Patio Doll
Chelsea glanced through a magazine as she sat on the couch and waited for Jack’s arrival. He had contacted her earlier that day to tell her he had figured out a way for her to enjoy her vacation without going on the trip she had planned. Chelsea mentally grimaced as she remembered how she had booked a trip for a 7 day - 6 night stay at a hotel in Haiti. However, the recent spate of hurricanes that swept through the Caribbean had resulted in severe damage to the hotel she had booked for the trip. Her travel agent had told her that she could rebook with another hotel but she would have postpone her trip for at least two weeks due to overbooking. Considering all the hassles Chelsea overcame in booking the time off from work, it pointed to Chelsea spending a winter vacation at home surrounded by snow and cold instead of sand and sunshine. “Jack certainly sounded like he had a good idea. As long as it’s not something tacky like some sort of thing where I use some sort of painted backdrop, soothing music and a tanning bed……” Chelsea thought to herself to she tossed the magazine into a nearby rack and stood up to go to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. The percolator was just starting to issue steam when Chelsea heard the doorbell ring indicating Jack had finally arrived. When she opened the front door, Chelsea found Jack standing with what looked like a stack of long cardboard boxes and a long wooden item that had a tarp draped over it. “Turn that frown upside down, Chelsea. I’ve got something here that will make your time here seem like you’re on that sandy beach in Haiti,” Jack exclaimed while dragging the stuff with him inside. As Chelsea looked on with bemusement, she saw her friend quickly take various items out of the boxes and start assembling together with cursory glances at a set of instructions. The blonde haired woman’s amusement was quickly joined by a mental feeling of slight annoyance as she saw Jack was assembling what looked like a tanning bed with a painted backdrop of a summer beach scene standing behind it. “I know, I know, it’s not the same thing as fruit drinks and warm sea breezes but this is almost as good. I was trying to think of something to get you of your funk over your trip falling through when I found an offer that is almost too good to be true. There’s a new place in town, Tanya’s Tanning Salon, that was looking for women to take trial runs of a new tanning bed they were looking to use in the future. If you agree to sign this standard non disclosure agreement and do a few simple things outlined in the accompanying form, you get free usage of the tanning bed and a generous supply of body lotions and ointments. What do ya think?” Jack said as he handed one of the boxes to Chelsea. Frowning slightly, the blonde haired woman looked inside the box and saw that it contained roughly a dozen or so plastic bottles of various sizes and shapes. Popping open the top on one of the bottles, Chelsea took a quick sniff and found the aroma to be very pleasant. “Hmmmm, sounds like a good deal. There’s got to be some sort of catch to an offer like this…. there always is!” Chelsea muttered as she plucked a large bottle with red liquid out to see what the ingredients were. “Actually, that was my first thought too. However, I talked to the shop’s owner, Tanya Roberts, and she assured me that as long as you fill out the forms detailing your experience with the bed and lotions, it’s all free for you to use. I’ll swing by in seven days or so to pick up all this stuff and you can tell me at that point how wrong your assumptions were,” Jack replied with a broad smile appearing on his face. “Ehhhh, I guess so. If I get a bad burn or a skin rash from any of this stuff, though, you’ll be hearing from me first,” Chelsea said with a long look at Jack. Knowing what THAT meant, Jack silently nodded and quickly bade his friend good-bye. Chelsea looked around the boxes and equipment and sighed openly. “The things I get talked into sometimes….. ah, well……. " the blonde haired woman said softly as she kicked one of the boxes on the floor with her right foot. With that, she busied herself for the next half hour or so putting stuff in order before heading off to her bedroom to change into something more appropriate. Roughly twenty or so minutes later, Chelsea emerged from her bedroom wearing a red bikini cut high on the thighs trimmed in black and silver. Although she figured she wasn’t going to the beach, she may as well get into the spirit of the thing. “Let’s see, ‘apply tanning solution # 001 if you plan to use bed under 20 minutes otherwise # 002 is to be use. The lotions are designed to give you the maximum protection for sub-epidermal tissue while you achieve the fantastic tan you desire.’ This sounds ok so far…… " Chelsea said to herself before retrieving the bottle in question. Dabbling a generous portion on her right hand, she applied to her chest, arms and thighs before turning her attention to the tanning bed. Plugging the bright white apparatus in, she set a timer next to the bed and programmed it for 25 minutes. Humming a tune she had heard on the radio earlier that day, Chelsea, after putting a set of small goggles over her eyes, gingerly laid on the bed and closed the lid on her. ...