Upon a Wishing Flower

by Amy DeMeritt

  Hannah gently places her hand on my arm and I look up from the green and tan speckled carpet. Her smile is gone and has been replaced with a look of honest compassion and sincere regret.

  “Brooke, I’m sorry. That was harsh and I didn’t mean it the way it came out. I didn’t mean to mock your professionalism. All I meant was that you can relax around me. I’m not going to think you are any less talented and skilled at what you do just because you laugh and joke with me.”

  I clear my throat and curtly nod once.

  “It’s fine. I, uh, well, I’m not very good at that, so you were right. Anyway, I should get going so I don’t hold you up from your appointment.” I take a step closer to the door, but Hannah sidesteps in front of me. “No, I wasn’t right. Brooke, I’m…”

  “Hannah, don’t. Really, I’m fine. I’ll talk to you later?”

  She looks like she’s really hurt and upset with herself. Her shoulders sway forward slightly, as if she’s about to hug me. I feel myself tense and my breath catches in my chest, hoping she won’t hug me and waiting for her to step aside so I can leave. It wouldn’t be the most awful thing for her to hug me, but it would probably cause me to either become very stiff and awkward – more than I am now, or it will cause me to cry. Neither of which are acceptable scenarios for me.

  Hannah gives me a small weak smile and steps aside.

  “Ok. Yes, I’ll call you later.”

  She walks me back to the front of the spa, and just as I’m about to pass her, she turns with her hand out for me to shake.

  “Brooke, it was really nice meeting you today.”

  The formality in her voice feels oddly like another punch in the gut. I take her hand to shake and my hand instantly tingles in a pleasant way as her palm presses against mine and her fingers gently grip me. I involuntarily take in a small sharp intake of air at the sensation and squeeze her hand tighter. I’m paralyzed by her touch and by her beautiful azurian blue eyes. The pattern of her eyes is mesmerizing. A day I could spend getting lost in them, and trying to memorize their unparalleled intricacy. I feel my face flush fire red at the all too intimate thought.

  Hannah’s face transforms back from a look of trepidation to her flirty happy smile. A customer loudly and clumsily barging through the door snaps me back into focus. I quickly pull my hand back and nervously run it through my hair.

  “It was a pleasure. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

  “The pleasure was mine. I hope you have a good rest of your day. Talk to you soon.”

  “Thank you. You as well, Hannah.”

  She smiles wider and nods once. I try to restrain myself, but I just can’t help the smile that trembles my nervously pinched lips up into a wideset grin. I use every muscle in my face to hogtie my lips back down into a small polite smile and turn to walk away.

  When I reach the door, I look back for a moment as I push the door open. Hannah is still watching me with that dazzling smile. My heart palpitates and my stomach does a summersault. Oh, god. This client is going to be the ruin of me.

  Chapter Two

  Typically, I don’t work on weekends, but Mr. Shiro couldn’t arrange a time during office hours for me to take photos for the advertisements we need to build for his spa. So, instead of taking my usual jog through the park near my house that I do every Saturday morning, I’m on my way to meet Mr. Shiro and his staff at the Bamboo Spa.

  I had met with him and picked up the signed contracts a couple days ago. To both my delight and disappointment, I had not seen Hannah because she was with a client. Being in her presence makes me a nervous wreck, but I also really like being near her. She’s beautiful to look at, but something about her personality excites me. I haven’t been able to get the woman out of my mind since I saw her. I have found myself, on more than a few occasions, gently touching my right palm with my left fingers, trying to remember the amazing sensation that her hand caused there.

  I don’t know if she’ll be here today. I’m nervously chewing on my bottom lip while slightly bouncing in my seat in an excited way, hoping against better judgement that she’ll be here. It’s against both my company’s policy as well as my personal policy to get involved with a client, but something about her makes me want to throw hazard to the wind and dive off the deep end with her .

