Massage | Phan One Shot

One Shot

Dear Dan Howell,

Happy Birthday! In celebration of your big day, take this coupon up to your local Relaxation Station for a free 60 minute massage!

Dan rolled his eyes as he read through his mail that morning. Most of it was junk, as usual. He flipped over the coupon from Relaxation Station to see a map of all their locations around town. Dan laughed as he remembered the time he ended up going there once. It was the beginning of February. He went because he had made a New Year's Resolution that year to get fit.

This was his resolution every year, but this year it was different. Dan had moved in with his girlfriend just a few months before. When she found out about Dan's resolution, her resolution became to help Dan keep his. She would wake him up early five days a week and they would go on jogs around town together. By the end of January, Dan was tired of trying to be fit.

A simple dispute with his girlfriend lead to a heated argument and their subsequent breakup. Dan, sore from both the breakup and the incessant workouts from the past month, needed to relax. He remembered walking past this shop several times after moving to his new house with his girlfriend. Dan decided that maybe it was time to give this place a try.

Dan walked into Relaxation Station and instantly wanted to walk back out the door. A quick glance inside the reception room showed that this place is mostly visited by girls. And not just that - it might've been okay if some of the girls were closer to his age, but they were all middle-aged women.

Dan was just about to turn to walk out the door when the receptionist spoke up. "How can I help you, Sir?" she asked. Unable to walk away at that point, Dan accepted his fate and signed up for a massage. The wait time was about thirty minutes, so he went over to the waiting area and sat on a couch between two older women.

When it was his turn, he got up and went into the room with his masseur. He had specifically asked that they focus on his legs and feet as that was really the reason he was there. When he was done, Dan walked out feeling refreshed and less sore.

He went up to the front desk to pay for his massage, when the lady started asking about his experience. "How was your massage?" "Would you recommend us to any of your friends?" "Do you think you'll come back?" "Would you like to sign up for our membership?"

Next thing he knows, Dan gives this woman his name, email, and information, and suddenly he's a member at this massage place. Halfway through signing up, Dan realised that maybe he didn't want to be a member at this place. However, it was too late. Dan couldn't bring himself to tell the lady at the front desk this. He was sitting on a couch filling out this sheet of paper. He had already filled out the email and address boxes with his actual information, so he started to fake the rest of it.

This is why Dan received this coupon today instead of on his actual birthday. Dan had wrote his birthday down as February 29th. He had almost forgotten completely about that incident as it was nearly four years ago.

Having nothing better to do, Dan walked down to the massage place again. It was a bit farther away since he moved out of his girlfriend's house and into his own. He walked in the door and was surprised to see there weren't as many people here as there were last time he was here. He wondered if it was a just slow day or if this place was losing business.

Dan brought his coupon up to the front desk. "I uhh, got this in the mail and I'd like to use it," he said, handing the lady his coupon.

"Ah yes! Happy Birthday! We have someone available right now for your free Head-to-Toe sixty minute massage. If you will please take a seat over in our waiting area, I'll call him in in just a minute."