Swimming

The other day I was in my workshop running the wood planer that makes a hell of a noise. I learned a long time ago to wear hearing protection but not soon enough to prevent hearing loss from a lifetime of guns, operating machinery, flying aircraft, riding motorcycles and just getting old. As I was cleaning the shop I thought about the consequences of my hearing loss and how the conversation in the following short story could easily occur. I hope you enjoy it. Again, thank you Mary for your assistance and love.

*****

Swimming

I saw Julia enter my workshop and she yelled over the noise of the wood planer, "Tim, lunch is ready." As I shut the planer down she continued, "There is something important we need to talk about. Can you take a break?"

"Sure sweetheart, I am just finishing up, be there in a couple of minutes."

I've been in my workshop all morning running a hundred feet of cherry through the planer. I was so engrossed in what I was doing I forgot to put on my hearing protection and my ears were still ringing as I walked into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen I sat down at the table and asked Julia "So, what's on your mind?"

She placed our sandwiches on the table, sat down across from me and said, "I've been wanting to talk to you about something all week but there never seemed to be enough time."

I was perplexed by her comment about not having enough time to talk and responded, "Well, I've been available all week and as I recall, you were the one busy at work during the day and then gone most evenings this week.

I'm fortunate in that I work from our home and set my own hours. The down side is that I put in many 12-hour days. All last week I've worked twelve-hour days to finish running structural models on a number of building designs for a customer.

I'm a one man engineering firm and work out of our home. I developed programs and models for performing structural analysis on small to large building designs. I have not licensed my software and models to anyone else nor do I let anyone know how they work, so I am the only one that can perform the analysis. My models are extremely accurate and my services are in demand throughout the world. At times, I work for long periods until the work is done. I make a pile of money and love every minute I work.

"Ok, Tim, you are right, I have been busy this week but this is important and I need to talk to you now."

Since Julia and I work all week, we both look forward to our weekend projects.

I try to pay attention to Julia and keep our life interesting and thought I was doing a good job. Julia has been working for the local bank since we moved to this area fifteen years ago. I had been working from home for the last fourteen years. We have small ups and downs but I felt we loved each other and life was good.

The project I have been working on is a new kitchen table and I've been so excited about it I skipped breakfast to get an early start. For the last two months I had been thinking about building a dining table from the wood recovered when we removed a Cherry tree on our property that had fallen during a recent storm. The wood was now dry and I was prepping it for use this morning. I loved watching the planer work and I was having a wonderful time seeing the rough planks emerge from the planer smooth and straight.

The planer was, however, very noisy and my ears were still ringing from the last two hours of use. I was having a hard time hearing what e Julia was saying and I hoped this "talk" would not take long as I wanted to get back to the workshop. I began eating my sandwich while Julia began the discussion she was so eager to have.

"Tim, you know I love you and you are the most important person in my life."

"Of course Julia, just as you are the most important person in my life and I love you. Now, what is it you want to discuss?"

"Before we start I want to assure you that I love you and no one else. What I want to say is difficult for me but I made a promise to talk to you about it. I hope you won't be upset."

I thought this was an odd way to begin a conversation, but perhaps my being unusually busy with work all week and my going out to my workshop early this morning upset her. Maybe this was her way of reassuring me we were okay.

I stopped eating, looked at Julia and asked, "Who did you promise that you would talk to me? It is a little odd you need to promise someone you would speak to me. Have you been talking to my mother again? I told you not to, she is nothing but trouble."

Julia turned away from me and I just knew she had been talking to my mom. Mom was a major disruptive force in the universe and we both agreed not to communicate with her. I felt my anger building and was determined to have it out with Julia.

Tell me, who said we needed to talk!"

"Art, I promised Art I would to talk to you."

I felt all the anger drain from my body. As long as it wasn't my damn mother, she could have told me Lucifer himself asked her to speak to me and it would have been okay. My mother was a serial cheater and I hold her personally responsible for my father's early death.

