Dana was spending more time falling over than standing up, and Alice’s patience was starting to wear thin. She hid it well though, giving encouragement to Dana whenever she could. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna get this” Dana sighed frustratedly. “Maybe I’m not a very good teacher” Alice reasoned, brushing the snow off Dana’s butt. “Honey, the fact that I’m falling over without even doing anything has nothing to do with my teacher” Dana laughed, at least she could see a funny side to it. “It’s like learning to walk all over again” Alice told her “except now its on a really slippery surface with big planks on the bottom of your feet”.

Dana smiled, sliding her arm around Alice’s waist and pulling her in close “how about we organise a lesson for me today, and while I’m doing that, you can go crazy on the slopes with Bette and Tina” Dana suggested. Alice smiled and closed the gap between them, rubbing noses playfully eskimo style. Dana cuddled Alice close and began slowly kissing her with a smouldering hunger. Suddenly she lost her footing and started to fall, in her haste she clutched to Alice who screamed and started to fall with her. They landed in the snow with a thump, bodies and limbs all over each other as they laughed together. “I always wanted a woman who would fall for me” Alice joked, “well … you got her” Dana whispered, resuming that kiss she wanted so much.

Bette and Tina heard someone whistle in front of them as they were kissing. They broke and saw a young chairlift safety dude smiling (understandably) at the display. “Raise the lap bar ladies, and watch your step” he instructed, Bette and Tina quickly slipping their gloves back on and preparing to disembark. As they got to their feet and headed down the off ramp, safety dude still had a grin from ear to ear. “I think we raised HIS lap bar” Tina joked, causing Bette to laugh out loud. They headed down an intermediate ski run chatting and joking on the way. Everytime they got on the chairlift to ride back up to the top, they removed a glove and held hands, whether they were alone together or not. It was an unspoken connection that they silently agreed to do, not just to feel the warmth of each others hands, but to physically connect with the person they thought, for very different reasons, that they had lost for good.

Shane slowly sipped her coffee at “Blizzard”, watching the passing parade of people out the window. She kept checking the clock on the wall, her stomach tingling with butterflies again as 10.30am drew near. “Why on earth am I feeling like this?” Shane thought to herself. “We’ve barely had a conversation, she may not even remember me … ***** she might not even be *****”. The thoughts in Shane’s head slowly snowballed into the ridiculous with each passing painstaking minute. “What if she thought I was a guy? What if she’s taken? What if she thinks I’m a joke for taking a kids class? Jesus Shane, what the ***** are you doing?”. She was woken from her self destructive thoughts as she saw Natasha slowly ski past with a group of kids in tow. “*****!” she uttered, downing the remainder of her coffee and racing out of the cafe.

Having finally caught up with the rest of the class, Shane sat on the bench beside the kids and caught her breathe. Natasha had gone into the ski hire place to get the attendance list. A smart-allecky little boy sitting beside Shane decided to play spanish inquisition with her. “What’s your name?”, “Shane” came the reply, “Isn’t that a boys name?” he asked. “Well I’m not a boy, so no, its a girls name, MY name” Shane answered, trying not to cop an attitude. “Are you teaching our class today?” the little girl next to the boy asked. “Nope, I’m gonna be learning like all of you” Shane smiled, noticing how easily she adapted to talking to kids, something she wasn’t used to. “You DO know this is a kids class, right?” smart boy sarcastically asked. “Yes I know that … what’s your name?” Shane enquired. “Jake” he said, “I’m Sally” the little girl answered, smiling shyly at Shane.

“Shane offered her hand to both Jake and Sally, shaking hands with them “nice to meet you Jake, Sally … so have you been skiing before?”. “Mom and Greg bring me every year, they think it’s better than buying heaps of Christmas presents” Jake answered with maturity. Ahh the youth of today, so well adjusted. “This is my third lesson ever, and I’m still having trouble” Sally chimed in. “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it after a couple more lessons” Shane reassured her. “I guess … I can do the skiing part okay, its just the stopping I can’t do” Sally smiled as Shane giggled at her answer, so cute.

“OKAY … welcome junior ski-bunnies” Natasha exclaimed as she was reading her clipboard. She looked up at her group and scanned the lineup. Her eyes grew wide in surprise as she saw Shane. “Hi there” she enthusiastically spoke, looking into Shane’s green eyes. “Hi … I’m Shane, Janet booked me in this morning, I hope that’s … okay” Shane asked slightly embarassed as the kids were all watching their interaction. “Not a problem at all Shane, welcome to the group”, Shane smiled as Natasha put her clipboard down when she was done checking the roll. “Well kids, it looks like we have a new person with us today, please say hello to Shane” Natasha announced, smiling at Shane and giving her a wink. “Hiiiiiii Shaaaane” the kids said in unison.

