The Masseuse

by Kiki Goodman

  Jacob found himself moving at a faster pace than normal – his legs wanting to get him there faster than he had imagined, get what he had to say off his chest and hopefully win Kelly back. He stopped at the traffic lights with her office building in sight and tried to formulate a plan of how he was going to talk to her. That idea went out the window as the walk sign changed to green, letting him walk across the intersection. Jacob watched as Kelly walked out of her building and into the café two doors down from the bank branch office, with a short bald man – his hand on the small of her back as they talked and walked. He was a good head height shorter than Kelly, his dark skin blending in with his pin stripe suit, the white shirt the only thing separating his head from his shoulders. Jacob found it odd that she would allow such a thing to happen, but at the same time understood since the way they had left things previously.

  Jacob stopped in front of the café, looking through the window to try and see Kelly but only saw people crowding around. He tried to look further but stopped when he saw what looked like a guy’s hand on Kelly’s backside, his heart sinking slightly. He regrouped, composed himself and looked at the writing on the window as he waited for Kelly to come out. Jacob wasn’t going to go in there and cause a scene, he figured he needed to get her alone somehow. Kelly and the guy in the suit came out of the café with smiles on their faces, the suit getting close to Kelly as they walked.

  “Hi Kel,” Jacob said immediately getting her attention.

  She froze for a moment seeing Jacob standing there looking at her, a look of disbelief written all over her. The guy in the suit looked angry.

  “Jake… hi,” Kelly said warmly, her smile giving Jacob a glimmer of hope.

  The guy in the suit didn’t look happy that he now had competition for Kelly’s attention and inserted himself quickly.

  “Kelly I’ll be in the office,” the guy in the suit said rudely. “We’ve got something hard to work on and I need to push that through before you take the deposit as negotiated.”

  “This won’t take long,” Kelly said with a curt smile as the guy in the suit walked away. “What are you doing here?”

  “Who’s the friendly guy in the suit?” Jacob asked wondering what was going on between them, if indeed he had competition.

  “Richard? Oh he’s my boss. Always friendly,” Kelly replied shyly.

  There was something she was hiding but Jacob wasn’t sure what.

  “Oh, I thought you might have moved on…” Jacob said letting out a deep breath.

  Kelly looked slightly shocked but quickly composed herself.

  “Jake.”

  “I’m sorry okay?” Jacob said trying to plead his case. “I don’t want to give up on us. I want us to give it a red hot go.”

  “I do too. I’m sorry about what I said,” Kelly said politely.

  “I don’t care about that. I care about you. I can’t lose the woman I love. I’ve lost two great women in my time. My mother and the other one, you. I can’t live with that feeling,” Jacob said earnestly.

  “Jake, you haven’t lost me. I just need time to process everything. I was wrong in what I said, but… I just need time to get my head straight okay?” Kelly said genuinely.

  “So we can pick up where we left off? I’m staying at the Hotel de Marriot overnight if you want to stop by.”

  “I’d love to, but I’m working late tonight and then I just want to go home and go to bed,” Kelly said reluctantly. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m sorry I can’t.”

  “Okay,” Jacob said deflated. “How about I bring you dinner or something? Breakfast?”

  “I’ll think about it,” Kelly said with a smile. “I’m happy you came, really I am. How about I come see you when I get home at the end of the week, and we can talk?”

  “That’d be great… keep in touch?” Jacob asked hoping she would say yes.

  “Let’s just take this time apart to think okay? After what we’ve said to each other I think it’s important,” Kelly replied warmly. “I’ve got to get back to work. Richard rides us all pretty hard. I need things to go smoothly before I leave.”

  Jacob nodded knowing it wasn’t the answer he wanted but it was a start. The next few days were going to be hard. He was anxious and simply wanted things to get back to the way they were. Seeing her made him feel better, even if it was only for this moment. Kelly smiled and kissed him on the cheek, lingering for a moment before heading back to her branch office. Jacob had a small glimmer of hope that what she said was true and that he hadn’t lost her. For now it was enough to hold on to until Kelly would come home. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure about everything but he felt like they were headed in the right direction. Only time would tell.

