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“Duh.”
“You scared me then.”
“I know.”
I poke my tongue out at him and open the window. I love the feel of the breeze through my hair.
“It’s such a gorgeous day. We’ve had a great summer this year.” Nathan comments as he tweaks the dial of the radio.
“That we have. It’s a shame we’ve not had time to spend it together.”
“That’s changing from now.” Nathan insists. “We’ll make more time for each other.”
“Promise?” He doesn’t get the chance to answer because my head is hanging half out of the car window as I cry, “LEE VALLEY?” I turn to him, lit with excitement. “Ice skating?”
“I owe you a session.”
“Oh my god! Horse riding and ice skating? Who are you?”
“Sit down.” He pulls me back by my shoulder and quickly parks in one of the spots at the far end of the carpark. It’s something he always does. He says it’s all good exercise. I disagree. There’s no such thing as good exercise unless it’s ice skating of course.
“I am so freaking excited.” I think he can tell by how badly I’m grinning. My entire face hurts.
“I can tell.”
“We should make this a monthly thing!”
“Woah now,” he laughs nervously. “Let’s not jump in head first. We don’t know how bad we are yet.”
“I bet you’ll be a natural!”
“I highly doubt it.”
The first mistake Nathan made was stepping onto the ice without holding onto the side. He fell straight onto his arse and I howled with laughter, though I shouldn’t have because karma was quick to serve me an ice cold dish of pain. My laughter knocked me off balance and I slid to the ground beside him, no doubt bruising my rear.
Nathan laughed as hard as I did and we somehow manoeuvred our way back up to standing.
Skaters fly by at lightning speed, their bodies seeming to fly. Even little kids have this better than us. I don’t care though; every time my ankles wobble I just feel more joy. I will conquer this ice.
Nathan clings desperately to the side as I finally find my footing and dare to enter the oval with the others. It takes me a while to pick up my speed but when I do, I’m gone. Shakily, yet confidently, I whiz past people, feeling the cold prickle my face, feeling proud and free. I totally forget about Nathan still clinging hopelessly to the side.
When I make a full circle back to him, I find him chatting to an unknown man who seems to be giving him tips on how to not fall on his arse. This only makes me laugh even more. Nathan sees me, shakes his head with amusement and yells, “I’m the natural, huh?”
“You can’t have it all, Baby. Gotta leave something for me to be good at,” I giggle, winking at him and slamming to a stop against the wall in front of him.
“Don’t do that again; you’ll break your bloody arms,” Nathan snaps, concerned but not concerned enough to let go of the rail.
“Hi,” I pant, holding my hand out to the man in a red jumper, white scarf around his neck and proper figure skating boots on his feet.
He shakes my hand and smiles. “Hi, I’m Dean; just helping your guy to find his footing.”
“I know your accent!” I comment excitedly. “You’re from Hull! I’d know that twang anywhere.”
“You’d be right,” he laughs and does a half twist on his skates to face Nathan. “You need to bend your legs at the knees.”
“Go,” Nathan waves his hand at me, “while Dean helps me try to find my dignity.”
“Nath,” I whisper, worried I’ve upset him.
His smile is reassuring and so soft and sweet. “Go. You look peaceful out there. I’ll catch up.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Go,” Dean laughs, giving me a gentle push with a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll have him skating in no time.”
I don’t need telling again. If Nathan wants this time to learn, I’ll let him have it. I know he doesn’t like to look like a failure in front of me and I just know this is exactly what he’ll be thinking if I stay.
Besides I really am loving this. I’m not graceful at all but I feel it. I almost slip a few times but I stay close enough to the rails to stop myself. Every time I circle past Nathan, he’s slowly made his way to a new section of rail. This makes me so happy. Poor Dean is still with him too. I notice them laugh at something and feel an immense amount of pride and joy. Nathan is doing something out of character; he’s actually being nice to somebody other than me.
Before I know it, I feel a hand in mine and I’m skating by my future husband, laughing and giggling over every near fall, over every near collision. Also, I’m inwardly celebrating that he and Dean promised to seek each other out. Dean is new and has very few local friends and Nathan is Nathan and has no social life beyond me or work.
