I Saw Your Profile by Rhonda Swan Page A

massages and a few facials.
No one signed up for reflexology because they didn’t know what it was and
neither did she.
         She made reservations
at a motel close to the salon since he didn’t know the area. They would provide
their own supplies, but she had to provide the ambience.
         She cleared out her
storage area to make room for the massage tables and used a bamboo partition to
divide the area. Two women could receive massages at a time.
         Janelle and a few
stylists would keep open their stations since several clients booked hair
appointments following their massages.
         Chauncey and his
partner arrived an hour before the pamper party to set up.
           “Thank you for having us,” he said. He
licked his lips and extended his hand. “I’m sure this weekend will be
profitable for all of us.”
         Janelle shook his hand
but never saw it because her eyes were fixated on his body, which looked as
though it had been sculpted from onyx.
         “Was the drive long?”
Janelle asked in her Kewpie doll voice.
          “A couple of hours. We made good time
despite traffic. And the accommodations you chose for us are just fine. Clean
and affordable.”
         He explained that
Tender Touch was a sole proprietorship. He hired masseurs to help him with
large parties.
         He introduced her to
Max, his partner for that weekend. She shook his hand.
         Max was fair skinned
and ripped. Larger than Chauncey, but less talkative. He was pretty-boy
handsome with broad shoulders, wavy hair, and a short beard.
         He helped Janelle place
incense, candles, chips and plates of fruit and cheese at each station, while
Chauncey set up the tables in the back room.

 
 
 
         Chauncey had given
four massages when he got a half-hour break in his schedule. Janelle was
between clients so he sauntered to her station and helped himself to some fruit
and cheese.
         “Would you like a
massage? No charge for the hostess.”
         “No thanks,” Janelle
said. “I’ve got a client coming in twenty minutes.”
          “How about
twenty minutes of reflexology, then?”
          “What exactly is
that?”
          “It’s an ancient
healing art. When you treat the big toes there is a related effect in the head,
and treating the whole foot can have a relaxing and healing effect on the whole
body.”
         “Okay. How much harm
could a little foot rubbing do?”
          Janelle had no idea how
erogenous feet could be. It was all she could do to keep from having an orgasm
on the spot.
        “How many parties do you
do?”
        “As many as I can. At least
one a month. I’m on the road a lot.”
        “Do you only do parties?”
        “No. I have regular massage
clients, too.”
        Chauncey stopped rubbing her
feet when Janelle’s client arrived.
        When he stood up, she
noticed him staring at her. She felt her face.
         It was warm and she
was breathing slightly faster. She wondered if he could tell that her insides
were throbbing.
         He smiled. “How do you
feel?”
         Janelle was
embarrassed. She jumped up and hurriedly began straightening her station with
her back towards him.
        “That was relaxing. Thanks,”
she said without turning around.

 
 
 
        When Chauncey finished with
his last client, he asked her to dinner the next evening.
         Her eyes opened as
wide as quarters. Based on the rave reviews from the women he serviced that
evening, he could have anyone he wanted. She figured he’d gotten at least a
dozen phone numbers.
          Without
accepting his dinner invitation, Janelle wrote her home number on the back of a
business card and handed it to him.
      “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.
     

 
 
         “Why me?” Janelle’s
insecurity oozed through the phone line when Chauncey called her the next
morning.
         “Why not