Out in the corridor, I am pacing. Yellow sunlight from the atmosphere filters through the window beside me. I am alone, dressed only in one of the Resort's big gowns while my travelling clothes are being laundered by the staff. Audrey is using the restroom before we set off for our second experience, and I'm glad for the time by myself. My thoughts are whirling.
I should
not
have done that! I shouldn't have allowed a cute, sexy alien healthcare technician jack me off during a therapeutic treatment! Obviously! If Audrey had seen, she'd have been mortified! I know my wife feels the same lingering regret as I do, that we don't have enough sex these days. One of us, usually her, is always too tired when she comes home in the evening. Or I am letting dark thoughts take ownership of my mind and can't maintain an erection. But if she discovered I was getting sex from someone else...
Fuck, it had felt amazing, though. Having Carmine minister to me was an intimacy that I have missed. I saw something in those big, dark, shining eyes that resonated with me, from my cock down into my tired, lonely spirit. Plus there was the effect of the sensitising gel to consider. I wonder if they sell that stuff in the gift shop.
Turning about in the corridor and beginning another rotation of pacing, I remind myself that I can't go back and undo what I've done. My only choice is to either tell Audrey or keep silent. My resolve wobbles back and forth like the pendulum of an old-world clock.
When the door slides open and Audrey emerges, herself in a voluminous bathrobe, I almost jump out of my skin.
"S-Sorry that took a while," she says with an apologetic smile.
I behold my wife, all bundled up in her clothing. Her blonde hair falls stiffly across the pillowy fabric coating her shoulders, and her smile is tentative and apologetic. There's a subtle creasing at the corners of her mouth. I try to assess her state of mind in preparation for my admission. But instead, I notice that her cheeks are unusually red, as if she's been running somewhere.
"Are you alright?" I ask.
"Huh? Oh." Audrey places a hand on her own cheek. "J-Just a little flushed. The gel bath was warm, and... Come on, let's get moving! The day is young!"
Without waiting for me, Audrey turns and strides away up the corridor towards the next experience. The hem of her robe whips around her calves. Bemused, I follow on. And I resign myself to my choice. Audrey hasn't given me a chance to tell her what I'd done. Therefore, I won't. I try to make peace with that.
The second part of our agenda begins in front of a pair of open doors deeper into the platform. Peeking through both, I see that they lead to the same big, open, communal shower, though each begins with its own separated, individual changing area with hooks for our robes. The clean, white tiles of the floor of the wide chamber are interrupted at intervals by either narrow nozzles for expelling steam or drains covered by metal grills to take the water away again. I also see that the shower is split by chest-high dividers made of thick tile that will keep Audrey and I separated but visible to one another. I imagine that I won't be able to see any lower than Audrey's shoulders while we're making use of this second experience unless I stand right alongside the partition. A modesty measure, I guess. But is it necessary in our case?
"Here's the thing," explains Cerise when I mention this. "The purpose of this next experience is to use heavy steam to wash off any gel that's still stuck to your bodies. The steam cools on your skin then runs down the drain. Only, we've found that if two or more people take a shower in the same unit after using the Tubs, the washed-away gel accumulates to such an extent that the drain gets blocked. It's a design flaw, I'm afraid. I hope you two lovebirds don't mind being separated by a low wall for just a handful of minutes."
She winks, and Audrey laughs. "I suppose that's alright."
Carmine, standing by her senior's side with hands clasped at her waist, is watching me again. I try to pull my eyes off that lovely, unrepentant smile, but it's hard. It's so damn hard.
Audrey and I bid an awkward farewell to one another as we step into our respective changing rooms, and the doors close behind us when we are inside. I pull off my robe and hang it on the hook provided, then remove my specs and tuck them into the robe's pocket. My naked body reacts to the relative chill at once, since it's still sensitive from the previous experience. Then, I step out into the shower proper. The whole length of the divided shower is empty. But a moment later, Audrey emerges from her side of the partition, and we giggle as we wave to one another.
"Fancy seeing you here," I joke.
"Alright, you two," Cerise's voice echoes from an intercom somewhere up near the ceiling of the chamber. "I'll switch on the steam in a moment. You've had a shower before, I think, so it should be obvious what to do. Just let the moisture do its work. Enjoy!"
There is a clang and hiss, and the nozzles in the floor begin to let out a dragon's breath of heavy vapour. The steam is as thick as the clouds of the planet's atmosphere. It falls gently against the tile beneath my feet and creates a warm, billowing layer of fog around my knees. Slowly, my walled-off portion of the shower begins to fill with steam. I run my fingers through the hot vapour, and they come away wet. I breathe it in and let my body acclimatise to the artificial humidity. I'd imagined that the gel-sensitivity would make a sauna experience like this uncomfortable. Not so. It feels like my very bones are being gently soothed in the warmth. It feels magnificent.
"So," says Audrey on the far side of the divider. I can make out her head and shoulders, but even these are being slowly hidden by the rising fog. Not her smile, though. "What are your thoughts on the alien spa experience so far?"
"It's..." I pause to clear my throat as anxious uncertainty briefly overcomes me. "It's pretty great. My skin feels alive, and I know that sounds stupid, but..."
"I know what you mean." Audrey closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in the hot steam. "Here I was, worried I wouldn't get anything out of any of this. You see people moaning and writhing when they go to these places on the vids, and I thought it wouldn't be like that in real life. Instead, it's almost
over
-stimulating, you know? Like, I'm worried I'm going to feel all dead and cold when we finish here and have to go home."
I step forward and put my hands on the top of the tile partition. "Try not to think about that," I tell her. "Focus on enjoying what's happening right now."
"Yeah, you're right," she says, running her hands through her blonde locks and making them damp with moisture. "I should be making the most of our time here. I'll tell you this, though. I'm definitely not regretting giving Calpara a go."
