Drybread: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

won't be a moment. It's
just the change of shift, actually. Some of the girls going
off, and a good many more coming on.'
    'We'd prefer to be matched with the latter,' said
Nicholas.
    'Very good,' said the old guy with appreciation, and
his smile widened. 'Reciprocality is important in massage.'
The use of such a word, the slight twitch to his smile, were
signs that he wasn't as out of touch with the business as he
had seemed. 'Look,' he said, 'I'll just take you through, if
you like, and then Alison will pop in and introduce one of
the girls. The full body massage is ninety dollars.'
    Behind the far door, the place opened up surprisingly,
with a corridor well lit by recessed strips, and with five
doors leading off on each side. Theo was given the second
on the right. 'See you at the cars,' said Nicholas, 'but let's
neither of us wait for more than fifteen minutes or so.'
    Theo's room had an adjustable massage table, two
straight-backed chrome chairs, a tiled floor and an ensuite
of toilet, basin and shower. Everything was neat. If the
padded massage table hadn't been there, the room could
well have been a towel showroom. There were shelves of
green towels beneath the one high window, more folded
on the table, flannels and more towels, all green, padding
out the ensuite. Theo sat and waited. He thought for a
moment about giving up the idea: he hadn't sought sex
in that way for a long time, but he became distracted by
the towels, and was counting them when the woman came
in.
    It wasn't Alison, but Becky. Becky said Alison was still
busy, but that it didn't matter, she, Becky, could do the
talking as well as the massage, if that was okay with him.
Becky was young and attractive enough. Sleek was the
word that occurred to Theo. She was well rounded and
had dark, shiny hair. Her skin was good, her arms and legs
compact and close to her body. She wasn't beautiful at
all, but had the sleekness of an otter, and the sleekness of
youth. And she was right at home.
    'You know the basic full body massage is ninety bucks?'
she said. The voice wasn't sleek; rather a retail counter
voice, very forward in the mouth.
    'What else is there?' said Theo. He had decided to be
quite pragmatic about the whole business. Any sensitivity
would only lead to awkwardness.
    'Well, full sex is another hundred,' said Becky. 'Then
there's the other forms of release for less. With me there's
nothing anal, or any of that.'
    'There's no bed in here,' said Theo. Becky was still
standing with the closed door behind her, and Theo
was sitting. It didn't feel right, but to stand up would be
ridiculous.
    'There's rooms on the other side of the corridor for
that,' she said.
    Theo decided to go with the massage for the time
being. Becky told him to have a shower as hot as he
could stand, then come out to the massage table with just
a towel. 'Wrap it round you like a miniskirt,' she said.
'I'm just going to tell Alison we're underway.' She hadn't
returned when Theo came back from his shower. He sat
barefoot and bare chested on the massage table. It had
a slight springiness. He lay on his back, but that was a
strange feeling with no one else in the room, so he sat
up again. Becky came back immediately afterwards. 'Sorry
about that,' she said. 'Alison's dad needed help with the
credit card machine. I don't know, he just doesn't seem to
get it. Okay, lie down on your stomach.'
    Theo had few sources of comparison, but Becky
seemed to be good at massage. She had strong fingers
and kneaded the muscles vigorously as well as making
firm strokes. There was no obvious concentration on
erogenous zones. The massage oil had a pleasant fragrance
of the outdoors. She was interested in the profession of
journalism, she said. Melanie's community paper came up
and Becky said she didn't like it — all second-hand car
ads, the miraculous return of pets and people overcoming
disease. Theo didn't mention that the editor was a friend
and occasional lover. Becky said what she liked was