12 Years Later
Mark
I spotted her from the stands at the swim meet, wearing shorts and a polo shirt with the Alto Swim Club logo, her long, dirty-blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a stopwatch around her neck and held a clipboard to her chest.
My heart pounded as I watched her talking and laughing with the other coaches. According to the heat sheet, her team had two swimmers in the finals for the 13-14-year-old boys 50 freestyle, and they were seeded in the lanes on either side of my son, Alex. As the swimmers were announced, I kept my eyes glued to her, waiting to see if she'd have a reaction to hearing his name called.
Sure enough, Sam's attention piqued. She looked from her clipboard to the blocks, tilting her head as she searched Alex's face for signs of familiarity. His goggles would've made recognition difficult, though.
Then she turned to the stands, and her eyes scanned the crowd scrupulously until they finally met mine.
I smiled, raising my hand in a wave.
Her eyes went wide, her mouth gaping with surprise. And a huge smile broke across her face.
Then a whistle blew, drawing Sam's attention back to the pool.
I turned back too, watching Alex take his mark.
It was a quick finish. Alex came in fourth overall, and one of Sam's swimmers broke the top three.
I moved down the stands to congratulate my son on cutting half a second from his best time. Then I made my way over to where Sam's team congregated.
She was talking to a swimmer, so I stood back and waited patiently for her attention.
She called on more swimmers to go warm up, and then noticed me in the stands, just above her spot on the deck.
"Hi!" she laughed. "I can't believe you're here!"
Her eyes scanned over me, and I imagined she must be taking in all the subtle differences, noticing how I'd aged over the past twelve years. My hair had started to gray at the roots, though it was hardly noticeable with my natural blond color. And I'd surely developed some more wrinkles since the last time she saw me.
Of course, Sam had changed, too. She'd grown from a 22-year-old college girl with big boobs into a beautiful woman in her thirties... with big boobs.
"Yeah, small world," I said, laughing to myself.
But there was no surprise on my end. I'd found her LinkedIn profile a while back, with a recent picture and her location. I knew she was living in California, teaching and coaching. Then, when I'd seen on Alex's meet roster that her team was scheduled to be at this invitational event, I made sure I was the one to make the trip while my wife Heather stayed home with our daughter. And I'd been hanging around the pool since the meet started, just hoping to run into her.
"I can't believe that's Alex. And he's still swimming!"
"Yep, he never stopped."
"It shows! He's really good. And you have a good team."
"Yeah. So is yours. National Champs just a few years ago, right?"
"Yeah, 2019," she said, smiling. "Before my time."
I shrugged. "Well, I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time till they get another, then."
She laughed and shrugged, rolling her eyes a little, modestly.
Then a whistle blew for the next event, and Sam looked away, like she'd suddenly remembered we weren't alone.
"I better-"
"Yeah," I agreed. "I'll let you get back to it. But maybe we can meet up for a drink or something later."
"I'd like that," she agreed. "Where are you staying?"
"At the Marriott. What about you?"
"Same," she said. And in her smile, I saw a hint of the same sexy, mischievous girl I'd snuck around with all those years ago.
"Meet you at the bar later? Maybe around 10, after Alex goes to bed."
"Yeah, okay," she agreed.
Then we shared another smile until her attention was finally pulled back to her team.
Sam
I couldn't stop smiling all evening as I anticipated meeting up with Mark. I was flustered and distracted throughout dinner with my team, and the other coaches noticed and teased me for it.
"I guess the humidity is affecting more than just your hair, Sammie!" teased Erica, the other female coach on our team.
The others laughed along.
"There's a bar around the corner that's supposed to have live music," said Zac, one of the male coaches, as our meal wrapped up. "Who's in?"
A few of the others chimed in, eager to continue the night out.
Normally, I would've gone along, but my mind was elsewhere, and I just wanted to go back up to my room to take a shower before getting ready to meet Mark.
"I think I'm gonna call it a night," I said, feigning regret.
"Aw, c'mon, Sam! I need my drinking buddy!" Zac teased, winking.
I bit my lip to hide a smirk, knowing what he had in mind.
Zac and I were normally the last ones standing on nights out with the team, and we'd ended up back in his room or mine on more than one occasion. I always had fun with him, but the overwhelming excitement and desire I'd felt when I saw Mark at the meet earlier still hadn't dissipated, and that was all I could think about.
"Sorry, buddy!" I teased back, playfully punching his arm. "Maybe tomorrow night."
"Your loss!" he said, smirking as he downed the rest of his drink.
So as we all exited the restaurant, I wished the others a fun night and headed the opposite direction, back to the hotel.
"Hang on Sam, I'll walk you back," Zac offered. Then, to the others, he called, "Save me a seat!"
So we left together to a chorus of lewd jokes and whistling sounds.
"I don't think they're expecting me to make it back out tonight," Zac joked once we were alone.
I laughed. "Well, they've learned from experience."
"True," he chuckled. "I have to admit, I was hoping history might repeat itself this weekend."
I smirked and blushed, but shook my head resolutely. "I can't tonight."
Zac waited, giving me a chance to elaborate. But when it became clear I wasn't going to, he finally waved his white flag. "That's fine."
We made somewhat awkward small talk as we walked the last couple of blocks.
"Thanks for walking me," I said as we reached the hotel lobby. "Have a fun night. And don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Not sure I want to know what that would be," he joked.
I laughed too and flipped him off playfully.
He just laughed and waved as I headed to the elevators.