7. Was Something More

7

WAS SOMETHING MORE

S loane looked at the schedule of appointments first thing weeks later.

She knew Dane was coming in at six thirty. The last appointment she’d have for the day and was for a ninety-minute massage. Since she had nothing for thirty minutes prior, if he was early, she’d start then.

In the past few weeks, the Fierce women came in for pedicures again and she’d spotted them before they left. They’d made a point to name drop and she all but ignored it.

Just like she always did. They talked about someone just getting engaged over the July Fourth holiday that they’d had a hand in setting up, then joked about who they were working on next and the names coming out of their mouths.

One had been Dane. She knew that. They’d brought it up before.

Plus Dane had joked about staying away from the women and what they were after.

She wondered if he was aware they had his name coming out of their mouths .

She wouldn’t be the one to bring it up either.

She went about her day with more anticipation than she normally felt seeing someone again.

It wasn’t like her to be that way.

Sure, she looked forward to seeing some of her clients for a variety of reasons.

Some had to do with health issues and she wanted to see how they were getting on. Or if their massages were easing their pain.

Others were just so much fun to talk to that it always brightened her day.

With Dane...it was something more that she couldn’t put her finger on.

“Going to be a busy one today,” Heather said. Heather was another massage therapist. “I’ve got a packed day until eight tonight.”

“Me too,” she said. “A few breaks in between, but my last appointment will end at eight. Thankfully I’ve got two facials that I booked last minute when I had openings.”

“You love doing them,” Heather said. “I’m surprised you don’t do more.”

“I think it’s a nice mix. I don’t like to take away from Kaitlyn and Tessa, but they are both pretty busy with all sorts of treatments and I had the openings. I’ve always told the girls at the front to fill the slots if I don’t have them marked off.”

The busier she was, the better for her business. She knew that.

“Can we order lunch today?” Natalie asked, rushing in the door. One of her part-time receptionists. “I totally ran out the door before packing something and you know I hate to order just one thing and have it delivered.”

“I’ll get something,” Heather said.

“Sure,” Sloane said. “Just let me know when you’re ordering and from where. I’ll eat when I find time.”

Like she did most days. She didn’t often bring a lunch but rather kept food here in her office. If she left it in the fridge in the breakroom she often forgot about it and it’d go bad.

One thing she hated to do was be wasteful of anything.

She had memories of dumpster diving as a child and never wanted to do it again. But she also hated the waste she’d seen.

Everyone got to work and went about their day. Her pockets were flush with tips by six and she was just waiting for Dane to show up.

At 6:10, her phone buzzed and it was Natalie letting her know that Dane had arrived. Natalie would be leaving at six thirty when the last of the appointments for the day arrived. Whoever was left working would cash the clients out and lock up.

Sloane almost always stayed until closing to lock up. It was her business and she rarely took a day off. Even if she didn’t actually see clients for a day, she was still on site.

She got the room ready for him and then moved to the front of the building where he’d be waiting.

“Hello,” she said. Dane stood up when she walked in. He was in pants and a dress shirt again, no tie this time, but she was positive he’d come from work.

“Hi,” he said. “Can I tell you I’ve been looking forward to this since the last time I was here?”

She let out a little laugh and was glad it didn’t come off as a giggle. That would be too much.

“I’m thrilled to hear that,” she said. “How were you the next day? Any soreness?”

“None,” he said. “I fully expected it and didn’t feel anything different other than I slept so well and had a ton of energy the next day.”

“Great to hear,” she said. “You know the routine, right?”

“I do,” he said when she walked out of the room and closed the door softly.

He was just as handsome as she remembered.

She’d never felt this way about a client before. She wanted to say it wasn’t professional, but they were her feelings and it’s not like she was sharing it with anyone.

She waited five minutes and then knocked on the door and heard his reply to come in.

“I’m glad you were here early,” she said. “We can get right to it.”

“I didn’t realize when I made the appointment that it would bring me right to when you close.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “It doesn’t always happen but can. There are often gaps between appointments and that helps for breaks.”

“Owning the business, I’m sure you’ve got a ton to do in those gaps.”

“I do,” she said. He was on his back like last time. “Do you want to use vanilla again or something else?”

“That’s fine,” he said. “No reason to change anything.”

“Any particular area you want me to work on more than another? You had a lot of knots and tension in your shoulders and back, but it’s not as bad right now.”

She’d already slipped her hands under his shoulders and was moving her fingers up and down. The knots were there but not as horrible.

“What you did last time was perfect.”

“Good. I’m sure your job can be stressful and that will add to the tension in your neck.”

“It is,” he said. “But not as bad as it could be. It’s hard to see a child sick and I’m always glad when I can easily remedy it.”

“I’ve seen a lot of sick kids in my life that simple medication would help, but their parents would rather use home remedies.”

No one saw a doctor when she was a child. She thought about how many times she had colds or the flu, even ear infections and what was used to heal it.

Most times she was positive they just went away on their own and was thankful that she and Sabrina had never been sick much.

Their mother, on the other hand, always seemed to have something wrong with her. Or she thought she did. Home remedies only went so far.

“That’s too bad,” he said. “There is a time and place for home remedies. I’ll never say no. I don’t have a firm belief that every ailment needs a prescription. Sometimes our bodies do need to learn to fight things, but it’s a fine line.”

“I agree,” she said. “And I’m not even a doctor.”

He laughed. “You’ve got enough training of the human body,” he said. “We all know that there are pressure points on the body that aid in healing, but not everyone wants to believe that.”

“We do know that,” she said. She applied some more pressure to a particularly large knot and had him let out a little groan with almost a flinch. “Too much?”

