HIRED MASSEUR: DESTINED TO BE MY HUSBAND

CHAPTER- 1

ALEJANDRO

I stood in front of the door, pressing the doorbell repeatedly. Irritation simmered in my chest… the client who requested my service was taking far too long to answer. I was just about to leave when the door finally opened.

“I’m sorry, Mister. I know you’ve been waiting. I wasn’t feeling well, so I couldn’t get up right away.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to entertain her excuses. She knew I was coming today… she could’ve at least left the door unlocked.

“Are you angry?” she asked softly. “Please don’t be. I know your time is important, and you don’t like having it wasted. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you extra.”

“Thank you,” I answered shortly.

“I’ll just take a quick shower. If you’re hungry, make yourself at home. There’s food in the fridge…just heat it in the microwave.”

I was about to reply, but she was already gone. So I headed to the mini kitchen. Perfect timing… I hadn’t eaten yet. I found some beef stew, took it out, and placed it quickly in the microwave. Then I checked the rice cooker; the rice looked freshly cooked. I scooped some onto a plate. I had just started eating when she came out of the room, wearing nothing but a robe. I was used to clients like her, so it didn’t catch me off guard.

“Have you eaten?” I asked. It felt rude to be eating in her house without even offering.

“No. I don’t have an appetite.”

“What’s your name?” I asked instead. It would be awkward to proceed without introductions.

“Call me Jazzy. And you are…?”

“Alejandro Javier. But my friends call me Aji.”

“So… Can I call you Andro?”

“Sure. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

“Thank you. I’ll be on bed. Follow me when you’re done… I want to lie down already.”

“Alright. It won’t take long,” I said, and as Jazzy walked away, I couldn’t help but watch her. I’d had many female clients, yet something about her was different. She wasn’t just beautiful… she moved with a quiet grace. Soft, feminine, and surprisingly professional.

When I finished eating, I washed the dishes first. Then I cleaned my hands before heading toward Jazzy’s room. I stopped at the doorway when I saw her lying on her back. I didn’t know why, but something tightened inside me. My jeans suddenly felt too snug, heat spreading through my body.

“Andro,” she called, lifting her head slightly. “Why are you just standing there? Come in… I’m ready.”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something,” I lied, stepping inside.

“Please close the door, Andro.”

“Okay, sure.” After closing the door, I changed into a pair of jogging pants. It was hard to get around in jeans, so I always carried an extra set of clothes for work.

“Andro, have you been in this line of work for a long time?”

“Yes, Ms. Jazzy. I started when I was only eighteen.”

“How old are you now?”

“Thirty-two.”

“I see… ahm, is it alright if I ask you something personal?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“In all your years doing this job, how many girlfriends have you had?”

“None. I wasn’t ready for any commitment. I have responsibilities that come first.”

“I see. Are you married?”

“No.”

“Why? I mean, you’re handsome, and I’m sure plenty of women like you.”

“As I said earlier, I have priorities I need to take care of.”

“Such as…?”

“My mother is sick, and I’m the only one she depends on.”

“Oh, okay… hmm… lift a little higher, Andro. I can’t have that part of my body strained.”

“Why? Have you been in an accident?”

“Y-Yeah. I used to be a car racer. I joined a competition in Indonesia once, but things went wrong, and I ended up in an accident.”

“Sorry, I must have missed that part… I didn’t see it in your medical records.”

“It’s fine. I don’t even know if I’ll ever get back to racing again.”

I heard the bitterness in her voice, so I decided not to ask further. I simply continued with what I was doing.

“… And because of that, my boyfriend left me. Since then, I haven’t been in a relationship with anyone. And now that I’m close to being out of the calendar… Do you think I could hire a man to be my husband?”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to have a husband. I’m planning to hire a man who’s willing to marry me. Of course, we’ll get married in another country, so that if things don’t work out, the divorce will be fast and easy.”

“And what about you? I mean, what happens to you if you don’t get along, and you end up separating?”

“I’d rather remain alone. But of course, who knows? If we end up living together, I might get pregnant. At least then I’d have a child…someone who would stay with me.”

“I see… I’m sorry, I don’t really know much about things like that,” was all I managed to say, though part of me wanted to protest her plan.

“I’m not going to look for another man, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t want to ruin my image as a woman.”

“Why not just try having a boyfriend again? Who knows—you might still find the right man for you.”

“I’m scared of falling in love again… only to be abandoned when I can’t give him what he wants immediately.”

“Have you ever thought about this? If you hire a man to be your husband… do you really think you won’t develop feelings for him? What if you fall in love with him, only for him to say he wants a divorce because he’s unhappy with your relationship? What will you do if, by then, you already love him?”

