Reflections on the Ninth Week of Fall

 

      There she was again. The woman I silently call “Chair Lady” fastened the strap on her black bathing cap as I arrived to change for lap swim on Monday. Standing, her long thin legs brushed against a white plastic chair with arms. In the shower room a similar chair stood sentry by the third shower stall–the stall she always uses.

      I could call her “T-shirt Lady” because she wears a white short-sleeved T-shirt under her black bathing suit, “Break Lady” because she makes frequent bathroom trips, or “Waltz Lady” because she wraps herself in a bath towel and practices waltz steps in the shower room. But I couldn't call her by name.

      That was silly. It was the middle of November, and I'd been seeing her at lap swim since March. I suppressed my shy side and turned to ask her.

She was chatting with two other women.

      I didn't interrupt. Instead I took a pre-swim shower and followed her down the wet tile steps to the pool.

      In the first lane, Jim, a hefty guy from the Deep Water Fitness class, swished Styrofoam barbells and pedaled his legs as if he were riding a bicycle. He turned toward us. “It's the Lisa and Janet show staring Lisa and Janet.”

      Lisa laughed.

      I smirked. Thanks to Jim, I didn't have to ask.