I walked into the massage parlor feeling pretty damn good. It was my eighteenth birthday, after all, and it had been a great one up that point. I woke up to an incredible breakfast-in-bed, cooked in cooperation from my mother and my girlfriend. Two eggs over easy, three pancakes with butter and syrup, tall glass of orange juice, and an iced strawberry pop tart for dessert - that’s about all one could ask for on the morning of his eighteenth year. My girlfriend, Michelle, cleaned up for me before heading off to work, but left me with an incredibly sexy birthday kiss. I couldn’t stop smiling for the next five minutes after it. My parents had given me the usual pile of birthday-type gifts; socks and underwear, sweatshirts and pants, that sort of thing, but at the end of the gift-giving, and after the cake-eating, my dad walked me outside and handed me the keys to his Chevy Malibu.
“Yours now kid,†He had said with a big grin on his face, the cigarette drooping out of the corner of his mouth. “Be good to her, huh?â€
It wasn’t in the best of shape, and it certainly wasn’t new, but I wasn’t going to complain. I had my first car. My first real car. I thanked him more times than I can count and ran upstairs to get dressed. It was when I was coming back down and heading for the door that they gave me the coupon.
“Now you have somewhere to drive to with your own car,†My mom told me cheerily and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
The words “Sunset Parlor†stood out in bold letters, and below that the words “Massage/Aromatherapy/Acupuncture availableâ€. I thought the gift was a little odd, being that neither I or my family every attended such things, but I was thankful for it anyway. I tucked it into my back pocket and headed out to go drive to every friends house I had to show off my new wheels.
And that is what I did on my eighteenth, up until around six o’clock when I realized if I wanted to cash in my birthday coupon- which I didn’t really, but wanted to go just to please my parents who probably spent some good money on it -I had to get there soon.
So I went.
What a mistake.
I walked in feeling pretty damn good, that much is true. The place was a small little rectangle-shaped building off the main shopping plaza in the city. It’s big, colorful banner greeted my Malibu as I parked in the lot with the words “Sunset Parlor†and a large cartoon-styled drawing of a couple holding hands under a sunset. It looked nice. When I got inside, the place had a very sterile, but peaceful, atmosphere. The walls and floor of the lobby were plain white, and the couch and chairs in the waiting area matched. A pleasant smell was drifting from somewhere though. It smelled like cinnamon incense.
I had a seat in a big, puffy white chair, but not a minute later the receptionist window slid open and a cute girl with a dark ponytail was grinning at me and motioning me over.
“Hi,†I said returning the smile and sticking out my coupon.
“Birthday boy?†She asked before even seeing it.
“Uh, yea,†I answered and gave an awkward laugh. Cute girls made me do that from time to time.
“You can go right in that door,†She said pointing out a door to my left. “Yours is the second room to the left off the hallway.†She smiled again and I barely smiled back before she slid closed the window again.
I strolled over and went inside, down the hall, and into the second room on the left.
Horror filled me. There was a guy in there!
“Oh… hi.†I said awkwardly and waved. “Are… you the…â€
“The masseuse? Heh, no. Don’t worry,†He said and grinned. “I’m just leaving.â€
“Oh,†I said, letting out a sigh of relief. “No offense or anything, I just pictured a woman.â€
“None taken.†He said and side-stepped me.
“Hey so what do I do?†I asked him as he stepped into the hall.
“Oh, your masseuse will be in in a moment. You can take off your clothes and lie on the table for her.â€
“All my clothes?†I asked nervously, not comfortable with the idea at all.
“If you want. If not, you can leave your socks and shirt and shorts on. You won’t offend anyone.â€
“Heh, thanks.†I nodded and he closed the door.
I decided to take him up the offer, so I left my socks, shirt and basketball shorts on. I kicked my shoes and pants off to the underside of a bench next to the massage table. I was very thankful for having worn basketball shorts that day.
The table stood about four feet off the ground. I pressed my finger into it and it sank in two inches. I nodded my approval and hopped up onto it. There was a long blue sheet that was tucked into one side, the other side of it ran to the floor next to the table and piled there untidily. At one end was a face-size holed that I could only guess was for my face. I was pretty smart. I shrugged my shoulders and laid down into it. My body sunk into the comfortable top of the table, and my head seemed to be absorbed into the face-hole. I was already feeling extremely relaxed, and no one had even touched me yet!
I closed my eyes, and I was practically drifting to sleep when the door finally opened. I lifted my head but just as I caught a glimpse of the girl, she had passed me on my side. I craned my neck around to get a look at her, but she disappeared by my feet. It didn’t matter, I’d seen enough. She was even cuter than the receptionist! She had light brown hair that was pulled into a short ponytail and she looked to be in good shape. I began to enjoy the idea of the massage much more than I previously had.
“Hi,†She said from behind me.
“Hi,†I said from my face hole. “Should I sit up, or…?â€
“No, you’re perfect,†She said and let her hand fall on my calf. I grinned. “Sean, right?â€
“Yep, that’s me.â€
“How are you today?â€
“Um, really good, actually.â€
“Yeah? That’s good to hear,†She said, and now she walked to the right of my head. She was doing something at her table, and from my face hole I could only see her calves, which looked tanned and toned, and her white shoes and ankle socks. “Have you ever been massaged before?â€
“No. This is my first time.â€
She let out a playful laugh and said, “Well, we’re going to have to loosen you up then.â€
“Sure,†I said, probably sounding like a goof. Her calves and feet disappeared to my right.
“Let’s get these off, huh?†She asked and I felt her hands around one of my ankles. She peeled off my socks before waiting for an answer.
“Oh, yea… I didn’t know what to take off or whatever.†I watched my socks get tossed next to my pants and shoes on the floor.
