A Visit to the Spa

Samuel picked up the phone after frowning at the unfamiliar number. "This is Samuel?"

"Good afternoon, sir," a cheerful male voice came. "I'm just calling to confirm the appointment for tomorrow at our spa. Your full body treatment is scheduled for 11 AM."

"What full body treatment?" he asked, laughing. He didn't do spas. That shit was for gay guys and women. Women like his ex-girlfriend Cindy, who had loved getting pampered and massaged at those centres. It always left her relaxed and her skin smooth, so Samuel hadn't minded, but he drew the line at joining her.

Cindy had always told him to take better care of his body and his skin, as if going to the gym to work out wasn't taking good care of it, and as if his thick biceps and six-pack hadn't been what had attracted her to him in the first place. He always told her that putting all that goop on your skin wasn't something real men did. And then there'd been another argument over how often he showered and shaved, and how he had too much body hair.

He didn't miss those fights, but he did miss fucking her afterwards.

"The full body treatment that was booked for you a month ago," the man replied. "Skin treatment, a facial, a massage... the works, sir."

A month ago... "Did Cindy book this for me?"

"Let me check the booking details... yes, Cindy Johnson booked it for you, sir. As a gift."

A month ago they had broken up. Was it Cindy's last ditch attempt to make him change his ways? Or to piss him off? "So she's paying for it?" Well, two could play that game. If she was determined to book him some fancy dumb spa treatment, he'd make full use of it. Those things were pretty expensive, after all. He'd sit through some dumb facial if it cost her a lot of money.

"Yes, sir. We have her credit card details already in our system." The man on the phone hesitated. "If you want to cancel, sir, that's fine. We'd only bill her the cancellation fee."

"No, no, I'll be there. So, er, are there any upgrades available?" Samuel asked. "Expensive upgrades? Since she's being so generous."

The man laughed. "We can discuss upgrades once you get here, sir. We look forward to treating you." He gave Samuel further details on how to get to the spa, and Samuel thanked him.

Samuel looked up the spa's website. There were the usual pictures of massage tables, with some guy looking relaxed as he was getting a massage, some guy getting a facial treatment, some men relaxing in a whirlpool and lists of possible treatments.

Samuel wasn't really interested in what the treatments would do, but he liked the look of the prices. He didn't think that the most expensive mud wrap would rejuvenate his skin and leave him feeling like a new man, but he'd definitely take it if it meant Cindy had to cough up a couple of hundred bucks.

The next morning, he arrived at the spa at 10 o'clock. As he walked in, he saw there was also a gym attached to the spa centre. He checked in, and the guy behind the desk took his details, confirming that Cindy's credit card details were still in the system and that she'd pay for everything.

"Even if I take any extra upgrades?"

"Yes, sir," the man said, smiling. He looked to be in his early twenties, fresh-faced and clean-shaven.

"And what if I wanna work out in the gym? Is that possible too?" Samuel asked. Watching those guy work out made him want to pump some iron too.

The man frowned a little. "Well, going by the list of treatments you have booked, I think you'll be busy with that for most of the day... and most of our guests feel pretty wiped afterwards to work out. But sure, if you like, you can make use of the gym facilities too, and the sauna."

"Not much of a sauna fan," Samuel replied. Why sit around naked and sweat when you could work out? "So, how does this work?"

The man took out a printed card with a list of treatments and times. "Well, this is the list of your treatments for the today and your schedule. You'll start with a nice, relaxing facial treatment at 10:30. Then, at 11:30 it's time for the detoxing mud wrap. You can talk to our spa employees about upgrades for that, like aromatherapy or a pedicure. Lunch is at one o'clock. At three o'clock you report back to the beauty centre for a relaxing full body massage. There're optional upgrades for that too."

Samuel nodded. He vaguely remembered that aromatherapy had to do with scents, so that was probably bullshit, but if it cost Cindy more, he would definitely ask for it. "Okay, sounds good." He looked around. He had expected more female customers, but the only other people at the spa he'd seen so far were men. Then he remembered that the pictures on the website had also been of men. He leaned over the counter. "I thought this kind of place would be more popular with women."

The man behind the reception desk laughed. "Oh, didn't you know? We're a men-only spa centre." He smiled. "So many guys think spas are just for women, that they often have trouble relaxing completely at regular spas. We want men to be able to focus on themselves and their body without feeling judged."

