Fiona looked forward to Wednesday most of the week. She looked forward to meeting Tony again and she thought it would be really fun to get into the pool in her everyday clothes. She was a bit worried that she was not a strong swimmer, but Tony had told her that she would be required to play the part of a potential drowning victim and she would not have to swim about much at all. She was a bit worried about getting out of her depth and under the water, but the lure of the whole situation outweighed the fears. Tony had told her to phone the pool on Wednesday when Bill, the lifeguard trainer, would be there, to confirm that she would attend.
Fiona did this during her lunch break. Her job was mostly routine, answering calls, and her mind frequently wandered during the working day. She thought about what she would like to wear in the pool and she found herself thinking more and more about Tony. He really seemed to like her, she thought, and he really seemed to enjoy it when she got wet! Almost as much as she enjoyed it herself! The receptionist answered the phone, "Hi, my names Fiona and I was invited to help out at the lifeguards training tonight," she said, "Tony said they needed some volunteers!". The receptionist put her through to someone else, Bill answered the phone. "Hi," she said," My names Fiona and Tony said you needed someone to help at lifeguards training tonight!". " That's great!" said Bill, "We could do with someone in the pool for the staff to pull out and practise with! You will get a free swim and everyone usually has a good time!". " What do I bring to wear?" Fiona asked "Tony said I should wear all my clothes!" "Wear what you like!" said Bill, "If you are fully dressed it will give my folks a good practice and its lovely to have someone showing some interest!"."That's great," said Fiona. Bill told her to ring the bell at the main gate about ten past seven and he would come to let her in.
Fiona didn't bother having tea that evening. She was looking forward to ten past seven! She thought about going along in her workday clothes, but in the end decided to pack a change of clothes to wear in the pool. She really liked a long sleeved cream blouse she had, it was quite thin and wouldn't get too heavy in the water, she thought. Then there was her favourite skirt, beige polyester, just below the knee! She decided to take a pair of tights as well, that would be ladylike! What about shoes? She wasn't sure about that, and in the end settled on trainers in case they were needed. She better wear a swimsuit underneath, she only had one apart from that awful bikini! It was a pastel green one-piece but as no-one would see it didn't really matter anyway. She added a loose cardigan to her sports bag as well. Then she changed into her best jeans and casual top and set off across the park to the pool.
It was getting cold in the evening sunshine and very few people were about. The lido closed early that day, she could just see the poolside from the gate and the water was calm and still. She rang the bell. She waited, moments passed and she wasn't sure if anyone was there at all. Then a middle aged man in t shirt and track suit bottoms appeared. He wore a whistle around his neck. "Hi there!" he sounded friendly, "Are you Fiona!" "That's right," she smiled."Thanks for coming!" he said, "Are you ready for the water now or do you need to get changed?" Fiona told him that she had brought a change of clothes to wear and she went over to the changing rooms. She put all her clothes on carefully, her tights felt funny over her costume! She buttoned up her blouse and heard the sound of splashing outside. She hurried up with her skirt and cardigan and went outside quickly holding her trainers in her hands.
The lifeguards were swimming up and down the pool. They seemed to be so fit and they moved so quickly in the water! Fiona hoped that no-one expected her to swim like that! They all had yellow t shirts on and long trousers, which looked like track suit bottoms. Fiona quickly saw that there were two girls and three boys; they all looked like young students. The girls had dark coloured one-piece swimsuits on, these clearly showed up in the water through their tops. Fiona was glad that she had put her swimsuit on under her clothes too. She went over and sat down on one of the seats near the shallow end.
Tony smiled when he saw her as he turned at the end of the pool. They carried on swimming for about twenty lengths until Bill blew his whistle. The lifeguards all gathered in the shallow end and Bill asked them to split up into pairs. The two girls moved together and so did two of the boys, leaving Tony by himself. He smiled again at Fiona, "I like your outfit!" he said, "Will you be my buddy now?" Fiona giggled, "I hope you are not going to drown me," she laughed. "I promise two things," said Tony, "You will not drown but you will get very wet!" "Shall I put my shoes on?" asked Fiona, Tony laughed, "Go on then," he said,"But promise not to kick!"
