Chapter 7
“Are we not supposed to be at the conference?” Aurora asked as they headed down to the spa. She was excited about the spa, but there was still another day of speakers and workshops planned for today. She had been under the impression that Lance cared about this conference.
“Yeah, we’re blowing it off”, Lance laughed as he watched Aurora’s face drop.
“Then why’d you have me take such detailed notes?” Aurora was sure that the answer was going to enrage her and she had already cocked her arm back, and she was ready to swing.
Lance just smirked, and Aurora hit him lightly on the shoulder. She couldn’t believe that she had been duped into believing the conference was important. Lance had seemed so serious.
“I’m sorry, but I had to convince you that it was important”, Lance started to explain his problem. “I couldn’t handle the idea of you running around the hotel without me. I want you…need you all to myself. So, I told you that I needed you to take notes”.
“So, you didn’t need to understand the context, and you didn’t need to read more about the cowboy investor?” Aurora couldn’t even remember if that was the name of her least favorite speaker. “I can’t believe I fell for that”.
“I can’t believe I’m admitting this to you”, Lance said as he pushed open the door to the hotel’s spa. “I was worried about you. I knew that Trevor was snooping around and I know how the men who attend this conference react around beautiful women”.
“That is after all why you brought me here, right?”
“It might’ve factored into the decision”, Lance teased as he walked up to the counter. He had booked a couple’s massage from the room, and before getting off the phone he had booked a whole day of activities. Aurora had been looking forward to a soak in the mud bath. It had been a long time since she had been treated to a day like this.
“Follow me”, Rolph the attendant said as he stood up from behind the desk and led the couple into a small room.
There were two tables lined up parallel to each other in the middle of the room. There wasn’t much room between the tables. The room was very dimly lit, and there was a white noise, the ocean, playing in the background, and pan flute music playing. “Take your clothes off, lay face down on the table, and put the sheet on. We have robes for when you head to your next activity”.
Aurora turned to thank the attendant, but he had already ducked out of the room. “Feel these robes”, Aurora squealed as she rubbed the fabric between her fingers. She couldn’t believe that Lance wasn’t excited about all of this, and then something hit her. “So, I guess you’re used to all this?”
“No”, Lance laughed as he took his shirt off. “I very rarely go to spas. I have my masseuse come to the house, and there is no robe better than my own”. Lance was about to describe his robe when he seemed to realize that he was bragging. “Sorry, I…”
“Don’t be sorry”, Aurora smiled warmly as she tried to be reassuring. “I get it. We come from these different worlds, right? I am trying really hard not to judge you”. They shared a laugh as they got under their sheets.
“You took your underwear off?” Aurora asked. She had been trying not to look, or at least she was trying to make it look like she wasn’t looking. “In public?”
“This is a massage, and we’re in a small, windowless room”, said Lance he had his eyes closed and his deep voice sounded sleepy. The comfort of the table was already taking its toll.
“Are you asleep?” Aurora was feeling nervous. She was not really all that comfortable with being naked in front of strangers. Lance had suggested massages, and Aurora had asked for the couple’s massage option, because she felt she needed Lance there for emotional support.
“No”, Lance sighed the word. “Is something wrong?”
“No”, Aurora said. “Yes, I guess so…well, not wrong, but I was kind of hoping that you would stay awake through the massage. It’s a couple’s massage, right?”
“Sure”, Lance grumbled as he got his arms underneath his chin and looked over at Aurora. “So, why are you nervous?”
“Who says I’m nervous?” Aurora asked as she tried to avoid eye contact.
Lance knew something was off about the woman beside him. He could feel her table shaking. “Is it just being naked in front of strangers?” Aurora nodded in response and Lance couldn’t stop the little laugh that burst out of him. “I’m sorry”, he tried to swallow the laughter. “You are so perfect, how could you be nervous about being naked. I mean people would pay to see you naked”.
“I guess that’s a complement”, Aurora mumbled to herself as she turned over and looked at the small, bamboo fountain in the corner of the room. It was bubbling and dripping, it was sort of relaxing, but mainly it made Aurora need to pee.
The masseuses came in and started rubbing at the neck. Aurora had been to one couple’s massage before in her lifetime. It was just her and her ex-boyfriend getting rubbed at the same time by two old hippies named Freedom, and Wind-child. These masseuses were moving at the same time, and rubbing their clients in the same way.
The two hippies had been running their massage parlor out of their own home, and they didn’t have the fancy sheets, or robes. It was a fine massage, but the hippie masseuses had talked through the whole thing, and the smell of what they said was patchouli was thick in the air. This hotel spa was on a whole different level, and Aurora was not used to that level of service.
