About the Author Jennifer Prado has a degree in Fiction Writing from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Since September 2002, her short fiction and essays have appeared in the following literary magazines on the Internet: EWG Presents, Fiction Funhouse, Nuvein Magazine, Pindeldyboz, Small Spiral Notebook, The Dead Mule, The Muse-Apprentice Guild, The Scream On Line, and Tower of Babel. She has recently completed her first novel and is revising it with a New York-based editor as she searches for an agent and publisher. Touch Therapy is her second story in Nuvein.

When he opens the door to his apartment, Zack always presents Elena with the same face. He is glad to see her, but she makes him squirm. Elena is the one Zack never nailed. He was her closest male friend in high school, and she always managed to wriggle out of his hands and deflect his come-ons and kisses. It leaves them both curious about each other. If they had slept together at one point, they would have a common memory to fall back on. Elena could think,

“He likes it like this. He made me feel like this.” But their timing was always off. In college, when she wanted him, he had a girlfriend and was desperate to be faithful to her. Elena said,

“Zack, it won’t count as cheating if you reorder your memory. You could back date it like a check. Think of it as something that should have already happened.”

“I can’t. I have a girlfriend.” Elena was always surprised when men forgot to act like dogs.
Now, she has been married for eight years, and they are modern. Elena and her husband, Vincenzo, have learned that open marriages are a farce and love triangles are for masochists who want to meditate on pain. They let each other do what they want, as long as nobody gets hurt. It is not easy to find willing recruits. Not many men want to be number two. They want to possess Elena entirely, totally, and infinitely.


“It’s good to see you,” Elena says, and gives him a long hug until she feels the warmth from his body.

“It’s always good to see you.” Zack has prepared a plate of food and offers Elena a drink. Elena sits on the couch and he sits at the table.

“Why are you sitting so far away? Why don’t you sit here with me?”

“I think it’s better for all of us, if I stay over here.”

“Don’t be like that.” Zack sighs and moves next to her. “Can I see your feet?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m studying Reflexology and want to practice my moves.” He kicks off his shoes and she reaches down to peel away his socks. “Do you have a basin?”

“Under the sink.” She opens the cabinet, finds it, and fills it with warm water. Elena places both of his feet inside it, and heads to the bathroom to find a towel. He eyes her suspiciously.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because you’re my friend.”

“It doesn’t make me feel like your friend.”

“What does it make you feel like?”

“It makes me feel like you want to seduce me.”

“We could talk about that. Let me show you what I learned.” Elena picks up one of his feet and rubs her fingers in a circular motion beneath his toes. She makes a fist and pushes her knuckles into the base of his foot. She holds his Achilles’ tendon with her thumb and index finger. She weaves her fingers through each one of his toes, and spreads them slightly, like an open fan.

“I think you’d better stop,” he says, with a pained expression. He takes his other foot out of the basin.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m starting to get confused about what to do with you.”

“Can I sit in your lap?”

“What is with you? You’re never like this.”

“This is the new me. I just want to talk before anything happens, so there are no problems later on.”

“This is going to be a disaster.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Can I sit in your lap?” He nods, so she climbs over and makes herself comfortable.

“You’re my friend. We’ve known each other for years. We are obviously attracted to each other.”

“All true, so far,” he says.

“I love Vincenzo. That’s not going to change. You two are friends. That shouldn’t change either. This has nothing to do with me being unhappy. This is all about me being happier.”

“I don’t want him to be angry with me.”

“If it’s done the right way, no one will be angry at anyone.” He sighs.

“I want to, but I’m afraid of the consequences.”

“Then let’s just fool around. It will be like high school.” He pulls Elena towards him and they kiss. He watches her face. Elena puckers up her face like a child.

“Kiss me some more,” Elena says. He leans towards her and they share a long kiss. “This is like touch therapy. We’re helping each other. I only have the best intentions, and I don’t want to be hurt.”

“I never thought this was possible,” Zack says. “It makes me want more.”

“I’ve been hurt by giving myself to men I didn’t know well.” She sighs and pushes her hair behind her ears. “I let desire take over common sense. I want to be with someone who knows me and has consideration for me.” She looks directly at his eyes. “But I don’t want it to ruin our friendship.”

“There is no real friendship between men and women.”

“Who said that?”

“Somebody smart. Somebody who wasn’t cradling the beautiful Elena in his lap.”

“Are you going to play ball?”

“I can’t predict how I’ll feel later.”

“Just don’t fall in love. I can’t make any changes in my life for you.”

“It’s strange to start something that already has limitations imposed. I usually like it when the possibilities are endless.”

“This would be something completely different. I would hope that you wouldn’t disappear on me. I would want you to still treat me with kindness. I would wish that we could always have an intimate friendship.”

“Can I think about it?”

“There’s no rush,” Elena says, and smoothes the hair around his face.

***

Zack calls Elena on her cell phone three days later.

“I was thinking about your proposal,” he says.

“Did I get board approval?”

“You’re in. No regrets later on, OK? I don’t want to be made the villain.”

“Think of yourself as the romantic lead. You couldn’t play the bad guy.”

“That’s what you say now. You women turn on me.”

“You’ve known me too long. If I were going to turn on you, I would have already.”

“Come over,” he says.

“When?”

“Now.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

When Zack opens the door he presents Elena with an entirely different face. His eyes are full of light and he swoops towards her and kisses her on the neck.

“Zachary,” Elena says, and throws her arms around him. He leads her by the hand to his bedroom. He has lit several candles and placed them on the bedside table. He kneels at Elena’s feet and removes her shoes. Then he stands before her and lifts her in his arms. Elena throws her head back and laughs.

“I want it to be nice,” Zack says.

“It will be,” Elena says. “Because I like you so much, and you’re my friend.” Zack carries her through the doorway and into his bedroom.