Winter—Spring Hols - A familiar face?

Erik knows deep in his heart that this life won’t last forever; looking over at his topless, lightly snoring girlfriend, he finds her soft breaths a reassuring, joyous sound.

He knows that one day, they won’t have holidays to enjoy. A random Wednesday morning won’t be a slow wake-up like this, but a rush to get to work and get ready for the day.

He would expect to be sad and scared for that future, and how it could affect them. But as he stares at her, he doesn’t feel that at all. Because even in those stressful mornings, they’ll be together, and the wait throughout the day to see his beloved will make it so work will never feel painful, because he’ll get to have her in his arms. He smiles softly, leaning over and kissing her forehead.

Why was this running through his mind? Well, because in a few hours (Not even in the morning) Erik has to go to work — well, his massage training session. Brandon decided it was probably time to have a generic, non-friend client this time around, so Erik could learn the other important part of being a masseur. Social interactions with clients that he doesn’t have a relationship with.

“Basically,” Brandon said to him after massaging Vi for the third or so time. “You need to learn the dynamics of massaging someone you haven’t put your dick into.”

Erik had to concede he had a good point.

…

I mean, Erik isn’t here to be a personal trainer, but coming to ‘work’ at a major warehouse gym always feels a bit weird. Being waved through by the curly-haired reception guy (Who Erik now knows to be Logan… He doesn’t know how to introduce himself properly) as a member of staff, even on a probationary basis, is still a weird feeling. Especially when following in the Greek-statue physiques of some of these personal trainers. Male or female, for that matter. One of the women personal trainers has arms that dwarf Erik; hell, she could challenge Sai.

Erik knocks on the door to Brandon’s office and enters after hearing his confirmation.

“Hey dude.” He says, sitting across from him. “The client isn’t here yet?”

“Nah, she’s running late; she had some work to finish up.” Brandon shrugs, smiling at Erik.

“She?” Erik asks, grinning. “Do you only massage girls or something?”

Brandon rolls his eyes. “Every time you speak, you remind me why you and Vi are dating; you two are the same.” He chuckles. “But no. You and I do and will have to massage men too.”

“Yeah. Damn. I figured.” Erik replies, chuckling.

“I will admit, it’s less often, though.” Brandon shakes his head. “As you probably guess-“

“Men typically choose women masseuses?”

Brandon nods. “And they typically go for physiotherapists.” He shrugs. “I try to tell them they just need to relax their muscles; they don’t usually have actual underlying issues that need treating.”

“You want to massage men?” He asks curiously.

Brandon gives him a stern look. “As a PT, I want my clients to look after themselves. If what I think they need is a massage, that is what I will recommend.”

Erik nods. “Fair enough. You really take this stuff seriously, huh?”

Brandon nods. “Of course. This is my career. My future is in fitness. Like I’ve told your girlfriend. My eventual goal is to have my own gym and personal training services. I’m cutting my teeth here, and then once I’m ready and the pieces fall into place, I’ll open my own smaller location, and hopefully expand.”

Erik nods, impressed. “Man, you got it all planned out; I wish I had your foresight.”

“You don’t know what to do with your fancy uni degree?”

Erik shakes his head. “I’m hoping that something will fall into my lap.”

Brandon goes to open his mouth, his brow furrowing with concern, but he’s interrupted before he can by a knock at his office door.

Brandon stands and Erik does the same. “Must be the client,” Brandon says, his hand on the door handle. “You’ll mostly be shadowing today, just watching and learning; maybe I’ll get you to do a bit if she’s comfortable.”

“Yeah, all good, man.”

Brandon opens the door and smiles at the client; she steps in, looks around, and makes eye contact with Erik.

Hmm?

“This is Erik; he’s a trainee who will be shadowing our session, if that’s still okay?” Brandon looks at Erik as he closes the door. “Erik. This is one of my clients; she’s been coming since about the start of the year. Right?” He asks her.

