I wound up sending Tuesday the list the next morning,  after she told me some more that her skin tends to get dry, so I compiled a list of products she could try. The times I've seen her, I noticed she did wear makeup, so I also included some makeup products that would be beneficial toward dry skin.

While I was at work Thursday, in between my 10 AM and 11 AM client, she texted me back again. I was worried that she might've lost interest in me after sending her the list all morning.

But she texted me back saying, "Thank you so much! I'm going to try all of these. Where can I get most of them? Ulta or Target, maybe?"

My heart skipped a beat when I saw she had texted me back. I couldn't even help it.

I said back: Yes, all of them except for two products. The face and body moisturizer is sold at my work.

That wasn't exactly on purpose...

I got a text back quickly saying: Where do you work? I'll come in and get them.

I texted her the name of the spa I work at, and she texted me back saying: Are you just trying to see me again?

I froze as I looked at her message.

I had no idea what to say.

Was I?

I am, aren't I?

I then got a follow up text that said: Just messing with you. I can come get the products today, I'm off work. What time are you there until?

I texted Tuesday that I was there until 5 PM, and that my 3 PM had canceled, so that time would be best if she wanted to see me while getting the products.

For the rest of the day, as I was treating clients, my mind kept drifting to seeing Tuesday later on. And when it got to 3 PM, I went out to the front, my heart rate a bit faster than usual.

Katrina was at the desk. She looked at me and said, "Hey! I feel like I haven't seen you today, you've been crazy busy with clients."

"I have an hour to kill now," I said to her, looking out the front door.

Katrina looked at me and asked, "Are you expecting someone to come in?"

"Yes, actually. Um, the daughter of Sean's boss. She had asked me for some skin care recommendations for dry skin, and she is going to come in and get a couple of products."

"Did you tell her to get the Butterfly cream?" Katrina asked me.

"Of course I did."

"I'll be sure to tell her it works wonders as well," Katrina said, with a wink. 

About 20 minutes later, I saw a dark gray Lexus pull up. The driver's side door opened and out walked Tuesday.

I could see that she had on a pair of black leggings, a black t-shirt, and a multicolored plaid shirt wrapped around her waist. Her hair was down and straight, and she had on glasses.

"She's here," I said to Katrina.

My heart raced as she walked toward the door, and when she opened the door, she saw me and gave me a smile.

"Hey," she said, looking around as she walked in, "Wow. It's really nice here."

"It's good to see you," I said to Tuesday, walking up next to her.

"Great to see you too, Julia,"

She then shot me a smile that made me weak in the knees.

We looked at each other for a moment and then I said to her, "Let me show you the products."

I walked over to the shelves full of products, and Tuesday followed.

I then grabbed a round purple container of body lotion and a tube of the face cream in the matching color.

"The smaller tube is the face lotion," I said to Tuesday, "And the round one is the body lotion. Both work wonders on dry skin."

I handed the products to Tuesday, who looked down at them, and then back up at me, "Thanks for the recommendations. I'll be sure to let you know how they work."

Tuesday and I walked up to the desk where Katrina was sitting behind, and Tuesday put the products on the desk. "Hi," she said to Katrina, "I'll take these two."

"Use my employee discount," I looked at Katrina, and then I looked at Tuesday and said, "It'll give you half off."

"You don't have to do that!" Tuesday's eyes widened, "I don't mind paying the full price, I swear. My skin has been so dry lately, I woke up this morning with it feeling especially bad, so I could really use this."

Before I could even think about the words coming out of my mouth, I found myself saying to her, "I don't have a client until 4:15, and I just got a new type of jelly facial that is great for dry skin, especially if it is itchy or irritated. Do you want me to try it on you? It's totally fine if you have somewhere else to be!"

Tuesday turned to me and titled her head slightly, "Nope, not until 7 PM. Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," I nodded, "Follow me to my suite."

Katrina then said to Tuesday with a smile, "You'll enjoy this. Julia is great at what she does."

"I'm sure I will." Tuesday replied, and then smiled at me, "Lead the way."

Tuesday followed me to the back, where we then stepped into my room, which is dimly lit, smells like jasmine and vanilla, and has a nice, comfortable table for my clients to lay on.

"Lay down and get comfortable," I said to Tuesday, my heart hammering.