Fiona went over to the steps and sat at the poolside. Bill asked one person from each pair to move out to the middle of the shallow end. "This is you!" said Tony. Fiona tied up her trainers and started down the steps. She felt the cold water rush into her shoes and up her legs; she paused when it reached the top of her skirt. "In you come!" encouraged Tony, as he splashed water down the whole back of her skirt."That's cold!" said Fiona. She jumped down the last couple of steps and giggled again as her skirt rode up to the surface of the pool around her middle. She pushed the material back down into place and felt the sleeves of her blouse cling to her arms. She waded out to where the others were. This was fun! Much better than normal swimming! Her blouse was still mostly dry but it wouldn't stay that way much longer!
Fiona really enjoyed herself that evening. Tony was very reassuring, she went under several times but she started to get more used to it. They practised reaching and towing and pulling her out of the water, she took her cardigan off quite soon because it seemed to get in the way. Bill told Tony to use it to pull Fiona across the pool. After about half an hour the session was finished and they all went to get changed.
"Come again next week?" Tony asked when they both met outside. "Yes please!" replied Fiona. "Why is it that every time I meet you I seem to end up getting wet?" "Well you will if you come here again next week!" replied Tony," So why not lets go somewhere warm and dry together right now?" Fiona was getting hungry and readily agreed to go for something to eat. They went onto the pub together, Fiona did not usually go out during the week, and in fact she did not go out much at the weekends either, but that night the time between them was so precious and went so quickly. The conversation came so easily, they found that they shared so many interests and seemed to laugh at the same point in every sentence. By closing time Fiona was beginning to feel that a whole new purpose and meaning to her life was opening up.
They walked closely together back across the park towards Fiona's bedsit. Tony was slightly drunk, certainly merry. They came back towards the lido, completely dark and deserted. "Hey lets go in," said Tony, "I know where the key is and I know how to switch off the alarm!" "I can't!" said Fiona, but she followed Tony closely behind, secretly hoping that perhaps he was right. Tony climbed over the fence and immediately input some numbers into the alarm box at the main gate. "Wait there!" he said. He hurried and off and returned a minute later with a small key between his teeth. The gate opened and Fiona went inside. The pool had plastic covers over but they were not very closely fitting and the water sparkled between them, even though it seemed completely dark. Tony pulled one of the covers away from the shallow end. A second later he jumped in and stood in the water waist deep grinning. "Come on Fiona!" he said, swishing his hand through the water. " But these are my best clothes," Fiona protested,"And my other ones are all wet, how am I going to get home?" "It's only a few minutes walk!" Tony laughed, "Get you shoes off, and your watch!" Fiona looked at him, standing in the water, his mischievous grin and his clothes soaked and plastered to his skin, and she giggled again. She took off her shoes and her watch and laid them carefully on a sun lounger. Then she sat down by the pool and slid into the water beside him. "Why is it," she said, "That every time I meet you I end up getting totally wet again?" "Because you look so good that way!" Tony said. They kissed. She had never kissed a boy like that before. His hands ran over the back of her jeans, seeming to wring a little of the water out every time he held her a bit closer than before. Her top was a cotton polo shirt, he reached up to her breasts and lingered over them, the moment could have lasted as long as time allowed. He scooped two big handfuls of water and gently caressed it into the material. Again and again. "That's my bra!" Fiona pretended to sound cross. "That's a wet bra now!" Tony laughed.
They bobbed up and down in the water together. Fiona slipped and went right under, but Tony quickly pulled her up and helped her out of the pool. They held each other and fell back onto one the sun loungers, the kissing became seriously passionate. Fiona unfastened her jeans and pulled off her wet top. It was nature at play now. It was her first time.
Fiona was not sure how much she enjoyed the physical experience of love. She had been unprepared for this to happen and her natural reserve held her back. But she was sure that she loved Tony. He was right, it only took a few minutes to walk home afterwards and her clothes had stopped feeling so wet by then. And she was certainly looking forward to lifeguards training next week.