"Remember, Guus, just be brave. You got this buddy! She services all sorts of furries every day. There's no way you could do anything she finds strange!"
"S..sure, no problem. Thanks Bram." Guus hangs up. The slender red fox slides his phone in his jeans pocket, but hesitates to leave the car. He dusts imaginary crumbs off his perfectly clean plaid polo shirt. For the sixth time since he left home, he combs his claws through his head fur, even though none of it is ruffled.
Staring out the window, Guus eyes over the spa his best friend had booked him an appointment at. Sunflower Spa. The facility is painted a warm yellow. The windows are tinted so dark its impossible to see inside. Rows of colorful flowers line the outside walls in hand painted planters. Ironically, there are no sunflowers at all among the decorative plants.
Buzz! Guus' phone vibrates in his pocket making him jump. He slides it back out to see a message preview from Bram. "Stop hesitating or you'll be late!"
Guus chuckles. His best friend knows him so well. The truth is, Guus has never been to visit a personal masseuse, or any masseuse for that matter. After months of his back aching from work, Bram had bought him a four hour "Total Transformation" package. Supposedly he has been here several times and each visit left him feeling blissful for months following. Bram could also never stop talking about how pretty the masseuse was.
"Ah, shoot!" Guus notices the time. It's one minute past his appointment time now! While that's most likely not a big deal to the worker, he wants to make a good impression on whom he will be spending rather intimate time with. Guus springs out of the car, tripping over his own paws. He slams his door closed behind him, nearly closing his tail inside.
When Guus tries the front door, it doesn't open. The anxious fox gets worried that being a minute late was bad after all. He tenses up and starts to panic. Should he leave? Should he knock? What if he doesn't get to try this and just wasted his friend's money?
The door clicks and opens inward. A pleasant floral, earthy smell wafts out from inside. Standing before Guus is a silver wolf, nearly forty centimeters taller than he is. She has an average sized build, a shining smooth coat, and intense grey-blue eyes. She wears a loose purple dress that hangs down to her calves. No wonder Bram had given her such high praise for her looks. She is gorgeous.
"Good morning! Are you Guus by chance?" She smiles sweetly. Guus is trembling and can't speak, he only responds with a nod. Her eyes soften as she realizes what a nervous wreck the poor canine is.
"There's no need to be nervous, I'm going to do everything I can to give you the best experience possible during your stay! I have plenty of experience with creatures of all shapes and sizes!" She steps back to hold the door open wider in welcome. Guus gulps and takes his first step inside.
The inside is darker than outdoors, shaded by the tinted windows. An overhang of ivy stretches along the entire ceiling. Every wall holds shelves filled with various colorful plants and flowers. A glass door reveals an outdoor garden area, filled with even more plants and a sizeable rock pool in the middle. Statues of various Japanese fish decorate the exterior. A thin brown wall just opaque enough to avoid seeing through separates the lobby from a back room. An oak wood desk near the entrance is covered in stacks of paperwork and, unsurprisingly, more potted plants.
"I..it's a lovely p..place, miss..." Guus trails off realizing he has no idea what his hostesses name is. His ears droop and he slides his hands in his pockets. Between his tardiness and mumbling he's certain that he's making a terrible first impression. Little does he know that his hostess finds his demeanor adorable.
"Thank you! I work very hard to take care of all the plants here. Its absolutely worth it. You'll see why the more time you spend here. First, would you be okay with signing a bit of paperwork for me?" She locks the door behind them before heading to her desk. Already laid out neatly is a set of three papers. She picks up a pen taped to a fake rose, and holds it out for Guus.
"Y..yes ma'am." Guus' paw trembles as he takes the pen from her. He drops it onto the desk. His tail thrashes from irritation. Why does he have to be so nervous? Like Bram said, she does this all the time. There is absolutely nothing to be so anxious about.
Guus skims over the paperwork. It mentions something about maintaining privacy, another thing about allergies, and finally has a box for a signature. He scribbles something that resembles a kindergartner's drawing of spaghetti more than cursive. The wolf collects it regardless.
