A boyfriend’s duties and an apology.

About an hour later, when the girls began to wake up from their nap one by one, I was put on Heavy Boyfriend Duty, which is a fancy way of saying I had to give them all leg massages.

It started with Grace, who was the first to wake up and literally couldn’t get off the bed. She called me from the room she was sharing with Alice and Sarah with a mix mix of drowsiness and pain.

“Oliver… I can’t even move my legs…” she groaned.

“...Let me see if I can help.” I didn’t know if a massage would work, but we didn’t have any pills for muscle pain. Maybe we should’ve thought to bring some.

I helped Grace get on her stomach and began to massage her, rubbing and pressing on her thighs and calves. Can’t say I wasn’t enjoying running my hands all over Grace’s legs, but I questioned if it would have any effect. Well, even if it didn’t, Grace was enjoying it as well.

“Mmm. You know, I think my butt is sore, too,” she said.

“Nice try.” I gave her a light spank. “We can do that when you can stand on your own.”

“What? You’re not gonna take advantage of this helpless girl? What are you, a decent man?”

“I try.”

Grace laughed. “Good thing, too. A degenerate with your libido would be a real danger. And speaking of libido, how many times have you done it today?”

“Um… Alice made me come twice, Diana once, and Noelle just blew me for almost 40 minutes straight and made me come three times.”

“Ugh, lucky redhead. Did she swallow?”

“Yeah.”

“UGH, so jealous!” She kicked her legs on the bed. “I need to squeeze in my own turn somewhere. Somewhere I can get plenty of time, too.”

I blinked. “Hey, do your legs still hurt?” I asked her, letting go for a moment.

“Hm? Oh. Oh, they’re… a little better, yeah,” she said, shocked as she moved them more, now kicking the air. She looked at me and she put into words the questions we were both thinking of. “Is this magic, too? It shouldn’t have worked so well so quickly.”

“I… don’t know? I didn’t try anything in particular, but it wouldn’t be the first time Frey does stuff through me, right? I remember you said you’d like a little warning before she tried more magic tricks on you, but…”

“Yeah, screw that. If she’s helping me get rid of this pain, she can do whatever she wants.” Grace sighed into her pillow with deep, deep relief. “God, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to walk. Bless you two…”

Alice slowly began to sit up, waking up and wincing at her own sore legs. “Did I hear that right? A magic massage?”

I smiled. “Shall I?”

Alice smiled bashfully at me. “Please?”

After Alice came Sarah, and after her I went to check up on Mila and Diana. Both were awake and gladly accepted my offer for a leg massage. By the time I was done it was almost 6:00 pm. All the girls were on their feet, and though still tired, they were willing to get out there and explore what the resort had to offer.

“Sorry to be so obvious, but I want to check out the bars,” Diana said. “I know they have one in the hotel and another one outdoors. I want to see what they’re like.”

“I want to check out the river before it gets too dark,” Sarah said. “Supposedly, it’s wide and with a gentle enough current that you can swim in it.”

“I… I want to go with you, but what if I trip again?” Noelle said.

“Then you’ll fear ever walking again,” Sarah told her. “Come on. It wasn’t bad enough to worry so much. Also, the terrain should be less rocky here.”

Noelle giggled. “Okay, you’re right. Let’s go.”

“I read in the website that they have a spa,” Mila said. “The pictures looked good but I won’t believe it until I see it.”

“I’ll be the nerd and check out the library,” Grace said. “I want to see if it’s nice enough to steal ideas from for the one at Oliver’s house.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea in itself,” Alice said. “I’ll go with you.”

“I want to see the gym,” I said. “I don’t want to skip my Saturday routine if I can help it.”

“Look at you, being a jock,” Sarah teased.

“If anything, today was a good reminder not to lack off,” I said. “What do you say we come back here in half an hour, change into our swimsuits and then go to the hot springs together?”

We all agreed and we left the cabin, goin our separate ways little by little.

I asked at the front desk where the gym was and if it was available to use. They told me it was on the first floor and that it was available to all guests from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Good.

I went to check it out, expecting it to be empty at this hour. It wasn’t. He wasn’t working out, but Mr. Carlos was inside, likely checking out the place just like I was going to. He was inspecting one of the leg press machines when he noticed me.

