Onsen

"Hmm. Nah, I'm good. I'm still writing the report for work. I have time till tomorrow to send it in and then I have to make two more phone calls.

Disappointed, Alice disappeared into the bathroom alone. She looked at herself in the mirror. Of course, she wasn't the youngest anymore and she had gained a bit of weight. Her breasts were also sagging slightly. Did that make her less desirable? Was that why her husband wasn't taking her? She took a razor out of her bag and got into the shower. While she shaved her armpits and pubic area, she became angry.

"Who am I doing this for, he won't want to touch me anyway..." she asked herself, nearly cutting herself.

She heard a knock on the door as she stepped out of the shower. Her husband opened the door so that Alice could take the time to dry and blow-dry her hair. When she finally came out of the bathroom dressed in a bathrobe, her husband was sitting at the table again, lost in typing on his laptop. Next to him was an empty tray with empty crockery. Only the crumbs on the plate revealed that there had once been something to eat. Her own tray was also on the table.

"You didn't wait for me with dinner?" Alice asked, disappointed.

"Ehm.., no. Was I supposed to?"

"Never mind."

Alice ate in silence while her husband continued to work.

"Shall we go to the onsen now?" asked Alice.

"I actually still have to..."

"Please..."

"This is really important, I..."

"Honey. Pleaseeeee." Alice was literally begging.

Her husband sighed. "If you leave me alone afterwards in return... fine by me." He closed his laptop and they both walked towards the reception. The old man was engrossed in his magazine again.

"Fishing for beginners", it said. He straightened up when he saw the two of them approaching.

"Ah, you're just right. We've just opened up and lit the candles." The man rummaged in a drawer. He took out two keys, one blue and one pink. He gave the blue one to Kazuya.

"Here sir, this is for you. Go through the blue curtain on the right. The key will take you to your locker."

The pink one went to Alice.

"And this one is for you, madam. Men and women bathe separately, so you have to go left here and through the pink curtain."

Alice took the key and went in the direction indicated. She was a little disappointed. She hadn't intended to have sex with her husband directly in the onsen (public sex wasn't for her), but at least she wanted to get the mood going so that things could get down to business in their room. This plan also fell through completely.

What Alice didn't notice was how the old man got up and went into a storeroom. He fetched a sign from there and placed it directly in front of the pink curtain that Alice had just walked through. "Closed for cleaning," was written in large letters on the sign. Then the man went to reception and picked up the phone. He tapped in a number and waited a moment.

Someone else picked up at the end of the line.

"Yes, it's me, paps. I've got another one with the extra booking. Yes, you can bring your friends with you for all I care. As long as they don't make a mess again! All right, see you later."

Then the old man hung up the phone and went back to his magazine.