Against The Odds Pt. 01

"That can be difficult, how's he doing?"

"Good, took him a while to adapt but he's good now."

They pulled up outside a large single story house; they entered into a large, light filled entrance hall.

"Leave your bag down there and I'll show you around."

The house seemed massive to Chris, each room bigger than the last, there was even a pool in the back yard.

"So much for Jon telling me he had a small house, it's massive and you have a pool."

"This is just normal for California."

"Wow, I think it's beautiful."

"Thank you, would you like a tea or coffee?"

"Coffee please."

Just then Jon phoned, Belinda put it onto speaker.

"Chris ya big fucker, welcome to the US of A."

"Thanks Jon, your wife was just showing me around your small house."

"Ha ha, I bet you got a bit of a surprise."

"Just a bit, I thought you were setting me up for something. Anyway Belinda's wonderful and the house is amazing."

"Ah thanks man, I'll see you in the morning, wake you up with a beer, now put the phone back on private, I want to speak to my missus and don't want you listening." Both Chris and Belinda threw their eyes up at this and smiled, before Chris got up and left the room.

After the phone call they ate a light lunch and carried on chatting. She asked him about his injuries and rehab and about his massage course.

"I know this is really cheeky but would you be able to massage my neck for me, I always carry my stress there and it's sore at the moment."

Chris was a bit taken aback by the request but said he could do it for her, no problem. He stood behind the chair she was sat on. Belinda had a small delicate neck with finely muscled trapezes. As soon as Chris placed his fingers on her neck he could feel the stiffness and tension. He placed his hand on one side of her head for support and ran his fingers down the other side, starting behind the ear and finishing when he reached the bones of the scapula and clavicle. He repeated this numerous times, steadily increasing the pressure. It took him about fifteen minutes to do both sides. There were lots of other things he could do in a neck massage but he felt this was enough.

"How does that feel?"

"Wonderful!" Belinda said, rolling her head around before standing up. "You have great hands."

"Thanks."

Belinda looked at him a little coyly "Could I ask you a big favour?"

"Of course."

"I've always enjoyed massage, do you think you could give me a full massage?"

Chris instantly felt uncomfortable, he considered himself a professional masseur and knew he would act appropriately, nor had this beautiful woman, his best friends wife, given him any reason to doubt her, he just felt the situation could be awkward.

"You don't have a massage table, it would be difficult to do it without one." Lame, but the best excuse he could come up with.

"We could use one of the sun loungers and you could kneel on a cushion if you need to."

"I suppose that could work."

"Great, I'll just go and get changed, I won't be a mo."

Chris stood there, a bit bemused. His first few hours in America had been full of surprises, but he was happy and feeling positive.

Belinda returned wearing a skimpy but well fitted bikini and carrying a bottle of massage oil. She had a toned, athletic body, the type Chris really enjoyed working with. Her legs in particular showed good musculature and definition, the result, no doubt, of her dancing. Belinda seemed perfectly happy and relaxed wearing a small bikini in front of Chris, he wondered if he should complement her and decided she wouldn't mind,

"You look great, I can definitely see where you do a lot of dancing and exercise."

"Thank you so much, it's not as easy as it use to be, my joints definitely let me know that, but I love it and want to keep it up for as long as possible. I think we could do the massage outside rather than bringing the chair in, what do you think?"

"Yeah why not, sounds good to me."

"Do you want to change into something more comfortable?"

Chris took this as innocently as he hoped it was meant and went and changed into shorts and a t shirt. When he returned Belinda was waiting for him, a cushion already placed on the ground beside the lounger. "Do you want to do my back or front first?"

"Back normally."

"Great." And with that Belinda laid down, her hands reaching behind her to unclasp her bikini top. Chris looked around but couldn't see any towels, 'I hope she does that up again before she turns over' he thought to himself.

"I'm going to start on your right calf, let me know if I need to change the pressure."

"Will do."

Chris started, immediately getting a feeling for the muscle; it was tight and knotted and he soon found a rhythm and started loosening it out, only vaguely aware of the encouraging 'oohs' and 'aahs' coming from Belinda. When he got to the top of her leg Chris stared down at her tight butt, three quarters of it exposed by the bikini.

