"Watch the salad Ben, you're drooling."
☆

Ben looks into the eyes of the therapist. The words are there, right there on the tip of his tongue. All he had to do was to say them. Because I like you. Such a simple sentence, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it. "I guess I've not had any action for a while." Ben looks at Tully a little sheepishly and already knew that was not the best sentence to come out with. 

Tully looks at Ben a moment more, before letting go of his hands. Ben is a little surprised to see a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "Well I don't offer that kind of service." He says, turning away from Ben, to which Ben gives off a nervous laugh if for nothing else than to fill the void of silence. 

Ben slides his still semi aroused body from the massage table. "I'll go get dressed." He says awkwardly to which Tully doesn't turn around for or respond to, choosing to clear away the selection of oils he had gotten out instead. This session hadn't gone as he had anticipated. Tully felt the tension in the room had multiplied and was beginning to question his methods. He didn't know where to go from here. Maybe Ben was his first real challenge. 

He looks at his cat Jojo, still curled in place. Reaching out, Tully begins to stroke her fur. She sits up from her curled position, as Tully runs his hand down her back, with her purrs now very audible. Tully smiles at her actions. She was the one who helped him in his times of stress. 

Meanwhile, Ben was still trying to calm down his erection. Deciding that the obvious solution of a quick tug to victory was not an option in the current situation, he decided on the waiting game, plus a few mental turn offs, such as when Malroy found that mouldy cheese under one of the fridges at work. Soon Ben was ready to emerge from the screen. He sees Tully still fussing over his cat. "I um...I'm sorry." He says, forcing a smile.  

Tully stops cooing over Jojo and looks at Ben being all pitiful. "It's my fault Ben. Maybe it was too soon for the intense approach." 

"I did enjoy it though." Ben insists. "I guess I just have sensitive skin or something." Ben deduces.

"Ah Ben, you make me smile." Tully says, amused by Ben's reasoning. 

"What do you mean?" Ben asks in confusion. 

"That will be your homework before the next session." Tully says, now stepping forwards and placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. 

"Was it the physical touch or the emotional interpretation which turned you on?" Tully now smiles as he now removes his hand. 

***

"And then he said no more and showed me out." Ben says to Malroy the next day over the potato salad five minutes after opening time. 

"Jesus Ben, I still can't believe you got hard from him giving you a massage." Malroy laughs, making Ben look around him warily. 

"Shhhh, the world doesn't need to know." He glares at Malroy in annoyance. "So what do you think he meant by that?" Ben tries to get the conversation back on track. "It's like a riddle isn't it?" He wonders.

"Ok, so let's break it down..." Malroy begins. "You were having a massage...how did it feel?" 

Ben instantly gazes off into the distance as if recalling a fond memory…"Well, his hands were warm, soft, smooth.  They felt large as they glided over my skin…"

"Watch the salad Ben, you're drooling." Malroy cuts in, with an amused laugh, earning him another scowl from Ben. 

"Do you want me to continue or not?" He huffs. 

"Sorry, sorry." Malroy holds out his hands in defence. "Ok, so I get the idea about the touchy feely part, now tell me, what were you thinking when he was touching your back?" 

Ben again looks in the far distance. "Well it was so relaxing at first, it kind of totally emptied my head, then I watched his feet and thought about that, then…shit."

"What? What is it?" Malroy looks at Ben in anticipation of what he was going to say next. 

"I was thinking of him!...shit, I was thinking of him, he turned me on Malroy. He was in my mind." Ben holds his palms to his head in the shock of the revelation. 

"So it definitely wasn't the touches? How about I massage your back to check? I have olive oil somewhere." Malroy laughs. 

"I seriously do not feel that way about you Malroy. So it ain't gonna happen." Ben says rather forcibly. 

"Well, the feelings are mutual." Malroy says on the defence. But don't you wonder about Tully?"

"Wonder what about Tully?" Ben questions.

"Think about it Ben. If this guy is so in tune with people like he claims, do you think he might already know your feelings?" 

"No, no, not a chance." Ben adamantly shakes his head "How could he? He would have said….wouldn't he?"

But it did get Ben wondering. Did Tully already know?