So you could do the Massage action even though you didn't have the skill? It's not very clear from what you have posted so far.But I hadn't bought the book. This is on a new playthrough
I know for Alleta the first time I played the game way back when, you could offer to give her a massage in the Break room even if you didn't already learn the skill. Not sure what other characters this may also be the case with?
Either way, the Massage skill is not for story line scenarios that may play out but for actually being its own separate action you may be able to do with many of the characters during your regular daily interactions with them.
However, the little oversights such as this, I wish Andrealphus would focus on fixing before moving on to other new material. Not receiving an actual item when some characters are providing you with a gift is another example of something that also needs to be fixed. I have other examples as well I can't remember off the top of my head but overall they take away from the immersion as far as I'm concerned and need to be fixed.