She looks at Brandon and smiles. “Yep.” She turns back to Erik. Her black and white split in the middle hair, her grey and purple eyes shining under the lighting of Brandon’s office. “I’m Hana.”

Erik blinks, head tilting slightly, replying. “Hi.. I’m Erik, nice to meet you.”

She nods and smiles.

Brandon nods. “Right. Hana, feel free to get on your stomach; we’ll just be doing your back and shoulders today, right?”

Hana’s eyes don’t leave Erik’s. “Yes, please.” She eventually looks away and heads to the massage table.

She looks at Erik again, her expression unreadable, the tiniest upward curve at the corner of her lip.

Brandon clicks his tongue aggressively.

Erik startles. “Right, sorry.” He turns and joins Brandon at the small equipment station turned away to let the girl disrobe, where the man whispers something. “Dude…”

“My bad. My bad.” Erik replies quietly.

“Stay professional; this isn’t Vi or what's-her-name.”

“Ari?”

“Yeah. Lock in.”

The two men turn around and approach the now shirtless girl, lying on top of a towel. She’s moved her hair to one side, revealing the nape of her neck; the two tones of white and black are quite alluring in the way the strands mix.

She sighs contentedly, not much for a chat. Erik can’t help but wonder, as he watches Brandon’s fingers push into her toned, lithe back, whether his intention was more how to navigate those who don't want to talk instead of chatters; Hana doesn’t seem the talkative type after all.

She shifts slightly and winces as Brandon finds a particular knot in her upper back, between the shoulder blades. “You okay?” He asks. Erik leans forward.

She winces and nods. “Yes. I’ve just had some tension there. Work things.”

Brandon hums in understanding; he nods at Erik. “Here, put your fingers there and move them downwards; can you feel where the tension sits?”

Erik reaches forward and puts his fingers on her back, pressing into her warm skin, and drags them down where Brandon directs. “Yeah. From here, right?”

Brandon nods. “Yep. Use your fingers to push the tension down and out.”

Erik follows his direction, and he’s kind of amazed to feel how the tension seems to shift and spread out before finally relaxing. The girl sighs in relief.

The session continues a little bit more, nothing but soft sighs and small grunts coming from the girl. Erik is shocked. Vi and Ari must’ve been overselling how good it felt.

…

“Thanks, Brandon,” Hana says, prompting him and Erik to turn around now. She looks at Erik, a polite smile on her face. “And thank you too, of course.”

Erik feels a shiver at the back of his nape as Hana's two toned eyes meet his. “Yeah… Pleasure.”

Brandon nods and smiles. “Of course, Hana.” He turns to get the eftpos. “Anything else on the agenda today?”

She shakes her head, reaching behind her to tie her hair into a messy, casual ponytail. “No. Not today. My shoot was today; I’ve got a few brand deals for this week, but that's it.”

‘Shoot?’

“Oh, you mentioned last time that you might be getting a full-time contract with that photographer, right?” Brandon's eyes — for half a second go wide, suddenly realising something, he turns to Erik, holding out the eftpos to the girl, his eyes apologetic and fearful.

‘I know where I’ve seen her.’

Hana holds out her card and pays. “Oh, yes. I did. I signed a contract.”

Brandon swallows and nods. “Well. Congrats! You worked real hard for it.”

“Thank you, Brandon.” She says, turning to Erik. “Good luck with your training.”

‘She doesn’t know me… Well, why would she?’

“Thank you. And congrats on your contract, you do?…” Erik needs to know.

She smiles. “Modelling.” She smiles teasingly.

'Does.... Does she know me?'

It’s her. It’s the same Hana. The one that Blake used to publish the red bunny collection.

She nods a polite goodbye and leaves the office.

“I completely forgot, man. I’m so sorry.” Brandon apologises, distress written across his face.

Erik shakes his head. “It’s fine…”

“I’ll make sure you don’t have to interact with her again.”

Erik shakes his head. “No, no… It’s fine. She doesn’t know me. I’ll talk to Vi anyway… It’s not like this girl is the one that screwed her.”