“Daddy,” whispered Gertie, “you awake?”. Her father’s reply, from the easy chair where he had nodded off, was a snore. She smiled; if he does wake up while I’m gone, I’m sure he’ll figure it out, and turned away.
She often went down for a swim at night when she stayed at the penthouse. The pool was usually empty after suppertime, she’d discovered. To make the workout better, she took the stairs down, and after her swim, then up, as far and as fast as her legs could stand it, where she hopped the elevator the rest of the way. She was trying to add another floor of steps each time and doing fairly well with it, last time making it up to the 11th.
She had a routine of rinsing out her stuff when she got back and packing the swim bag up again the following morning. It would be there ready for her each night – so no excuses. She changed into her sweats and let herself quietly out of the unit, guessing he would still be in the recliner when she returned, though often he pretended he’d never been asleep. It was easy enough going down. She heard a bam, the sound of a closing door echoing through the stairwell, a bit disconcerting. Not at all like her dorm, with kids everywhere. Here she had never actually met anyone else on the stairs. There must be someone else using them besides me, she reasoned. This building was too new for ghosts.
As she drifted slowly down the stairs, she looked forward to the slow repetition of laps and gliding push-offs lulling her into her own quiet space. Time to think; not even think, really, just be. She wondered if this was what meditation was like. Her room-mate Jody meditated. They must compare notes sometimes: soon, before they graduated. One of the things she reflected on a lot these days was what she wanted to do next. So far, life had been pretty much laid out for her. Knowing that she didn’t have to plan a career, or even get a job for that matter, didn’t stop her from dwelling on it, likely because everyone around her at school was fixating on it right now. Perhaps she was just going along with the tide.
She had never experienced real ambition, not like some of her friends. Her family was pushing for her to join the family firm, take on a cause and run with it. The family had recently been featured in one of the local glossy magazines. Easily the most photogenic member of her clan, she’d been pictured both looking out at the lake from the penthouse, as well as on horseback and walking her dogs at Asphodel Meadows. It made her feel like pictures she’d seen of the Queen of England, trailing corgis. She’d grown up around animals, dogs especially, but had only thought of animals as familiar pets, up til now. Lately she’d been reading quite a bit about breed groups, dog rescue organizations, and animal rights.
At last descending to the pool level floor, she pushed open the door to the pool and was on the deck before she stopped, startled by what she was seeing. Not only was there a TV on and blaring next to the pool but she was not alone this time. A man she had never seen before was standing on the edge of the deck, whizzing into the water. “Just warming up the water for you.” he slurred. She stood frozen to the spot, revulsion rising as she fought back fear, her swim bag dangling at her feet.
Then, as though he suddenly recognized her, he blurted, “You’re the rich bitch in the magazine.” Stumbling around to face her, he leered, pointing at the ceiling. “Let’s go up. I’ll show you something to do besides look out the windows.” He fumbled closer, advancing with his arm still pointing upward, now raised and reaching for her, and lost his balance. She threw her shoulder hard against his, and pushed as hard as she could in the direction he was tripping. Snatching up her bag, she fled out the stairwell door, unsure of her escape, not looking back, fearful that he could possibly catch up with her. He staggered back toward the edge of the pool, briefly regained his footing and stood up again, arms windmilling, then teetered and tipped backwards into the water.
The welling anger drowned Gertie’s tears and rose to fury. She took the steps as she had never done before, rage driving her, nearly breathless, all the way to the top. Only inside, panting against the inside of the door, did she pause. ‘Fight, or flights? crossed her mind. She had just managed them both.
“Gertie…you back so soon?” her father called. “Everything alright?”
One look at her told him it was not alright. Wide awake now, he steered her into his quickly abandoned chair, and handed her a glass of water. As she took a few sips, he smoothed her hair, waiting for her to speak. Pocano rested his head on her knee.
“Oh Daddy, it was disgusting. He was disgusting.” she began. “I am disgusted.” Fighting off tears, she began again. “There was a man, a stranger, standing and, and, well – having a pee into the pool, holding his “thing.” Then he started hitting on me. So I pushed him…and I ran out.” She gulped down more water. “That’s it, really.”
“What do you mean “hitting on me?”. Did he hurt you?”
“No, no – it means, like he approached me for sex. He tried to touch me but I stopped him.”
“Go back and tell me exactly what happened, while it’s fresh in your mind.” he asked, this time pouring her out a glass of brandy. “Try not to leave anything out, except I think I get the leaking part already.”
“OK, I’ll try and remember, though I don’t want to. He said he was warming up the pool for me. Yecchhh. Then, wasn’t I the rich bitch from the magazine article. Then he pointed up and said I should bring him upstairs so he could show me something better than looking out the windows. When he tried to grab me, he started to fall, so I shouldered him and pushed hard so he’d keep falling, away from me. I left right away, in case he came after me again.”
“Thank goodness you got away safe. And to think I ever teased you about taking Judo.”
“His breath smelled awful.”
“Was he drunk?”
“Drunk or a cretin, or both, I don’t know.”
“Well, you’re safe now. How about a soak in the whirlpool? You look completely done in. And we have an early start in the morning, remember?”
“Oh, and one more thing Daddy. There was a TV on – next to the pool. Weird.”