Chapter 46 - The Exquisitely Luxurious Seaweed Soak (2/2)

The receptionist leads them down the hallway lined with huge imposing wooden doors on both sides. She unlocks the last one. When Claire sees what's inside, it takes her breath away. It's a lavish suite, with a couple of what look like massage beds. And in a corner, surrounded by glass walls that give views of the city below, is an ornate marble bath tub.

Two lady attendants greet them. When one starts disrobing Claire, she recoils. ”What are you doing?”

The lady attendant smiles patiently. ”I'm preparing you for treatment, Ma'am.”

Claire turns to Gabriel for answers, but already he's lying face-down on one massage table, while the other attendant starts preparing materials for the relaxation treatment. A white towel is draped over his shapely buŧŧ.

”Relax, Claire,” he says. ”Let them do the magic for you. Trust me, you'll love it.”

”But she's taking my robe off.”

Gabriel laughs. ”Don't worry, I won't look.”

”Turn to the other side,” Claire insists.

”Seriously?” Gabriel says, and mutters to himself, ”It's not like I haven't seen everything.”

”What did you say?”

”Oh nothing,” Gabriel says. ”Turning away here, and not looking, not even a peep,” he says, as he makes a big production of how he's really turning to the other side, away from Claire.

A tiny smile curves Claire's lip. ”Thank you, Mister Tan,” she addresses him formally. ”I'm keeping an eye on you. Don't look.”

Jesus, Gabriel mutters, as he tries not to giggle. She's so cute when she's being like this. I've seen everything, Claire. And I love what I've seen. It's amazing. But I'm not some sleazebag like Jake Magno who would try to take advantage of a nice girl like you.

Jesus, Claire mutters, as the lady attendant gently disrobes her. After the embarrassment in the bedroom and that weird ”mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,” she's no longer sure of what to think and expect. She feels that no matter how much she puts up a façade of independence, half of her wants to surrender everything to him. Every moment is a struggle. And sometimes, Claire thinks if she's not going to be the one who ends up crazy here.

”The bathtub is filled with herbs-infused water, Miss Claire,” the lady attendant says. ”It's going to rejuvenate not only your skin, but also leave you with a youthful glow. Not that you really need it because you are already so lovely. But you'll see.” She smiles and gestures toward the tub.

Claire understands. She checks and sees that Gabriel is still turned away from her, waiting for her to get in the tub and out of his view. Then she gingerly steps into the tub. The water is perfectly warm, effusing what some familiar fragrance. She slips into it and lets the water ċȧrėss her body.

”Perfect, Miss Claire,” the attendant says. ”And now I'm going to fill the tub with these special seaweeds. This is an organic seaweed bath, and one of the world's most luxurious. It will detoxify you and leave you feeling exquisite.”

She carefully pours the contents of a ziploc bag into the tub's water. It looks like dried seaweeds. But as it soaks in the water, the seaweeds hydrate and spring back to life. The lady attendant ensures that Claire's body is completely covered with seaweed.

”How is it?”

”It feels…strange. But relaxing. Like wet slimy hands are all simultaneously and gently ċȧrėssing me,” Claire says.

”And that's only for starters,” the attendant says. ”I'll let you soak for a while. I'll watch the time. But you'll discover for yourself the wonderful sensation that this treatment brings.”

Claire could see Gabriel on the massage table. His attendant is placing what seem like pebbles on his back. Gabriel could not see her because his head is in the face hole of the massage bed, and from the looks of it, he might have already dozed.

Claire sighs. ”What are we now, Gabriel?” She touches her lips, trying to remember the sensation of Gabriel's lips on hers just a few minutes ago. She wonders what would happen to her heart when all this is over. Can she really walk away from this as though nothing happened? When she first signed up for this, she had been warned that her boss is one of the craziest, most eccentric persons you'd ever meet. But now, as she gazes at that man on the massage bed, Claire realizes she's probably the one being driven crazy. All she does at each moment of her time here is trying to fight this growing feeling, this deepening sense of attachment. And as the luxury seaweed soak does its job to rejuvenate her skin, Claire realizes that even it could not reach her heart and heal its deepening ache.