Cougar.

let's go round again.

It felt like evening 10,579 of Lockdown. Cougar opened her apartment window and peered out into the snowy January gloom.
She stretched her bare legs out until her feet sat just on the edge of the windowsill. Cold tingly toes. The feeling was nice, something different. Probably the most exciting thing her body had encountered in ages.
Another Saturday night alone. TV was rubbish. Her ancient DVD collection had nothing new to offer, her Karen Francis romance books over on the shelf were dog eared and tatty from being read over and over again. She sighed and thought about weekends before the world went into isolation. There had always been this one night of the week she looked forward to; she was a real Saturday Night Fever female cliché, but it was what it was. Had been forever. She had danced through the years right up till now, a bona fide member of Club Fifties' Disco night. Dancing kept her body fit she countered; her figure was amazing and she would never let herself go. It was a vow she made to herself way back in the day. Eyes closed against the cold, memories flooded back ; the feel of warm bodies packed together, cheap perfumes, the pounding disco beat. For a second she imagined hearing the music right now, coming through the cold air. Disco Inferno? Was it?
It bloody well was!
Through the snow she saw a shadowy figure, wrapped up in a huge fur coat, with a matching Russian style hat. Pink leather platform boots. The figure carried a huge boom box. Was she dreaming this?
The scent of Tom Ford's 'Rose Prick' perfume wafted up from below. This was real!
The dark shadow came into vision and Cougar looked down at the most beautiful face she'd ever seen. A carbon copy of her teenage idol Leif Garrett. She had to do something. Quick.
A tiny lucky black cat ornament sat on the window ledge. It belonged to her late Mother, but Cougar didn't think Mum would mind when she 'accidentally' nudged it, sending it down two storeys to land at the feet of the gorgeous thing below.
Amazingly big eyes flicked up, turquoise against the warm light coming from the gate lamp.
'Hey up there! You almost killed me!'
'Sorry! Did I hurt you? Did it break?'
'No, both of us are still in one piece. Your lucky cat landed in the snow dump here. Do you want it back?'
'Yes! Hold on. I'll come down.'
She frantically dragged a ruby red dressing gown over her naked body, pulled on black knee high boots and hauled her long jet black hair up into a pineapple , all in the space of two minutes. On the way down the two flights of stairs she glossed on her favourite red lipstick, Mac's Dangerous, pausing at the bottom to check it out in the communal hall mirror. It wasn't perfect but it would do. She pulled back the front door.
The freezing air was exhilarating. As was being close to her target. How beautiful.
'Sorry about the naughty cat,' she purred. 'I was just looking out of the window admiring the snow and knocked him off the ledge. What on earth are you doing out on a night like this?'
Even through a glove, Cougar felt a jolt of electricity pass through her now freezing body as the cat passed between them. Nice. But not for her. This kid was just that. A kid. Twenty maybe? She was fifty nine next month.
'I'm looking for Cougar? My Mum Mauve sent me over to this block with a disco CD for her.'
'Oh, that's so kind of Mauve. And luckily, I'm Cougar. In the flesh!'
She said you're missing your Saturday Club nights?'
'Oh, I definitely am. Thanks so much!'
Cougar held the CD longer than the time it would normally take to exchange a gift. She felt some kind of bond, some sort of future idea that even with the age gap, she would be spending time with this stranger. And this was her friend Mauve's baby, the one she talked about constantly. The fashion designer. She met the beautiful blue eyes with her own mediocre grey. What next?
The moment was broken by the oldies who lived in the downstairs room appearing from the basement. Lolly and Dolly. Lolly wore a pink parka to match her hair and hugely tall grey haired bespectacled Dolly was wrapped up in an old afghan coat, the one she wore every Winter. She swore it was from the Sixties and Cougar believed it. It had that strange musky smell all the originals had. Both had on combat boots.
'Hey, Cougar. Are you Okay? '
'Hi, Lolly. Yeah, I'm fine. This is...? '
Oh my god. She didn't even know.
'Lenni. Hi. My Mum sent me over with a disco CD for Cougar, since she can't go fifties clubbing'.
They couldn't shake hands but bumped elbows instead.
Dolly burst into fits of laughter. 'This reminds me of 'The Bump', remember that craze. Bumping hips. No wonder we need replacements!'
Lenni pushed the button on the double CD player.
'I'm sure that's on here. Let me check.'
The oldies hit blasted out into the cold frosty air. Lolly and Dolly 'bumped' just as they probably had back in '75, hooting and whooping. Lenni and Cougar couldn't help but clap and dance along. Separately of course, it was Lockdown after all. She would get her claws into another more age appropriate beauty when all this shit was over. Matter resolved. Live in the moment.
'I was made for dancing' was the next track, and they carried on their impromptu 'En Plein Air' 70's disco. Joey the caretaker stomped out to warn them to turn it down, but ended up joining in. Snowflakes so big you could see the crystal formations holding them together drifted down, but somehow it didn't feel cold. Cougar felt happy for the first time in a year. Friends. Disco. Dancing. She was doing it!
Suddenly her heel slipped to the side and in slow motion she felt herself falling backwards. All those months of staying in, night after night, now the snow was deciding her fate. What a waste of life.
Weird trippy visions flashed before her eyes. She was on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, something wrapped tightly around her head. Watching Lenni look through her record collection. What did she hear herself saying?

'It started with Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' , way back in '77.'

Lenni was enthusing over Iggy and Bowie. 'Dope' was the word. What did that even mean? And was this the future? Something to look forward to, maybe?
  She opened her eyes and saw the black cat ornament lying in the snow, broken in two. She could smell 'Rose Prick' again and realised her head was being kept off the ground by Lenni's fur coat.
A soft voice came from behind her, accompanied by Abba's 'Gimme a man after Midnight.'
'Cougar, it's me, Lenni. Don't move, the ambulance is on it's way. You gave yourself a nasty bang on the head when you fell. And your leg really needs looked at.'
   Cougar felt the snowflakes touch her face like tears. Dolly's stinky afghan was keeping her warm. No more Saturday discos for a long, long time, she presumed.
  Black cats weren't always lucky. On the bright side, she had loads of records to listen to while she recuperated. And maybe a new friend to enjoy them with.
   'Let's go round again,' she giggled as the ambulance siren grew louder in the distance.