  Chapter 40

  Kelly stood there watching Jacob through the glass in his outdoor massage room, her jacket in hand, happy to just be there and watch him go about his day. Jacob didn’t know she had arrived home early and had let herself into his house. Kelly admitted to herself that her heart sang when she was around him, his presence making her feel like nothing else mattered, that things would be okay. It had been a few days since he had visited her at work. It was enough of a gesture to her, proving that she did mean something to him and he did love her. It blew the notion of what love was completely out of the window for Kelly. She now knew what it meant, to feel love, to be in love. This was it for her, this was where she was meant to be and she couldn’t be happier for it. She put her jacket down on the lounge and straightened her t-shirt before making sure her jeans were comfortable. Without being able to make her way outside Jacob saw her through the door and smiled, filling her with contentment. Without hesitation she went outside and kissed Jacob passionately, her arms around his neck while he held her tightly to him.

  “I’ve missed you,” Jacob said warmly as Kelly gently touched her nose to his.

  “Me too…” Kelly said kissing him once more. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

  “I know what you mean,” Jacob said gently running his hand over her firm backside before letting her slip away. “You smell lovely, is that a new fragrance?”

  “No, just me… only me,” Kelly replied seductively.

  “Well that is nice, I’ve never noticed before. So how’s it all going?” Jacob asked watching Kelly intently.

  He was happy she had come around. He wanted her to stay all the time but knew at the moment that Kelly staying wasn’t happening. Jacob ached for her to stay, to be by his side and never leave. He started to think about other things he would need to do to prove himself worthy, to win her back completely. After the other night he had realised how much she actually meant to him and Jacob often wondered why he never saw it before. Kelly smiled at him and he could tell there was something going on inside her head – by her look it was something mischievous.

  “You know after the other day I’ve been thinking… well wondering really,” Kelly replied slowly walking around the massage table.

  “About?” Jacob asked politely.

  “What it’s like to give massages to people. Is it really exciting? I mean you wouldn’t have done it unless you really enjoyed it right?” Kelly replied confusing Jacob.

  He wondered where all this was coming from.

  “At first sure, it was exciting. I wanted to see if I could rock someone’s world. Like I said before, the whole idea of having them in my hands like unmoulded clay was uniquely interesting. Sure massaging naked women was fun at first but after a while that died away; it became more about giving them an experience they wouldn’t forget. Why?” Jacob asked curiously.

  “I want to give you a massage, show you what you mean to me,” Kelly said playfully which Jacob felt was out of character for her. “But I also want to get into it with you. Have a business together.”

  He didn’t feel right about it. Yes, he loved that she had surprised him and come home early, but her attitude was different. The whole business idea was possible, but they couldn’t go forward without
clearing some things up.

  “That’d be great. Perhaps we should talk first?” Jacob said posing a question.

  He saw her mood change straight away.

  “About what?”

  “The fact that I feel like you are hiding something. That this isn’t you. I have never known you to avoid the truth, to shy away from it,” Jacob said feeling his heart pounding in his chest at the simple thought of pushing her away once more. He didn’t want to do that and was nervous at the possibility.

  She looked at him and he could see she was trying to think of what to say.

  “What is it?”

  “We need to clear the air… have everything out in the open, agreed?” Kelly said looking at Jacob, her nerves rising up. She wasn’t sure it was the right time to tell Jacob the truth as it was something hard enough for her to accept. How would Jacob take it? Perhaps now wasn’t such a good time.

  “Sure, I thought we already did have everything out in the open… but sure,” Jacob said waiting to see what Kelly had to say.

