The Spa
Chapter 1.
Denise trudged through the door on a Friday afternoon, having survived another exhausting week of teaching high school history. She pushed her way into the kitchen, tossing her bag and the mail onto the counter before leaning against it.
The twenty-four-year-old, second-year teacher sighed as she absently flipped through the mail, which was mostly bills and junk. As she did, she thought back to when she made the decision to become a teacher. It had probably started when she was in elementary school and got a ‘Pretend and Play School Set’ for Christmas. Denise played with the set until it was tattered and worn. She imagined how much fun it would be to have her own classes! Her choice was further influenced by the teachers she had in middle and high school, teachers who were kind and helpful and worked with Denise until she understood things well enough to pass her classes. Denise wasn’t naturally bright and it took her longer to ‘get’ things than a lot of her classmates, but her teachers never gave up on her, and she never gave up either, putting in as much vigorous work as necessary. That demanding work carried her through college, as her struggles only got more daunting, but she somehow managed to get her degree—and then to her surprise and delight was hired to teach world history and geography at the same school she attended!
Now here she was, almost two years into her career, and it wasn’t anything like what she expected. Being back in high school was great, the kids were mostly great to be around, and having summers off was awesome! But the actual ‘teaching’ part, it wasn’t as much fun as she had hoped, as she had imagined it would be. Things were good if she could stick to her lesson plan and didn’t get any questions that she wasn’t expecting; but invariably she’d get a few questions every day that she struggled to answer. Every class had one or two ‘problem’ students that didn’t show her any respect and didn’t seem like they wanted to be there at all. Then there were the expectations of the administration; and the worst part, the expectations of the parents. Parent-Teacher Conference days were the days Denise had quickly learned to dread; the parents—mostly mothers—were older than Denise and in most cases believed that whatever struggles their ‘perfect’ children were having, they must be Denise’s fault.
There were more than a few days when she’d get home after a long day and contemplate quitting—it was getting to her that much. It wasn’t physical exhaustion—Denise went to the gym regularly and kept her body in peak shape—it was mental. All the other teachers, most of them quite older than she, seemed to have everything under control, they made it look easy. She wondered how she could have gotten this far and not realized how difficult this line of work was going to be for her.
As she rifled through the mail, a bright card caught her eye. Denise knew she’d seen them before in the mail but remembered ignoring them or tossing them straight in the trash bin, but this time she stopped and took a deliberate look at it:
“Dear Denise,Exhausted? Stressed? Overworked and overwhelmed? At New You Spa, we know how difficult teachers can have it, those long and thankless hours spent trying to guide our young people. That’s why we have an exclusive offer for you today! Your first visit is free! Whether you want to try a half-day at our spa, or a full day, or even an entire weekend, that first visit is on us, our way of showing our appreciation for what you contribute to the community!
Call 888-5678 and mention this offer when you call. Availability is limited, so call now! And remember, your first visit is absolutely FREE!”
Denise had never been to a spa before, though she’d heard good things from some of her friends. She’d never heard of this ‘New You Spa’, but as she reread the card, the idea of being pampered, taken care of, and not having to worry about the cost, or anything else for that matter, sounded wonderful. And for once, she had nothing else planned...no papers to grade, nothing on her social calendar.
She reached into her purse, pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number.
“Hi, yes, my name is Denise Miller. I got this invitation in the mail, from your spa. Is this true, the first visit is free, even for the whole weekend? Wow, thank you. You have a spot open? And you’re sure it’s free, this isn’t one of those timeshare things? I get it, you’re hoping if I really love my experience I’ll pay to come back and tell all my friends about it. Yes, I am stressed, exhausted, like you wouldn’t believe. No, I’ve never been to a spa before. Do I need to bring anything? Wow, okay, I will be there in an hour then. Thanks!”
Denise hung up and took a deep breath. I’m really doing this! she thought. I am always doing so much for others...I deserve this! A whole weekend where I don’t have to do anything at all!
She walked into the bathroom, a bit of a bounce in her step that wasn’t there a few minutes earlier, and touched up her nails and makeup, then brushed her shoulder-length brown hair, admiring the blonde highlights throughout. Until now, getting her hair and nails done regularly was the closest thing she’d had to a ‘spa’ treatment—and she was about to get the full package! She imagined what a massage might feel like, or a facial, or a mud wrap. The more she thought about it, the more excited she got!
Denise went to her bedroom and packed a tote with a change of clothes, a swimsuit, and some toiletries, even though the operator she’d spoken to told her she didn’t need to bring anything at all, other than the card and her ID. She checked her look once more in the full-length mirror—she’d decided to keep the dress and heels on that she’d worn to school—and then she headed out to her compact Kia, punching in the directions on Google Maps on her phone, and she was on her way!