A Sudden Fall
His palm pressed flat against her chest, shoving her backward over the stone edge of the pool.
Claire swung her arms wide in the air before hitting the turquoise water with a heavy smack. A sheet of white spray erupted over the patio tiles where four onlookers stood watching.
She sank beneath the surface, the dark fabric of her blue dress billowing out in the chlorinated deep. Her shoes slipped completely from her feet as she kicked upward toward the sunlight.
Her head broke through the surface with a loud gasp, water streaming from her forehead across a red abrasion on her nose. Her fingers curled tightly over the rough coping stones as she pulled her chin above the water level, coughing out mouthfuls of liquid.
The Spectators On The Patio
The man in the button-down shirt stood at the perimeter, shifting a glass of amber liquor from one hand to the other. His teeth showed in an easy grin as he leaned his upper body forward over the drop.
“Come on, Claire, you said you needed a break,” he said, his voice carrying clearly across the yard.
A few paces behind him, an older woman stepped forward onto the flagstones and brought her palms together in three deliberate claps. Her mouth curved upward as she leaned her head slightly to one side.
“That ought to cool her attitude down,” the older woman called out, smoothing the front of her cardigan flat with her thumbs.
Claire kept both hands planted on the edge, the weight of her drenched sleeves dragging at her shoulders. She turned her eyes from the woman back toward the man with the glass, tightening her lips into a flat line.
An Offered Hand
The man lowered his drink slightly and extended his right arm straight down toward the water. His fingers opened upward, stopping just inches above her dripping knuckles.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his head tilted downward as he waited for her grip.
Claire lowered her chin, her eyes dropping from his face to the open palm hovering directly in front of her. Water dripped steadily from the tip of her chin onto the grey masonry.
Her breathing slowed from ragged gasps to even breaths as she pressed down against the edge. She lifted one hand from the stone, then the other, pulling her weight completely away from the wall.
Instead of reaching up toward his outstretched fingers, Claire pushed off from the tiles and turned her body around in the water. Her wet arms cut through the blue surface, carrying her stroke by stroke toward the far side of the pool while the man stood motionless with his hand still empty in the air.
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