Jermaine Deon Carter
June 11, 2021
Massage of Friendship
My friend Alonso worked at a local day spa. For some reason, he was fascinated by other people's feet. One evening, he called me.
"Hey, Jermaine," he said.
"Hey, Alonso," I said.
"I'd like to tell you about a special offer. I've arranged for you and Princess Ariel to have an all-expenses-paid, day-long spa treatment," he said. Like me, he was a lifelong big fan of Ariel's and had (or used to have) an equally big crush on her.
"A spa day?" I asked.
"Yes," he said.
"Wow! Thanks, Alonso!" I said.
"You're welcome," he said. Afterwards, I called Ariel.
"Hey, Ariel," I said.
"Hey, Jermaine," she said. "What's up?" she asked.
"My friend Alonso just called and told me he's arranged for you and me to have a free spa day!" I said.
"After everything we've both been through, especially lately, we need a spa day," she said.
"You're probably right," I said. She and I met up at the spa the following morning. We walked around for a bit until we ran into him.
"Jermaine! Ariel! Welcome," he said.
"Thanks for having us," she said.
"Ariel, I just wanna say I'm such a huge fan of yours. You have the most wonderful singing voice," he said.
"Aww. Why thank you, Alonso," she said.
"Are you guys ready for some rest and relaxation?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. He guided us to a room with large chairs. She and I sat down.
"Just close your eyes and relax," he said.
She and I closed our eyes. He began massaging our legs and feet. He also gave each of us a pedicure. She and I winced as he used a pumice stone on the bottoms of our feet. He stared at our feet with a big grin on his face as he worked.
"You have nice feet, Ariel," he said.
"Excuse me?" she asked as she opened her eyes.
"You have lovely feet. It's an honor to be massaging them," he said.
"Uh…thanks…I guess…," she said. Afterwards, she and I went to a sauna.
"Jermaine, why was Alonso being so creepy?" she asked.
"Creepy? What do you mean?" I asked.
"He said that my feet were 'nice' and 'lovely,'" she said.
"He says that about everybody's feet," I said.
"Wait, what? Why?" she asked.
"I should've told you this before, but he has a serious foot fetish," I said.
"A foot fetish?" she asked.
"Yeah. He likes to admire and compliment other people's feet. Now that I think about it, that's probably why he enjoys working at a spa so much, since he's up close and personal with people's feet all the time," I said.
"Jermaine, do you have any idea how weird that sounds?" she asked.
"Actually, yes. I've never understood why he's so into feet," I said.
"How are we supposed to enjoy the rest of our spa day?" she asked. "I do not want him touching me again," she said.
"I'm really sorry about all this, Ariel. I did not want to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted us to have a nice, fun day at the spa," I said.
"We still can, just without Alonso," she said. We left the sauna and tracked him down.
"Alonso, you owe me an apology," she said.
"An apology? For what?" he asked.
"You were grinning and staring at my feet. You said they were nice and lovely. You said it was an honor to be massaging them. It was incredibly inappropriate and made me feel very uncomfortable," she said.
"Oh…I didn't realize I was making you feel this way. I'm truly very sorry, Ariel," he said. "Can you ever forgive me?" he asked. She glared at him before turning away.
"Let's go, Jermaine," she said.
She and I got cucumber facials and manicures from the other spa staff. We also took a dip in a large hot spring. She enjoyed feeling the water on her body and going swimming again.
She was so graceful in the water. I thought she was going to turn back into a mermaid right then and there. She kept emerging in massive splashes and throwing her head back. This made all her hair flip backwards and flung some water droplets from the splash over herself.
"I had a lot of fun, except for Alonso being creepy," she said as we left the spa.
"I'm glad you had a good time. Sorry again about Alonso," I said.
"Next time, I'm choosing what spa we go to," she said.
"Deal," I said.