“Houston, we have eye-contact!”

—Yrs Trly is waiting outside Canandaigua’s YMCA swimming-pool; COVID-19 protocol.
Around the pool comes *****, my lifeguard friend at that swimming-pool.
We wave at each other, and per my critics ***** is probably saying “UGH! Not that Hughes guy again.”
***** disappears around a corner, so the second lifeguard lets us in.
I round that corner, and suddenly “BobbaLew!” (“Houston, we have eye-contact!”)
She wasn’t avoiding me; she’s looking right at me and smiling. (Masks or not I could tell.)
Sorry critics, but I think she was happy to see me.
And I was similarly thrilled to see her. “A person I thought I might never see again in my entire life,” I said.
She began peppering me with questions. Did I see her running along Sand Road? (She runs, as did I years ago.)
“I’m pretty sure that was you,” she said.
“I did see someone walking a dog, and realized later it mighta been you,” I said.
“So glad you addressed me as ‘BobbaLew’,” I commented. “Over and over I try to get people to call me that, but I have only one other friend who calls me ‘BobbaLew.’
So if I see some girl running along Sand Road, I’m supposed to stop, hoping you won’t perceive me a lonely hot-to-trot widower?”
“I’ll know it’s you,” she laughed.
“What if it’s not you?” I asked. “The girl calls the sheriff!”
***** and I go back years, ever since she said hello to me by name, and I cranked enough nerve later to say hello back.
We remained friends despite the many flubs and faux pas I committed trying to befriend someone of the opposite sex I consider attractive. (Little experience at age 76 with women, despite being married to one 44&1/2 years.)
And for someone 64 years old she’s attractive. On her lifeguard stand she looks like she’s in her late 40s.
I thought I’d lost her for good after committing a real boner. But NO; she seemed happy to see me the next day. (“If you can forget yesterday, I guess I can too.”)
“DREAMIN’,” my friends say. “She’s just being pleasant to you.”
My response is “Dream on, baby!” If I were suspicious, I think she’d notice.
It’s much more pleasant to pretend we enjoy each other’s company, because it seems we enjoy each other’s company. We laugh, and talk, and smile at each other.
I don’t think she could fake it that well = too much direct eye-contact.
No eyes avert — she’s not trying to get away from me.
“No pretty lady will ever become friends with you!” I been hearing that all my life. To say I’m “dreamin’” is just repeating that.
So confused and as inexperienced as I am dealing with women, I seem to have gained many female friends.
And it seems one of them is *****.

• “Houston, we have eye-contact!” is a takeoff on “Houston, Tranquility Base here; the Eagle has landed.” July 20th, 1969. (That’s goin’ to my grave!)
• I do aquatic balance training in the Canandaigua YMCA’s swimming-pool, currently one class per week — almost an hour — less than usual due to COVID-19.