THE POOL GIRL: SUMMER LOVE

“It was a Saturday afternoon in May when my doorbell rang. The summer heat was already starting and I was watching television. I got up, prepared to tell someone off. The only visitors I got were solicitors or people trying to expand their church congregations. Prepared to be gruff I expected a lot of things but the teen blonde dream I saw through the peephole was not it. With more trepidation than a 40-year-old man should have I opened the door. The vision in front of me was 5’8”, blonde with golden straight hair to the middle of her back and blue eyes. I would like to say she was wearing daisy dukes and a skin-tight crop top but she wasn’t. She was wearing denim shorts with a light blue t-shirt that wouldn’t have been scandalous at a church event but her face was sweet and elfin and to my primate brain looked of pure sex. And she was very healthy in front though through the loose shirt I couldn’t tell how big her breasts were. Her legs were toned and athletic and she radiated youth and energy, barely able to a standstill.

“Hi Mr. Carlo, I’m Melissa. Melissa Milton.”

I took her hand and shook it trying not to look like a lecherous old man. Either I was succeeding or she got that reaction too often to register it anymore. I wondered if she was selling magazines or something but she wasn’t carrying anything.

“Can I help you?”

“Um, I’m Tommy Milton’s sister.”

“Oh! How’s he doing? He went off to state to start in the summer term, didn’t he? Extra training for track?”

“Yes, sir. He’s well. They got him a job in the sports department as part of his financial aid package and wanted him to start right away. Since that let him get a jump on training he was really gung ho.”

“That’s great. I liked Tommy. What can I do for you though?”

“Well, I’m coming around because I was hoping to take over the lawns he was doing.”

Shit. “Oh. I’d hired a lawn service since he said he couldn’t do it anymore… I don’t remember him saying anything about….”

“No, no. I just got the idea the other day. See, my step dad said I’d have to save for a car myself and …. ” she looked back over the vast suburbia behind her, “well, kind of hard to get a job without a car.” She looked a bit dejected.

“Have you gotten many?”

“None. Some have gotten services and others … I don’t think they can see a girl mowing lawns.”

“Really you look perfectly fit.”

For a second she smiled and it was glorious. Then she came back to reality but forced a less bright smile. “Thanks for your time.”

She started to turn. “Hold on,” I said. “You know there is another thing Tommy used to do that the lawn guys don’t.”

“What?”

“The pool.”

———–

“Woah.”

The pool gets that reaction a lot. It’s a full Olympic pool with a hot tub offset from it and the yard was wrapped by both a privacy fence and thick tall trees inside it that blocked the view from and of the neighbor’s houses. It made it my private slice of the world. Last year I’d gone further and built an outdoor kitchen and lounge space just because I liked spending so much of my time out here. The kitchen included a big charcoal grill, prep area, stone wood oven, and bar. The lounging area was covered with a fan and four outdoor loungers, a couple of chairs and side tables. It was way more than just I needed but the big patio would have looked bare with just one lounger and side table.

“Yeah. The folks I bought the house from had built on a double lot and already had a huge patio here so I decided to splurge on a full-size pool. I don’t like covering it up in case I want to use it. I also don’t like using a lot of chemicals so it needs checking regularly. I love my trees but they drop stuff in. Interested?”

“Yes, sir. How much?”

“$20?”

I could see the wheels turning in her head. It wasn’t a lot of money but it wasn’t a lot of work either.

“I need it done daily so that’s $140 a week with no taxes out or anything.”

“You sure you want to spend that much every week?”

“It’s worth it to not have to think about it. There is one concern though. You aren’t allergic or phobic of bees are you?”

“Uh, no, why?”

I made a follow me gesture and walked around the side of the house to point to a large box underneath two maple trees. We could see a small cloud of black and yellow shapes around it. “One of my hobbies, honey bees.” As I said that one flew towards us, a big fat bee that lazily danced near my face and then wandered off.

Melissa stared obviously a bit dumbstruck but not wanting to panic. “Are … they like wasps?”

“No, no, these are honey bees. They aren’t aggressive at all. If you don’t swat at them they’ll ignore you. They may fly nearby but they won’t sting. I’ve had plenty of them land on me and never been stung once. You do need to be more careful if you get near the hive since they want to defend it but it’s all the way over there.”

There was a pause where I could tell she was thinking. As silly as it was I didn’t want her to back out.

“Besides, I don’t think they’d sting one of their own so you should be fine.” I grinned. She looked at me like she didn’t understand the joke. “Your name, Melissa, means ‘bee’ in greek, honey bee in fact I think.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Somehow that seemed to decide it for her. She smiled and reached out to shake my hand. I took it. Right then I would have paid her daily just to see that smile. I took her around to show her everything including how to measure the levels and what to do. A few times she asked me to repeat myself and she took a lot of notes on her phone. After a bit, I asked her to step through it all herself. She did it well, with only a few minor corrections.

“Tomorrow?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“What time?” She was almost bouncing on her feet.

“Anytime. I’m home most of the time but even if I’m not you can go ahead and take care of it.”

She laughed and it made all of her bounce a little. “Yeah, Tommy called you eccentric.”

It was my turn to smile. “I just like my life simple. Here… ” On the way through the house I had grabbed the spare fence key and some spare cash and gave both to her. “I like to square up accounts on Saturday so you’ll get paid then for each week and it’s Saturday so …”

“There’s $60 here.” She looked suspicious.

“Yeah, I figured the training took you about three times as long as actually doing it usually will so that’s your pay for today.”