Springtime of Our Lives

She woke me up early in the morning. She said she ran a 5K four mornings a week, it was the best way to start a day. There was a riverside park not far from her neighborhood. She asked if I could run a 5K, I told her maybe if I had the right kind of clothes on, but she insisted you can really run in anything. I protested about my shoes but she actually had a pair of sneakers my size, 11 and a half.

I couldn’t really keep up. She was a lot more fit than me, but about half way through she admitted she was impressed with how far I’d gotten. It was barely seven in the morning, I think I was more surprised at how early it was. It was the hour in the morning when the sun bathes everything sharply, and while a riverside park might sound scenic, there were a couple of industrial sites too far off for sight but not for smell.

-Can you keep up with me? she asked as we approached, I guessed, the mid-point of the run, turning around from the park to go back.

-You’re not used to being up this early are you, she teased me, but it didn’t feel judgmental.

-I could get used to it, I offered.

-I hope so.

We got back to her place and she said quite matter of factly that she’d have to cut me loose for the rest of the day.

-I’ve got an incredibly busy schedule and Greg usually gets here before nine. I like the runs because they’re time for myself. I don’t ever bring music even. So, can you keep up?

We arranged to meet up again in two days for another run. I tried to get her to meet me for dinner, or lunch, but she brushed those ideas off as too conspicuous. She insisted I should be able to run to the riverside park from my house, but that had to be at least another 5K.

So that morning I got up even earlier and took a bus up to a stop pretty close to the park, and just ran from there, waiting at a bench tucked away near the entrance for Kendra to run by and catch up with her.

I hadn’t intended to deceive her but she was so impressed I didn’t want to say anything to disabuse her of it. Unfortunately by the time we got to her midway point, at the other end of the park, I was much sweatier and out of breath.

-What, did you drive here? she asked me.

-No, I said defensively. No, I took a bus, I finally said, unable to hold back a chuckle. Fortunately she laughed too.

-Jeff used to run with me, she offered on the way back when we had slowed down a little bit. I felt guilty that I hadn’t asked about him. I don’t think I’d thought about him since I was at the hospital, which felt so long ago. My timeline got fuzzy, maybe because of the shooting but more because of that feeling like you’re just about to fall but not quite that you get when you fall in love.

-What happened to Jeff? I asked.

-He went back home, she said wistfully.

-We used to talk, I offered, getting a little short of breath again.

-I know, she said.

I tried to get more details but she didn’t let me. This time we went back to her house for coffee, but I left before Greg got there. After a few weeks, she let me stay when Greg got there and introduced me to him formally.

He seemed nice, but the first time he caught me alone in the living room while Kendra had excused herself upstairs he gave me that stereotypical lecture.

-If you so much as hurt her, he began, that’ll be the last anyone hears of you.

It was so cliché it caught me off-guard.

-I haven’t even touched her, I said honestly.

He gave me a long look, then pulled some lotion out of his bag, offering me some.

I took it.

-Would she date me? I asked him. I’m still not sure why.

-I mean, he said, looking around and then upstairs. What do you think, what do you think what’s happening?

-I’m getting to know her.

-Isn’t that the thing?

-I guess it is, I said, wondering why he’d gotten so cryptic. You won’t have to rough me up, I added. He laughed, so I decided to ask him, what was that all about?

-Getting the feel for you. Heard you getting into some fights. Who does that anymore?

-I hit some photog’s camera, it’s really not that big of a deal.

-Not that. The fisticuffs outside her office, what was it, last year?

The fight with Jeff.

-Yeah, I laughed. I guess so, I said, pausing. That’s not really me.

-I can believe that, he said, looking me up and down.

Then Kendra came back down.

-I hope you guys are getting along, she said, then adding in a manner that sounded honest and convincing, it would mean a lot to me.

The spring came fast that year, and it fueled my longing for her, even though we saw each other regularly for the runs and mornings together, often talking about our politics and the presidential election. Eventually she brought up running for mayor.