Dear Domai,

Now in my early forties, that flush of youth is past, although I'm by no means an old man. Although genuinely happy with my life partner when she was still here, I was not above having an admiring glance or two at lovely women. Since loosing my partner quite tragically, while I've been free to do more than admire, I've not done so. If anything, the admiration has become more and more aesthetic rather than physical attraction. This was never more so than a recent occurrence early one morning at the gym.

I tend to enjoy soaking up the warmth of the spa and sauna at the gym. A bit like a lizard sunning itself on a warm rock!

For some reason, neither the spa or the sauna are used much in the early morning at my gym, so more often than not I have them to myself. One morning recently however, after a delicious soak in the spa, I had just settled down in the sauna when the door opened and a young woman entered. She apologized for disturbing me as she thought it would be empty. I just grinned and told her to come on in.

With a towel modestly wrapped around her, she made herself comfortable on the opposite corner to myself. After a short time we started chatting casually. That gave me an excuse to look at her. She had a freshness and vitality about her that was quite appealing.

The recommended time limit in either the spa or the sauna was ten minutes at a time, so after a while we both made a move toward the spa. Courteously I waved her to use the cold shower first to rinse off the accumulated perspiration from the sauna. With a smile she unwrapped her towel and passed it to me. My myopic eyes opened wide - that girl had a body most women would have been seriously envious of. And all held within the tiniest of bikinis! As we both slid into the bubbly water of the spa, I couldn't help but notice how buoyant her breasts were, and how the water glistened on the smooth skin of her shoulders. By now we were chatting like we'd known each other for years.

Another ten minutes or so went by and we headed back into the sauna. This time she sat quite close to me as friends do, and kept on chatting away. Then for some reason, her conversation drifted away into silence. I was starting to wonder if I had said or done something wrong when her conversation started once more but in a quite unexpected direction.

With a touch of self-consciousness, she explained that she liked to use the sauna early in the morning when nobody was about so that she could slip her bikini off and enjoy the steam on her naked body, but keeping the towel close by for modesty's sake. Would I mind if she took it off? I managed to maintain the appearance of being calm and said sure. But I started trying to imagine things like incredibly obese and ugly women shaving their armpits - anything to still my racing mind!

By now, all traces of self-consciousness were gone. With a couple of quick twitches of her long, slim fingers, her bikini ties were undone and the pieces had slipped down onto the bench beside her. She seated herself back on her towel, ready to slip it around herself again should anyone else appear.

Before long we were chatting away again just as we had before. A part of me however was mentally cataloguing what I was seeing before me. A slim but still curvaceous body with faint tan lines which drew the eye to a simply wondrous pair of breasts. I'm sure that Michelangelo would have been prepared to kill in order to have had the ability to carve breasts like that. A long, slender body, and a small, neatly trimmed triangle of pubic hair completed a picture of incredible femininity. I'd never seen a girl look so incredibly beautiful and yet natural at the same time.

All too soon I realized that I had to be getting ready to head off to work. As I got up to leave, I was rewarded with a friendly peck on the cheek.

She was on my mind most of the day, but it was only that evening that I realized that while I had been admiring her beauty, from the moment that she had gotten naked, I had not felt a sexual attraction. Instead I had been admiring one of God's truly beautiful creations.

I later learned that this natural goddess was barely eighteen years old. We now look for each of a morning, and have shared a coffee or two. I might be more than twice her age, but I've found a friend and in some respects, a kindred spirit. Sure - my mind has occasionally turned to wondering what could happen in the future, but why ruin a good thing when you have it? In fact, I'm not sure that things could be much better than they are.

Ross H.