“You got sensitive feet?†She asked and began to rub her thumbs into the sole of my foot.
“Sensitive feet?†I echoed confused.
“Some people keep their socks on, and even their shoes sometimes, because they can’t stand having their feet touched. One wrong move and-â€
I felt a tingling itch at my foot and an uncontrollable spasm went through my whole leg. I let out a loud laugh before biting my lip and getting my composure. I heard her laugh from behind me.
“See?†She said, and I could hear the smile on her face.
“Yeah, I guess I do then.â€
“That’s good. That means your body will be more responsive to whatever I do to it.†And then she dug her hands in between my shoulder blades. A great-feeling wave of pleasure happened there and I felt my whole upper body go loose. “See?†She asked. “But before we get into that… I’m going to give you a special treatment.â€
“Hmmm?†I questioned, still feeling super-relaxed.
“That’s good. Just keep your body loose.â€
I let out a long breath of air and settled into the massage bed a bit more. I was really enjoying the whole experience. That’s when she started wrapping me.
The blue sheet that had been tucked into one side of the massage table was apparently there for good reason. I felt the blanket thrown over my body and heard the pile drop to the opposite side of the table. I frowned and opened my eyes.
“What is this called?â€
“Shhhh, just stay in your quiet place. Think of pleasant images. This will help your… unwrap yourself. Now try and lift your body up a little for me.â€
I thought ‘what-the-heck’ and did as she requested. I slowly used my kneed and shoulders to push my body up a little, and under me the sheet went. Over to the other side the masseuse went, and then around my entire body the sheet went. We repeated this five times, and by the sixth time I was having trouble getting my body up. My legs and arms weren’t moving so well by that point.
“What is this called again?†I asked, testing my movement range by wriggling around a bit in the sheet.
She suddenly yanked the loose end, and the whole wrap tightened around me. I felt my arms pin down to my sides and my knees bang into one another.
“The wrap,†She said and I could have sworn I heard her stifle a laugh at the end.
“Kind of tight, huh?†I asked a little nervously.
“Quiet place,†She said as I felt her begin to tighten up the wrap around my ankles.
Another tickle surge shot up my leg and I instinctively tried to jerk my feet, but the sheet had been wrapped too well, and they stayed right where they were.
“Sorry,†She said, and again it seemed as if she was on the verge of laughing.
I swallowed and forced a short laugh. My feet, bare and exposed, felt very naked down by her hands. They were the only part of me, save my head, not wrapped up.
“You know, maybe we should just skip this part of it and get back to the massage,†I finally spit out, wriggling around in the sheet. I couldn’t move an inch.
I heard her let out a sigh, then her legs popped into my view. She was back at her table. I heard her get something out, then she came beside me.
“Lift your head please,†She said. I was curious as to why, but I did so anyway. “This will help you find your quiet place,†She said, and before I got a change to look at her, a black sleeping mask was pulled over my eyes. I began to ask why I needed to be blindfolded for it when a thick cloth jammed between my lips.
“Phummmph. Merphm.†Is what came out as I felt her knotting the cloth behind my head. I was a slow learner, and it took me till that moment to figure out something was very wrong about the situation.
“MMMMMPH!†I shouted out and violently shook my head. I wanted out! Out of the sleeping mask and the… the GAG! She had gagged me! I wanted out of the sheet and out of the building too! I just wanted to be back in my Malibu!
That’s when the tickling started.
Her fingers danced on the soles of my feet, sending wave after wave of spasm through my legs and feet. I chomped down on the rag in my mouth and wriggled my body around as much as I could, but the massage table was just too deep. I was sunk into my own prison. The sheets around my body kept my arms and legs pinned against each other, and my ankles were wrapped so tight that my feet were just stuck there, bare and ready for her fingers to attack. And she did attack. She went up and down and back and forth, and every time she stopped, it was only for a few seconds before she started again. She did this for what seemed like forever before finally dropping my ankles. I grunted and shouted and writhed and wriggled. She flipped me onto my back and pulled the sleeping mask off my eyes.
The face was vaguely familiar at first, I couldn’t quiet place it. But when she said, “Hello kiddo!†And smiled at me, It came together.
“Phammel?†I questioned, meaning to say ‘Danielle’?
Danielle was my babysitter for a good two-to-three years when I was growing up. She stopped doing it when I was around twelve.
“Hiya!†She said cheerily. “Happy to see me Seany? I’m sure happy to see you. Happy birthday!â€
“Phammel!? Merph phum phammeruphm?â€
“Oh, heh, let me just…†She said and pulled the gag out of my mouth. “Sorry, didn’t want you freaking out the other customers. We’re almost closed though, so thanks for coming so late.â€
“Danielle,†I began slowly, “Why the HELL did you that?â€
“Payback,†She said casually and rested her chin on her hand.
“What!?â€
“Payback.â€
“..for..?â€
“Your eighteen now. The last year I babysat you I was eighteen.â€
“OK…â€
“And you made that year hell Sean! You were always being a little bastard, running around and throwing stuff and making a mess, but the worst part was when I turned eighteen! Do you remember that?â€
“No!â€
“Of course not! Just another day of torturing the babysitter for you, but it was my birthday! I had plans to go out that night after babysitting you, but you just had to get wild and tie me up, right?â€
I thought back. I had tied her up so many times… no one particular time stood out in my head.
“Danielle! I was TWELVE!â€
“Well now you’re eighteen. And revenge is sweet.â€
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Unwrap me would ya?â€
She laughed.
“You think this is over? Kiddo, I got bad news for you. Your parents gave you up for the whole weekend!â€
“What!? What do you mean!? My parents!? Danielle! MMMMMM!â€
“Shhhh.†She said and put her hand over my mouth. “Quiet place.†She grinned.
to be continued...