  Under normal circumstances, I would have dressed business causal for a meeting with a client, despite it being on a weekend. But today, I opted for a pair of nice dark blue relaxed fit jeans with a light, loose stitch white sweater with a white camisole underneath. I guess I’m already throwing hazard to the wind in a sense. My choice of attire was strictly determined by my unreasonable need to show Hannah, if she is even here, that I’m not a complete “stick in the mud” and can relax sometimes.

  When I get to the spa, I unnecessarily check my hair and face in the mirror before grabbing my large camera bag and getting out of my car. As I walk towards the spa, my heartrate picks up a few more beats, and after getting five steps, I realize I’m holding my breath. Before I open the door, I hear my name behind me. I turn to see Hannah several paces back, dressed in a pair of lavender scrubs. With a mind of its own, and not yielding one bit to my mental pleas not to, my face spreads into a broad smile as I turn and wait for her. I see the smile on Hannah’s face curl upwards, revealing her startlingly perfect white smile.

  When she’s within a couple feet of me, she says, “You are very dedicated to your job to come spend your Saturday with us. But it’s nice to see you have enough rebellion against being made to work on your day off to dress casually. Though, I rather like that suit you had on a few days ago.”

  I feel my face blush red and my cheesy grin couldn’t possibly look any more ridiculous than it does right now. I stammer something like, “Oh, uh, thank you.”

  Hannah comes and stands extremely close to me. As she looks for the key to unlock the spa (good thing she got here before I tried to open the locked door), she looks me up and down more closely. Her lack of discomfort with closeness nearly makes me gasp, as she loops a finger through a hole in the loose stitch pattern and tugs my sweater forward gently .

  “I really like this sweater. This looks really nice on you.” I swallow hard and shuffle nervously on my feet for a moment. She smiles and releases my sweater while holding my eyes paralyzed in her gaze. I clear my throat, and breathlessly say, “Thank you.”

  She turns with a smile still hanging on her lips and unlocks the spa door. She pulls the door open and stands aside to let me walk in ahead of her.

  “Mr. Shiro won’t be joining us today. He called me this morning and asked me to come open up for you so you could get pictures. Isabell, another massage therapist, should be here in twenty minutes so we can take those ‘in-action’ shots you want to get.”

  “Ok. Is it ok to walk around and take the pictures of the facility while we wait for her?”

  “Of course.”

  I set my camera bag down on a chair and start unloading my favorite digital camera. Just as I’m about to set the camera down in the chair next to my bag, Hannah sits down in the chair. I have to quickly lift my hand so I don’t land in her lap. She laughs and starts to stand.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you needed this chair. I was just curious about all of the fancy equipment you have.”

  I smile and hold the camera out to her. She raises her eyebrows and looks taken back.

  “How much did this thing cost? If I drop it, am I going to need to sell a kidney to be able to pay you back?”

  “That and your car.” She pulls her arms back and has a look of pure shock and horror on her face. “Don’t let me anywhere near that thing then.” I laugh and shake my head. “I’m just joking. It cost a small fortune, but not so much that I couldn’t replace it. Take it.”

  Hannah laughs a little in appreciation for my jest.

  “I like Saturday Brooke. ”

  She reaches up with both hands, and both hands brush mine as she takes the camera from me. That amaz
ing tingling sensation that I’ve been wanting to feel again for days lights the nerves in my hand on fire. I smile in satisfaction as I turn back to my camera bag to get a memory card and a fresh battery.

  “So, do you moonlight as a photographer, or does this belong to your company?”

  “Nope, it’s mine. Photography is more of a pet project – something I do for fun.”

  “Looking at this gear you have it seems like you have a lot invested into this for it to just be a hobby. You’ve never sold your work?” I straighten up with the battery and memory card in hand and shrug my shoulders. “Well, I wouldn’t say never. Just not recently, I guess.”

  Hannah looks at me with a quirky grin and laughs a little.

  “You are going to make me work really hard today, aren’t you?”

