Vibro-Chair

“Ma’am, you can’t sit here all day.” The store clerk said sternly, as his hand rested lightly on the plush, leather vibrating chair.
“I don’t see anyone here, is there a line?” The large woman said, sitting up to dramatically look around the Sharper Image’s show room floor to prove her point.

She was right, there was no one there. No one was ever at the Sharper Image on a week day. The store sold random trinkets which were aimed at wealthy people with nothing to spend their money on, or traveling business men who needed miniature radios for their hotel rooms. Weekends were packed with people who wanted to play with their useless flashlights that held built in compasses, or life-sized spider man statues- but they never buy anything. The leather massage chair was another one of those items. They put them out in the front windows so it would draw people in to sit and try them out, but the nine thousand dollar price tag ensured that no one would actually purchase one. This woman did just that, but the difference between her and the average customer was that she came in every day carrying a duffel bag of food and water.

She wore a tight tee shirt with a lizard on the front, sitting in a lawn chair with sun glasses and holding what looked to be an iced tea. On the top, right across her breasts which were unencumbered by a bra, were the words “Thank God It’s Friday!” Which curved and stretched as it tried to cling to her form. She also wore a pair of tight sweat pants, stained from the diet cola that glided around between her thighs. The chair was vibrating with enough force to shake every portion of her body, but since she had been there so long, the chaotic pattern of the vibrations had settled her body into an equal rhythm that gave the illusion that she was still, but her body was in a type of slow-motion as if she were swimming underwater. The clerk found it hard to maintain eye-contact as he spoke, because of the hypnotic motion of everything between her neck and knees.

“Honestly ma’am. We’re not allowed to have one person sit on this chair all day.”
“Fine, then I’ll move over to the other one.” She bleated angerly as she tried to sit herself up. But, like when spending too much time in a hot tub, her muscles were weak, and she struggled.
“You don’t understand. If you continue to sit on any of these chair for hours at a time, you’re taking advantage of us. If you like the chair so much, you could just buy one. We have a payment plan if you can’t afford it right now.” As soon as he finished, he could tell by the pleading look on her face that buying one of the chairs was the last thing she wanted to do. The clerk looked away after a minute, not able to figure out what her reasoning was, and not able to look at her body sliding around like raw eggs on a skillet. Finally, he went back to the counter, muttering something about giving her a few minutes before calling the mall security. He pretended to file papers, and went on to arrange the items on a shelf behind him but she didn’t move. People walked past and peered in as they always did. Trying to catch a glimpse of the chrome and wood items within, but when they laid eyes on the woman they quickly averted their eyes and hurried on. One child, who’s parents had clearly just taken him to Master Cuts, pointed at the woman- to which the parents instantly covered his eyes and moved to the other side of the hallway while they walked past. The clerk realized that this problem was only going to get worse when he finally mustered up enough strength to walk towards the woman.



As he came up behind her, it all revealed it’s self like a crime scene. First he saw the back of her matted hair, then her red neck, then the top of her T.G.I.F. shirt and the horrors that writhed inside. He lifted his eyes to the store front window and saw something he hadn’t expected. Just beyond the reflection of the woman with his own image rising above her, stood a man. He was holding a over sized “Baby Gap” bag and a cup of Starbucks coffee. His nose was practically pressed to the glass as he gazed lovingly at the woman. Confused, the clerk looked at the man, then re-focused his eyes on the reflection of the woman. Her expression was that of hopeless yearning. The two of them stood there for a long time looking at each other, with the hum of the chair swirling around them. The clerk stopped like that of a man who had just encountered a fawn grazing in the forest. He took a step back, but stopped for fear of breaking this spell. He looked to the man again and thought he could make out a single tear trailing down his cheek. Then, he looked at the floor, ashamed that he was intruding on something so private. He didn’t look up until he heard the woman get out of the chair with labored breaths. She stood up straight, and then bent over to pick up her bag. The man was no longer at the window. Without looking back at the clerk, she walked slowly out the double doors, and what he supposed was the opposite direction from where the man had gone.