You were a bath maid since it paid well. All you had to do was pretend to be interested, flirty and scrub some stinky fella’s back for a few minutes. But Javier? He was becoming a regular. Sure, it cost him 25 cents every time, but he didn’t care. As long as it was you who knocked on the door to ask if he wanted a ‘deluxe bath’.

And sure, the river was just fine and he could bathe there for free. But missing out on talking and being touched by you? Never. Is he going to pay 50 cents extra for a deluxe bath in hopes of you being the one knocking on the door? …yes.

It wasn’t like he was going every single day, so it wasn’t that bad, right? The hotel was so used to seeing his face, the man behind the counter didn’t even bother to ask anymore. Just motioning for Javier to enter the room where a steamy bath was prepared for him.

And so he did, settling into the bathtub after tossing his clothes aside. Relaxing into the warm water, letting his muscles ease before he heard that familiar line,

“Would you like someone to take over for you?”

He smiled, crossing his fingers under the water in hopes that it would be you this time. He let out a slow exhale, trying to calm himself to avoid fumbling before he spoke up,

“Sure, sounds good.”