"Do you want me to work on your glutes?"

"Definitely, yes please."

Chris continued the massage, aware as always and maybe even more so on this occasion of his hand position. When he had finished the back Chris realized he was gasping.

"Will I get us both a drink before I do the front?"

"Yes please."

Chris went and got them both a glass of water and when he returned Belinda was still laying down; she turned and sat up as he approached, without her bikini top. Obviously sensing his surprise she said.

"I hope you don't mind, I always bathe topless or nude. If it bothers you I can put on my top."

"It's no problem, whichever way you're more comfortable. In fact I think it's great you're so comfortable and confident."

As they drank their drinks Chris told her about Enga and Alice and how they had helped to open his eyes to the beauty of the human body and to get rid of some of his English neurosis about nakedness.

"You'll find a lot of Californians are happy and confident in their bodies and not afraid to show them off."

"I look forward to that." They both laughed.

As the massage continued Chris found that he was happy and relaxed about staring at Belinda's nearly naked body, not in a salacious way but to admire its beauty and form. When they had finished and were back in the house Belinda turned to him and said,

"That was wonderful, thank you. You've passed my test."

Looking surprised Chris asked "What test?"

"Well, I had my suspicions as to whether a super hard ex soldier could reinvent himself as a massage therapist. But you have, in fact you've just given me the best massage I've ever had, you have amazing hands. But more importantly you passed my appropriate test, you were professional throughout, that's why I was topless, I wouldn't normally flash my boobs at a male masseuse."

Chris couldn't help but smile, "What if I wasn't appropriate?"

"I would have shot you, I come from a military family remember."

Chris laughed; he liked Belinda and could see why Jon fell for her.

"Now I know you're legit I can help you."

"In what way?"

"I know lots of people who like good massages, in fact even some of the players off my football team would benefit from you and as for the cheerleaders we're always straining ourselves and the team give us very poor support."

Chris's silly sense of humor got the better of him "Ooh cheerleaders, that could be interesting."

"You're meant to be appropriate, remember." Belinda laughed "Anyway as well as that I know about business and can help get you up and running."

"That would be brilliant, thank you."

"It's the least I can do, you're my husband's best buddy and you saved my brother's life."

"With your brother I was just doing my job and with your husband, well that's just a cross I have to bear." They both laughed. Belinda continued,

"I think the first things you need to do is to find a premises to operate out of and to either buy or rent a massage table, and then you'll need a receptionist." Chris put his hands up,

"Slow down, you're losing me, I hadn't been thinking of half these things or how I'm going to afford them."

"Well I have been thinking of them and looking into them. In fact I have just the person to be your receptionist; she's coming over for dinner tonight. I think you'll like her, she's quite a piece of work." If she's anything like you I bet she is, Chris thought to himself.

At seven Chris heard a car pull up outside and got up to greet the new arrival. After a few minutes the doorbell hadn't rung and Belinda smiled at the confused look on his face. She went and opened the door and coming down the path was a young woman in a wheelchair, which probably explained the delay. Chris stared at her, initially thinking that she was a vet but then deciding she probably wasn't. Seeing his stare she said "What's the matter buddy, you never seen a broad in a fucking wheelchair before." In a New York gangster type of voice. Belinda and the woman both smiled at Chris's discomfort before Belinda said "Chris I'd like you to meet by old friend Melissa, known to one and all as Mel."

Chris put out his hand "Nice to meet you Mel."

"Delighted, I'm sure." Said Mel, this time in a mock British accent, before turning her hand, as if for Chris to kiss.

"Leave the poor man alone Mel, he's mortified enough."

"Enough already, now where's the food, I'm starving." Back to the wise guy.

The next two hours were a whirlwind, Mel never taking a breath, jumping from one story to the next, regaling them with tall stories, spattered with enough swearing to put a dock worker to shame. She was a complete force of nature, albeit a very likable one.

What transpired was that Belinda and Mel had been working on a plan ever since they heard Chris was coming out.

"Just in case you turned out to be legit, which I doubted. I offered to get my boobs out, but Bel the hussy here said she'd flash her titties and ass at you instead." Mel helpfully explained.

