Relaxation Therapy
Chapter 2
“It’s a relaxation device,” Jerry explained gesturing at the monstrosity in the middle of his cluttered workshop the next morning. “basically it combines all the different relaxation and massage equipment currently on the market with a lot of unique functions of my own invention.
The thing dominated the room looking like a reclining chair frozen in the middle of exploding, padded leather pads and cushions in a variety of colours and styles were strung along strange metal arms that looked to have dozens of complicated joints while other limbs held up hanging sheets of fabric or weird looking implements.
“There is no way in hell I’m getting on that thing,” Lauren protested eyeing the bizarre contraption with distaste.
“I know it looks a little thrown together right now but is just the prototype,” her husband explained patiently. “The finished design will look a lot more sophisticated but most of that will just be decorative all the functional parts will be essentially the same as you see here.”
“It doesn’t exactly look safe.”
“Trust me,” he replied fiddling with the controls, it’s designed to adjust perfectly to your body for maximum comfort that’s why it’s in so many pieces but I assure you nothing will go wrong.”
Lauren eyed the impossible looking machine dubiously, none of Jerry’s inventions had ever been dangerous they had just failed to sell but this gargantuan monstrosity seemed totally over the top even for him.
“You know they already make massage chairs Jerry...” she said hesitantly.
“Totally obsolete technology,” he gushed excitedly. “comparing this to a massage chair is like comparing a bottle rocket to the space shuttle.”
“Well yes but they don’t require you to be naked Jerry,” she replied .
When Jerry had calmly explained that she had to get on the machine nude Lauren had nearly balked at the whole idea, only his stubborn insistence that it was safe and more importantly her only chance of getting his cash had stalled her retreat. Now she stood there wrapped only in a bathrobe her blonde hair carefully plaited to prevent it getting tangled in the machinery wondering if three weeks of penury wouldn’t be so bad.
It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her body, a strict diet, plenty of exercises and all the plastic surgery she could wring out of her husband had given her a figure a twenty-year-old would be envious of but the idea of sitting on the device without anything to protect her from potential disaster was curiously intimidating.
“Clothes would interfere with the test results,” Her husband said interrupting her train of thought. “Now up you get it’s all ready for you.”
Biting back a retort, Lauren let her robe fall to the floor and stepped onto the box Jerry had provided, gingerly she eased herself down into a sitting position, the leather pads were cold against her bare buttocks and the whole apparatus seemed to sway alarmingly.
“Lie back please,” Jerry’s voice was firm now the testing was beginning, full of confidence in his new invention. " it can’t adjust until you’re in position.”
Letting her spine touch the cool leather panels that made up the back of the chair Lauren eased back until the chair took her full weight, with a whirr it began to move lifting her legs up away from the box as it moved under and around her shifting until she was surprised to find herself almost horizontal.
“Comfy?” Jerry asked.
“It’s a bit cold,” she replied squirming slightly, how do I get off this thing if I need to?”
“Think of it like a normal recliner,” her husband replied. " if you need to get up you push down with your calves and the chair will disengage and return to its starting position, but please don’t do that unless you really have to okay.”
Jerry hit a button and a long arm lowered above her head carrying a bulky headset and visor, he instructed her carefully on how to put it on and she was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and seemingly weightless they were once she had them in place.
“Okay I’m going to start the program in a few moments,” Jerry’s voice sounded slightly tinny coming through the headset, the program runs for an hour so just lie back and relax.”
‘Relax, that’s easy for you to say,’ Lauren thought to herself as the chair seemed to gently thrum into life around her, the blank screen lighting up and beginning to swim with gently shifting colors.
Slowly, but with increasing intensity, the chairs vibrations deepened in pitch vibrating through a range of frequencies as the cold leather quickly warmed against her skin.
It almost seemed as if she was floating weightless in a warm pool, she moved and the chair moved with her seamlessly reacting to her movement and carrying her weight as the thrumming vibration became a gentle caress like gentle waves rocking against her.
She was hearing the waves for several minutes before she noticed the sounds were real and not her imagination, the chair wove sound and sensation together seamlessly leaving her adrift in a world of slowly shifting hues.
This is actually pretty good, she thought lazily as the chair effortless eased away tension. I have to hand it to him this could be his first worthwhile invention...
She could feel herself drifting towards sleep, so relaxed by the gently lapping waves that thinking at all became almost an effort, so relaxed, so comfortable, so utterly peaceful...
The beep of the program turning off roused her back to a dreamy awareness, slowly the chair shifted her body upright again her legs trailing lower until her toes touched the box once more.
“How do you feel?” her husband’s voice sounded so loud in her ears she almost winced, stretching sleepily she found herself remarkably comfortable in fact she couldn’t remember feeling this relaxed and comfortable in years.
“That can’t have been an hour,” she protested sleepily.
“I assure you it was,” jerry replied. “let me help you take off the helmet and then you can tell me all about it.”
“It was totally amazing,” she confessed a few minutes later after her husband had helped her up and given her a few moments to gather her thoughts. “I have to admit I thought it was another useless invention but I feel better than I have in years.”
“See, told you to trust me,” he joked.
“You’re right I should have shown a bit more faith in you,” she replied feeling strangely embarrassed for doubting her husband, he might be an ass but he did seem to have finally succeeded in something perhaps she had been a bit hard on him.
“Well it’s nice to see you liking one of my projects for once,” he said quietly. “tomorrow we can try you out on level two.”
“I can’t wait,” she replied surprised to realize she actually meant it.
They chatted quietly for several hours after that with Jerry making notes on her experience of the chair, perhaps the relaxation had helped ease her frustration because she found their chat surprisingly pleasant. The rest of the day passed in a mellowed blur as she socialized with friends and went through her daily routine without once screaming at anyone.
That night she practically fell into bed and slept like a baby rocked to sleep by dreams of ocean waves on her naked skin.