“Well, you won’t know till you try. How about you start with treating my neck pain? It’s been absolutely killing me this week.” Etienne rubbed his shoulder as he stretched his neck to the left.
Ophelia’s jaw dropped. “Ummm…what?” she asked incredulously.
“Yep, come on, O. Show me what you got,” he said, moving to her rose-colored couch and plopping down on the seat cushion.
Ophelia walked around the couch and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. She was hoping they’d ease into all of this, especially after the last time. Perhaps they’d discuss common ailments or how to run a treating practice. Not treat his fucking neck pain.
Fine. I’m going to do this. And it won’t be embarrassing if I fail to treat him. He will teach me how to do it correctly, and if he doesn’t, he’ll still have his annoying neck pain.
Ophelia’s rationale felt solid. So she grabbed his glass of wine from his hand and drank the last two sips. She aggressively set the glass down on the coffee table.
“Okay, E,” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Let’s do this.”
“Atta girl,” Etienne smirked.
Ophelia was about to reach over to touch his neck, but she realized the angle was awkward as he was slumped down on the couch and she was standing. So she walked behind the couch.
“Can you lean forward just a bit? I want to be able to touch your neck.”
Etienne adjusted himself to sit up a little straighter and leaned forward. Ophelia moved closer to the back of the couchand placed two fingers on the right side of Etienne’s neck. Her touch was light, just feeling out his skin. Etienne’s intake of breath was sharp, and she thought the pressure might be ticklish. So she pressed harder at the base of his neck with her two fingers. She ran them up the side of his neck, feeling the muscle, seeking out the place of tension, but it was all tight. She moved to the left side of his neck and felt the same knot of muscles.
She recalled that Mawmaw recommended using some type of lubricant for muscle work.
“Give me one moment,” she said to Etienne, and she walked to her purse. She dug around and pulled out the oil Avery gave her for helping this week. It was one of her favorites from his shop, a combination of neroli, magnolia, and cypress. She opened the jar and drizzled some on her hands and rubbed them together. The smell was heavenly, light, musky, with a hint of sweetness from the magnolia.
Etienne cleared his throat. “That smells like you.”
Ophelia blushed. “Thank you. It’s my favorite. Okay, I’m going to start.”
Ophelia closed her eyes as she moved her hands along the muscles of his neck. She inhaled in preparation to center herself. It didn’t come. She tried again. But her mind was constantly drifting, retreating from reality.
Growing frustrated, she stopped. “I can’t do it. I can’t center myself.”
Etienne shifted on the couch to face her. “Well, what has helped you find your center in the past?”
“Running,” Ophelia responded immediately. “But like treating, I haven’t done it in months.”
“Welp, no time like the present,” said Etienne, clapping his hands together as if the decision was final. He stood up and looked at Ophelia as if he was waiting for her to start moving.
“It’s eight thirty at night.” She realized she was stating the obvious here, but she was not running at night in New Orleans.
“It is, andwe’regoing for a run. Let me grab my gym bag from my truck.” Etienne walked out of the house. Opheliacycled through a million reasons why she wasnotgoing for a run with Etienne, and the very first one was that she didn’t want to. She had no drive to push herself like that right now.
Etienne came back in the house with a navy gym bag slung over his shoulder. “Are you gonna go get dressed?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going running at night. It’s not safe. But honestly, it’s more than that. I’m just exhausted. I probably wouldn’t go running during the day either, if we’re being transparent here.”
Ophelia wouldn’t tell Etienne this, but she didn’t want to run because running made her feel better. She didn’t want to feel better. She wasn’t ready to let go of all of the pain yet, just relieve a bit of this magic build-up. That’s it.
“Okay, first off, I know this is unfair, but you can run outside at night when you’re with me. I know you’ve probably never done that before, but it won’t be unsafe if I’m there.”
“Oh, so you’re going to protect me?”
Etienne crossed his arms and flexed his biceps. “Yes.”
Ophelia rolled her eyes dramatically. “Okay, and what’s your second point?”
“Secondly, I think you need a push. You reached out to me for help.Youaskedmeto help you learn how to treat better. So welcome to my masterclass. Lace up, O. The night isn’t getting any younger.”
