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He smiled sweetly to me as he passed by and shut the door behind himself, and I felt my heart slow down to a regular pace at last. Seeing his face was the last thing I needed, especially today while I had to keep myself composed.
I opted to stay standing while Rachel and I discussed the new staff schedule, the training calendar as well as the events that would be taking place this season. With Christmas just around the corner, a mere three months away, we needed to get our asses in gear and get my team up to date.
* * *
“Alright, girls, thank you for showing up today - That makes this todays class at least off to a good start.”
Arms crossed and at the ready, my new trainees all look as nervous as I felt inside, eagerly awaiting my orders, but I'm not as tough as the younger childrens’ coach. No, I was worse.
“Now, I have three rules as your new coach. One, I don’t like nasty sneaky bitches, if you want to destroy another girl’s ice career, you have to go through me first.”
I paused looking at each of them, all prim and proper, with tough parents who would give them everything they ever asked for. Whereas I came from two hard working parents, who could barely afford to put the heating on when it got cold. I learned how to skate on the frozen lake outside of our house. It wasn’t until my moms accident at work, did things start looking up for us when she had the payout.
“Second rule, not everyone has the advantages you are blessed with. Some aren’t able to pay for ice skating lessons from the time they can walk, some may work a part-time job to pay for their classes and wear rented or gifted skates. Don’t judge.”
One of the girls rolled her eyes and smiled snarkily. It made my blood boil as I marked her card there and then. She was going to either be the one who gave me trouble or was the secretly insecure one who would try to ruin someone else’s confidence.
“Thirdly, we are a team first and foremost, we take care of our own. Yes, you may compete against each other, but soon you will get to know each other and become a family. Protect your own. Now, give me ten laps around the rink for a warmup. Go!”
Watching them skate off, I headed to the rink gate to get my bag. I needed to grab a mint and a couple deep breaths. Already my stomach was cramping from the stress and tears I held tightly inwards, the stress piling on my shoulders. Rolling them then cracking my neck, the girls went past me a few times before I noticed Samuel was sitting a few rows back watching.
“It’s nice to see you here,” he said, as he caught me watching him. “It’s nice to be back here.”
I didn't respond, just smiled, then looked back at the girls unsure of what number lap they were on.
“They’re on lap six,” he said as he appeared next to me, frightening the life out of me.
“Jesus! Don’t sneak up on people like that!” I shouted, stepping away from him.
“Ha ha. Sorry, Kimmy.”
“Kimberly,” I corrected him.
“Sorry, Kimberly.” That smile again, but I rolled my eyes in reply instead of falling for it.
“Why are you really here, Sam? It can't actually be to teach kids ice-hockey. You were never the charitable kind.”
He put his hands in his pockets and lowered his eyes a little, kicking the floor beneath him. Clearly ready to tell a lie, his tells were still the same as they were when we were teenagers. Then he looked at me, and he appeared to struggle for a moment before answering, sounding surprisingly sincere.
“My manager, he benched me, I was eh – getting aggressive with some of my teammates, and yeah…”
“Ahh, so this is a publicity stunt then, you’re hoping the media catches wind of this and makes you out to be this perfect guy who helps disadvantaged kids learn how to play an amazing sport. Pretend all you want, Sam, all of us in this place know who you really are.”
I had already caught onto his game, he had always been the aggressive type of guy, but never violent, he just hated backing down. I heard about his several bar fights when he left the town as well as the many arguments he’d had with his team. I had always been surprised he had done as well as he did, but then again he had a full scholarship to Ohio State University and therefore a free ride to do as he pleased, as long as he played well and got those goals.
“It’s not like that Kimberly – I’m not like that anymore.”
“Yeah, yeah, I will believe it when I see it, now if you will excuse me, I have a class to teach.”
Getting back on the ice, I started to teach the girls the basics of advanced ice-skating, the way to hold yourself safely, to look after your partner. Near the end of their introduction lesson, I tasked them with picking a song and coming up with a small two-minute routine to show me what they could do. Which, to my surprise, they were all very excited to do.
By the time I was leaving, school was out, and public skating had begun. I couldn’t wait to be home to wallow in grief with Daisy at my side cuddling under a blanket while we watched Hallmark Christmas movies. But sadly, by the time I picked up my phone and headed to the car - Crystal, was calling.
My out of this world gorgeous curvy bestie, who owned one of the best cafes in the entire city of Vancouver. She was ordering me around, demanding I come in for a free lunch and a catch up. I had been avoiding her pretty much for weeks. I did feel bad about it, after all she just wanted to be there for me and yet, I felt suffocated and needed space from everyone.
“Alright – let me head home and grab Daisy and I will be with you in twenty, but no drinks, only coffee.”
“Don’t be long missy! We miss you here.”