She did as I said, she laid down and shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable on the table.

I found myself feeling a bit nervous as I sat down on my chair behind her, and she looked up at me.

Wow. Her eyes are really fucking pretty.

"Are you cold?" I asked her softly, "I can grab you a heated blanket."

"Stop spoiling me," she laughed, "I'm fine, Julia. Thank you though."

"Let me know if you do want one," I said, and then I looked at her skin, "Are you wearing any makeup?"

"Um, I fell asleep in it. I used a makeup remover wipe this morning though. Please don't chastise me."

I chuckled, "It's not good for your skin, but no worries. I've done it before, more than I'd like to admit. I'll just cleanse your skin, and then I'll put on the mask. Are you allergic to anything or on any medications?"

"I'm on Lexapro. And I don't have any allergies, so we're all good there."

So she has anxiety. Or depression. Or both.

"Okay," I said, "SSRIs don't have any effect on how your skin should react with products, so we will be fine. Are you ready for me to start?"

"Go ahead." Tuesday nodded, and she then closed her eyes.

"My hands are clean," I said, as I started to put the cleanser on her skin. I saw her visibly relax as I lightly rubbed the product onto her skin, removing any excess makeup that was still there from the night prior.

"I can totally see why people pay for this." she said.

"Have you ever gotten a facial before?" I asked her, suddenly extremely aware of the fact that there was not much space between us.

"Never," she said, "My mom would always try to get me to go with her, she would get a facial once a week. But I didn't want to. Maybe I should have, if it felt like this."

"You can always start now." I said, "Though you definitely do not need to get one each week."

After Tuesday's skin was nice and clean, I got up to grab the jelly mask, and a soft brush with it. I sat back down, and said to Tuesday, "This mask is specifically meant for skin that is prone to dryness. It has hyaluronic acid and collagen. It may feel a little bit cold when it first goes on. Are you okay with that? I'm going to use a very gentle brush to apply it."

"I'm not sure what either of those ingredients are," Tuesday laughed, "But they sound like they could be good for my skin. Go ahead, I don't mind if it's cold."

I dipped my brush into the container that held the mask that was a light blue color, and then I lightly touched Tuesday's face with the brush and spread some of the mask around.

"Oh, you weren't kidding. That is cold," she said, "But it has a really nice scent."

"It's not too cold, I hope?" I asked, pulling the brush away slightly.

"Not at all. You're good."

I applied a layer of the mask- until Tuesday's whole face was covered with the light blue jelly. "This has to stay on your face for ten minutes. It'll come off very easily."

"Oh, good," Tuesday laughed, "I used to sometimes use those store-bought masks from the drugstore and they would not want to get off my face. One of them even took off half my eyebrow one time."

"I can confirm this will not take off an eyebrow." I chuckled, "That would be really bad."

I then was about to ask Tuesday if she wanted a shoulder and neck massage, as I do with all my clients.

But I almost felt hesitant to ask her. 

Fuck it. Treat her like any of your clients.

"Um, usually when I have a mask settling in, I give my clients a neck and shoulder massage. Would you like one?" I asked her, swallowing hard.

"Oh. Sure, that's fine. As long as it's not too much trouble for you."

"Not at all," I responded, and then put a very light amount of oil on my hands.

As I started rubbing my hands lightly on Tuesday's neck and shoulders, going slightly under her shirt, warmth spread through me, almost as if there was a small spark igniting inside of me. I looked down and saw Tuesday close her eyes, and she looked like she was relaxed.

Soon after I finished the massage and then gently removed the jelly mask from her skin. The last step was a face serum, and I then grabbed a mirror, and as Tuesday sat up, I put it in front of her.

"You'll see that your skin is glowing," I said to her, "It'll really start to feel moisturized in the next couple of days."

Tuesday turned her face to the right, and then to the left. She looked at herself, and then at me, "Wow. Maybe I really should get facials more often. My skin actually looks good for once."

"It never looked bad, Tuesday. But it does look really healthy."

"I may not even put on makeup tonight," Tuesday looked at herself one more time in the mirror, "I don't even know if I need it."

"Are you going somewhere with friends?" I asked her casually.

Tuesday paused for a moment before she spoke. Then she said, "No, actually I'm going on a date. But it's definitely casual."

