Chapter 11

Sol’s back had given out on him several times over the past few years but he’d never been happy about it before. As he lay there with his eyes closed, and Sally’s strong fingers ran up and down the backs of his legs, he thought about going to the butcher and buying Otis a year’s supply of bones.

First time he’d ever been grateful to the damn dog.

His eyelids flickered open as he sensed the light change and soft music surrounded him.

‘Have you ever had a massage before?’ Sally’s voice was soft.

‘No.’

‘Not even for relaxation?’

He shook his head; it was hard to speak with his face in the rolled up towel. Firm hands pressed on his shoulders.

‘Keep your head still.

He obliged. He wasn’t going to move at all and he hoped and prayed that he didn’t have to turn over at any point soon.

‘It was lucky I always carry my gear in the car.’ A light chuckle came from just near his ear. ‘Even luckier for you that Otis didn’t get into the back seat and find the massage oil and my CD player.’

Warm fingers stroked from his neck down to his waist, and Sol was hard pressed not to groan. It was even harder when she hooked her fingers under the waistband of his track pants and pulled them down over his butt. As the cool air hit his bare skin, she placed a towel over his back.

‘Lift your hips a little if you can. I’m just going to slip another rolled up towel under your groin.’

Managing that was a miracle but he did.

Sally’s voice blended with the music as her fingers moved up and down the backs of his legs.  The smell of the oil was unusual but pleasant.

‘Like I told you the other day, I did some courses with Rosie when I was at college before I followed the yoga path. Now there are two types of massage: relaxation and remedial. First off, I’ll relax you with long flowing strokes, kneading and some gentle manipulations of your muscles. A relaxation massage is to de-stress you and loosen your body. Once you’re relaxed, I’ll look for that pesky muscle and find the trigger points, but it might hurt a bit.’

The pesky muscle that he’d pulled when he’d tackled Otis wasn’t the one that was misbehaving at the moment. Sol gulped, trying to think of something that would take his mind off the gentle fingers caressing the backs of his thighs.

Getting the pages in order for his thesis. He worked his way through the chapters in his head, and by the time he had his physical reaction under control, Sally’s hands had moved to his feet, and Sol tried not to chuckle. His feet were ticklish. Her hands went around his ankle and she tugged at his legs.

‘Hmm,’ she said.

‘Hmm, what,’ he murmured.

‘Your left leg is about four centimetres shorter than your right at the moment. It’s the right side of your back that’s sore, isn’t it?’

‘Yep.’ He jerked as she tugged at his leg and the pain shot through his back. ‘Ow.’

‘Good.  I know where to work now.’

Sol wanted to say that she’d been doing just fine where she’d been before but he kept his mouth shut.

‘I’m going to work on the trigger point now. Do you know what that is?’

He went to shake his head but thought better of it. ‘No.’

‘The injured muscle’s taut and your other muscles are compensating. That contributes to the pain. I’ll palpate the muscle that’s not performing—’

God give me strength, he thought.

‘I’ll apply compression to quite precise points and the pain you feel will be intense to start with, but I’ll tell you to breathe it out for thirty to ninety seconds. The longer you can bear it, the quicker it will heal.’

‘Sounds good to me.’

Not.

‘Okay. you ready?’

When Sally climbed up on the bed and put her knees either side of his back, Sol headed straight back to chapter counting. The fabric of her jeans was soft against his hips, and each time she leaned forward and deepened the strokes on his back, it swished against his bare skin.

‘Now, Sol. Breathe in and hold it until I tell you to let go.’ Her knees gripped his hips.

‘Fuck!’ he couldn’t help the expletive as excruciating pain radiated across his back and down his right hip. It felt like she’d sliced a knife through his muscle.

Sally leaned down and her hair brushed his cheek as she spoke softly into his ear. ‘No talking, no yelling. Just breathe in. We’ll start again.’

This time he was ready. He took in a deep breath and held it as the pain built in intensity.

‘Okay. Let it out slowly.’

As he let the breath out, the pain eased as the air left his lips.

‘Good.’ Her voice was louder and brisk as she straightened up.

‘Ready for the next one?’

Another ten minutes of torture and Sol didn’t need to worry about being embarrassed, turning over or even getting off the bed. He breathed in and out as she told him to, and waited for the welcome gaps between the pressure she placed on each trigger point. How strong was she? When he didn’t think he could take any more, her fingers slid smooth and warm up over his shoulder blades.

‘Now I’ll get you back to a relaxation state. And if you’d like I’ll tell you a little bit about the chakras in Ayurvedic massage as we cool you down?’

‘Yes, please.’ Anything except for trigger points again.

‘There’s more than one hundred chakras in the body, but we focus on seven.’ Her fingers were firm at the base of his back again and Sol braced himself. ‘The root chakra is near your tailbone at the back and opposite at the front.’ Sally sounded uncomfortable for the first time and Sol grinned into the towel.

‘They say if this chakra is blocked you might feel restless, unable to settle to a path.’

What was she trying to tell him? Or was he being sensitive?

‘It’s colour is red. Last night in my notes, it was this chakra that we spoke about being associated with sexual energy, and utilized in Tantric massage.’ She paused and cleared her throat.

Sol swallowed deep and hard as Sally’s fingers moved around to his stomach beneath the towel.

Chapter Six. Think of Chapter Six. Bloody heck, what was it again? Focus. He fought the immediate physical response as her fingers brushed lightly and briefly—oh so briefly— on his skin a couple of centimetres below his belly button.

‘This is the second chakra.’ Her voice was low. ‘Balance here means that your emotions will flow freely and the emotion associated with it is passion. Can you remember what else I read out to you in my notes last night? It’ll relate directly to your research.

Sol was having trouble remembering what day it was as her fingers moved up to his chest. ‘Um. Remind me.’

‘It can be affected by inherited emotional patterns, or even by emotions repressed in childhood.’

Sol nodded, or moved his head as best he could on the rolled up towel.

As Sally worked her way through the rest of the chakras, her fingers brushing and caressing, her voice low and melodic, and the background music soothing, Sol finally found himself in a total state of relaxation. He was awake but he wasn’t. His eyes were closed, his face pressed into the towel, and after she ran her fingers lightly through his hair, saying, ‘the crown is the centre of spirituality, enlightenment and energy, and it allows for the inward flow of wisdom,’ he took a deep breath.

Strangely Sol felt as though he was almost floating when Sally stopped speaking. He kept his eyes closed as he listened to her moving quietly about the room. Finally, the music stopped followed by the door clicking shut and he drifted off to sleep.