Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

cake.
    "Thank you," Ronan continued quietly, "I've had to spend the last few days cleaning out her home and taking care of all the hospice devices and details, so I'm in knots in more ways than one."
    As I worked on taking care of as many of those knots as I physically could, I wondered over his story even more. It sounded as if he was alone, and I hoped he had someone to turn to with his problems. He seemed lonely, and the knots in his muscles were being compounded by stress and sadness unless I missed my guess. The poor man needed someone to help him forget his troubles for a few hours and I hoped he had a girl (or boy?) at home to take care of him tonight. He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the pensive look on his face only increased as the tension in his back and neck decreased due to my work. As my hands worked on auto-pilot, I fantasized about being the one to take care of all his problems. After forcing myself to ignore his attractiveness for all this time, I seemed unable to do so any longer. His almost-military styled dark blond hair and tan skin appealed to my senses, and I already knew that he had lovely gray eyes, although often they were shut when we were both in the massage room. Okay, I needed to get laid, I admit it. I hadn't bothered to go out in longer than I cared to remember, but I obviously had a serious lack of sex to remedy tonight. I shouldn't be fantasizing about my client at work; that was just too icky for my sense of ethics. I had never used my job to pick up men before and I wasn't planning to start today. Forcing my mind back onto a non-sexual track, I took several relaxing breaths myself and concentrated on working out one final, stubborn knotted muscle before leaving Ronan in the quiet room. The timer on the music would go off when his time was up, so he had still had a few minutes of peace before he had to move.
    After changing out of my work uniform, I decided to hit the closest bar for drinks and entertainment. After the quiet of my days, I loved to go people-watch in noisy bars, observing as people drank, flirted, and made fools of their selves. Maybe tonight I'd be one of the fools, assuming I ended up in the right kind of bar. I was too much of a chicken to risk mistakenly hitting on a guy who wasn't interested; I had seen too many friends get their asses kicked when we were all younger. After all our crazy college days, my drinking buddies had moved on, either settling down or taking jobs far away from where we had grown up. Without friends to back me up, I didn't go out much anymore, but tonight I felt itchy and restless. I definitely needed something. Thank goodness I lived close enough to work to walk on nice days; I would not risk getting drunk and trying to drive home. If I didn't feel like walking after my night out, I'd just get a cab home. I took a few moments to let my mother know I wouldn't make it home for dinner and I was off.
    The evening air held just a hint of a cool breeze as I walked down the block towards downtown. I enjoyed the fresh, green smell of spring in bloom and reminded myself that it was time to change out the scented oils I used at work to reflect the changing seasons. Then I mentally turned off my work filter. It was time to relax; I spent all my time helping others to do so but found it difficult to flip that switch in my own head at the end of the work week. I was determined to make an effort this evening, and chose the first location I saw that looked promising. The menu outside the door showed burgers and fries, I could see a band warming up and a small dance floor, and there was both a bar and outdoor seating if it became too crowded. That looked perfect for my needs. I asked the hostess for bar seating (the better to laugh at the drunks as the evening drew late) and followed her to a small table in one corner. As I glanced around, I saw that the tables were beginning to fill with couples and groups, laughing and cutting up as everyone released their workweek tensions. I smiled to myself as I watched a man, obviously fancying himself as the office Lothario, get shot down and shut up quite handily by the beautiful girl sitting next to him. It must have been a shock, if the pout on his face was any sign. I drank one beer as I waited for my food and requested another from my server. The fries were hot, the burger juicy, and the music wasn't half bad for a local band. Now if I just had someone to share it with… Oh,