They already had their eye on suitable premises, and had of course decided that Mel was going to work for him. After this had all been explained, mainly by Mel, they turned to a bemused looking Chris and said "Any questions?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Good, you look after those beautiful hams of yours and we'll look after everything else." Back to the wise guy.

Chris laid in bed smiling to himself, what an amazing first day in America, if the rest of his time was anything like this then it was going to be some ride.

As promised Chris was woken at six the next morning by Jon, beers in hand.

"Wake up you ugly git and have a beer."

"Morning Jon, it's only six a bloody clock."

"Aye, and I've driven seven hours to get here, now drink up and shut up." Chris took his first sip. "Away you go man, it's only pish American beer, you'll never get drunk on this shite." Jon added..

Chris thought Jon's Geordie accent had actually gotten stronger and wondered how any Americans could understand him. They sat on his bed and drank and talked, not unlike when they were young Marines. They spoke of old friends and of fallen comrades, raising a toast to them all.

Around eight o'clock Belinda came in, refused a beer and said breakfast was on the table. This gave Chris some respite from the drinking and allowed him to get up and put some trousers on. They sat there eating and chatting, Jon telling Chris about his work and trying to persuade him to join, eventually they got around to Chris's injuries.

"So do you know what happened exactly?"

"Not really, I think a shell landed right on top of us, killing poor Stevie and doing a right job on me."

They sat a while in silence before Jon perked up and said, "Show us your scars then."

"Piss off."

"Go on don't be shy, we all love a good horror show."

"Besides," Belinda chipped in "You saw plenty of mine yesterday, fairs fair."

"Oh aye, what's all that about then." Jon said smiling.

"Chris gave me a massage yesterday, in the nude." Not quite true, but close enough thought Chris. "He was very good and very professional."

Chris was worried but then saw Jon smiling. "Did you know about my little 'test'?" Chris asked. Jon smiling broadly, nodded "And you weren't worried?"

"What for, if it went right Bel's got a good massage and if it went wrong you got shot, no worries."

"You're all as fucking mad as each other, cheers," Chris said, raising a toast.

The next couple of weeks were a busy blur, finding and equipping the premises and getting ready to open. Mel was brilliant, very organized and motivated, even getting him interviewed by the local paper. Chris probably gave the worst interview ever, not being use to selling himself; but it was a nice article and free advertisement. Belinda sorted out all the paper work and they opened less than three weeks after Chris arrived in Pasadena. Belinda was as good as her word and sent many of her friends along and Mel seemed to know everyone in Pasadena which also generated good business.

They were busy from the get go and as word spread got even busier. Chris moved out of Belinda and Jon's, finding a nice apartment across the street from his business. Initially Chris had been working all the hours but that wasn't sustainable, after discussing it with Mel he decided to open five mornings 9-12, three afternoons 2-7 and two evenings 4-10. Outside of these hours he would see clients by special arrangement or if they were really stuck. About a quarter of his clients were just for a relaxing massage whilst the rest had injuries or problems. Chris always pointed out that he wasn't a physiotherapist but his clients didn't seem to mind and his reputation for treating injuries spread.

One morning just after 7.30 Chris's phone rang, "Hi Chris this is Tracy Scholfied, sorry for phoning you so early but I'm stuck. I have to give a presentation today and my backs gone, I can hardly straighten up, is there any chance you can fit me in first thing to see if you can do anything."

"Hi Tracy, I'm not sure if I can help, but if you get yourself here as soon as possible I'll have a look."

"Great, I'll see you shortly after eight."

Chris had a shower and went and opened up. Tracy had come to him a number of weeks previously complaining of persistent lower back pain and stiffness. She was in her early forties and was a business woman who ran long distances to keep fit and let off stress and from her toned arms she looked like she used the gym regularly as well. She had been to number of physios but hadn't got much relief.

After listening to her story and having her describe her symptoms Chris spent over a hour just working on her hip flexors and particularly giving deep and quite painful massage to her psoas muscle. He gave her some ice packs to use in the car and told her to ice regularly for the next two days, to reduce inflammation from the massage. She came back the next week saying she was feeling great, just wanting some maintenance and a general massage. She now been back three times and was doing well until this morning.