  I just give her a small smile as I hold my hand out for the camera, which she hands me with a pleased smirk on her lips and a delightful twinkle in her stardust blue eyes.

  “Ok, so if you haven’t sold any recently, does that mean you used to work as a photographer? Before the advertising gig?”

  “Yes. I did the whole ‘starving artist’ thing all through college and then the first two years after. I was hired at the agency as a digital graphics artist a few years ago. After a year there, management decided I have a ‘flare’ for sales and moved me. So, that’s what I’ve been doing since.”

  “I don’t mean this to sound rude or judgmental, but why did you give up on your dream? If you did the ‘starving artist’ thing for so long, you must really love it.”

  “I do love it. And I haven’t given up on it. I guess I’m just trying to get my footing in the world before I get back into it so I can maintain my own place instead of bumming out on friends’ sofas.”

  “Have you accomplished that yet? Your own place and a good footing in the world, I mean.”

  “My own place, check. Good footing in the world? I’m not sure yet.”

  “Well, when your heart wants something and you’re not allowing yourself to have it, then it’s kind of hard to feel like you are standing on solid ground.”

  Her eyes hold mine in a meaningful way. My heartbeat quickens and my face blushes, but I’m not able to get myself to respond. She suddenly stands up, and I’m so taken back that I stumble backwards. She grabs my arms to steady me and releases a small laugh.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bulldoze through you. Is there anything I can get ready for you?”

  “No, I’m ready to start. I’ll get a few pictures of the reception area and then you can show me a few rooms used for the various services you offer.” Hannah laughs and shakes her head. “’Services’ I offer?” She gives me a small seductive grin and winks at me, making me blush and release a small embarrassed laugh. “You know what I meant.”

  “Hey, you had me terrified I would have to sell my kidney and my car after today. I think that gives me a few more ‘blush bucks’ in the bank.” She smiles really big and I laugh really hard. And of course, my face flares red. “That was a well spent ‘blush buck’. Don’t worry, I won’t cash them all right now.”

  I clear my throat and take a deep breath as I turn to get in position to take the shots of the reception area. When I turn back around, Hannah is standing right in the middle of the small room in a pose like she’s a statue. I laugh and shake my head .

  “I’ve heard of Buddha statues in the middle of a spa, but never a golden haired, blue eyed godde…” I suddenly cut myself short and clear my throat. Hannah smiles really big and slowly turns her face to look at me. “What was that?”

  “Uh, nothing.” She lowers her arms and rests her hands on her hips. “I still have ‘blush bucks’ to cash in, Brooke. Even if it takes all of them and this is the last time I can tease that rouge out on your cheeks today, I will slap them down on the table just to hear you finish that statement.”

  I exhale hard, very frustrated with myself, and nervously rub the back of my neck. This is exactly why I shouldn’t get comfortable and personal with clients. Even when I was being professional, it was just too hard to control my attraction to Hannah, but now that we are being so casual and I’m sharing personal facts about myself, the lines are being blurred and I messed up. Big time.

  “I’m waiting.”

  I look up from my camera that I’m idly playing with in my hands, and see Hannah is looking at me with a very amused proud smile on her face.

  I exhale loudly and take a deep breath before quietly saying, “Golden haired, blue eyed goddess.” Hannah scrunches her brow. “Brooke, seriously, you are only maybe ten feet away from me and I still didn’t hear you.”

  “I’m not saying it any louder.”

  Hannah smiles and shrugs her shoulders. Oh, no, she’s walking closer. She stops a foot in front of me and stares me straight in the eyes. Oh, god, those eyes!

  “Now, can you please repeat that?”

  My brain is slow to register that she spoke and I’m not quite sure I heard her correctly. I tear my eyes away from hers and look at her lips, expecting the words to be written there. Her lips are closed in a small grin. They look so soft and tender. I want to trace her bottom lip with my tongue and suck on it till she moans. Oh, my god! Why am I making this worse on myself by thinking like this? I blink hard, look down, and quietly repeat myself.

