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“So, what got you interested in photography?”
Ivy pauses as we walk along. “Photos transport us to other places, allow others to experience them along with the photographer. I remember looking at pictures as a child, imagining what it would be like to travel to such wonderful and faraway places. I guess I see the camera as a passport to greater adventures.”
Her analogy speaks to me. “Is there any place you want to go?”
“Italy,” she says without hesitation.
I give her a curious sideways look. ‘Why Italy?”
She grins a little self-consciously. “I don’t know. The architecture and art are beautiful, but I love the minute details captured with the people…the old lady at the market…the child playing with his dog. There’s an ancient air that is absent from New York…or even smaller towns in the United States. Tradition is captured in their faces, young and old. I’ve always been fascinated by it.”
And again, she changes the way I see things.
Two children run past us, one brushing against the side of my leg, almost knocking me over.
“Sorry,” a woman apologizes as she runs behind them, laughing. “They can’t wait to go ice skating.”
I wave her on with a smile. “No problem.”
Ivy gives me a mischievous grin. “What do you say we join them?”
“Ice skating?” I ask her, looking at her as though she has lost her ever-loving mind. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never been ice skating before,” she says, quirking a speculative eyebrow at me.
I can feel my cheeks burning. “I’ve been busy.”
Her eyes widen in disbelief. “You really don’t know how to skate?” She doesn’t even wait for me to answer. She just grabs my hand and drags me in the direction of the skating rink. “We’re about to fix that!”
Before I know it, I am lacing up a pair of skates and staggering awkwardly onto the ice. Ivy’s a natural, gliding backwards and forwards as though she were born with skates. She guides me along, encouraging me as I trip. “You’ll get the hang of it! It just takes practice.”
As she skates backwards away from me, she takes out her camera. “Surely you’re not going to take pictures ofthis!” I yell in consternation. “It hardly seems to fit the image of a powerful and successful businessman.”
“Exactly!” Ivy laughs as she takes a picture. “I’m capturing your vulnerable side.”
I think she captured my vulnerable side at the Christmas party. My legs slip out from underneath me, and I land with a thud on the ice. I don’t even need to look to know that she is taking pictures. I can hear the camera clicking…almost muffled by her uncontrollable laughter.
Ivy comes over, helping me up as I wipe the snow and ice from my jeans. “You took long enough to save me.”
“You’re a rich and powerful businessman. It’s probably been a while since you fell flat on your ass. I was capturing the moment for posterity. No pun intended.”
“Cute,” I say, catching her joke. “Just don’t send it out in the company Christmas newsletter,” I plead.
Ivy places her hand at my back to help steady me as we glide forward. “You don’t have to worry about me doing that.” She cuts her eyes at me. “That’s Anita’s job.”
I groan loudly. “You wouldn’t!”
She moves to skate in front of me, holding my hands as she faces me, skating backwards. “Only because you got me the internship with Annie Leibovitz.”
It makes me happy knowing that she’s excited about it. “She said she might have some time this week. You’ll have to call me and let me know how it goes.”
Ivy slides back to skate beside me. “I really can’t thank you enough for doing that.”
I shrug my shoulders, suddenly feeling awkward. I don’t want her to feel like she owes me anything. “It’s really nothing. Your work is so good, I felt compelled to do it. I’m beginning to think I’m not paying you enough given your talent,” I tell her with a grin.
She blushes humbly. “I’m not that good.”
I stop skating, pulling her to a halt in front of me. Ivy looks up questioningly. Placing my hands on both her arms, I face her. “Yes. You are.”
