Early one Saturday afternoon, after spending most of the morning in
town, I decided I should go and relax in a sauna for half an hour. I
decided to head straight for the “Sauna & Beauty Parlour”, where I’d
been a couple of times previously.
As I arrived, I was met, in the waiting room, by one of my best
friends, Katy. She asked me what I was doing there. I replied by
saying that I was exhausted after spending the morning in town and had
come in for a relaxing sauna.
When I’d finished speaking, she told me that she was there for her
weekly facial, which usually took about thirty minutes. After a short
pause, one of the beauty consultants came in to the waiting room and
told Katy that her facial treatments were ready.
The music being played on the PA system within the premises was one of
my favourite female solo singers, Enya. I thought it added something
‘special’ to the atmosphere.
A couple of minutes later, I was told that the sauna was ready. As I
was getting undressed for the sauna, all the memories of my friendship
with Katy during the past few years came back to me. For some
unexplained reason, as soon as I got inside the sauna, I began
thinking about Katy’s stunning good looks.
As I sat on the lower seat of the sauna, waiting for the heat to start
‘hitting’ my body, I began to hear what sounded like Katy’s voice.
>From what I could hear of the conversation, it sounded as though Katy
was talking to another slightly older woman about the exams she’d just
finished at school.
Within a couple of minutes of the talking beginning, Katy and a
slightly older and taller woman walked into the sauna. They were both
wrapped, from head to toe, in gigantic white towels similar to my own.
“Hi”, I said, still reeling from the shock.
“Hi”, they both said in unison, as they went to sit down on the higher
seat of the sauna.
“Sorry for barging in on your relaxation, Alan. I didn’t think you’d
mind some female company”, explained Katy.
“That’s all right; make yourselves comfortable”, I replied.
Once they’d settled, Katy explained her presence. “They ran out of
stuff to put on my face during my facial, so they offered me a free
half an hour session in the sauna”.
“Oh, right”, I retorted.
After a short pause, Katy went on, “Alan, I’d like you to meet Nina.
Nina, this is one of my best friends, Alan”.
I leaned over and shook the hand of this beautiful young woman, who I
was sure I had seen several times in the past few weeks.
“Excuse me Nina, but don’t I know you from somewhere?”, I asked.
“Yeah, I’d say so … this is where I work!” replied Nina with a
smile.
“Of course … I should have realised”, I said.
As Katy and I had known each other for quite a few years, we started
talking about some of the things we’d got up to in the past. She
reminded me of a few of the funnier incidents we’d both witnessed in
the years gone by.
We went on to discuss what we had done recently. I told Katy about
what had happened during the celebrations for my 20th birthday. Then,
the three of us started telling some really funny jokes.
After a while, I asked Katy if she was going out with anyone. She said
that she hadn’t been out with anyone in the past couple of months
mainly because she’d wanted a rest from the hassle of relationships,
boys and all that sort of stuff.
“I think it’s time I grabbed a quick shower”, said Katy. “I’ll leave
you two alone to get to know each other”.
Almost as soon as Katy had left the sauna, Nina asked me how long I’d
known Katy. I began to explain that we’d known each other years ago,
but had lost contact with each other because I’d become “a bit of a
recluse”. She said she was intrigued to hear more about the
friendship, and asked me to continue.
“There isn’t really all that much more to tell, to be honest with
you”, I told her.
“Well … from what I’ve heard during the past few minutes, along with
what Katy has told me in the past, there is a lot of history between
you and her”, she replied.
“Yeah?”, I said, before pausing briefly. “Exactly, what has Katy been
saying about me?”
As the conversation continued between Nina and me, I felt as though we
were becoming friends really quickly. There seemed to be some sort of
‘bonding’ between us, as though we’d known each other for years.
The conversation then moved away from talking about my friendship with
Katy, to talk about what I was doing at the moment and where I would
be going on holiday.
As the conversation seemed to be coming to a conclusion, Katy came
back into the sauna, after having her “quick shower”. As she sat back
down, she explained that she’d been so hot from the amount of walking
she’d done in the past few days that she had spent longer than normal
in the shower.
As soon as she finished her explanation, an eerie silence seemed to
descend on the sauna for some unexplained reason.
Just then, Nina begun talking. “I’m starting to get quite hot sitting
up here”. She went on to make an rather unexpected request, “Would
either of you mind if I moved my towel down to my waist?”
“No, go ahead.” said Katy, almost without hesitation.
