Scene 11 — Cal

Cal was quite hot and had definitely been sweating during their run. He was ready for the break and gratefully knelt at the bank of the stream, kicking off his loafers. He splashed some cool water on his face and neck to cool down. It felt great.

“Do I look more or less back to normal now instead of a guy who just ran a couple miles in loafers in this heat?” he asked Lindsey.

Lindsey looked him over. “Looking good, handsome,” she said in a joking tone. “We’ll just assume the pit stains will dry, eh?” She gestured to his armpits. Cal raised his arm and saw that, indeed, the light blue fabric was dark with sweat and scowled.

“Crap, I hope so,” he said. He kept his arms raised, knowing that the sweat would dry quicker if exposed to more air. “Sorry to be gross, it’ll dry faster this way.”

“Ha, it’s ok, I think we’re well passed the stage of being grossed out. Plus, the first two games I was running around in my underwear and covered in mud. Only fair you have to do something a bit embarrassing,” Lindsey pointed out, smiling. “How about me? Would you seat me at a restaurant?”

“With pleasure, ma’am,” he answered, returning her smile. Like him, Lindsey had splashed some water on her face to freshen up, but otherwise looked as good as she had when they left.

Cal now focused on actually getting across the creek. The water seemed to be about waist deep and the stream was much too wide to jump over. He noticed some roughly flat rocks just below the surface of the water, when the stream wasn’t so full they probably made good stepping stones. He looked up and down stream hoping there might be a fallen tree or other way across, but he didn’t see any options.