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."