she spent so much time working out and doing yoga only to not spoil herself with a nice fat burger.
"Can you hurry up?" Ricky asked her.
"Are you in a rush?"
"No, I'm just bored."
"Really? I'm trying to spend the day with my step-son but you're being so rude. I bought you that burger, couldn't you be a little bit grateful?" She insisted. Ricky was surprised to see her being so vocal rather than her passive self.
"Sorry if I don't like being a your hostage."
Theresa stared at him for a moment, the gears turning in her head. Ricky frowned, what was she thinking? "You know what I think would help you, Ricky?" She began, "a massage."
He snickered. "Yeah? You gonna give me one?"
"No, but I know this great place that would. I've been going recently, a couple times a week. It's really helped me focus on what I want and how to get it. I think that's your problem, you don't really know what you want."
Ricky snorted. "How does a massage help you with that, unless you want a massage? And I want to leave and go home, that's all I want to do."
Theresa smirked. "It's more than a massage, it's a full spa treatment. It's like meditation, you discover things about yourself that you never knew existed. I think your problem isn't with me or being stuck here, I think its some pent up anger."
"Maybe my anger is from all the bullshit chores you give me." Ricky said rolling his eyes.
Theresa continued. "You certainly get angry at being told what to do, but not because you don't want to do it, I think it's the responsibility that scares you. That fear turns to anger because you don't want to be seen as afraid."
"Wow thats rich." Ricky belted out a laugh. "You think I'm scared of some chores? You're right! Picking up clothes terrifies me, washing dishes makes me pee my pants, and don't get me started on laundry!" He continued to laugh. The smirk stayed on Theresa's face.
"We're going to the spa, Ricky."
"Then I'll walk home."
"Ha! It's about an hour walk from home and its boiling hot outside. It'll just be an hour, I'm giving you a free spa! You should be grateful."
"And again, I'm not grateful I'm your hostage."
**********
Theresa was surprised she got Ricky to go to the spa with her, in the restaurant she thought he would rather hike in the heat then spend another minute with her, but lo and behold, him and her walked into the spa.
At the front desk was a young receptionist. She had tanned skin and brunette hair done up in a high ponytail. She had on a shirt that stretched only to her midriff, black leggings and a leather choker. Her nail polish and lipstick were bright pink, she had black eyeshadow and mascara. Theresa noticed Ricky's reaction, he was taken aback by her.
"Hey Theresa! You're back for another treatment? Oh, who's this you brought with you?" The girl asked.
"This is Ricky, he's the one here for the treatment actually."
"Hey Ricky! My name is Ally! Carmine will be so happy to meet you." Ally said bubbly. "And speaking of Carmine..."
In walked a tall women with auburn hair and a red smirk. Theresa immediately noticed her smell, her fragrance. It made her head dizzy and her eyelids droopy.
Carmine wore black heels with black pantyhose, a grey skirt and white blouse. "Hello," she stuck out her hand to meet Ricky. He shook her hand with a stunned look on his face. "Uh, hi. I'm, uh, I'm Ricky." He stuttered.
She smiled and placed a hand on his back, guiding him further into the spa. "Ricky, it's great to meet you. Theresa here is my favourite customer, I'm sure I'll like you too. Theresa, how about you sit down and wait?"
"Yes." Theresa said absently, and followed Carmines instruction. Ricky saw the look on his step-mothers face, it was blank. She sat down with a straight back and feet flat on the ground.
"So," Carmine brought his attention to her. "You're Theresa's step-son, right?"
"Uh, yeah. Hey, what's the deal with her, isn't she acting weird?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think there's something about the spa, the relaxing atmosphere that just makes you..." Carmine searched for the word; "Tranquil."
**********
Ricky and Carmine walked down the hall to a door at the back of the spa. Inside was a massage table with a towel placed on top. "Strip and lay on the table with your face in the hole on the near side. Put the towel over your lower half, I'll be back in a moment, honey."
Ricky did as he was told, feeling awkward being naked with nothing but a thin towel covering his butt. As he laid there he wondered how he was roped into coming, it was all Theresa's fault. There is only so much time in the summer, he should be spending it having fun not getting a massage.
In came Carmine, he heard the steps of her heels echoed off the walls, then her feet came into his view. He noticed her scarlet red toenails hidden behind her pantyhose. He tried to look everywhere but at her feet, he found them repulsive. He heard a bottle squirt and then the sound of hands rubbing together. A smell entered his nostrils, the aroma of a fresh spring breeze. He smelled flowers freshly blooming, he smelled the morning after a night of heaving downpour, he breathed in.
Suddenly hands touch his shoulders, her fingers moved around in a circular pattern. Instantly he found her touch to be alluring, digging deep into his shoulder blades but not in a painful way. The lotion she put on him was cooled his warm skin. It felt like she was reaching into his body and was pulling out the tension, his body was decompressing with all the stress and anxiety venting out. He moaned then felt red in the face and cut the moan off short.
"Its okay, sweetie. Let it all out. You're here to relax." Carmine said gently. Her hands dug deeper, Ricky moaned once more, this time without censoring himself.
Carmine ran her hands down his back, unravelling the knots in it as she went. She spoke in a hushed voice to him. "It feels nice, does it Ricky? I think you often forget to rest, to breath in and out. We all need to do it every once in a while, isn't that right?"
"Yesss." He uttered. He drew a breath and then exhaled, it felt right.
"Your stepmother has only just recently learned how to relax. She has been so worried about you Ricky."