"Thank God, I was afraid you were going to tell me my mom wanted you to talk me into meeting with her. So who the hell is Art and why does he want you to talk to me?"

Buoyed by my now relaxed mood Julia continued, "This is hard for me to say and I don't want you mad at me but..."

By now I had finished my lunch, and I was thinking about going back to my woodworking. Even though Julia said she wanted to speak to me but had not really said anything during the entire half an hour we had been sitting here. I tried to hurry her along, "Come on Julia, what is it? Just get on with it!"

Finishing off the glass of wine she had been drinking, taking a deep breath, and seemingly gathering up her courage, she continued, "Tim I want us to start swimming...well, at least I want you to try it with me."

I looked at Julia as if she had just lain an egg while she sat there anxiously twisting her fingers. Did I hear her correctly? She gets irritated with me when I ask her to repeat herself. I didn't want to upset her any more by asking her to tell me again so I finally said, "You really want to do this?"

"Oh yes, please Tim and I want you to do it with me."

I was a little confused by this "important" discussion, thinking she could have had it with me anytime during the last week. Trying to be agreeable, I responded,

"Okay, this might be fun. This isn't an activity I have ever thought about us doing together before but let's give it a try."

"Oh Tim, thank you so much. I thought you would be upset. Thank you! I am sure you won't regret it. I love you so much."

"So is this what that Art fellow wanted you to ask me about?"

Looking down at the top of the table and now fussing with her empty glass she replied quietly. "Yes."

I was surprised at her sudden change in tone and mood. It was almost as if she was embarrassed. I was thinking, this is odd, why is she acting like this about swimming? Trying to be supportive and not appear that I was anxious to return to my shop, I thought I would act interested and asked,

"It sounds like fun. Have you been doing this already? Have you been doing it with this Art? How long?"

Sensing my approval, her spirits suddenly rose and she was literally bouncing in her seat as she started to tell me, "Oh, Tim I am so glad you feel this way I have been so afraid to tell you. And yes, Art and I have been doing this about three times a week for the last month. He is my partner and trainer. At first it was just Art and I but last week two more friends of Art's joined."

I wasn't so sure I liked the sound of that. She had been spending time with Art and his friends for the last month and I was just finding out about it. However, thinking about getting back to the shop and not making this talk of ours last much longer, I said, "Well, this must be the reason you are looking so refreshed and happy. So, when do you want me to start?"

With a big smile she said, "Let me make a quick call to see when the next get together is scheduled." Jumping up from the table and grabbing her cell phone she went out on the porch to make the call. Returning to the kitchen she announced, "It is all set for tomorrow night at 7 PM."

"Sounds good, do I need to do anything special?"

Laughing Julia said, "No just bring your birthday suit."

As I got up from the table I was thinking how something so simple could make Julia so happy. I just shook my head at how strange my life was at times. We have been married for fifteen years. We chose not to have children, each of us for our own reasons and our life together was good. We each have careers that are interesting and fulfilling. I am a freelance structural engineer working from home and Julia is the Human Resources Director for a major bank in town.

We both enjoy traveling and thankfully have had the resources to vacation in many different countries over the years. At home, we attend the local plays and operas. We are also foodies and enjoy dining out and new food experiences whether it is going to a hamburger joint or fancy dining. Our sex life was great and I make an effort to keep things spontaneous and fun.

I spent the rest of the day in the workshop while Julia worked in the garden pruning roses and planting spring bulbs. Both of us were tired by dinnertime and she prepared a light dinner. After cleaning up the kitchen, we jumped in the shower.

Showering together is usually followed by sex and it had been several days since our last love making and I was really looking forward to it. I got in bed and waited patiently for Julia to finish her after shower beauty regimen. When she emerged from the bathroom in sweatpants and an old t-shirt, I knew that there'd be no sex tonight.