"Thank you very much. Now, if you would please follow me, we usually begin our sessions with an Epsom salt bath in the pool. It will help your muscles loosen up and relax before your Balinese massage, that way we can work on any knots or overly tense spots that may be giving you trouble. There is a changing area with towels behind the shoji, er, the divider with the koi fish on it. Take your time getting undressed. I will prepare a tea, if you'd like to try it. I highly recommend it for the full experience." The wolf does sound very experienced, as if she has been doing this for years. That's somewhat of a comfort to Guus, yet he still feels overwhelmed with the amount of information he has been given to process in a short time. His ruby eyes are looking into hers, but they appear to be traveling right through her.
"Sorry... just one more thing." The wolf interrupts his thoughts. His pupils dilate as he attentively stares into her eyes now, mentally preparing himself to take in more instructions.
"Err, would you prefer the solo bath, or the accompanied one?" She blinks heavily, feeling awkward from his lack of responses so far.
"Some are able to relax easier alone, while others...enjoy a bit of companionship and conversation." She explains further. Now its sinking in that she's offering to join him, herself. He's tempted to immediately sink in to his comfort zone and pick solo, but Bram's words echo in his head. "Just be brave."
"I..would like some company..p, please!" The flustered fox looks away shyly. His stomach churns thinking about how he just asked a stranger to join him for a bath, even if it is her job.
"Great! I'm looking forward to it! You can go ahead and get comfortable, I'll join you outside after I've brewed up that tea. Oh, and Guus, please take careful steps. The ground can get slippery when wet." She adds sympathetically. Normally, she probably wouldn't have felt the need to warn guests, but this one seems so inexperienced and controlled by his own fear that he might not have paid attention to his own paw steps without it.
"Th..thank you...umm...what is your name ma'am?"
"Oh, right! Actually, as part of the full experience here, I request that you pick a nickname to call me during our time together. Whatever you'd like!" The wolf tries to maintain a professional and inviting smile, but inside she's worried this shy fox will take half their session just to come up with a nickname. To her surprise, he chooses one right away.
"Is Riley okay? I always liked the sound of it." Guus begins fidgeting with his phone in his pocket.
"Riley is beautiful. I love it. I'll meet you outside soon."
Guus stands naked behind the divider, hesitating to come out. He holds a towel over his lower body with his clothes in a neatly folded pile on the ground. Riley hasn't come out yet to join him, so he still has time to get into the water before she sees him exposed like this. He takes a deep breath, reminding himself once again that lots of furries, his best friend included, have done this before. With careful steps he comes out from behind the screen, walking quickly but carefully to get into the water before he has company.
One paw after another he gets into the pool, and quickly sits down to submerge himself enough to blur his lower body. The water is a perfect temperature, not too hot to where his skin burns. He has great timing, because just then Riley approaches carrying a cup of tea in each paw, with a thermal bag hanging from her arm. He didn't even see or hear her open any door, where did she come from?
"Here you are, let me know if you need any sweeteners to make it taste more to your liking." She hands him one of the cups. Inside the water, tiny leaves are floating around. It smells earthy, yet sweet. Guus takes his first sip and sighs happily. He's not usually much of a tea drinker, but whatever this is tastes amazing. There's definitely something that tastes like lemon and something nutty. It leaves an aftertaste that is earthy but not unpleasant.
"W..what kind of tea is it?" He stares into his drink to avoid making eye contact.
"Let's see... its a mixture of damiana, maca root, and lemongrass, with a squeeze of catuaba juice. I also added honey for sweetness. Do you like it?" Riley secretly hopes that he's unaware of what some of the ingredients are typically used for.
"Yes, it's really good. Thank you ma'am." Guus continues sipping it up, finding himself enjoying it more with each taste. As he's watching the leaves swirl around in his cup, he hears cloth dropping softly against the ground.
