"Hi, Rylee," she said, chuckling at his enthusiastic apology. "Don't worry about it. I was just about to get in the water anyway." She shuffled closer to the pool's edge, careful of the puddles left on the textured concrete by Rylee and the countless other patrons of the day. The water was cool on her pale legs, a welcome change from the heat of the day. Gingerly she lowered herself first to sit at the pool's edge, then down into the water, slipping beneath its surface with the only the smallest of ripples. She was comfortable in the water, she noticed, more so than before; she had taken to swimming in the sea after all her beachside jogs, and of late found a sense of peace in the water she rarely felt anywhere else. Not for the first time she found herself wishing she could sleep there, with the calming rush of water in her ears and all around her, enveloping her like a second womb. She flushed as she realized how far her thoughts had gotten from her; carefully she reeled them in, her distant gaze refocusing on her neighbor.
"Good to see you out here," she said. "Someone I know. I don't mean to interrupt your laps. I can stay by the side of the pool here, if you're not finished."