  She gently lifts my chin to look at her, and says, “Thank you. That was totally worth emptying the bank to hear.” Her finger gently rubs along my jawline and then she drops her hand to her side. “Ok. I’m going to get out of your way now. Isabell should be here soon.”

  Hannah takes a seat by my camera bag with her legs crossed and eyes trained on the floor with a serene smile. If my heart thumps any harder, it’s probably going to break through my ribs.

  I take a deep breath and try to focus on my task. I make some adjustments on my camera and get to work. After I take a few pictures and check to make sure they turned out ok, I let Hannah know I’m ready to take pictures of the rooms.

  She leads me to the hall with rooms on either side. She opens a door, leans inside to flick the light on, and then pops her head back out. She crosses her arms and leans against the doorframe looking at me with a cute grin.

  “This is my room, where I, uh, fulfil certain ‘services’.”

  I laugh at the unexpected joke and she smiles broadly. The room is dimly lit and smells like lavender, almonds, and coconut. My eyes close at the pleasant scent and I almost moan as I take a deep breath. In the center of the room is a full size massage table with a stack of perfectly folded and pressed pristinely white sheets and towels. On one side of the room is a nice java brown cabinet with lotions and oils neatly arranged on top. In a corner is a tall indoor plant that I recognize as a money tree. The walls are painted a tan color and the floor is the same green and tan speckled carpet that’s in the hall.

  I turn around a few times looking for the best angle and I think my best angle to get as much of the room as possible is going to be in the corner behind the door. I walk to the doorway and clear my throat. Hannah looks up and waits.

  “I need to close the door.”

  She nods and moves across the hall to wait.

  The lighting in here is so dim that it takes a lot of setting adjustments with my camera to get a good picture. I end up taking about twelve pictures before I get one I’m happy with. After deleting the bad pictures, I open the door.

  Seeing the newcomer standing next to Hannah shocks me so badly that I nearly drop my camera. They must have good sound proofing on these rooms because I didn’t hear anything while I was in here taking pictures. That thought only makes my heart race after the ‘services’ joke Hannah made before I came in here.

  The girl standing next to Hannah looks like she’s around our age, or maybe a few years younger, maybe twenty-two. She’s very pretty. She’s a little thinner than Hannah, light skinned – looks like she is mixed with African American, she has light caramel eyes, and high cheekbones. Before I can speak, she r
eaches her hand out with a friendly smile.

  “Hi, I’m Isabell.”

  I take her hand and marvel at the difference between touching Hannah. Isabell is beautiful, but I don’t get that tingling sensation with her that I get with Hannah.

  “I’m Brooke. It’s nice to meet you. Do all of the rooms look the same, or do you have a different setup or types of services you want to highlight?”

  Isabell looks to Hannah and waits for her to answer.

  “There are a couple more rooms you may want to photograph.”

  She pushes off the wall and starts walking. We both follow, and one by one, I take pictures of four more rooms. Since I got the settings down perfectly in Hannah’s room, it doesn’t take me as long to take the rest of the pictures .

  After my last picture, I follow them back to Hannah’s room. Hannah takes a step inside the door and then quickly turns. She holds up a hand to stop me and smiles.

  “I just need a minute to get positioned. I’ll ring when I’m ready.”

  I look at her confused and step back. She has an amused look on her face, but she doesn’t say anything else.

  While we wait, I look through the photos I’ve taken so far and I’m very pleased with them. The reception area is the only picture I’m not sure about. The lighting seems off. I’ll have to take that one over. I could make some adjustments in some photo editing programs I have at home, but it’s best to start with a good quality picture when possible.

  My head jolts up at the sound of a small bell ding coming from inside the room. Isabell reaches for the door handle and pushes the door open. As I walk in behind her, I nearly gasp. Hannah is laying on the massage table on her stomach, with her face down, and she appears to be completely nude, except for the white sheet covering her ass and the tops of her thighs. Her arms are wrapped under the table resting on a little pad under her face.