Dancing Through The Night

Chapter 7 - Cohen

Two more sessions, then, hopefully, this will all be over. Then, my life can go back to normal. I can't wait to return to work, take Winston to the park, go surfing, and continue the volunteer lifesaving on my days off. Nothing beats training with my mates and using my fitness and medical skills to help the community. To be honest, it's also a great way to meet girls. It feels like an eternity that I last hung out with one. Although, the last time was at the surf lifesaving fundraiser just four days before I started chemo. I can't remember her name. She may not have given it to me. A cute thing she was, in that Victorian red and blue bathing suit. No, it was probably more 20s fashion. Doesn't matter anyway. She had her hair done up all curly with a huge amount of hairspray. I would have loved to tousel through those black curls and wondered if they were natural and how much of her was part of the dress-up. She also wore one of those bathing caps, ill-fitted on top of that hairsprayed do. The thought still makes me laugh, to think back about her in that blue and red dotted swim cap and me in my red and yellow lifesaver cap. Her long legs caught my eyes first. In a sleazy move, I grabbed a tape measure from the back office and told her that I needed to measure the length of her swimwear. She didn't pass the decency test. Not that I would have known how much leg women were allowed to show back in the good old days. But how much fun would it have been to let her pass?

As I move over to the ocean-facing windows, from where I can see the guys in their red and yellow uniforms, patrolling between the yellow flags, I look up the allowed length of bathing suits in the 1920's. That bit of trivia might come handy one day. The boys are quite far down the beach today, so I can't tell who's on duty. The surf outside my place seems a bit rough. Maybe tonight, when everyone's gone, I'll walk down and put my feet in the water. Right now, I feel way too dizzy. I lean back in my chair and take small sips of ginger tea. Vicky spent the afternoon here grating enough fresh ginger to last me for the week. She also brought this special honey that's meant to help fight the nasty cells.

Closing my eyes, I try to get some sleep, in vein. As I stare back out the window like an old grandpa, I see her again, the make-up chick. At least I think it's her. It's the same butt and walking style. In the dark, I can't see her face or make-up, but she's walking a little pug, which leads me to believe that she probably is a make-up chick. I'm certain she'll turn into the dog park, but instead she keeps on walking, or skipping, I should say. I think she's wearing earphones, and it looks kind of funny how she seems to swig along with the music. Wondering what type of music a woman listens to who wears makeup to jog and has a pug, I swipe over my iPad to bring it alive. Instead of thinking about girls, I should do something useful and look for ideas of what I could do with Jayden tomorrow. Usually we go for a swim or surf, or play football, lately more board games. I need a plan B, just in case. I don't want Vicky to pick him up and think it's too much for me. It took me enough convincing her to let him come over without anyone else present.
Winston cradles up next to me, giving me that understanding look. Poor dog. I should just suck it up and take him for a longer walk. It's dark, and if it comes worse to worse, I'll use one of the doggy bags for myself.

The evening breeze feels refreshing on my skin. Inhaling deeply, it spreads through my body, giving it new energy. It takes the edge off my nausea, easing the spinning of my head. I need to go out more often. Winston pulls toward the dog park, and since nobody else is there, I take him inside the fence, the happy canine sniffing excitedly before rolling in the small puddle underneath the water dispenser. He's the only dog I've ever seen do that. Today, I couldn't care less. The cleaner comes tomorrow. Winston may as well have some fun. The bench in the corner looks inviting. I settle down while Winston takes turns running, sniffing and rolling in the puddle. Hardly anyone is out and about tonight. Not even at the beach. I used to love going down after work later at night. Girls are impressed by it. Some guys spend massive amounts of money on fancy stuff on their dates. I usually grab a bottle of red or bubbly and take them to the water. Easy.
Two teenagers, they may be in their early twenties, walk along the promenade, arm in arm. Why does he not take her down to the water? When I was with Annika, back at uni, before she decided to call it quits after nearly five years, we often dreamed about our own beach house. Both our families had money and holiday houses by the sea, but living needed to be central, in town. We never made it to our joint dream because one of the residents at the hospital she practised at talked her into going to Africa with him. She believed it was unfair to make me wait. It appears the waiting had been a problem for her. When she returned after six months, she was engaged and pregnant. Not to me and not from me. Should have known better as a doctor than to get herself knocked up after just a few months. But what do I care? I had waited for her, thinking we could catch up where we'd left off. It was disappointing, but I guess at least I got the whole college experience, just a bit later.
I'm about to call Winston when make-up girl and her pooch walk along on the other side of the road. It's still not a proper walk. Light as a feather, she's floating along the walkway.

I fall asleep without trouble. I feel so much better. Opening up the bedroom windows for the night helps. It's good to get a good night's sleep. It'll help feeling fit when Jayden comes by tomorrow.