Samuel thought he'd be more likely to get distracted by the pretty women than feel judged, but whatever. "Well, you must be doing something right." He nodded at the busy-looking gym.

"We do have plenty of satisfied customers, sir," the young man told him cheerfully. "Enjoy your day."

"I'll do my best," Samuel muttered. A facial treatment, a mud wrap, and a massage... he shuddered at the thought of having to go through all that crap. No doubt the employees would be telling him how good it was for his body and his skin, all that bullshit they used to sell upgrades. Still, he could sit back and think of how angry Cindy would be when she got her credit card bill.

Samuel changed, putting on his own grey bathrobe that came down past his knees and slinging his towel over his shoulder. He put his clothes and the rest of his stuff in the locker, slid his bare feet into his flip-flops and went to the beauty centre.

He felt a little embarrassed, waiting on the white leather couch to be picked up for his facial treatment, but there was another guy waiting there as well. He was a little older than he was, in his forties, and looked like he regularly worked out.

Samuel gave him a nod and sat down. He had to admit, if that guy had been a woman, he would've felt more embarrassed about this. But this guy was here for something too, probably a massage or something, and he looked like a regular, fit guy.

The man looked at Samuel. "First time here?"

Samuel shrugged. "Yeah. How can you tell?"

The guy grinned. "You look a little nervous. What're you getting?"

"Oh, uhm, a facial treatment, and then some other stuff later on," he said. He could feel his cheeks redden at having to mention the facial treatment. "It was a gift."

The guy just smiled. "No need to be embarrassed about that! It's important to take good care of yourself." His smile widened. "I hope whoever gave you this gets their money worth, hmm?"

Samuel laughed at that, once again imagining his ex-girlfriend's angry face when she opened her credit card bill. "Oh, they will," he replied, grinning. "They definitely will."

"That's the spirit," the man replied, nodding. Just then, a spa employee tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Time for your massage, sir," the young man replied. He was wearing tight, white trousers and a form-fitting white t-shirt with the spa's logo. Like the man at the reception desk, he looked young and clean-shaven too.

The man looked the spa employee up and down, his smile growing. "Oh, excellent. I look forward to you helping me relax." He nodded at Samuel. "You have fun today, boy. Enjoy yourself."

"You too," Samuel replied, thinking that he hadn't been called 'boy' in ages. He was in his mid-twenties, he wasn't a boy. Oh well, that man probably called everyone younger than him 'boy'. Some guys were just like that.

Samuel was picked up for his facial treatment by another young man, and Samuel was starting to wonder if they hired employees based on how they looked. All the employees he had seen so far were young men, around his age, who were slender and handsome, with smooth faces. Well, who'd buy spa treatments from ugly spa employees with bad skin, right? They were probably a walking advertisement.

The spa employee introduced himself as Charlie, and led Samuel down the hall to a room in the back. Inside there were two chairs that reminded Samuel a little of a dentist's chair, but these looked more comfortable.

Against one wall were some bathroom cabinets with various tubes and bottles lined up, and a sink in the countertop. The walls were white with some pictures of landscapes.

"If you could remove your flip-flops and sit down, sir, we can start your treatment. Unless you'd like to discuss upgrades?" Charles asked, smiling at him. "You're booked for a standard treatment, but I can give you a longer one, or a deeper cleanse, perhaps? We have various masks with different effects, depending on what you're after."

"What's the most expensive upgrade?" Samuel asked, as he sat down.

Charlie blinked. "Uhm, that would be the Twink Special, sir. It has a strong detoxifying effect, opening your pores, which makes further treatments today more effective. It will leave you looking more youthful, as it exfoliates dead skin. It also has an effect on -"

"I'll take the Twinkie Special," Samuel replied. He didn't need to hear the marketing spiel. It was expensive, it'd be fine.

Charlie laughed, then bit his lip. "Twink Special, sir. It's called that because -"

"Yeah, sorry, I don't really know all the lingo," Samuel said. "It's my first time here, you know. The whole thing was a present."

"Ooh!" Charlie smiled at him, his eyes lighting up. "Well, then we should do our best to make it worth it, right?"

Samuel nodded. "Okay, so, what happens now?" he asked, as Charlie moved over to the countertop to get some bottles.

"Well, first I'm gonna give you a shave, so that the mask is more effective on your skin."

Samuel ran his fingers across his stubble. He was usually too lazy to shave himself, so that was fine. "You do that often?" He wasn't sure about letting some guy with a razor near his skin.