  He wondered what could possibly be so big that she hadn’t told him before. Jacob thought they were open and honest and knew each other’s secrets but obviously that wasn’t the case. Kelly could see he was genuine and her doubt started to melt away when she realised she could possibly lose the man she loved if she didn’t tell him the truth.

  “Okay,” Kelly started but then took a deep breath and blew it out, the enormity of the situation apparent.

  She tried to find the words to sweeten what she was going to reveal but they weren’t coming. Kelly could see Jacob was hanging on what to she had to say and with a deep breath she summoned up the courage to let it out.

  “I wasn’t in a car accident when I went away for three months,” Kelly said which confused Jacob, but before he could answer she continued, overcoming her apparent nerves.

  “I’ve got a brain tumour. I was having headaches and wasn’t feeling quite right. So I got some tests done. I spent a lot of time wondering if living life like this was all worth it.”

  “Kelly… shit!” Jacob said gob smacked at the revelation. “So. How? What?”

  She put her hand up to quieten him down. Jacob felt completely overwhelmed, his mind was going in all directions and his body started to feel jittery. The first thought that went through his head was that he had finally got Kelly back, but only for a short time. How could this be? How could his luck be so bad? Suddenly Jacob felt hopeless.

  “It’s incredibly slow-growing. The doctors believe I’ve got five years at least. It could even be 10 years,” Kelly replied causing Jacob to sit down. The inevitability of losing Kelly was a hard pill to swallow.

  This was not how he wanted things to turn out, especially not with the woman he loved. He lost his mother to cancer, he didn’t want to lose the other special woman in his life to the same thing.

  “I’m on medication. It’s helping.”

  “Fuck me…” Jacob didn’t know what else to say.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in, but that’s why I’ve wanted change. I’ve wanted to live life to the fullest,” Kelly said softly.

  “I take it that this explains the mood swings, the changes in your personality?”

  “Yeah. I get a little… strange at times. The brain tumour does that. And when you confronted me about it… I wasn’t ready to let you know… I’m sorry,” Kelly said gently.

  “It’s okay… I’ve messed things up too,” Jacob said putting his hands on his head as all of his issues came back to haunt him – Nikki coming to the fore of his mind completely. “I never wanted to hurt anyone, especially not you. And yet I find I’ve messed things up. I haven’t even been able to talk with anyone about it. I miss Tyler, even though our friendship is through. Nikki is apparently pregnant with my child. I’ve pushed you away…”

  “Jake!” Kelly said moving up to him and touching his face gently, holding it in between her hands to look at him. “It’s okay. You can always work things out with Tyler. We will work things out together. If the baby is yours, we can raise the child as our own… if not, no harm no foul.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah I am. I don’t have that much time left. I love you Jake. I always have. No matter what I go through I always seem to be wanting you. Let’s throw all of it out and start anew, like there is no tomorrow. We can do anything,” Kelly said smiling, her eyes tearing up slightly.

  Jacob kissed her on the lips and put his arms around her, feeling like he was home, finally. Kelly didn’t let him go either and he felt the warmth emanate from her intensely. While part of him was scared that he would only have a limited time with Kelly, he had hope that in that time there may be a cure or treatment to extend her life. If they had to make the most of their time together he was going to do everything he could to achieve that. Kelly was completely worth anything to him, he would move mountains for her. He was blown away by how loving she was and accepting of Nikki’s baby. Jacob felt secure in the thought that things were going to be okay, as best they could be. Jacob wasn’t sure he could reconcile with Tyler, but if Kelly believed it was possible then he would consider giving it a go – if Kelly was sick and open to any possibility then perhaps Jacob needed to be as well. After all that was only something small he could do for the woman he loved when she was facing something so big. Together. They could do anything, together.

