Derrick was lost in thought debating which treatment he should try. Hebe tapped her foot impatiently and looked out to the reception. "Listen darling, I'm just going to deal with this other customer while you make up your mind".
Not wanting her to leave, Derrick threw his hands out to stop her. "No, wait! I know what I want. I'll do your suggestion, the sauna. It sounds perfect to me!". That was mostly true, if there was something that could help him grow just a bit quicker then he'd like to give it a try. While he was a early bloomer compared to his peers, Derrick was more of a late bloomer within his family. His dad could almost grow a full beard at his age, while Derrick could barely muster up a goatee. He didn't understand how the steam was supposed to help him though, and he had the nagging feeling that Hebe wasn't telling him everything, but he wasn't the one paying so who cares?
"Great!" Hebe said, clapping her hands together. "You're not going to regret this, I assure you. Now if you'll follow me". She led Derrick down a narrow corridor, passing plenty of doors that looked too close together to be separate rooms. Most of them were closed, and seemed to be in use. When passing an open door, Derrick peeked inside and was surprised to see it was much larger on the inside than it possibly should be. It was like a science fiction show, but Derrick shook the thought from his head when Hebe called his name, running to catch up with her. They eventually reached the end of the corridor, an area that looked less maintained compared to the rest of the spa, with peeling paint, and scuffed carpets. Three large metal doors with small windows surrounded them. "Here we are, the steam rooms! I'm so glad you decided to give these a try. It's been months since we last used them, and now you're the second guy today! Funny huh? And we were starting to run low on-". A small chime interrupted her. It came from a panel next to one of the sauna doors. "Oh! Speak of the devil, here's our previous occupant".
Hebe turned the chiming sound off and opened the door connected to the panel. To Derrick's surprise, out came a short, heavyset man in his fifties. He looked as wide as he was tall, with a large, hefty belly covered with thick, wiry hair. As if to compensate for the thinning hair atop his head, he had a long salt and pepper beard that brushed against the top of his chest, blending with the silver hair that coated his sagging pecs. Derrick also noticed with a blush that the man wasn't wearing a robe, glancing away to look at a less distracting pile of towels. The man swooped a discomfited Hebe into a big bear hug. "Oh thank you ma'am, this was exactly what I wanted! Just look at me now!" he declared in a deep, rumbling voice. He put Hebe back on the ground, who straightened her work clothes with an annoyed grumble, and then turned to face Derrick. He stuck out a meaty hand for Derrick to shake. "I assume you're about to use the sauna? You're in for a great experience! I may even come back later for round two. HAH! Could you imagine!". He gave Derrick a hard whack on the shoulder like he'd just told a joke, before bidding him farewell as Hebe led him back towards the waiting room, leaving Derrick alone.
He was starting to get second thoughts now. Hebe made it sound like the saunas were for younger, more agile guests and yet the man he encounted looked old enough to be his father, older than this dad even. Surely such a man would prefer the anti-aging treatments to reduce his wrinkles or soothe his joints or whatever old people wanted help with. Of course, it was just a sauna. Hebe may have hyped it up but it was only steam after all. Maybe he should have stayed on that tour with his family... Before Derrick could leave, Hebe came back down the corridor. "Sorry about that darling, are you ready to enter the sauna? Don't worry, I'll give you a different room to his". She tapped a passcode into a panel outside one of the steam rooms and opened the door, allowing Derrick to walk inside.
Derrick ducked through the door frame and looked around the room. It was a somewhat narrow room with dark oak panels adorning the walls. In the middle of the room was a brick cylinder with a metal grate on top, presumably where the steam was pumped into the room. On one side of the wall was a long wooden bench, and opposite that was, surprisingly, a full length mirror. Derrick nodded his head towards it and asked "What's with that? Wouldn't it just get steamed up?"
Hebe giggled. "It's made from a special glass that doesn't fog up. You'll find that many people like to observe themselves while using the sauna". Before Derrick could ask why, Hebe asked "So how long do you want to use the sauna for, honey?"
"Oh, uhm... I don't know..." Derrick paused. He hadn't given that a thought. How long did someone stay in a sauna for anyway? "You're the expert, I'll use it for as long as you think I should"
Hebe smiled and cheerily said "Alright! I'll just set up the timer and come get you when the time is up. Enjoy the sauna!". She shut the door with a loud click and walked away, leaving Derrick by himself in the small room.
There was a slight hissing sound as the steam pump started up, filling the room with a fragrant, humid steam. It wasn't long before the room was uncomfortably warm, and hazy from the amount of steam inside. Derrick sat down on the bench and looked towards the out-of-place mirror. It was amazingly steam-free, just as Hebe had said. He looked at himself for a few moments, noting how sweaty he looked already. Derrick sighed, already regretting his decision to enter the sauna. He was an impatient lad and there was nothing to do here but sit, wait and sweat. Though there was one other thing he could do. He turned around to lay on the bench, closed his eyes and tried forcing himself to relax.