"Very often, sir," Charlie assured him. He was holding a bottle of shaving cream and an old-fashioned razor. "We pretty much always give our customers a shave before a facial treatment. Just sit back and relax, sir."

Samuel did just that. He closed his eyes as Charlie spread the cream over his jaw, cheeks and neck, but watched as Charlie began to shave him.

"Relax, sir," Charlie murmured. "It's easier if you relax."

Samuel let out a deep breath. Charlie was a pro who had done this before. It'd be fine. He closed his eyes, and tried to stay still. The cream itself felt nice and cool against his skin, and being shaved was very relaxing once he got used to it.

Soon, Charlie rubbed his face down with a towel, and smiled at him. "Now it's time for the mask, sir. Since it's the Twink Special, you get to listen to some nice, relaxing music." Charlie shrugged. "It makes lying here waiting for the mask to do its work less boring."

"Cool," Samuel said, who hadn't been looking forward to sitting around waiting with some goop on his face.

Charlie handed him some earbuds and the music was indeed relaxing, a classical piano piece with the occasional bird sound.

Samuel sighed in slight annoyance as he tried to relax. Of course this was a spa's idea of soothing and relaxing, but he hated classical music.

Charlie got to work again, smearing thick goop on Samuel's face. It smelled cool and minty, not bad at all, and Samuel felt himself relax a little despite the annoying music.

He closed his eyes as Charlie covered his face and neck in goop, and felt himself drift off once Charlie stopped touching him. He wasn't sure for how long he lay there, since the song never ended and just kept going, and there didn't seem to be an obvious loop.

He started when someone shook his shoulder, and took out one of the earbuds. "Huh?"

Charlie smiled at him. "Sorry, sir, it's been thirty minutes. I have to wash the mask off now."

"Oh, huh, yeah, sure," Samuel said, taking out the other earbud. "Must've fallen asleep there."

"Happens all the time," Charlie told him. "Don't worry about it."

Samuel stayed quiet while Charlie washed his face with warm water and a towel, but he frowned when Charlie grabbed a tube and spurted some white cream onto his hands. "What's that for?"

"A face cream, sir, to refreshen and invigorate," Charlie told him, stroking Samuel's cheeks and spreading the cream across his skin. "It'll finish the treatment."

Great, more goop. Samuel sat back. At least the cream smelled nice, like wood and smoke.

"There, all done!" Charlie beamed at him. "Will you be getting more treatments today, sir?"

"Yeah, I have a mud thing at 11:30," Samuel replied. He touched his face, and was surprised that yeah, his skin did feel smoother! It felt nice to touch it, and he ran his fingers down to his jaw and neck. His jaw felt a little weird, that was just because Samuel was used to stubble.

Charlie looked at his watch. "Oh, then we should hurry, it's 11:25 now." He glanced at Samuel. "Happy with the results, sir?"

"Feels good, yeah," Samuel said, dropping his hands into lap. "Smooth."

Charlie beamed at him. "That's the Twink Special for you, sir." He watched Samuel get up. "If you enjoyed it, you could ask for it with the mud wrap too, sir. It's pretty expensive, but hey, if it's someone's treat..."

Samuel laughed at Charlie's innocent expression. "I might just do that."

"I'll bring you over to the mud wrap treatment area, sir," Charlie told him.

Samuel followed Charlie through the mazelike beauty centre. There were plenty of spa employees milling about, all leading clients to their next treatment. While the employees didn't spare Samuel a glance, some of the customers eyed him with a slight smile on their faces. Samuel just gave them a friendly nod back.

They arrived at a room that looked just like the one Samuel had left, except instead of two chairs, there were two massage tables. Samuel was unsurprised to find another fresh-faced young man there, who introduced himself as Nick.

"He just had the Twink Special," Charlie explained, as Samuel walked in behind him. "I don't know what exactly you have him booked for?"

"I can tell!" Nick said, nodding as he looked at Samuel. "Well, the booking order has a standard mud wrap, but it would be nice to go with a matching Twink Special here too..."

"I'll leave you two to discuss it," Charlie said, and left.

"The Twink Special is the most expensive treatment, right?" Samuel asked.

"It is." Nick picked up his tablet, tapping away at the screen. "I don't see any notes from your booking order about costs or anything else that would preclude you from getting it. Would you like it with or without aromatherapy?"