  Chapter 41

  It was a beautiful end of a spring day when Jacob arrived home with Kelly in tow with all her luggage. He was overjoyed that Kelly no longer had to be away and they could get on with their lives, hopefully together as they had planned. He knew Kelly was tired from her trip but the text messages she had sent during the week kept swirling around in his mind. He left the luggage in the entrance way and closed the door, hoping Kelly would see the flowers he had purchased around the rooms. It was something different, a surprise to welcome her home and make her feel loved. Kelly stood there near the stairs and smiled, wiping a tear away as she looked at the roses on the dining table, the gerberas on the kitchen counter and the lilies by the stairs.

  “It’s good to be back,” Kelly said with a sigh of relief. “I should probably go home and get changed, freshen up. See if Donna has destroyed the place…”

  Jacob looked at Kelly and smiled, he didn’t want her to leave.

  “Why don’t you stay here… you could freshen up,” Jacob said putting his arms around Kelly’s waist.

  She smiled putting her arms around his neck before kissing him gently.

  “I could do that… do you think you could handle it?” Kelly asked with a cheeky grin.

  “I don’t know… did you mean every word in those text messages you sent?” Jacob asked kissing her on the lips.

  Lust washed all over Kelly’s face letting Jacob know what she was thinking. He could tell she was thinking about the last few weekends where they were trying out what she had suggested.

  “I don’t remember what I sent, you may have to refresh my memory,” Kelly replied kissing Jacob passionately.

  Jacob reached for his phone in his pocket but Kelly pushed her hand down to grab his, feeling around in his pocket.

  “I think I remember now…”

  “So you didn’t just make it up then?” Jacob said while Kelly tried to find his manhood, a naughty smirk coming out.

  Kelly took her hand out of his pocket but Jacob didn’t let her get away.

  “Well what can I say… it’s all true,” Kelly said as Jacob quickly kissed her, his hands roaming her body. Kelly held him tight as they ground their bodies together through their clothing. “I think I need a shower… give me two minutes before coming up…”

  “I’ll bring your bag up,” Jacob said as Kelly walked to the top of the stairs before Jacob spoke up without looking in Kelly’s direction. “You know, if you were naked right now I’d worship you forever.”

  He grabbed her bag ready to take it upstairs when Kelly called down.

  “Leave the lugg
age… just bring my shampoo.”

  Jacob opened the bag and rummaged through, pulling out her toiletries bag before heading for the stairs. He stopped when he saw Kelly standing at the top of the stairs completely naked, looking down at Jacob with longing in her eyes. Wanting to savour the moment, Jacob went to the dining room table and grabbed a rose, putting it in his teeth before ascending up the stairs. Kelly covered her smile all lady like with her hand, shaking her head at how funny Jacob looked, the rose sticking out of his mouth and the Herculean stance he was in, coming up the stairs.

  Jacob reached the top of the stairs and dramatically took the rose from his mouth, handing it to Kelly who was giggling softly. She shook her head at him, the silliness of it all before kissing him lightly on the lips. Jacob breathed in savagely through his nose before grabbing her forcibly around her middle like King Kong and pulling her in. Kelly threw the rose over her shoulder and clasped her arms around his neck.

  “Be gentle with me,” Kelly said softly before she kissed him.

  Jacob let go of the strong persona and dropped down to her feet. He began gently kissing her feet, slowly working up her feet to her ankles, before looking up at Kelly who was clearly aroused, her chest rising and falling and her breasts engorged. The look Kelly was giving him was also enticing and led him back to her legs were he started placing soft kisses up her smooth flesh before running his hands up the backs of her legs. Kelly responded by widening her stance, allowing Jacob more access to the inside of her thighs. He took the acknowledgement and worked his way up her inner thighs until he was just below her womanhood. Jacob looked up at Kelly noticing she was using all her might to hold herself back, her breathing increasing as he got closer to her smooth folds. He kissed her gently at the top of her womanhood causing her to involuntarily push forward onto his face. Jacob took that as his queue and moved down, his tongue finding her moist centre and pushing forward causing Kelly to grab his hair and hold him in close. Kelly began grinding her body into Jacob’s face trying to get him to consume all of her; her breath becoming ragged as her body shuddered.