“Have you ever been skiing before, Shane?” Natasha asked, “never … but I’m a fast learner”. “Well, if you have any questions or you’re having a problem, just let me know okay?” Natasha stated, giving Shane yet another smile. Shane nodded, internally she thought “I could get used to seeing that smile more often”. “Okay kids, I want you to pair up with the ski-buddy you had yesterday, and we’ll do some snow plows” Natasha instructed, turning to Shane she continued, “Shane? You can buddy up with me … ya know, since you’re taller than the kids”. “Of course, no problem” Shane responded, thanking the fate gods for the helping hand.

Bette and Tina slalomed down to the base of the slope, passing Alice and Dana who were attempting to side-step up a not so steep part. They boarded the chairlift again, looking out to the side to watch Dana’s progress. At that very moment, Dana began to carefully snow plow down the slope putting her weight on one side and successfully turning. She screamed excitedly as Alice cheered her on. Bette and Tina both shouted from the chairlift “Go Dana wooohoooo!”. Dana looked up to see who knew her name, it was then that she forgot how to stop and crashed into the embankment of snow. Bette and Tina shouted their apologies down to Dana who was whacking the snow with her poles. “You did sooo good honey” Alice shouted as she skied down to Dana. Bette yelled out “that’s a seven Dane, you go girl!”. Dana laughed as she got herself back up, side stepping up the slope again for another try.

Shane was learning how to snow plow, Natasha instructing her on how to control her speed and turns. “Ok Shane, when you want to slow down or stop, you need to slide the back of your skis out, weight on your heels. That’s called snow plowing.” Natasha bent down and touched Shane’s calves as she tried to slide her heels outwards. Even though there were socks and boots and ski pants over Shane’s legs, she still felt the electricity of Natasha’s innocent touch. “Are you ready to try it in motion?” Natasha asked, “Ready as I’ll ever be I guess … but you gotta catch me if I fall” Shane playfully replied. “I’ll do my best” she answered, taking Shane’s gloved hands.

“Okay everyone, let’s try a snow plow” Natasha instructed “one, two, three GO!”. Shane tentatively started down the small slope, watching the tips of her skis as Natasha slid down backwards with ease, holding Shane’s hands out and talking her through the movement. “Good Shane, now just slide your heels out a little more, they’re your brakes okay”. Shane couldn’t respond, she was too busy concentrating, trying not to fall, and feeling the butterflies circling as Natasha was holding her hands. She did as asked, sliding her heels out and feeling the control she had, finally getting the hang of it. Shane slowly looked up into Natasha’s eyes as her confidence grew, “awesome job Shane, I knew you’d get it”.

They reached the bottom safely along with the other kids. “Great job everyone!” Natasha was applauding, the kids and Shane joining in, the muffled glove-like thuds making Shane smile at the cute display. Little Sally tugged at Shane’s ski pants leg to get her attention. Shane looked down at the smiling face gazing at her in admiration. “I made it Shane, I didn’t fall down” she grinned excitedly. Shane felt her heart radiate with pride, as if it had been her own daughter. “Allright, way to go Sally, I knew you could do it, high five!” Shane beamed as they slapped gloves. Natasha noticed Shane’s smile, watching her interactions with the kids. She got a twinkle in her eye, entranced by this woman who, for reasons she didn’t know, wanted to learn with the kids.

It was almost the end of the lesson, the kids and Shane had been practicing their snow plows, turns and stops. There were a few falls, but those that did regained their footing and battled on. Shane fell only once when she forgot which way to lean to turn. Sally came to her rescue, inadvertantly, when she snow plowed in her direction and kinda landed on Shane. They both giggled, helping each other up. “Okay that one wasn’t my fault Shane, you fell in front of me” she cheekily said. “I know, my bad, forgive me?” Shane pouted. Sally patted Shane’s dishevelled hair with her little gloved hand, “Of course, silly” she giggled, snow plowing off down the hill with confidence. “Alright gang, lets do our last run from the top, everyone pair up with your ski-buddy”. Shane gazed at Natasha as she rounded up the kids and helped them get onto the chair lift, a couple of other instructors accompanying the kids up.

Natasha came back to where Shane was standing and smiled at her, grabbing Shane’s hand “come on ski-buddy, lets go”. Shane laughed softly, holding her hand and stepping out ready to sit on the upcoming chairlift. They shared a lift with Sally and her ski-buddy Hannah. With the lap bar securely down, the girls were watching the other skiers go down the ski runs. Natasha and Shane sat either side of them, smiling at each other occasionally as the kids cute conversation made them giggle. Sally turned to Shane and smiled, asking her “Shane … are you married?”. “Umm no, no i’m not” