Love, Marie

pool

ANDY - BEFORE

Every summer, everyone gets in their swimsuits and shorts and goes to the outdoor pool. For some reason I didn't expect to see her there, but here she was in her white bikini, her dark skin emphasised. I couldn't take my eyes off her, I'd never seen her out of her usual jeans and a sensible top. I was shocked by how broad her hips are, how flat her stomach is, how large her breasts are. 

As I'm ogling her we make eye contact. Cut short when a pair of hands land on my back and push me; just as my head hits the water I catch her burst into a smile.

Despite the sun in the sky, the water is freezing cold and sends a shock through my body. When I come back to the surface; pushing my hair back off my forehead and out of my eyes, I find Ryan and Dylan cracking up. I roll my eyes and push water at their bare legs. 

"Pricks." Marie is laughing as well, I can't tell whether she finds it genuinely funny, slightly awkward or maybe both. I move through the water; to the edge of the pool near where she's standing. "Marie, come help me?" I ask holding my arm out for her to grab. Her laughing stops, and her expression looks slightly shocked, nevertheless she walks so her feet are right by me and crouches down, her hand grabbing onto my forearm.

"I won't be strong enough to pull you up-" I tug on her arm, surprised she fell for the oldest trick in the book, and her body drops into the water next to me, splashing water right into my face. I burst out laughing, joined by Ryan and Dylan and even her friend Beth; who's watching from their sun loungers. 

Marie re-surfaces quickly and gives me a deadly glare as she palms her thick hair out of her face. I'm about to make a smart-arse comment, but get distracted by how long her eyelashes are up close, and before I can she pounces on me and dunks me.