She saw the disappointment on my face saying, "Oh Tim, I'm sorry but I am so tired tonight and we should both get a good night's sleep. We need to save our energy for tomorrow evening. We are going to have so much fun. You are so good to me, thank you."

With this latest excuse for not having sex, I began to think about the last few weeks and realized that she had been putting me off a lot. Maybe she was overtired from swimming so much which could explain her lack of interest lately. I decided I was going to have a talk with her about this when the time was right. Tonight, however, did not seem like the right time.

The next morning Julia was up before me and I heard her singing to herself as she cooked breakfast. I got dressed and joined her in the kitchen.

"Morning sweetheart, you seem happy this morning."

"I am. I am happy we had our discussion yesterday and that you agreed to go with me. I've been feeling badly about not telling you when I first started, but I wanted to make sure I liked it and wanted to continue before asking you to come with me. I feel better now that we have talked."

"So Julia, tell me, how did you get started doing this?"

"Well, this is so embarrassing, but I suppose now that we are talking about it I can tell you everything. Art is a long time client with the bank and one morning when he came in, he asked me to go to lunch with him. At first I said no, but he was persistent, saying that we, the bank, had been so good to him he would like to show his appreciation and take me to lunch. So, I finally agreed. He is a very interesting man and we had lunch together a couple more times over the next few weeks."

As she was telling me about how this all came about, I was starting to get concerned. I could understand her having lunch once with an important client but making it a regular event wasn't sitting well with me.

She continued, "During our last lunch Art shared with me that he was a member of this exclusive club and told me they were looking for more members and that he thought I would fit right in. At first I was embarrassed, then he explained all the positive aspects the club had to offer. He knew I was married and I told him I coudn't go without you and he said you'd be welcome to join as well.

Okay, that made me feel somewhat better that she told him she couldn't go without me. But then why did she start going without me? I responded, "Julia, I am glad you told Art that you wouldn't go without me but why have didn't you ask me to join you from the start?"

"I told Art that I still wasn't sure if this was right for me, or for both of us. Then he suggested I try it first to see if I liked it and if I did I could then invite you to join us. Tim, I have never done anything like this before and I can't tell you enough how much I am enjoying my time with the group. That is where I was the last three Wednesday evenings and all day last Saturday. Art says I am getting better every time we get together and that every one in the group likes me. I am sorry I lied to you about having to be at the bank last Saturday for training but I just wasn't ready to tell you yet."

"Oh yes, I remember that day. I noticed you walking a little funny last Sunday and was a little perplexed by that but now I understand, you must have been sore from working out all day. How did you keep from being bored doing the same thing all day?"

"I had no time to get bored. Art and his friends kept me busy. They put me through their training program and I really like it."

"Well Julia, I am glad you found something you enjoy doing and have made some new friends. I am looking forward to meeting them."

Getting up from the table and with a piece of toast in hand, I left the kitchen shaking my head thinking that this swimming thing sure has made her happy. I was hoping that I would enjoy swimming as much as Julia so as not to disappoint her. After doing a few chores in the morning, we decided to go to a matinee at the movies and have an early dinner,

We got home at 5:30PM and Julia reminded me we needed to leave by 6:30PM to be at Art's place by 7 PM. She suggested we change our clothes at home and wear our robes so we wouldn't waste time changing. I agreed and it didn't take me long to put my suit on and pack some clothes for the return trip home. As I was getting ready to go, I was thinking if Julia got this excited about swimming, we could build an indoor pool at home. Then we could have swim parties at our house.

Another reason I thought the swimming would be good for Julia was because she was always complaining that she needed to lose weight. She had gained some pounds over the last fifteen years but she still looked good to me. She was five foot three and now weighed around 150 pounds. She was very thin when we first got married, maybe too thin. I now liked the curves and softness the additional weight had added to her body.

I tried many times to get her to join a gym or run with me, but she never was interested. Therefore, when she asked if I would join the swimming club with her, I thought great, she finally found an exercise that suited her, and was taking her health seriously. I wanted to support her in this new activity.

