Mia is a massage therapist, and Damien is a physical therapist. Damien brings in a client for a massage, and Mia catches his eye. Despite Mia tuning him down repeatedly, Damien is determined to convince her to go on a date with him.
Mia has tried...
"Mia, hon, can you take a walk-in?" Stacey asked me as she popped her head into my room.
"Yeah, I have just over an hour before my next scheduled client." I said smiling at her.
"Ok, I'll send her in, thanks!" she said with a smile.
I dimmed the lights, and turned on the soft ocean sounds. Stacy led the woman into my room, and closed the door behind her.
"Hi, my name is Mia, anything specific you need help with today?" I asked the woman.
"I pulled a muscle in my back, I was hoping this would help." She said.
"Yes, it should. I'll give you a minute to get comfortable, and lay on the table. If you have a specific music choice, or scent of oil you would like me to use, just let me know." I said with a smile as I stepped out of the room. I gave her a minute to undress and get comfortable on the table while I added her to my daily log. I softly knocked on the door, and went inside the room. I did her massage with a focus on the pulled muscle. When her hour was up, I stepped out of the room, and waited for her at the front desk.
"Thank you so much, Mia. I can feel the difference already." She said as she set her purse on the counter.
"You are very welcome. If it starts hurting again, just call us, and we will get you back in. It's typically $100 for our basic massages, but since it is your first time here, it's going to be $50." I told her with a smile.
"That's very nice, thank you." she said.
I ran her card and gave her the receipt to sign, and she left me a $50 tip. This is why I love this job.
I had about fifteen minutes before my next appointment, so I cleaned up the room, and laid out fresh linens. I dimmed the lights again, and started the ocean sounds. I knew the next client was a guy, so I set out the sandalwood and mint oil. When everything was ready I went back out to the front desk. A few minutes later, a young guy who looked like he was still in high school came walking in.
"Hi, my name is Chad, I have an appointment for a massage." He said.
"You're my next client." I said with a smile.
"My physical therapist is meeting me here, do you mind waiting for him to start?" Chad asked.
"Not at all, you're still a little early. Take a seat and we will start wherever you're ready." I said.
Stacey came up to the desk next to me, and started looking over the order sheet for the stock room on the other computer. We were quiet for a moment, just listening to the soft music playing in the lobby, until I heard her say under her breath, "Oh, yummy."
I looked over at her, then followed her eyes to the front door. There was a very tall and well built guy, that was covered in tattoos, standing in front of Chad with his arms crossed. He was definitely a good looking guy.
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"Wow, Stacy. That's a little blunt for a married woman in her 50's..." I whispered.
"Mmhmm...But you aren't married..." she said, wiggling her eyebrows as she went back to the stockroom.
They two guys walked up to the counter.
"I guess we're ready now..." Chad said, looking guilty.
"Hi, I'm Mia, I'll be doing Chad's massage today." I said, introducing myself to 'Mr.Yummy'.
"Hey, I'm Damien, I'm with Sandstone Physical Therapy." He said leaning onto the desk.
"Really? I haven't seen you before, and we get a lot of referrals from Sandstone PT." I said.
"Yeah, my clients usually listen to what I say, but Chad here decided to do the opposite, and hurt himself." He said looking over at Chad.
Chad just gave me a look that said, 'oops'.
"Well, lets see if I have the magic touch to help out." I said leading them into my room. I turned the lights up a little, and had Chad sit on the table. "So, what's going on?" I asked.
Chad looked at Damien wanting him to fill me in.
"Oh, nu uh... You're telling her." Damien said, shaking his head. I couldn't help but smile.
"I sprained my ACL a while back, and I have been feeling really good... but D said I couldn't play football again yet because my knee wasn't strong enough. But I did, and I was careful, but I got really dehydrated, and I ended up getting several charlie horses in my leg at the same time. And now it hurts too bad to do my PT." Chad said, looking defeated.
"Ok, scoot back on the table so your whole leg is resting on it." I said as I grabbed the sandalwood and mint oil. "Smell this, and tell me if you like it." I said handing him the bottle.
He smelled the oil and his face lit up. "Yeah, I really like it." He said.
"Good, where were the charlie horses?" I asked.
"One in my calf, and one on my thigh." he said.
Damien sat in the chair in the corner of the room, as I started to work on Chad. I could feel him watching me, and I was really trying to not let it affect me. I stretched out Chad's leg, then put heat on the soar muscles. I let it sit, then massaged his leg, and stretched him out again.
I turned to Damien, "His calf is actually feeling pretty good," I said as I felt the muscle, "But his thigh might need another session."
"Ok, do you have any openings tomorrow?" Damien asked.
"I'll look when we go back out front." I said with a small smile.
I finished stretching out his leg, and we all walked up to the desk.
"It looks like I have one open slot tomorrow afternoon, at 3pm." I said. Damien looked at Chad, silently asking if that would work. Chad nodded. "Ok. Damien how do you want this billed?"
"Send it to me, and I'll include it in his treatment, and Sandstone will send a check at the end of the month." He said handing me his business card. It was a charcoal grey card with silver writing. I ran my thumb over the letters as I read the card.
Damien W. Black
Sandstone Physical Therapy
damienpt@sandstone.com
"Ok, I'll send it over." I said looking back up at him.
"You can go, Chad, I'll meet you back here tomorrow." Damien said.
"Thanks, D." Chad said as he walked out the door.
Damien turned back to face me, and leaned on the counter. He was just looking at me, and I started to get nervous. I looked into his eyes, and realized how lightly colored they were. I thought he was handsome, but the second he gave me a big smile, my knees almost went weak.
"Mia..." He said as he leaned onto the desk further.
"Hmm?"
"Can I take you to dinner?" He asked.
My shoulders dropped. "Damien..." I said softly.
I wanted to say yes. He was so attractive, and really seemed like a fun guy. I'm just not sure I could handle another rejection. And what if he came back with a client and I had to see him.
"I really wish I could..." I said looking back into his beautiful eyes.
