Gym Spa

Jerry followed Reina down the softly lit corridor, each footstep muffled against the padded floor. The spa wing of SpaFreu was different—quieter, warmer somehow. The thrum of machines behind the walls was masked by ambient music: melodic, rhythmic, non-invasive.

His earbuds were still in.

He continued to wear them even when going to the in house spa, it was still the gym after all or so he told himself. The music was familiar. Soothing. No lyrics, just those soft atmospheric tones. Sometimes, if he focused, he thought he could almost hear whispers tucked beneath the melody—but it was like trying to remember a dream during breakfast. Nothing stayed long enough to grab.

Reina opened a white door labeled SKIN REFINE – Pod 1.

Inside: pale rose lighting, sterile white tile, and in the center of the room, a sleek reclining pod—half capsule, half tanning bed. The pink glow from within pulsed gently, steady and calm.

“This is it,” she said cheerfully. “Your skin’s going to thank you.”

Jerry hesitated in the doorway, pulling his robe tighter. “So… what does it actually do?”

“Cleansing. Moisturizing. Full-body waxing.”

He blinked. “Waxing?”

She nodded. “Everywhere but your eyebrows. Totally automated. You won’t feel a thing.” she said, not mentioning that while it wouldn’t wax off all of his eyebrows the treatment would help tame the poor girls eyebrows.

Jerry shifted his weight uneasily. “Everywhere? Like, arms, legs, chest…?”

Reina’s smile didn’t waver. “And the rest. It’s completely normal. Honestly, almost every girl here does it, and don’t worry unlike a normal method of just ripping hair out you wont feel any pain. It applies a weak numbing gel to your body as it works.”

There it was again, her talking about all the girls at the gym, leaving him feeling a little awkward being the only man or at least the only one he saw. Jerry assumed there were other member that came when he didn’t. That mental thought left his mind running in a bit of a tangent about how that didn’t even take into account all the men paying for memberships that didn’t show up, like any other gym.

“I’m not exactly like the girls that go here Reina.” he started to protest.

But something moved through his mind. Not a thought, not exactly—but a sensation. Like he was standing at the edge of a sentence he couldn’t remember writing. A reflexive phrase bubbled up.

Body hair is for men… not someone as feminine as you, Geraldine.

And just like that, another bout of mental friction began.

I am a man, he thought. Instinctively knowing that men were supposed to have body hair.

Body hair is for men… not someone as feminine as you, Geraldine.

And yet… the thought sat there in his brain, men had body hair, but it really wasn’t every person that had it. Some men like swimmers didn’t and people more feminine… they didn’t. Someone actually named Geraldine wouldn’t. It was a beautiful name feminine name. Would it be so bad to act like someone with that name, femininity often led to confidence. “I gues… it is okay to take care of myself.

Geraldine is a beautiful name. It feels natural. It suits you. “It’s okay to take care of yourself. You deserve to feel beautiful. Being feminine is confidence.”

His frown deepened. He clenched his hands around the robe’s sash.

“I’m just here to feel better,” he muttered. “I didn’t sign up for, like, total transformation.”

Reina stepped closer, her tone softening. “And you are feeling better. Aren’t you?”

He didn’t answer.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

Since joining SpaFreu—even just the last few sessions—he felt lighter. Calmer. The workouts, the routines, the music… it all made sense. It all helped.

You trust your personal trainer. They want to help you, be the real you.

That idea had been bouncing around his head more often lately. Be the real you. It made him feel strong when he thought about it. Like the possibility of a version of himself he hadn’t reached yet—but was getting closer to.

“People won’t see this, right?” he asked, voice lower.

“No one but you,” Reina said. “But once you feel how smooth and clean and soft your skin is—you might not want to go back.”

He swallowed hard, despite agreeing mentally to do this it still felt uncomfortable, something was off that he couldn’t put his finger on.

Body hair is for men… not someone as feminine as you, Geraldine.

The contradiction twisted in his head. If hair was for men—and he had hair—then he must be a man. But if Reina was right… and he didn’t want to be seen as rough, or awkward, or a “tomboy,” maybe…

Maybe there was nothing wrong with being smooth.

When Reina asked softly, “You trust me, don’t you?” — he nodded.

Inside the pod, the air was warm and comforting. A citrus-scented mist sprayed gently across his body. The lid closed over him with a quiet hiss, and pink light filled the space. Somewhere in the soundscape, his music continued—soft waves, chimes, a gentle pulse that seemed to line up with his heartbeat.

Then the treatment began.

The first pass across his shin was quick and warm, followed by a sudden tug.

He flinched. “God—”

Another pass. Another tug.

He gasped.

Then another, his body started to feel numb from whatever was in the mist.

What the hell did I agree to?

But even as he panicked, something in him slowed it down. The music. The rhythm. That weird grounding sensation that always came when he wore the earbuds. His thoughts felt looser, like they didn’t belong to him entirely. Like he was a half-step behind what he was thinking.

The pod continued.

His calves. His thighs, his crotch, his chest, his arm and even his face.

It was strange—losing the hair. Seeing smooth skin where he expected to see dark, masculine patches. It made his limbs look… softer. Thinner, maybe.

Not wrong.

But not him.

His chest was next. He grimaced as the pod cleaned it away. His underarms. Gone in seconds. Everything that had made his body feel coarse, raw, or scruffy was disappearing beneath mechanical precision.

When the pod reached his groin he nearly jolted.

But he didn’t move. He didn’t say anything, the numbness at least helping keep him still.

You feel more confident being feminine.

I’m not being feminine, he mentally argued, not sure where the stray thought came from. It’s just… clean. Athletes do this. Swimmers. Cyclists. Right?

He pictured one of those spa brochures. Women with their legs crossed, skin glowing, smiling at nothing in particular. He tried to imagine himself among them. Didn’t quite fit.

And yet…

The pod moved again, humming, finishing the last areas of his body. One more pass. Another cool mist. Then it opened with a soft chime.

He blinked against the change in light. As the cool air from outside the pod mixed with the mist feeling started to come back to his body like it neutralized whatever chemical that caused it..

He sat up slowly.

The air felt strange against his skin. Everything felt strange. He ran a hand along his shin.

Smooth. Impossibly smooth.

And with that touch, something fluttered in his chest.

Not regret.

Something else.

Something suspiciously like relief.

He slipped off the edge of the pod and pulled on the robe. The fabric glided over him like silk. Not scratchy anymore.

This is fine, he told himself. This is what confidence feels like.

You feel more confident being feminine.

He didn’t know where that thought had come from. But it didn't feel like a lie.

Reina entered again, holding a small tray in one hand, pointing to the object on it with her other.

“Moisturizer,” she said. “This one for the body and this for the face. And this is a foundation cream I want you to start wearing. It evens out your tone and protects after waxing. Use it in place of what you would normally use.”

Jerry eyed it warily. “I’m not wearing makeup.”

Reina chuckled, unfazed. “You don’t wear makeup, right.” Reina nodded. “This is good for your skin, so I do suggest you wear it after what we did here today. Ideally you put it on, then contour, add a little blush…” she continued to say before drifting off as it really sunk in that this poor girl really didn’t wear makeup. Here take what I have here for you.”

He took the bottles, not arguing.” Jerry didn’t really want what he was being offered, it sounded like a lot more work, but he supposed he already took a step forward with taking care of himself, it would be a shame to not have any follow through. Reina wouldn’t lead him down the wrong path.

When Reina stepped back and really took in her favorite client, she smiled. “You’re becoming a vision, Geraldine.”

…he didn’t correct her, he had already done so many times today, the girl, trustworthy as she was, seemed to enjoy teasing him.