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The first time it happened, Ethel screamed so loudly that Edna thought there was an intruder.
“What is it?” she asked when she rushed in and saw no one else in their shared living space.
Ethel was pointing out the window at the apartment building across the street. “There’s a man.”
“You screamed because of a man in the building across the street?”
“He’s naked.”
Oh. Edna followed the line of her sister’s finger and saw him. Younger than them, but not young. A full head of salt and pepper curls, a well-defined body, and…oh. Her heart constricted with pity. He was missing his lower right leg. But it didn’t stop him from practicing yoga in his own living room. And like Ethel had mentioned, he was naked. Edna decided right then and there that she didn’t mind, not one bit.
And it’s possible that she might have looked over around the same time the following morning to see if he was there again. It became part of their morning routine: coffee, oatmeal, check if their neighbor was practicing nude yoga. He didn’t practice at the same time every morning, which was why one of them would keep watch and call the other when he showed up in his living room with its floor-to-ceiling windows. It was possible he didn’t own any curtains; they’d never seen the windows covered before.
She knew what they were doing was wrong. But it seemed harmless enough, and it wasn’t their fault that he chose to do it in full line of sight of their window. Who’s to say he wasn’t an exhibitionist and was the one enjoying being watched? Still, they chose to be discreet about it; never turning on their own lights and barely moving so that their silhouettes remained inconspicuous.
After several weeks of observation, they had determined that he usually worked some type of night shift and would usually come home around 8 am on the nights he did work. They’d see him at other times of the day too. Usually alone but sometimes with another bearded male friend around his age and even more rarely, different female companions.
None of them were ever there in the morning though, for his yoga sessions. It was a sacred time for him, and for them.
He usually started with a few rounds of sun salutations before diverging into the routine du jour. Because of his missing limb, there were a lot of inversions, which always showed off just how strong his upper body was. They became familiar with his intense focus, how he always picked himself up if he fell, and practiced until he was able to perfect it. It was never the same pattern, but it was always, always in the nude and always solo.
Until one day, it wasn’t.
“Ethel! Get your butt over here!”
“Is it time already?”
“Yes, but there’s someone with him!”
“No!”
They both watched as a woman joined him. She was even younger than him, wearing only a sheet and the most adoring look on her face. After having become so familiar with the man’s mannerisms, they could see immediately how smitten he was with her. This was no one night stand turned morning yoga session. This was a man in love.
Well, well, well, thought Edna. He’s finally found someone. Good for him.
Only, now the man was pressing a button on his wall and the blackout curtains that they had never seen before were coming down, blocking their view of his living room. And most surprising of all, the man was looking straight at them while he did it. Right before the curtains descended over his face, he smiled and winked in a way that was so exaggerated Edna knew it was done solely for their benefit.
That rascal! He had known all this time!
“Well, Ethel, I guess we’ll need to find some other source of morning entertainment now.”