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Figure skaters practiced right after school, whereas hockey practices were usually around dinner time. So while my sister would skate, I’d sit here and pretend to do homework, but really, I’d just be shooting the shit with Craig. We’d talk hockey most of the time, and I’d help punch timecards for the figure skaters when they went out for a new session. I always pretended I hated doing it… but I secretly couldn’t wait to have an exchange with Claire. Our relationship was confusing even back then. We toed the line of love and hate every day with each other, and I never knew what I’d get with her…
I spent a lot of time in this office over the years, and now I felt kinda bad for never coming back to visit.
“Saw it happen.” Craig gestured to my leg. “It was a cheap shot. I’ve always hated Jersey. Sorry, kid.”
I heaved a sigh. “Yeah, just sucks to be laid up like this. I took my health for granted,” I snorted.
Craig grimaced. “You still in pain?”
I was about to respond that my ankle and brain were still throbbing, but my train of thought vanished when Claire and her partner came stalking out of the East rink to practice more lifts in the lobby, this time with skates on.
“What’s up with the asshole partner?” I asked him.
“Well, she and her old partner split up recently…” His sentence trailed off as he watched the guy hoist Claire up in the air… and my whole body tensed as he almost dropped her right on her head.
“Fucking hell,” I breathed out.
“It’s better to not look,” Craig muttered.
I turned to study him as he leaned back against the office’s cinderblock wall. I was struck by how much older he looked. It was kinda sad. I always used to think he was indestructible as a kid. Now, he was hunched over a little more and the wrinkles around his eyes were becoming more apparent. I was about to ask him how he was doing, but I think both of our jaws tightened over the way the douchebag was currently speaking to Claire.
“God. He’s such a prick. Why does she put up with that?” I demanded.
Craig shrugged. “Like I was saying, she and the old partner, Matty, split this past spring, so she came back here to train and test out new partners. She was hoping this guy would be the one.”
I felt my mouth drop open. “No fuckin way.” I stared at him, hoping for a sign that he was joking. “She cannot choose to work with him. You have to tell her she can’t.”
He chuckled and put his hands on his hips. “I’m not exactly happy about it, that's for sure,” he relented. “But you remember Claire, don’t you? You tell her what to do and she’ll do the exact opposite.”
“Yeah, stubborn as all hell.” I rubbed a hand over my jaw. I sat there feeling so utterly confused as I listened to the douchebag complain about her. “The girl I knew wouldn’t let anyone talk about her that way. What the hell happened?”
He sighed and popped a squat on a foldable chair in the corner of his office. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t pretend to know anything about the girl world.”
I snorted in agreement at that. Poor Craig was outnumbered though– he had two very strong-willed daughters.
“How’s Addie doin?”
Addie was Claire’s older sister by about three years. While they were both very motivated and small in stature, that was about as far as their similarities went. Addie was more reserved, and you could tell she had her own thoughts about things, but Claire was the outspoken one. Claire never feared saying exactly what was on her mind. Looks wise, Addie favored her mother’s side with darker hair, light blue eyes, and she was a gentle, graceful, and lankier skater. Claire was all Kessel— a bright blonde with hazel eyes who attacked her skating with pizzazz. Ironically, their program music kind of captured their personalities. I remember Addie skating to music from Black Swan. Claire skated to Darude’s Sandstorm. Addie also only competed in women’s freestyle skating, not pairs and hockey like Claire had, which were far cooler in my opinion.
Addie had retired from skating a while ago. At the time she quit, there were a ton of rumors swirling around about the why and how of it– she scratched at the US Nationals and never stepped foot on the ice again. I was never told the full story, but I did know it was agonizingly hard to quit skating, especially after dedicating your entire youth to it. It was probably even harder for her seeing as both her parents worked at the rink and were so invested.
“Addie’s good,” Craig answered with a proud smile on his face. “Just finished up grad school. She’s trying to break into the sportswriting world.”
“Damn, that’s awesome,” I said, impressed. “If I can do anything to help her out, lemme know.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Thank you, Duke, I appreciate that.”
I smirked. “Actually, she should move to Detroit and take over writing our game recaps. Then I’d be thanking you. Your daughters know more about hockey than most grown ass men who played it. The guy who writes about our games sucks.”
He chuckled at that. “I’ll tell her you said that.”
I nodded. “So…” I tried to think of a way to steer the conversation back to Claire without being too obvious about it, but my brain was hurting too badly to care. “What’s up with the hair?” I gestured to her.
He shrugged and cracked a small knowing smile. “You guys haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying anything dumb. “When did she start doing that?”
“Eh… Few years back,” he said vaguely, which irritated me. I knew he knew exactly when, but he was making me work for it.