Chris watched her get out of the car and she could hardly straighten, he went out and helped her inside.

"What did you do to yourself?"

"I was doing dead lifts last night, I felt great, but now this."

Chris helped her up onto the table, "I'll see what I can do.' He said.

Her whole lower back was in spasm, he got her to concentrate on her breathing as he gently worked to relax the muscles. He got lost in what he was doing and when he looked up it was nine fifteen. Damn, he had a new client at nine for a initial ninety minute session and he was very late.

He helped Tracy down and she felt much looser,

"You're a miracle worker."

"Not quite, ice up and maybe take a pain killer and you should be able to give your presentation."

He showed her out and got daggers from Mel sat at her desk, she ran a tight ship.

He looked to where his new client was sat; she had long dark hair, wore a two piece blue business suit and was wearing sun glasses. It wasn't the first time in California that he'd seen people wearing sunglasses indoors but it still struck him as funny. He picked up her chart from Mel, Clarita Acosta. Mel told him he was lucky, his eleven o'clock appointment had cancelled.

"Hi Miss Acosta, I'm Chris Walker, your massage therapist. I'm so sorry about being late, would you like to come this way."

"Please call me Rita."

He scanned her chart, 32yrs old, actress, no major medical problems, stiff neck. She stood up and Chris could see immediately that she was in discomfort, her whole body held tense.

"Take your time Rita," Placing his arm close to her back as if to support and guide at the same time. Once she started moving she moved elegantly, particularly considering the height of her shoes. When they entered the treatment room Chris helped her to remove her jacket before raising the height of the table, allowing Rita to perch her bottom on it, without having to sit fully down.

"So tell me what you did to your neck."

"I hurt it at work"

"Doing anything in particular?"

There was a delay, as if she was thinking of what to say, slowly lifting her head to look directly at him she said, "Having my face fucked for forty minutes."

He wasn't sure what expression was on his face but he managed, "Wow that would definitely give you a stiff neck."

He moved behind her, "I'm going to put my hands on your neck now, is that ok?"

"Yes."

He laid his fingers gently on her trapezes and she nearly jumped of the table, such was the pain.

He apologized and came back in front of her, "Your neck and the muscles around it are in spasm, I'll need to work on them gently. I need for you to remove your blouse, you can keep your bra on. There's a towel there to cover yourself. I'll be back in a few minutes to help you lay down."

When Chris returned Rita was sat there topless, "I said it would be ok to keep your bra on."

"I know but it's a Le Perla, very expensive and I didn't want you getting massage oil on it."

"That's fine, whatever you're comfortable with."

As Belinda had predicted, Chris had a number of clients, both male and female who seemed to prefer being massaged nude. Even one or two who were in for a therapeutic massage, when loose clothing would have sufficed, stripped off. Massage by its very nature was intimate and Chris treated all his clients with respect and decorum. That didn't mean he wasn't human. He was able to admire and enjoy looking at a beautiful woman or a toned male athlete for that matter, without it detracting from his professionalism. Even with a couple of clients who had been quite flirty, Chris had been able to have a bit of banter without overstepping the mark, all of it adding to his growing reputation.

He assessed Rita, she still had her sunglasses on but was undoubtedly a beautiful woman, she had large, firm breasts and her whole torso was rigid and tense, that was what he noticed most.

"Some of the people I work with think I should have implants, make them bigger, what do you think?"

Briefly caught off guard Chris replied, "No, they look fine to me."

Rita gave a little smile. Chris moved behind her and said, "I'm going to put my hands against you back and head and I want you to slowly lie down, I'll support you." Rita did as he asked and when she was laid down Chris covered her chest with a towel.

"Because your neck is in such spasm I'm going to start by working on your upper chest, down to your biceps, is that ok?"

Rita gave a slight nod, and even that seemed uncomfortable. Chris got to work. He concentrated all his efforts on massaging her in the position she was in, rather than her having to move. After nearly an hour he was done.

"I think that should feel better now, your neck and shoulders certainly feel less tight. You still have thirty minutes left, what else would you like me to work on?"