The Ocean Pool – Part 2: Slack Tide

By September, Ravi's lengths had slowed.

He no longer counted. He swam until he was ready, and then he stopped, and climbed out onto the stone step where Oscar waited with a towel and a thermos. They talked, a little more each day. About Ravi's husband, Daniel, whom he missed in every cell of his body. About Oscar's years on the beach, the rescues, the ones he hadn't managed to make. About the sea, which was good at making a person small.

On a clear Saturday morning, at slack tide, the pool lay perfectly still.

The sea beyond the wall had flattened to glass. The sky was cloudless, cool blue. Not a ripple crossed the long green basin. Ravi stood at the edge with his goggles in his hand, looking at the water. For once he did not dive in.

"Will you swim with me?" he said.

"I haven't swum in this pool in three years."

"I'll watch you."

"You'll what?"

"I'll keep an eye on you. For a change."

Oscar laughed, surprised and pleased. He stripped off his hoodie. They dropped into the water together, side by side, gasping at the cold, and swam slowly down the length of the pool, long easy strokes in the still green. Gulls wheeled overhead. The light on the water was bright as hammered silver.

At the far end, they stopped, treading water, laughing and breathless.

"I haven't done that for a long time," said Oscar.

"Neither have I. With someone."

They climbed out onto the warm rock at the pool's edge, sat close with a shared towel, and watched the horizon. The surf was silent. The morning stretched before them.

"Can I ask you something?" said Ravi.

"Yes."

"I think I could love someone again. I think I could love you."

Oscar's face softened. "I think I'd like that."

"May I kiss you?"

"Yes," said Oscar, very quietly. "And if you say stop, you must teach me to swim a proper butterfly."

"That would take a year."

"I'm in no hurry."

Ravi kissed him, salty and gentle, a damp hand rising to Oscar's cheek. Oscar kissed him back with slow, steady warmth, tasting of tea and sea. The sun was warm on their shoulders. The tide began to turn.

When they parted, both of them were smiling.

"Green?" asked Oscar.

"Green," said Ravi. "Very green."

They swim at dawn. Neither watches the other from the wall any more. They swim side by side, and they don't count.

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