Karan Henley Haugh, Ph. D. http://www.manuscriptsplus.com 4m 1,009
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
The contents of this confession have been deemed for a mature audience only.
[This story is an experience in my life, written in the third person.]
It had been a busy day at the Chemistry lab and the thought of hitting the water and doing 20 laps seemed delightful. She got dressed in her maillot and appeared at the pool which was filled mostly with men. She wondered if there would be any interruptions to her swimming. Several lanes were open. She dove into the far one.
She swam expressively using her regular stoke and racing ahead of herself. At each end she simply dunked down and continued back. It was at about her seventh length that she became aware of someone sitting at the shallow end of the pool. With a quick glimpse she could tell that his swim trunks were rather tight and he was not slim at all, rather well-fed as she would put it. On her approach to the end of the pool, she saw him looking and smiling at her, but she continued her planned swim and went to the other end of the pool. She did twelve more lengths before she was back to where she had started from, near him.
“Hi,” he said in a cool manner. “I’ve been watching you swim. You’re a great little swimmer.”
“Oh, really,” she asked sarcastically.
“I’d say. I’m Paul. I just managed to grab this hour from my work at the hospital.”
“You’re a doctor?” she asked.
“An oral surgeon.” She had never met an oral surgeon before, especially not one at the pool. “And you’re. . . ?”
She told him her name and he repeated it slowly. “That’s pretty,” he added.“I know it’s brazen of me, but could I invite you to dinner at one of the little restaurants at the University? Just down the street.”
He looked at his watch. “It’s 6:00 now. I have the evening free. Would you like to have dinner with me?”
She was climbing out of the pool and she looked up into the air as though she were communicating with a greater force.
“All right,” she said. She was a student worker on a miserably low salary, just enough to get by, so she thought it would be very pleasant going to one of the little Indian or Thai restaurants in profusion along the busy streets of the University. “Give me a minute to change, and I’ll meet you at the front hall.”
It only took a few minutes to wipe off and change into her jeans and black t-shirt. She ran the hairdryer over her long locks but it did almost nothing. So she combed them out and thought to let her hair dry naturally. Then she grabbed her gym back and her briefcase and headed out to the front of the building. There he was in khakis and a green and white polo leaning against a wall with a grin on his face.
“Ah, my, don’t you look lovely!” he told her. “Come on, let’s go. What kind of food would you prefer?”
“All of those little restaurants are fine by me. What would you like?”
“How about we try Vietnamese tonight? We can hit another some other night.”
She looked at him curiously. “I should tell you I have a boyfriend who’s on a lecture tour in Canada.”
“He’s not due back tonight, is he?” Paul smiled.
“No, not for two weeks.”
“Well that will give us some time to get a few of those restaurants in, then.” He put his arm around her and led her down the street.
The dinner went well. The movie the next day went well. Then there was the Hawaiian dance at the Student Union which she took him to. He seemed considerably older than most, but they had fun. Then there was his Iraqi friend’s dinner party in which everyone sat on tablecloths on the floor and mostly ate with their fingers. The food was delicious and they managed to fit in some more of those little restaurants in their busy days. Also, they managed to go swimming.
Often she did her laps but lately they just happened to play in the water and talk. Paul told her about his trips to South American during the summers and how he had met an exotic fish dealer once and thereafter headed out on the Amazon with him to fish for the wide variety of fish that one could find in any major pet store.
Every time they went swimming together, it seemed that they got closer and closer. On one occasion, he had his arms around her in the shallows and he pulled her to him and began to kiss her until the lifeguard came over and said, “We’ll have none of that in this pool.”
It then became clear that she might be headed home with him after this next little meal to a Thai restaurant. Under the tablecloth he ran his hand up her thighs and they fell lackadaisically open upon his caress.
He took her back to his Hospital rooms where he stayed. Everything was clean and neat and white. Gently he lay her back on the bed and undid her fly, pulling her pants down and caressing her thighs. It took no time till both of them were undressed and he entered her and was pounding away, as he only could imagine those weeks before. It came so quickly, so pent up, the first time—that he had to have her again. She wrapped her arms around him as though he felt she would never let him go.
Sleep was long and peaceful. In the morning was a note by the bed. “Bonjour, ma chère. Here is an apple to see you on your way this morning. I’ll be busy today, but I’ll call you this evening. Love, Paul.”
By Karan Henley Haugh, Ph. D.
http://www.manuscriptsplus.com/
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