(c) hwm, March 2002
Chapter 1
He had been working his tail off all week, and Friday wasn't much better. Seems the boss was supposedly under pressure from the front office, so the boss put all the heat on his employees, pushing, pushing harder and harder to complete the construction at least on time, but really wanting to be ahead by a week or ten days. The pressure had come down on him hard, and by the time the day was done on Friday, he was mentally as well as physically worn out.
All he wanted to do was go home, sit down, have a beer, and watch a little television. Have a nice quiet evening with his significant other, nothing out of the ordinary, just recoup a little.
When he walked in the front door, something was different, no, a lot was different. The house was spic and span, only a few lamps were on, and there was some soft music playing on the stereo. He called out for his friend, but there was no one there but him. He also noticed something he'd not been aware of before, for many months: There was a faint odor in the air, but he couldn't quite make it out. So he stopped just inside the door, and lightly sniffing, he finally picked up the scent of vanilla and something else, what was it, oh, yes, rose. But where was this all coming from? He called out again, but no one answered.
Wandering into the kitchen, he noticed that all the dishes were done, all the counters uncluttered, and a note in the middle of the kitchen table. The note was for him from his sweetheart, telling him he was by himself for the evening, she had been invited out for the evening with her lady friends to go visiting the nursing homes, and that she would be late getting in. As far as getting something to eat, he would have to do that for himself. But she also noted that if he went in the bedroom he would find something quite out of the usual, and there would be another note there.
Still being extremely tired, but with a slow smile coming on his face, he laid down his coat and papers at the table, and ventured into the bedroom. He actually forgot the fact that he was kind of hungry, and the idea of a beer was put on the back burner, unknowingly. Walking into the bedroom, he found another note on the bed, along with some silk boxer shorts (where had she found these, he wondered) and a heavy terry robe, his favorite color of blue. Picking up the note, he noticed the scents again, the vanilla and rose. There was a stirring in his groin that he'd not had for quite some time, and he was trying to figure out what was going on. Reading the note, he was instructed to strip out of his clothes, but to also clean out his pockets and place all the contents on the top of the dresser. He was to put the discarded clothing in the clothes hamper next to the washer in the utility room, but not to put on the boxers and robe at the moment. All this had to be done in the nude. Having no children at home made this chore simple enough. Then he was to proceed to the bathroom, do whatever he needed to do, if he could, and expect more surprises when he arrived.
Completing the first parts of the instructions, he finally got to the bathroom. He had installed a garden-type tub some months before, but had rarely had the opportunity to use it. Upon entering, he finally picked up on where the scents were coming from - a vanilla candle and a rose candle, each set on opposite ends of the tub. There were also fresh flowers, and the soft music was coming from small speakers he had mounted near the ceiling when he had installed the tub.
Next to the tub he noticed a small cooler, and upon opening it noticed a single six-pack of his favorite brew, iced and waiting on him. Not wanting to destroy the moment, and having forgotten his fatigue for the moment, he looked around on the vanity, and there was another note. His s/o had left this for him, too, with suggestions on enjoying what she had so carefully set up for him. There were bath salts on the rim of the tub, along with some glycerin soap and a new loofa. She suggested that he run the necessary water in the tub, but a tad hotter than normally, for the salts needed to be well dissolved to adequately take the pain and fatigue from his body. And the soap would thoroughly slick down his skin, as well as dissolving the dirt and sweat from his body. The loofa would invigorate him, too.
Then he was to simply lie in the tub until the water cooled enough, but he was warned to be careful not to fall asleep there.
He set the note aside, leaned against the vanity, and smiled to himself, knowing how much she cared for him, how much she loved him, how she doted on him and his feelings and his emotions. Even though she had a job of her own, with its own set of problems, she was always one step ahead of him, taking the time to comfort him and to stroke his ego, to keep the doldrums from setting in. He made a lot of mental notes at the moment, remembering all the fun times, and the bad times they had been through in the last several years. But at the moment, he was just glowing with all the attention, even though he was alone.
Reaching down to the cooler and plucking a brew, he leaned over the tub and started drawing the water, remembering her instructions to get the water a little tepid, a tad warmer than his normal shower. Picking up the packet of salts, he read the instructions and after a few minutes, poured the salts directly under the spigot.
In just a short period of time the bathroom was nearly like a steam room, lightly foggy, and warm, very warm. Only then did he notice the arousing feeling in his groin, creeping down into his loins, sneaking up on his genitals, producing a warm and full feeling in his cock. Even his balls were starting to tighten a bit, in deference to the heat of the bath. Having finished the first brew, he set the bottle on the vanity and pulled another from the cooler. Opening it and setting it on the floor beside the tub, he turned off the water and swirled his hand through the water, noting that while the water was much hotter than he wanted, he remembered her instructions about the need for the hotter water. Gingerly, he stepped into the tub, first letting his feet get accustomed to the heat, and then slowly lowered his body down. Tender going at first, but sooner than he expected he was sitting full length in the tub, savoring the heat and the twinges his skin was getting from the salts. He lingered here for a few minutes, slowly sliding down to his neck in the tub, and then rising out again, to lean against the edge. He took a couple more pulls on his brew, and then settled in for a few more minutes, just enjoying the heat, the feelings of all the tensions slipping from his body.
He decided it was time to try the glycerin soap and loofa routine. He had done this long ago, with his friend in the tub with him. She had scrubbed his back, but this time he had to figure out a way to do it for himself. Thoroughly scrubbing the rest of his body, starting with his feet and ankles, he slowly worked his way up his body, culminating in working long and hard on his neck and shoulders. Seeing that he couldn't really reach his back, he finally gave up on that part, and slid back into the water to rinse off.