After I finished college and got a job as a physical therapist, I was living in the house that my grandparents had owned. When they had passed away, my dad took over the house and maintained it as a rental. Unbeknownst to me, my grandparents had stipulated in their will that I should inherit their house when I graduated from college. As their only grandchild, I had always been close to my grandparents and they had often told me how impressed they were with my commitment to school and my desire to support myself by working as a licensed massage therapist while in college. My dad surprised me with this news when he and Mom took me out for dinner to celebrate my graduation and new job.
Almost a year later now, I was happily living in the house which was a four bedroom Florida ranch with an amazing yard with pool and hot tub. Living with me was my college roommate, Cole, who also worked as a physical therapist for a sports medicine facility. Rounding out the third bedroom was my buddy Mike who had been my best friend since third grade. Mike has gone to culinary school and worked as a chef in a cool restaurant about two miles from the house. The fourth bedroom was a small room that my grandparents had used as a den. I had converted into a massage room where my table was set up permanently for the private massage clients that I still saw occasionally. My name is Luke.
Things were going along pretty smoothly for all of us until the world ground to a halt during the COVID 19 pandemic. Cole and I were both working a limited schedule with only essential patients being seen. Mike’s restaurant was pretty much shit down, opening only sporadically for food to go in order to promote social distancing. With all of the craziness of the week, Mike has been working crazy hours at the restaurant selling off products that would go bad while they were closed and also prepping their limited to go menu. The stress of the unknown was obvious just looking at him.
With all bars and restaurants and basically everything other than essential stores closed, there really wasn’t any choice but to stay home and create that distancing. Cole and I had both finished work about 4 and come home and were kind of winding down for the week. Mike came dragging in about 630 looking absolutely exhausted but he was loaded down with carry out containers from his restaurant. One of the best parts of sharing a house with Mike was his absolutely amazing cooking skills and surprise dinners like tonight.
Mike had already eaten at the restaurant and as soon as he finished setting out our dinners for us said he was going to to take a hot shower and he slouched off towards his room. Cole and I looked at each other and realized the stress Mike was under and just how exhausted he seemed. I jumped up and headed down the hall towards him room to make the offer that I would give him a massage after he was done with his shower to help him relax and get rid of some of the stress. Just as I got to the door of Mike’s room, he was dropping his chef pants to the floor. As always, he was commando so this left him naked in front of me. Of course, knowing him as long as I had and living together, this was not the first time I had seen Mike naked but somehow, this was different. Mike was thrilled at the offer of a massage and I told him to meet me in the massage room after a nice hot shower.
Why did the sight of Mike naked seem different today?
Almost a year later now, I was happily living in the house which was a four bedroom Florida ranch with an amazing yard with pool and hot tub. Living with me was my college roommate, Cole, who also worked as a physical therapist for a sports medicine facility. Rounding out the third bedroom was my buddy Mike who had been my best friend since third grade. Mike has gone to culinary school and worked as a chef in a cool restaurant about two miles from the house. The fourth bedroom was a small room that my grandparents had used as a den. I had converted into a massage room where my table was set up permanently for the private massage clients that I still saw occasionally. My name is Luke.
Things were going along pretty smoothly for all of us until the world ground to a halt during the COVID 19 pandemic. Cole and I were both working a limited schedule with only essential patients being seen. Mike’s restaurant was pretty much shit down, opening only sporadically for food to go in order to promote social distancing. With all of the craziness of the week, Mike has been working crazy hours at the restaurant selling off products that would go bad while they were closed and also prepping their limited to go menu. The stress of the unknown was obvious just looking at him.
With all bars and restaurants and basically everything other than essential stores closed, there really wasn’t any choice but to stay home and create that distancing. Cole and I had both finished work about 4 and come home and were kind of winding down for the week. Mike came dragging in about 630 looking absolutely exhausted but he was loaded down with carry out containers from his restaurant. One of the best parts of sharing a house with Mike was his absolutely amazing cooking skills and surprise dinners like tonight.
Mike had already eaten at the restaurant and as soon as he finished setting out our dinners for us said he was going to to take a hot shower and he slouched off towards his room. Cole and I looked at each other and realized the stress Mike was under and just how exhausted he seemed. I jumped up and headed down the hall towards him room to make the offer that I would give him a massage after he was done with his shower to help him relax and get rid of some of the stress. Just as I got to the door of Mike’s room, he was dropping his chef pants to the floor. As always, he was commando so this left him naked in front of me. Of course, knowing him as long as I had and living together, this was not the first time I had seen Mike naked but somehow, this was different. Mike was thrilled at the offer of a massage and I told him to meet me in the massage room after a nice hot shower.
Why did the sight of Mike naked seem different today?