My mood deflated in a split second.

However, I smiled at her and said, "Well, I am sure your date is going to think you look wonderful."

Tuesday looked at me, and then she smiled as well, "Hope so."

I walked Tuesday out to the front, and when we were at the desk, she turned to me.

"What do I owe?"

"Nothing at all." I said to her, "You were helping me out there by testing out a new product."

"Come on, at least let me give you a tip."

"No, no. Don't worry about it,"

"Fine," Tuesday answered, "But let me make it up to you sometime, okay?"

"If you say so." I said, and then looked at Tuesday, "Have fun tonight."

Tuesday gave me a small smile and said, "Yeah, thanks. We'll see. Have a good night, Julia." 

She then walked out the door, glancing back at me one more time.

After she left, I walked up to the desk to talk to Katrina, who was looking at me.

"So, she's the daughter of Sean's boss?" Katrina asked me, with an amused look on her face.

I leaned my arms on the desk and looked at Katrina. "Yes, she is. Why do you have that look on your face?"

"Is she just a friend?"

My face grew warm. "Of course. Why would you ask me that?"

"Did you not notice how she was looking at you?"

The warmth now spread to my chest.

"She was just looking at me like any normal person would."

Katrina shook her head and chuckled, "If you say so. She looked like she wanted to devour you. I wish someone looked at me that way!"

I paused before I then said hesitantly, "I don't date women."

"Never said you did or you had to, babe. Just an observation," Katrina said, giving me a reassuring smile.

So why could I not stop thinking when I got home about the fact that Tuesday was on a date with someone?

That night, as I was finishing packing up my belongings to move on Saturday, I kept thinking about the fact that Tuesday was on a date.

I wonder if she is going to be fucking whoever her date is tonight?

Jesus, Julia. Why do you even care?

Stop it.

I was packing up some of my clothing when I heard the front door open.

It was 8:30 PM. There was no way Sean was at work for that long.

My heart raced as he walked into the bedroom, where I was.

Before everything happened, he would have just changed into lounging clothes then and there, in front of me. However, It wasn't like that anymore. So he stood there, by the bed, in his nice work attire.

"Are you set for Saturday?" he asked me.

I looked up at Sean, "Yes. I am."

"Good," Sean nodded, "I won't be here tomorrow night or Saturday morning. So you will have your last night here to yourself."

I stared at Sean, "You won't be here?"

"Is that a problem?"

Yes. Yes, it is a fucking problem. After 4 years together you don't even have the decency to spend the last night in the house with me. Because you're probably going out with who knows what.

"No," I said, and then I decided to hit him where it hurt one last time, "I think I'd prefer it here without you anyway."

Sean furrowed his brow, as I could tell he didn't like that comment.

"Well...you're welcome," he said, "You don't have to be rude about it or anything."

I looked right at him, "Don't tell me how I should act after what you've done."

"Fair enough, Julia," Sean sighed, "I'm going to go make some dinner and then grab drinks with some of the guys."

Sean then walked out of the room and tears pricked my eyes.

Don't let him have this power over you.

You promised yourself that you wouldn't.

I sat in the bedroom for hours, even after I heard Sean leave. I had no idea if he would even come back.

I decided to order myself some sushi on DoorDash, and I sat on the couch downstairs and ate while scrolling on my phone, trash TV on in the  background.

I was finishing off a tuna avocado roll when a thought came into my mind.

Text Tuesday and see how her date went. But be casual about it, you know?

I wasn't sure why I cared so damn much. Plus, it was only 10:30 PM, she was probably still out with whoever her date was with.

Or maybe in their bed. Or vice versa.

However, I texted her saying: Hey, I hope your date went well and they complimented your glowing skin!

Is that too cringe? I think it might be.

I put my phone down, not expecting to get a response.

However, a minute later, my phone vibrated.

It was Tuesday.

She said: Ha! Honestly, the girl was talking so much about herself, I don't even think she looked at me for half a second.

So, it didn't go well?

I texted back saying: I'm sorry if your date didn't go too well.

She said: No big deal, it's all good here :) just wasn't meant to be.

I hated that I felt a sense of relief, even though I didn't quite know why.

Or I did know why. And I just wasn't about to admit it to myself