“Perfect,” he said. “I might have pushed my workout yesterday knowing I was coming today.”

“And what do you do to work out?” she asked.

“I’ve got a rowing machine. Thirty minutes five times a week. I turned up the resistance on it to test myself. Not a good idea. ”

He was laughing when he said it. “You felt it this morning?”

“I did. If I didn’t do the rest of my workout with it, it might have been fine, but then I do some general calisthenics for fifteen minutes. It’s my me time.”

She smiled. “We all need me time. I’d like to think that is why most people come here.”

“I’m sure that is the case,” he said. “What do you do for me time?”

“I meditate in the mornings and at night. Just fifteen minutes. Most times I listen to positive messages on an app while I breathe in and out. I’m not sure I can even remember half of what I hear, but it’s the fact that I disconnect with anything weighing on my mind for that period of time.”

“Everyone needs to do that. During my residency, I found myself hiding in a closet doing it.”

She laughed. “Hiding in a closet?”

“Sometimes you need to get away from people or noise. It was that or the bathroom. Anywhere I could go to not be bothered. But in the hospital, a bathroom has people. Supplies or maintenance closets, not always.”

“Now I get it. I was thinking you were doing that at home.”

“No,” he said. “At work, during a break. Long hours and a lot of stress during my residency. I wasn’t listening to apps while I did it. Just closed my eyes, focused on one or two things and breathed in and out for five or ten minutes. It was enough.”

“That is the basis of meditation,” she said. “Focus on something that will lighten the load in your brain and relax your body. ”

“What do you focus on?” he asked. “Maybe I’m rusty and need to get back to it.”

“Whatever pops into my head. Could be a sandwich I had at lunch. Maybe someone’s hairstyle. I had a woman come in with two buns on her head. One on each side. Something a teen would do and I couldn’t get it out of my head. It made me smile. So that night I just focused on that.”

“So I could focus on this later tonight?” he asked. “Your hands right there on my arm?”

She was massaging his bicep and moving down to his forearm.

“If it works, absolutely,” she said. “I will admit I’ve done that before. I did a few facials today. Normally I remember someone’s eyes or hairstyle. That was the day I had the two buns. For me, when I sit down to meditate it’s the first thing that comes into my head that is stress free.”

She knew Dane was going to pop into her brain tonight, but she was positive it might not be stress free when her body was heating up.

“I think I’ll try to get back to it tonight. I get my kids tomorrow so four days of not a lot of peace and quiet.”

“You get them four days straight?” she asked. He brought it up so why not ask?

“Four days on and four days off with my ex. Split custody. Thankfully I’m not on call this week so I don’t have to spend the night at my parents with them.”

“So they aren’t left alone if you get called in?” she asked. Which answered her question about if he was single.

Not that she didn’t know that since the Fierce women had brought his name up as trying to find him a mate.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s not ideal and my mother has reminded me more than once to just drop them off at bedtime and get them in the morning. It’s not their job to raise my kids and it’s my time with them. I miss them when they are gone. I never thought the silence would be so lonely.”

“It can be,” she said.

There was a time she couldn’t wait to have the freedom and silence in her life.

When she first got it, it was a wonderful thing.

But Dane was right. After a period of time, it was lonely.

Now she filled her time with people enough at work that she felt her time at home was her solace.

“You probably enjoy it,” he said. “Being around people all day.”

“I do,” she said. “But that is different. Going home alone means everything falls on you. I’ve thought of getting a cat, but I’m not much of a cat person. I think I like dogs more, but I’m not home enough and it wouldn’t be fair to any animal.”

“My kids keep bringing up dogs and cats. That’s a hard no on my end. The same thing. Not home enough and then staying with my parents, it’s not right to bring a pet there either.”

“Maybe they can get one with their mother,” she said. Which was the first she’d brought that up, but he seemed more open to be talking about the fact he had an ex.

“I don’t think Mel would be on board with it, but that is her business. We do talk everything over as best we can.”

“So you co-parent and not just split custody?” she asked.

“We do. It’s what is best for the kids. I know a lot of people think it’s an odd situation, but it is what it is. You can’t change the way someone feels and it’s better to see them happy than miserable.”

Which pretty much told her what she suspected. The split might not have been his doing .

“You’re right,” she said. She’d been moving down his body and was at his legs now.

Knowing what she did about his exercise routine she could see where the muscles were defined and where he might have worked out more.

She applied more pressure to his thighs.

“I should have told you what I did to work out last time. You know what you’re doing.”

“The best compliment to give someone,” she said. “Your thighs are a little tight, which means your hamstrings probably are too. I’ll give them a good workout for you.”

When the massage was finally complete, Sloane was both tired and hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since her sandwich at one today. The rest of the day she’d been going nonstop, but she was ready to lock up when he left, as everything would be taken care of by the other staff aside from her stripping the sheets here.

She’d wash them in the morning and make the bed again before her next client.

She stepped out of the room to let him change and waited in the hallway for him. She’d have to walk him out and check him out too.

When the door opened a few minutes later, he was smiling and rolling his shoulders.

“That was wonderful again. It’s before eight and that makes me feel better. Guess I’ll go figure out what to eat for dinner that I can grab quickly.”

“Exactly what I’m going to do too,” she said. “I believe I’ve got one staff finishing up now and then it’s food thoughts only.”

“Well, if you’re not too busy or tired, there is a cafe two down we can walk to and grab something. I noticed they were open until nine the last time I was here. ”

She debated two seconds and said, “That sounds good. If you want to just wait until my last staff leaves and I’ll start checking the building to make sure it’s locked up.”

The surprised look on his face said that he hadn’t expected her to say yes and she wasn’t sure what that was about, but maybe she’d find out.