Samuel smiled. Cindy probably hadn't even expected him to go here in the first place. "Is the aromatherapy extra?"

"Yes, we charge an extra fee for that, and it -"

"I'll take it," Samuel said. "Shall we get started, then?"

Nick put his tablet down. "Don't you want to know what effect this treatment will have on your body, sir? Or more about the aromatherapy?"

Samuel shrugged as he stepped out of his flip-flops. He could already guess that it would involve the words 'detox', 'invigorating', 'youthful' and other buzzwords. "Well, if it does to the rest of my body what the facial did to my face, I think it'll be fine," he said, stroking his cheeks.

Nick laughed. "Yes, sir, it has pretty similar effects all in all. You can put your robe up there." He gestured at the coat hooks in the corner. "And then you can stand here."

Samuel disrobed, and stood in front of Nick. "All right, what now?" He looked down at his hairy chest, stomach, and thighs. "You're not gonna shave me, are you?" Cindy had never liked the coarse, dark hairs covering his body, but Samuel had told her that that was just what real men looked like.

Nick laughed. "No, sir, shaving won't be necessary. Our special mud wrap takes care of that. Don't worry."

Samuel shrugged, and figured Nick just meant that it was just as efficient on hairy skin. "Then let's get started."

Nick got to work, slowly but surely covering Nick's body from his feet upwards in a thick, dark brown mud, wearing latex gloves. Like the facial treatment, it smelled fresh and minty.

When Nick got to Samuel's groin, Samuel pulled back. "Hey there, getting a little personal, aren't we?"

Nick looked up at him. "Sir, this is a full body wrap. That includes your genitalia. I promise, it won't have any harmful effect. On the contrary, most customers find that -"

"All right, fine," Samuel muttered. It felt weird, having Nick slather his balls and dick in mud, and to feel Nick slide his latex-covered fingers up and down his asscrack.

Soon, Nick had covered Samuel's body in the minty mud, leaving his neck and head clear. Then, he wrapped Samuel in a plastic wrap and told him to lie down on the massage table. Only the soles of his feet weren't covered in mud.

Samuel lay down on his back. It felt a little weird and his skin was starting to feel tingly, but that was probably just the mud working.

"I'll just light the incense for the aromatherapy, sir," Nick told him, walking around the room with incense sticks. "Along with scented candles for a stronger effect. These scents have been especially selected to -"

"What about the music?" Samuel asked. At least with music, he wouldn't have to listen to Nick blathering on about the healing effects of the special scents.

Nick looked surprised to have been interrupted, but smiled. "I'll finish up the candles first, then get the earbuds."

Samuel waited, closing his eyes. The scent that came from the incense and the candles wasn't particularly strong. It was nice and musky, vaguely reminding him of the scent in the gym after he had a good work-out.

"The aromatherapy and the music complement each other very nicely, sir," Nick told him. "I'm sure you'll be very happy with the results." He put the earbuds in his ears, and the same relaxing piano and birdsong tune as before started. It didn't annoy Samuel as much anymore. It was just part of the atmosphere here.

Samuel closed his eyes. Now that he was really listening, the piano music was a little different than before. It had more bass to it this time, and sometimes there were soft whispers instead of birdsong. It wasn't loud enough to make out any words, and Samuel soon gave up listening and found himself drifting off, fully relaxed and enjoying the music and the scent coming from the incense and the candles.

He started when Nick tapped his shoulder, letting him know it was time to wash off the mud. Since Samuel was still wrapped up tight, Nick removed the earbuds and then the plastic wrap. "The shower area is down the hall, sir," Nick said, opening the door.

Samuel slid into his flip-flops and followed Nick. Nick frowned a little at Samuel, but shrugged. Samuel felt a little self-conscious to be walking around covered in mud, but there wasn't anyone else in the hallway anyway.

Nick led him into the shower area. Several showerheads lined both walls, the type that detached. "Stand here, sir," Nick said, then took one of the showerheads before turning on the faucet. "Just lift your arms."

Samuel wanted to protest and say that he could shower and clean himself. He didn't need another man putting his hands on him - at least not like this, but Nick was already holding the showerhead. "Okay," he said, lifting his arms. Considering how much mud was on him, having an employee help was probably easiest.

Since Nick started with his chest, Samuel closed his eyes to avoid getting water in his eyes. It wasn't so bad, having Nick's hand run up and down his chest getting rid of the mud. His skin felt smooth, and nice.