Closer

Untitled Part 2

"So, how have you been, Otis?" She asked as he started his machine. She had come in early for her appointment, hoping Otis would be done with his previous client early. He had gotten her cleaned up and ready to go before she was supposed to have been there.

"Pretty great, to be honest. Have a family now. Good job. Things finally kinda...fell into place."

"You look happy."

"I am."

"I remember how sad you used to be. How scared. You...I wouldn't have recognized you if I hadn't known that walk."

"That walk comes from a 4 times broken pelvis."

"I know. I remember. I remember how terrified of the world you were, because you had been hurt so much. And I remember the day you stopped being afraid because you didn't care anymore. That day was...very scary."

Otis didn't respond, simply focused on his work. He didn't want to remember those days.

"You look fine as HELL, by the way."

He chuckled. "What do you mean?"

"God, I would bang you like a screen door in a hurricane. You look fucking delicious. You gained weight and you finally grew your hair long. You've got some muscle. And on top of that handsome face you always had? Fuck, Otis."

All he could do was laugh. He wasn't entirely sure how to receive the compliment. "You don't look so bad yourself. You haven't aged."

"Small wonder what prostituting yourself can do for the aging process, I suppose."

"Mm..."

"Have you gotten over a lot of your fears?"

"Which ones?"

"You know...The intimacy ones."

"Mm...Some of them. Not all. There's a lot to deal with..."

"I remember the first night we made love..."

"Dahlia..."

"You were terrified. You were in so much pain because a client had hurt your back. And I helped you. And you were petrified to let me touch you. So I offered to show you what sex should be like. That it doesn't always hurt."

"And I never forgot. And I became someone who is addicted to sex."

"You're not addicted to sex you're addicted to the feeling it gives you. The feeling of belonging to someone. Of someone caring about you. Even if it's for a short time."

Otis grumbled. "I always did hate it when you expanded my thoughts right in front of me. Like blowing up a balloon."

"So how long have you been here? In Ruggsville?"

"About 10 years, give or take. How about you?"

"I just moved here about a year ago. Surfing around, you know how it is."

"Not anymore, I don't. Do you still..."

"No. No not anymore. It became..."

"Too much."

"Yeah..." She paused, turning her head to be able to see him better. "When you say you have a family..."

"No. No kids. No wife. Too fucked up for that." He wiped the excess ink off of her back. "No, I meant uh...I got adopted, basically. Guy that runs Captain Spaulding's in town there. I started to work for him when I came here and then I got really sick so his family took me in and fixed me up. So then they let me stay. And I've been there ever since."