AllFreeNovel
Share Us
8. Ice
ROY’S ABSENCE SCREAMED inside me, and my beast howled in sadness.
After I’d dragged myself home yesterday, I’d nearly sobbed when I’d learned that Roy was already gone. He’d packed his things and driven his Cadet away. Without telling me. Without saying goodbye. I didn’t understand what I’d done to incense him so deeply, to drive him away from me, especially after what we’d shared in the forest. Little ripples of pleasure still went through me, my skin still sensitive. But he was gone. A void opened in my chest, right where his presence had been.
Doris, Gladys, I were ice skating on the frozen lake, and not even the happiness of the moment could fill the cold emptiness inside me. It was as if I were mourning the death of a loved one. Perhaps the pain was caused by the abrupt way he’d split us. Or maybe it was because our last merging had been deeper than the previous ones, and I wasn’t referring only to the intimacy we’d shared. In a way, the deep merging had been more intimate than his lips and tongue between my thighs. The presence I’d sensed was something he didn’t want to share with me. His secret.
I skated over the frosted surface of Willow Lake, the pine-scented air shuffling my hair. Tucked in woollen coats and colourful scarves, people skated around with different degrees of success. Some fell on the ice at each step, others twirled around effortlessly. Laughter filled the air, but the cold in my chest didn’t want to warm me up.
“What’s wrong?” Staggering on her skates and giggling, Doris grabbed my arm. “You look like someone told you that every library in the world is going to close forever.”
I winced. “That would be a nightmare.”
Her cat-eye glasses inched down her nose as she laughed and slipped, shoving me hard. Caught by the momentum, I was propelled forward with Doris in tow, her fingers still gripping my arm. We both screamed as we picked up speed, aiming for a family of four sliding unsteadily on the ice. The little girl let out a desperate cry when she saw us hurtling towards her.
“Mum.” Her voice echoed in the frosted air at the same time as Doris yelled in my ears to stop, surely damaging my eardrums.
I did a snowplough stop that worked too well. Doris bumped into me, and we plunged on the ice in a heap of hats, coats, and scarves, hitting each other as we went and smacking against the hard surface of the lake. Maybe it was the pain, or the fear of having almost hit a child, but the crushing weight pressing against my chest lifted a little as I let myself go. Tangled in Doris’s arms, I laughed. She was laughing so hard that tears glistened in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said among laughs, at the same time I said, “We nearly murdered a child.”
“Well done, you two.” With an elegant loop, Gladys stopped in front of us, gloved hands on her hips and dark-green coat flowing elegantly along her body. “You were about to kill an entire family.”
“Oh, shut it.” Doris started to hiccup. “It was fun.”
“Come on, get up.” Without preamble, Gladys grabbed my arm and pulled me up. “Finally, we see you laughing, Kristin. I was beginning to think that you didn’t like the pair of gloves I gave you for Christmas.”
“I love them.” I grinned, showing them. Roy’s absence still hurt, but the laughter helped. “I’m preoccupied.”
“Because Roy left?” Doris asked, brushing ice from her brown coat. “You’re going to see him soon.”
Yes, but it wouldn’t be the same between us, and he was furious with me for some reason. I tugged at my scarf. “I know.”
Gladys put a hand on my shoulder. “Did he hurt you?”
“He’ll have to go through us if he did something to you.” Doris nodded, gliding closer.
I shook my head. “We had an…argument, and he left, angry with me. I don’t like the distance between us.”
“So, he hurt you.” Gladys gripped my shoulder harder. “The bastard.”
“He hurt me by leaving in a hurry.” I shrugged, wishing I could tell them everything and unburden myself.
My friends hugged me. “I’ll kill him,” Gladys said.
“His loss.” Doris patted my hand.
No, somehow it felt like it was my loss.
“You need a nice, hot mug of mulled wine,” Gladys said, poking me with her elbow. “I’ll go and fetch some for us.” She sprinted away, confident on her skates.
“Wait.” Doris struggled to chase her. “We’d better go with her. She always adds vodka in the mulled wine, and it makes me want to throw up.”
My bottom was on fire after the fall, and the merging had left my body sore. I groaned, tottering on my feet. “You go. I need a moment to recover.”
Doris paused. “I know it hurts, but it hurts because you care, and that’s not a bad thing.”
Maybe it was when it came to Roy. “Thank you.”