For me, running keeps my body fat down to less than 10% and I try to do a minimum of four miles most every day. However, during the winter it is a little tough to run when it is snowy and cold. Switching to swimming might be a better idea all around.

After an hour in the bathroom getting ready she finally emerged and when I saw her I asked to see what she was wearing. She said it was a surprise and I had to wait until we got to Art's place. The ringing in my ears had improved since yesterday and as we prepared to leave, I could hear Julia on the phone in the next room excitedly telling someone we would soon be on our way.

Yesterday's temporary hearing loss got me thinking that running loud industrial machinery in my workshop without hearing protection was a stupid mistake. I vowed to be more careful in the future. Yesterday I could hardly hear a thing but today my hearing had improved significantly. I put our small duffel bags in the car and we were on our way.

On the way to Art's Julia was bouncing in her seat and complaining I was driving too slowly and I needed to hurry up. She was having a fit of happiness and kept saying odd things like I needed to remember she only loved me and that this would improve our lives and how much I would like her new friends.

As I pulled up to the address she gave me I was taken by surprise. I was expecting something fancier. The place looked too small to have a pool big enough to accommodate a swim club. It was a typical track home in an older middle class neighborhood. I had to park a couple houses down the street as there were other cars in the driveway and in front. I hadn't put the car in park before Julia was out the car and headed for the house. I quickly followed behind trying to catch up. She reached the front door first and then without even knocking, opened it and walked right into the house leaving the door open for me to follow. Stepping through the open doorway, I came into a small dark hall with our duffel bags in each hand.

Closing the door with my foot, I walked down the hallway and into a small living room. It was pretty drab but had two couches placed across from each. On the floor were numerous large pillows. The curtains were drawn and there were numerous large lit candles on the fireplace mantel and on tables in each corner casting a flickering light throughout the room. I was beginning to wonder if we were at the right place. I decided this place was just plain creepy and I needed to find Julia and ask what was going on.

As I turned back towards the hall, a man, looking to be about my age, came into the living room towards me with his right hand outstretched.

"Welcome Tim, I'm Art." Instinctively I reached out and clasped his hand. Smiling and shaking my hand vigorously, he continued, "Julia has told me so much about you. I am so glad you have agreed to join us. We love her and have really enjoyed your wife these last few weeks."

Art was wearing a light silver bathrobe and old worn flipflops. He had a sickly pallor to his skin or perhaps it was the candlelight. He appeared to be about 40 pounds overweight with the bulk of it in his belly. When he smiled at me, I couldn't help but think he needed some serious orthodontia work. He also reeked of cigarettes. I pulled my hand from his and took a couple of steps back. This guy was not at all what I had imagined and definitely not the poster boy for a health magazine. If he was such an avid swimmer, he certainly needed put a lot more effort into it. What was Julia thinking? I was becoming uneasy with this whole thing.

I stated walking back towards the front entry asking "So Art, where is Julia?"

Looking down the hall where I assumed the bedrooms were located I saw, Julia from the farthest door. "Here I am Tim, did you get to meet Art?" The light was dim and it was a little hard to see but there was no mistaking what I was seeing walking toward me.

"Fuck!" was all I could say. Looking at Julia coming down the hall toward me, I was frozen. She wasn't wearing a swimsuit. Instead she had on 5-inch red heels, black nylons, and a red garter belt under a sheer black babydoll negligee. And to complete her outfit she had a leash attached to a leather collar around her neck. This was a nightmare!

I stood in place too stunned to move. Julia walked past me smiling and ran her hand over my chest as she did so. She continued until she reached Art. Placing her hands around his neck, she pulled his head down to hers. The kiss she gave him seemed to last forever. Breaking the kiss she kneeled before him and offered him her leash. Art pulled on her leash forcing her to stand and said, "Obey."

Julia immediately placed her hands behind her neck lacing her fingers together. Casting her eyes down towards the floor she said, "Yes Master."