28. Christa

I staredat the table in front of me with wide eyes. It looked like something at my gynecologist’s office. “Emily, what is this?”

“This…is a spa.”

“This is not a spa,” I shook my head in disbelief. “Spas have massage tables and those masks for your face. This is?—”

“Where you get waxed, sweetie. Now, get undressed like she asked. Here’s your robe.”

She practically tossed it at my chest. I caught it, but couldn’t tear my eyes from the stirrups. “Just to my underwear, right?”

A giggle left her lips. That was all I needed to know that I was in deep trouble. “Oh no. If we’re doing this, we’re going all in.”

“All in?”

“They’re taking everything.”

“Everything?”

I couldn’t manage to do anything other than repeat what she said.

“Sweetie, you need to get moving. Just take it one step at a time.”

“I can do that,” I said, giving a firm nod. How bad could it be? Women did this all the time.

I wrapped the gown around my body, then started removing my clothes. I knew she thought I was a prude with just the two of us in the room, but I couldn’t help it.

“Is she going to…you know…see everything?”

“Honey, they do this all the time. It’s no big deal. Think of it like you’re going to the doctor.”

“They have medical degrees. It’s purely clinical to them. This?—”

“Is still clinical. Although, I guess if you got a lesbian, she might get a little more out of it.”

“That is not funny,” I hissed.

“I think it is,” she chuckled.

I rubbed my hand over my forehead, trying to prepare for what was ahead. Could I really let a woman down there to do that? There would be touching in my most private places and then lots and lots of pulling. I clenched my thighs as I felt the pain without even having the wax on me yet.

“Maybe we should just leave. You know, I’m really not feeling that well.”

“You’re feeling fine,” she chastised.

“I’m really not. I think I might throw up.”

“You’ll be fine.” She spun me and shoved me toward the table just as the door opened and a woman walked in with a bright smile on her face.

“You must be Christa! I hear this is your first time. Well, don’t worry, I’m very good at this. I promise to make it pain-free.”

That put me at ease a little more. I could do this. The whole point of today was to get out of my comfort zone. That’s all this was. I sat on the table and laid down as she instructed.

“We’ll do your legs first,” she smiled at me. “Trust me, it’ll give you a good idea of what to expect and you’ll see everything will be fine.”

I nodded and stared at the ceiling as she adjusted my gown. The wax was actually warm and soothing. The first strip was painful, but not as bad as I expected. Soon, I only flinched because I knew what was coming. I found myself relaxing as she finished up my legs. Emily was right. This was no big deal.

“Alright, we’re going to finish up now. I’ll have you scoot to the edge and put your foot in the stirrups.”

I did as she asked, glancing over at Emily in the corner. She was on her phone, completely ignoring me. Not that she needed to be holding my hand. She was right. I had totally overreacted to getting this done. I felt the hot wax on my nether regions and took a soothing breath. But nothing could prepare me for the absolute pain as hair was torn from my more delicate areas. Screaming, I jolted upright and slugged the woman right in the nose.

“Bitch!” I shouted, then instantly covered my mouth with my hands. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry!”

The woman stared at me like I was insane, backing away from me as blood dripped through her fingers. “Why would you do that?” she cried.

“Why would you do that?” I shouted, pointing to my burning lower lips. “It feels like a thousand tiny razors digging into me!”

“It can’t still hurt,” Emily said, pressing her hand to my shoulder. “Just keep calm and the next one?—”

“We’re not doing any more!” I yanked one foot out of the stirrup, but swiveled with the other foot and ended up rolling off the table, landing with a thump. I cried out in pain, holding my arm to my chest as I rolled to my back.

Emily stared down at me with a frown on her face. “I think you might be slightly overreacting.”

“Overreacting? You said this would be fine! You said it wouldn’t hurt.” Then I turned to the woman. “And you said I wouldn’t feel a thing!”

“Your friend’s a psycho bitch!” she shouted at Emily as she fled the room.

Emily sighed, bending over to grab my elbow. “Well, I’m probably never going to be welcome here again.”

“Why would you come here? They lie.”

I stood on shaky legs and realized it didn’t hurt so much anymore. Maybe it was just phantom pains—or the trauma playing on repeat in my head.

“We need to finish. You can’t walk around with one strip missing from that area.”

“Yes, I can,” I demanded. “I will never do that again. Besides, no one’s going to see me like this.”

“No one?” she quirked an eyebrow at me. “Not even Max?”

“Especially not Max,” I snapped. “Things are over between us. Besides, I’m pretty sure after the pain and trauma I just went through, I won’t have any desire for sex anytime soon.”

“Yeah, I said that the first time, too,” she grinned.

“Why are you smirking at me?”

“Because I had sex just a few hours later. Which reminds me, even with only the one strip missing, you still need the cream.”

“Why? Is that going to burn off the rest of my hair and render me infertile?” I glared at her, thinking that would be just my luck.

“Actually, it’s to ensure that you don’t get burns and itching and—” At my horrified look, she waved her hand. “You know, it’s really not that bad.”

“Burns and itching? Why? Why would you do this to me?”

“Because this is a rite of passage for any woman. Seriously, so many women do this on a regular basis and you’re freaking out over nothing.”

I yanked my underwear on, wincing at the way it felt to be bare in one area. “Nothing? Okay, next time we go on a day of fun, I’ll decide what we’re going to do, and then you’ll be the one freaking out!”

“I highly doubt that,” she snorted. “But go for it. Give it your best shot.”

I pulled on my pants, wiggling my hips and shimmying into the skinny jeans she forced me to wear today. “I will, and when I’m done with you, you’re going to be begging for relief.”

Her lips twitched as she tried not to smile.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just…so cute when you try to be tough.”

I yanked my shirt over my head and turned up my nose as I did my best to walk out with my head held high.

And it would have worked, too, if the door had actually been open.