Author's note:
This is part of the special
750 Word Project 2022
. All entries are limited to exactly 750 words, which is (intentionally) very short. Read them all, and remember that all the authors appreciate your time, your vote, and your comments. Enjoy!
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"Fastest lap-time, huh?" Heather said from the next swim-lane. Heather was a gorgeous 36-year-old mother of two with a lithe swimmer's body that screamed 'I'm fast'.
"Fast? Me?" I smiled, trying to sound modest. I knew I didn't look fast, but I'd been swimming my whole life. I grew up with a pool in the backyard and parents who were competitive swimmers and swim coaches. All that training and nearly perfect form meant I was often faster than more naturally athletic people, Heather included. I was new to this small training group of middle-class suburbanites' feeding our mid-life crises through triathlons, but once I regained my conditioning, I was easily the fastest. The fastest swimmer, anyway. Running and cycling, not so much.
The group met at the pool at five and six A.M. on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, staggered into two time slots so there'd be swim lanes for everyone. Being in the second time slot, I was usually arriving just as Heather was leaving, almost always having showered and already changed into her day-outfit of a casual but sexy sundress. Today, she waited for me. We hadn't been in the pool at the same time before.
Heather was known for two things. Her super-competitiveness, and for a while, the black thongs underneath her sundress that she didn't realize were visible on days she wore light-colored sundresses. I imagined the stir she also caused at her PTA meetings. Unfortunately, "Leering Larry", the group's resident jerk, said something, and suddenly, we never saw the black thong again. Larry ruined everything.
"One lap," she said, nodding to the starting line. I had seen her swim, so I knew I was faster. As we raced, I matched her pace, always staying just half a body length ahead of her. She was surprisingly fast for someone who didn't keep her head down properly.