Poolside

Arlene Hill

Here he came, tall and lanky, with toned muscles that always drew her attention; his swim trunks riding low on his hips. Jaynie let out a satisfied sigh; he was a beautiful start to her day. His shallow dive was perfection; his crawl, making barely a ripple, was poetry in motion. Jaynie could watch him for hours. He came for the early hour reserved for lap swimmers, and was usually the only one in the pool. At the end of each swim, he rose up out of the pool like Neptune, the god of the sea, with water sparkling in the morning sun as it cascaded over his rippling torso, he'd detour over to her lifeguard stand to give her a broad smile and a salute, and Jaynie could almost imagine a wink, even though he always wore mirrored swim goggles. Initially Jaynie had tried to engage him in conversation, but he always only smiled, and swam. At first she was dying with curiosity about the...