A Year of Second Chances by Kendra Smith

Author:Kendra Smith [Smith, Kendra]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2019-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

*

‘Now, we just move you a little to the left; zat’s it, Mr Hughes.’ The Polish therapist was trying very hard to relax Eric. Anyone would think that Eric found lying face down on a bed dressed in paper pants stressful.

‘Some of the clients, zey like to hold hands?’ she cooed at Dawn.

‘No, no that won’t be necessary,’ muttered Eric quickly, keeping his hands firmly tucked under his thighs.

The other girl came into the room and told them her name was Eva. She smoothed down Dawn’s towel and tucked it into her pants. Dawn had made sure she was wearing her best pants, not the comfy blue M&S ones, which had never recovered from going in with the towels at sixty degrees; they were reserved for housework or gardening days. Come to think of it, she was wearing them more and more. At one point, she wouldn’t have let Eric see her dead in them. These days, she didn’t think he even noticed her in her pants any more; he was always asleep when she got into bed.

She reached out and touched his arm as their beds were still close together. Eric jumped.

‘All right?’ soothed Eva, looking over. ‘Please relax.’

She was hoping the massage would de-stress him. She’d read about the conditions it treated: eczema, no; sleeplessness, sometimes; digestive problems: might help Eric’s bad wind; arthritis: not so far; senile dementia: not yet… menopausal symptoms – she had instantly clicked the window shut on that one. That word was everywhere.

‘Mrs Hughes? What oil would you like? Your husband, he is taking orange peel oil – it’s good for excessive wind. I see that on his booking form. And you? You like the patchouli, no? Helps ageing skin,’ purred Eva. Dawn let out a sigh of resignation and inhaled the slightly sickly aroma of patchouli as Eva set to work.

After the massage, they both went upstairs and lay down on the giant bed covered in a goose down duvet and fell fast asleep. The massage had, in the end, been wonderfully relaxing. Dawn woke with a start about 8 p.m. to find Eric snoring very loudly next to her.

She felt a bit disappointed. She tiptoed over to the mini-bar and opened it up. She hesitated, then pulled out a half bottle of champagne and popped the cork. The noise woke Eric up with a start.

‘Dawn! What are you doing! That will cost a fortune! Nobody drinks champagne from a mini-bar.’

She ignored him and poured out two glasses and walked over to him. ‘Well, we do! Cheers!’ They were going to have fun. Damn and blast this other woman. She was going to show Eric a good time. ‘Don’t be such a spoilsport, Eric, dinner’s nearly over! We’ve both been asleep. We need to get going,’ she said as she took a huge gulp.

He rubbed his eyes and stared around the room. ‘Last thing I remember is some woman pouring hot oil on my back.’ He smiled, raising his glass to her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.