“I don’t know, Andro… you have a point. So what then? Should I just grow old alone?”

“You know… you’re still young. You don’t have to rush. Who knows… l-love isn’t something you look for. It comes on its own… when the right man finally arrives.”

“And what if he never comes?”

I couldn’t answer her.

“… Andro, if ever I decided to hire you, would you agree?”

“What? Me? You mean… marry you?”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t answer that. I’m not even sure about myself.”

“I see. Let me change the topic. Andro… how much do you earn per month as a masseur?”

“It depends on the client. Sometimes I get generous ones. In normal months, I make around forty thousand pesos.”

“If I hired you, I mean, if you stopped accepting other clients and worked only for me… would you agree?”

“Of course. It’s easier for me if I only handled one client. But… what would I even do on my free days?”

“You can find another source of income. A decent job. Sorry… I hope that didn’t offend you…”

“I’m not offended. And even if I wanted to, no one would hire me. I never got an education.”

“That thing you said… handling only one client… what do you mean by that?”

“Sometimes, in a single day, I have four clients. By afternoon, I was exhausted. And I still need to cook for my mother. Sometimes I can’t anymore, so I just buy cooked meals from restaurants.”

“You mean you take care of your mother yourself?”

“Yeah. I have to. Hiring a caregiver is expensive. Her medicines alone sometimes drain my earnings. So if you made me your regular masseur, it would be a huge help for both of us… for me and my mother. I’d be able to take better care of her.”

“Your mother is lucky to have you. Not many men care for their parents… especially when they’re sick.”

“She’s the only family I have. And she’s not used to hardship. Besides, without her, I wouldn’t even be alive. So as long as she lives, I’ll serve her. Another reason why I don’t commit to a woman, is that I don’t want to divide my time. And I’m sure no woman will accept me once she learns my true status.”

“Don’t belittle yourself, Andro.”

“That’s not what I meant… maybe we should stop talking about my life. It might be better if you told me about yours.”

“There’s nothing good to say. I only had one boyfriend… and he left me.”

“… Andro, I have a question.”

“Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“If a woman doesn’t have s*x with her partner… does a man usually leave her because of that?”

“That’s not what a relationship is based on. If you love each other, respect should never disappear. Why are you asking?”

“I think that was one of the reasons my boyfriend left me. There was a time he wanted us to do… that. But I said no. After that, he started growing cold towards me, until I got into the accident. And then he finally left me for good.”

“So you’re saying… you’ve never been with a man before? Not even once?”

“N-No. Is that embarrassing?”

“Not at all. It’s just rare. I mean, with your age, and with your beauty, I’m sure many men are attracted to you.”

“You’re right, but… I don’t like them. Maybe that’s why I still have no experience.”

“My turn to ask you something.”

“Go ahead. What is it?”

“Wait… lie on your back first. Let’s continue from the front.”

“Alright.”

In all my years as a masseur, this was the first time I felt unsettled while working. Maybe it was because I felt something unusual toward this woman. And now, lying on her back, wearing nothing but her underwear beneath a wide towel… it was getting harder to ignore.

“Andro, what was your question again?”

“Ah, yeah… how many times have you been massaged by a man?”

“You’re the first.”

“The truth.”

“I am telling the truth. I’ve seen you at the gym several times. And once, I overheard someone say you were a masseur.”

“If that’s true, which gym did you see me in?”

“Hard Body Gym. Aren’t you an instructor there too?”

“Yeah. Do you go there often?”

“You really don’t know who owns that gym?”

“No.”

“Seriously? How do you even collect your salary if you don’t know your boss?”

“I don’t check the name of my employer. All that matters to me is the pay,” I said with a small laugh.

“You really don’t know who owns that gym?”

“Nope. Do you know who it is?”

“You’re looking at her.”

Her words made me stare at her face. And then it hit me, she wasn’t just familiar. She was actually the woman I had a huge crush on when I first started at that gym. The world is tiny… and now it seemed like she was about to become my boss again.

“Why are you suddenly quiet, Andro?”

“Nothing… I just remembered something from when I first started working at your gym. And if I accept being your regular masseur, it turns out you’ll still be my boss.”

“You don’t like that? You won’t have a hard time anymore… your workload will be much lighter.”

“Wait… are you really planning to hire me as your masseur?”

“Yes. And if you agree… you’ll also be the man I’ll hire you to become my husband.”

“Wow. You might go broke paying my salary,” I joked, though I couldn’t deny the spark of excitement rising inside me.