Talking it out.

When Tom rolled onto his back, Beth began to oil up his chest and arms to work his front, but his hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Beth, are you okay?" his face was concerned, and that did nothing to help her already shining eyes.
"Yes..." her voice betrayed her.
"Beth. you're crying." Almost lightning quick, Tom sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the table and taking her hands in his. "Beth, what's wrong? Me and Kim?"
She couldn't hold back anymore. She threw her arms around him and sobbed into his bare chest like a teenage girl. It was so embarrassing.
"Hey, it'll be okay." Tom didn't seem to know what to do, so he just stroked her hair and made soothing noises. Eventually, she stopped crying, and took a step back.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harden. That's so unprofessional. I'll...I'll give you a discount..."
"None of that, now. Why don't you tell me what's wrong? It can't just be because of me and Kim."
"No...there's...there's more to it than just that..." she began to tell him about what had been going on in her relationship, how distant Brian had become, working all the time to try and make partner. She explained the parallels between his story and her situation, and her fears about the inevitability of the failure of her own relationship, that shared some similarities.
"Oh, Beth." she was sitting next to him now, on the massage table. Despite her 26 years, she felt like a fifteen year old girl crying to her father about a boy. "Kim and I, we were never meant to be together. Yes, I definitely worked a lot, and yes, sometimes too much. But I always made time for us."
"I believe you. I wasn't trying to judge you or anything I'm just..." she leaned against his shoulder. "God, I'm such a baby."
"Cut that out. You're just worried. I'm sure you and Brian will be just fine. I can tell you love him by the way you talk about him when you're here. And he's working hard now so that you two can have a nice life later."
"I know..." she snaked her arm around his. {if Upbringing = 1
} I wish I had had a father like you. The thought was fleeting, and she squashed it. He's not your father, and you're not a teenager, GET A GRIP, woman!
{endif
}"Thanks, Mr. Harden."
"It's just Tom, Beth. Even my customers don't call me Mr. Harden." he laughed, getting up and pulling on a robe that he had laid out for after the massage.
"I'll definitely give you a discount today, this was..."
"You'll do absolutely no such thing. the way I see it, we helped each other." He took her hands in his, pulling her to her feet."Got it?"
"Okay."
She almost gasped when he leaned in an gave her a kiss...on the cheek. "There, now we were both unprofessional." He smiled and as he walked away, she touched her cheek in wonder.