"You know," I said to her, somewhat distracted by the wet curl of hair that dangled over her pale white forehead, "there was a time that if I ran into a naked woman in a pool, my first inclination would have been to get naked and dive in."
"And you have changed?" she asked, resting her arms on the precast coping at the edge of the pool. In the background a pair of dolphins seemed to be chattering to each other. When I turned my head to them she said, "The female was betting the male that you would do just that," when she saw my eyes dart back to hers she continued, "I'm just kidding."
"I knew scientists were working on communicating with dolphins and other mammals, I thought perhaps..."
"Not just scientists, but with the dolphins it's different. It's in the language, they really don't think in terms of verbs, nouns and other parts of speech. For them it's more of a sensual thing, images, sounds, smells and sensations. So the conversation was more like, 'Low pitched shadow splash high pitched soft skin vibrate ecstasy,' to translate literally."
"Literally?"
"More or less."
I waited, watching her face, waiting for her to smile or laugh, but her expression didn't change, as if what she just said was not a joke. Looking closely at her I could she that, while she was very pretty, she seemed fatigued or ill. Her steel blue eyes looked tired, as her eyelids drooped a little and her pale skin darkened in circles beneath. Her prominent cheekbones seemed too sharply cut as her cheeks pressed inward, as if she had lost a lot of weight lately.
Her shoulder length hair was a reddish blond and was loosely curled, heavily tangled in areas. Though curly, it hung limply from her head in dull, lifeless strands. The single curl that dangled across her forehead was the only bit of her hair that seemed normal.
Sitting down at the edge of the pool I asked her, "Are you okay, you seem tired?"
"I have been better, things here are declining."
I had noticed the general state of disrepair when I entered the building. The doors squeaked and didn't close properly, the lobby areas smelled of mold and mildew and the pool area was littered with paper and other debris. Anything metal had rusted, with a number of the handrails actually pulled off their supports. The water the woman swam in with the dolphins was an almost milky white.
"I noticed that, the water there, is it safe to be in?"
She shrugged her shoulders and nodded over to the dolphins, "Safe or not, here we are. Not much else we can do about it."
"Can't you turn on the filtration system?"
"The filters are working, it's just that they are so old. The biggest problem is the chemical balance of the water I think. Our chemical guy checks it once a week."
"But it's so cloudy."
"Yes, we've shut down the lower viewing areas because the water is murky. People complained they couldn't see anything, they also thought the bad water was hurting us," she said, nodding over to the dolphins. They responded with some more playful chattering.
I noticed her smiling and asked, "You understand them?"
Nodding, she said, "They said, 'Splash wet good low pitched shadow high pitched soft skin one hurt,' or in other words, the suspense is killing them."
"The suspense?"
"To put it delicately, they are still waiting for you to jump in and... well ah... have your way with me."
"They are a bit blunt."
"For them the sex is just a natural act, completely separate from any thought of moral or social implications. If the male and female are attracted to each other, normally by scent, they come together and when the female is ready, the male displays his penis and penetrates her."
"Just like that?"
"Well it does cut through all the subterfuge and small talk."
"Not very romantic."
"Oh I don't know, they do seem dote upon each other before and after doing it. They express it differently than humans would I imagine."
"So they want you and me..."
"They think you are shy or perhaps impaired in some way."
"Impaired?"
