The Watcher (part 1)

My name is Clara and I'd like to tell you about the rather extraordinary events that have happened to me this winter.

I had recently started as a waitress in the cafe at the local sports center. Usually I started around 11.30, because earlier it's not very busy there so my boss, Yvonne, can handle things alone. But on this particular day, I was quite a bit earlier. I'd planned something in the morning that ended up not working out, and since it was closer to work than home, I just went straight to work. As it turned out, the fact that I got there earlier was significant.

From the cafe I can see the athletics track. There was nothing special going on there; just a few people running rounds. The athletics track can be used freely, but of course on a cold, windy and slightly wet November day, as it was then, there weren't many people. Still, there were a couple of people running, but what drew my attention was a person who stood at the side, watching them. That was odd, considering it must have been quite dull, but I was even more fascinated by her clothes. The person standing there was dressed in red Moonboots, what appeared to be white nylon trousers, and a shiny black down jacket. The down jacket came down to her - I assumed she was female, because of her clothes - knees, and the hood was up and tied very tight. In front of her eyes a bunch of white fur was pulled closely together. Although it was hard to say for sure, as I only saw her from the side and at a distance, I guessed she couldn't see a lot.

Yvonne caught me staring out of the window. "Anything interesting out there?" she asked. I startled. I'm attracted to thick winter clothes and hoods, but I couldn't tell her that. So I just said I thought it was odd that someone would be standing there to watch people run rounds.

"Oh, that's Elena. She's here every day, but she's usually gone when you arrive. You see that guy running just past her now?"
I looked at the man, and my eyes widened. "That's - "
"Yeah," Yvonne nodded. "He trains here every day. Oskar wants to reach the finals of the 400 meter at the Olympics next summer. Elena is his wife. He says he can train better if she watches, and she doesn't have much else to do so she's here every day."
"She seems well prepared for the cold," I said.
"She is. Well, I imagine it's necessary, to stand there for such a long time. They start early, too. Oskar trains from 7.30 until 10.30 every day. Afterwards, he takes a shower and then they always have one drink here. But by 11.30, when you normally arrive, they're gone." She looked at her watch. "See, it's 10.30 just now. Oskar is going inside. That man is punctual."
"But Elena is staying right there," I said. The figure in the down jacket had not left her place.
"She always waits until he's finished, and then they come here together. I think she can't even get out of her clothes alone. She's heavily wrapped up, that one. Usually wears two down jackets and the hoods almost tied shut. And those mittens she wears are so thick, her hands are next to useless. I always see Oskar helping her out of her clothes."
Wow! Another down jacket underneath! And indeed, I couldn't see the mittens very well from where I stood, but they looked thick enough. I really wanted to see Elena up close. "Mind if I go talk to her for a moment?" I asked.
Yvonne gestured at the cafe, which was empty except for a single old man sitting at the bar. "Take as long as you want. I can manage the crowd here."

"Hi. I'm Clara," I said. But Elena was turned away from me, and there was no reaction. So I tapped her shoulder. The figure startled and turned towards me. She had to turn her entire body to face me. Even when she was standing right in front me, I couldn't see her eyes in there. Just a mass of fur, with a very narrow slit in between where I assumed she could see out. But her face was hidden in the darkness of the hood.
Myself, I was wearing my purple down coat, which was slightly longer than Elena's. I also had the hood up against the drizzle and the icy wind, but of course it was nowhere near as tight as hers.
"Hi. I'm Clara," I repeated.
"I'm Elena," came the reply out of the hood. The sound was muffled, barely understandable. Her voice sounded unsure and a bit afraid. She had no idea what I wanted of her. Frankly, neither did I.
So I just said: "I know. Yvonne told me about you and Oskar. Don't you want to go inside and wait for Oskar there?"
"No, it's okay, I'll wait here," Elena said.
"But I'd like to talk to you about something, and that's hard like this." Truth was, I was just blabbering something. I didn't know what I wanted to talk about with Elena. I just wanted to see the down jacket underneath. I figured helping her out of her clothes would give me the best opportunity to see just how she was dressed.
"Um. Okay," came Elena's hesitant reply. "But you'll have to help me with my clothes. Normally Oskar does that."
"No problem," I said. "So shall we go inside?"
"Um. Can you untie the drawstring around my knees first? I can't walk like this."
I looked down and indeed, her knees were essentially tied together by the drawstring at the bottom of her jacket. Combined with the Moonboots, walking was indeed almost impossible. I managed to untie the strings and Elena and I went to the cafe.

I first untied Elena's black hood. Underneath it turned out she was wearing a light blue down jacket. Its hood was tied almost as tight as the other one, but at least now I could see her eyes. I helped Elena out of her outer jacket. The huge black mittens she was wearing came almost to her elbows. They went over the sleeves of the inner jacket. They were secured with a zipper and a drawstring. It took me a couple of minutes to get her out of them. Now she was free to remove her second jacket. Underneath she wore a grey sweatshirt with the hood up. Only after she had untied this hood could I see her long blonde hair. I now also noticed the white pants she was wearing were ski pants.

I offered Elena a drink and went to sit with her at a table.
"You are quite well protected against the cold," I said.
"Yes. Oskar wants me to be here every day when he runs. In nice weather this was not a problem for me. I don't mind being here, I still love to see him run. But it was the cold that was getting me. So I said, I'll come and look if you can find a way to keep me warm. So he bought these clothes for me, and he dresses me like this, and he says: 'Now I'm sure you won't be cold.' And he's right."
"But why couldn't you just sit in here to watch him?"
"I'd like to, but Oskar wants to see me. He says I'm his motivation. Seeing me makes him keep at his training every day."
"See you? He can't see anything of you in those clothes!"
Elena smiled. "I guess it is the idea that counts."
"Well, I could be out there in your place, and he would never know," I blurted out.
"You could, but why would you?"
Why had I said that? Well, because it's what I wanted, of course. But how could I explain that? I quickly made something up. "If you're in here instead of out there, and you order a couple of drinks, we make more money."
"It's nice of you to offer this. But it's not possible. Oskar wraps me up like this every morning before we leave home. And he unwraps me right here, in the cafe. How would you fool him then?"
"We could switch while he is showering. Does he change here in the morning as well?"
"Yes... I guess it's possible to do as you say."
"Let's try it tomorrow," I said.

The next morning I arrived at 7 am. I let myself into the cafe - it wasn't open yet, so Yvonne wasn't there, but I had a spare key. Then I waited for Oskar and Elena. They arrived at 7.10. Oskar put Elena at her usual place, and tied the drawstring around her knees. Then he went to the changing rooms. I quickly ran outside towards Elena. I untied the black jacket as fast as I could and helped her out of the mittens. Then Elena took off the other coat while I got out of my purple one. We switched them and put each other's jackets on. Then Elena did the rest. She tied the hood of the light blue jacket, put me into the mittens and then into the black jacket. She tied the hood extremely tight and now I got to experience it from inside. I could barely see something between the fur, but it was almost nothing. Finally she tied my knees together. "Are you fine in there?" "Yes," I mumbled, "just hurry inside now."

Then Elena was gone from my view. I turned towards the athletics track and waited for Oskar. I realized I was helpless now. It would be more than three hours before Elena could come and help me out of this again...


-- on to part 2 --







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