“Ah. Oliver, my boy,” he said smiling at me, His booming voice restrained by the general silence of the area. “You came to inspect the equipment as well?”

I nodded. “I never feel good skipping a day. I guess the routine is engraved in me by now.”

“That’s good. Motivation is momentary. Discipline is what truly gets you results. That applies to everything, not just exercise.”

“You didn’t have any troubles on the way here, I hope?”

“None at all, thankfully. We took our time.”

I began to pace around the room, looking at the machines. There weren’t many, but there were at least two of everything you’d need. it wasn’t a big, professional gym, after all. Just a place to get a workout in. In fact, they were missing some of the heavier dumbbells, but it was fine.

“...”

I began to feel uncomfortable when I noticed Mr. Carlos’ eyes following me without saying anything. I tried to appear busy by checking the settings on the treadmill, but Mr. Carlos finally spoke after clearing his throat.

“Oliver, I need to apologize for before.”

“Hm? What do you mean?” I don’t know why I feigned ignorance. I guess I didn’t want to make him feel guilty about it, but I did know what he was going to say.

“My wife and I… We both gave at that older woman in your group weird looks. I’m very sorry. It was rude of us.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to fight the awkwardness in any way. “No, I understand it’s weird. She’s very important to me, so I don’t like it when people judge us, but it’s not like I don’t get where they’re coming from. We’re well aware, and… she’s very self-conscious about it. But it’s fine. Thank you, sir.”

“How did you meet her?” he asked, now in a more relieved, friendlier tone. He was trying to make conversation rather than question me.

I smiled. “Do you remember Maria? Your daughter’s boss at the coffee shop? Diana is Maria’s best friend. I met Diana through her.” It was true, in a way, and better than telling him I first saw her at a love hotel.

“Is that so?”

I nodded, and before things could get awkward again, I asked Mr. Carlos my own question. “How’s Fernanda doing, by the way? She looked well last time we were at work. She even showed me her sketches. They were amazing.”

Mr. Carlos’ face lit up. “She’s doing better, and I thank God every day for it. I believe she’s sleeping a little better, and she’s taken up the pencil again after a big slump. She’s…” Mr. Carlos sighed heavily. “She’s going through a heavy depression, my boy. We try, but we don’t know how to help her.”

My chest hurt. I kinda had an idea that was the case, but he had just confirmed it. “Why not try therapy? Is she against it?”

“We tried. We got unlucky and went to a terrible psychiatrist. We’re afraid trying again will make things worse.”

“...” Okay, yeah, that’s fucking awful. Picking a random doctor and getting the worst draw would totally put you off trying again. Ah, but… “I… I know a psychiatrist if you’re willing to try again. He’s the father of one of my girlfriends, though, so if you don’t trust me on this, I totally understand. That said, I’ve talked to him at length and he helped me realize some important things about my own anxiety. I know it’s anecdotal experience, but I’d say he’s pretty good.”

Mr. Carlos pursed his lips, crossed his arms and looked down. “Would you give me the number of the place he works at? I’ll talk about it with my wife and daughter.”

Shit, I didn’t have it, but I did have Mr. West’s personal number. “I’ll text him and ask him to give it to me. I’ll send it to you when he does if you give me your number.”

“Yes, of course.”

Kind of funny to think that I’d known Mr. Carlos for a while and yet I was only now exchanging contact info with him. But I suppose we were only just acquaintances then.

“Thank you, Oliver.” Mr. Carlos grimaced. “I’m very sorry for all this. I shouldn’t be burdening a young man with my problems.”

“It’s not a burden, sir. There’s not much I can do, but I’d like to help if I can.”

“And I’m ever grateful for it, my boy. If there’s anything I can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“...” I knew how it was to feel indebted to someone and not knowing how to repay it. Not that I was doing anything big for Mr. Carlos, but I did have one thing I wanted to ask him. “Actually, I’ll be moving to my own place soon and I want to have a gym in it. Can you think of what kind of things I should keep in mind when building one?”

Mr. Carlos’ face lit up again. We sat down one two of the machines and talked for a while, with him giving me plenty of advice. Mr. Carlos really is a good man.

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