Aurora could feel the gentle pressure on her neck, and it was amazing to think that Lance was feeling the same pressure move down his neck. Aurora watched the masseuses as they moved in time through the massage. She wanted to keep watching, but her eyes wouldn’t stay open. Her body longed for her to give in and just embrace the massage.
“Wake up”, Lance said as he helped a shaky Aurora off the table and into her robe.
“Where did they go?” Aurora asked as she looked around and saw that the masseuses had left. “I wanted to say thank you”.
“Why?” Lance laughed. “This is their job”.
“And they did an amazing job”, Aurora sighed. Lance continued to laugh as they were led to the sauna.
Water sizzled over the rocks as Aurora let the steam wash over her body. “Are you sure?” She asked for the fifth time. Lance seemed completely comfortable naked, but Aurora felt like more people were going to walk in at any minute.
“What do you want out of this?” Aurora asked as she sat back against the hot cedar boards. Her question caught Lance off guard. For the first time all day, Aurora looked like the relaxed one. She tried to play it cool, but she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.
It wasn’t easy to throw Lance Macauley off of his game, but Aurora had stunned him. “I..uh”, it was all the rich man could muster.
“I know you’re married, and we can’t…” Aurora felt a finger on her lips. She followed the arm up to meet a pair of tender eyes. She wasn’t able to read the face that greeted her. Lance looked like he was trying to be sincere.
“I don’t want you to think like that”, Lance seemed to be searching for the right words as he spoke. “I understand it, but I don’t think of this as a passing thing…an affair…”
“Well it’s an affair”, Aurora wasn’t about to let Lance off the hook. She was okay with what he was saying until he tried to claim that it wasn’t an affair. Aurora was trying to be a realist. She was giving herself to Lance, and getting caught up in the emotion, and passion. Aurora knew that it would be so easy to just let him lie to her.
“Yes, it is”, Lance smiled. His confidence seemed to find itself in this moment. “But, and I know you feel this too, it is so much more than that”.
Aurora had to turn her head away. She couldn’t let Lance see the impact his words had on her. Her heart was swooning. Aurora was in the clouds as they moved onto the facials, and the rest of their pampering.
That night as they got back to their rooms to change for dinner, Aurora was still drunk on the energy that they shared. It was the ring of her phone that brought her back to reality. She dug through her dirty laundry, following the vibration and the faint tinkling.
“Hello”, Aurora hadn’t really looked at the caller ID.
“How is it?” Sheila’s voice cut right through Aurora. She felt like she was betraying her friend somehow by enjoying her time with Lance. “Are you writing everything down?”
“I’m trying to remember every minute”, Aurora sighed as she looked around for a notepad. It was an odd impulse, but she wanted to take a few notes. She just wanted to be able to face Sheila when she got back Monday. Sheila had a way of seeing through Aurora’s bull.
“I used to be the young pretty girl”, Sheila would always say.
“I don’t think that anything malicious is going on here”, Aurora explained as she found a pad and started jotting down a few notes about the weekend.
“Oh, God”, Sheila’s voice was heavy laden with judgement. Aurora felt a wave of shame crawl over her. “You’re sleeping with him. Is it at least good?”
“Yes”, Aurora said, even though she couldn’t believe what she was saying. She had just admitted to the affair. She felt bad as she realized what this could mean for Lance.
“Well, then hopefully I can get you out of the country”, Sheila sighed. “You’re going to need a trip when this prick throws you to the curb”. Aurora tried to protest, she tried to say that that wasn’t going to happen, but she knew that the older woman wasn’t going to believe her no matter how what she said.
“I know what you think of me…”
“No, you don’t”, Sheila’s voice sounded comforting. “I get it. I know why this is happening. I would sleep with you if you took me to the Swiss Alps, and I hate rug munching”. The girls laughed at Sheila’s joke.
“I think this is leading to something”, Aurora said the words, and she believed them. She knew what was going to come from the other end of the phone, but she said them anyway.
“I hope so”, Sheila was trying hard to sound sincere. She told Aurora to be safe, and then hung up.
Aurora finished her short note, and then she packed her bags. After dinner, they were boarding a plane and heading back to New York. They were leaving the fairy tale behind and heading deep into the heart of reality. Aurora felt good about their relationship, but she knew things always changed when they were exposed to this harsh light.
“Are you ready?” Lance asked as he popped his head through the door. Aurora nodded and got to her feet. Everything felt right with the world.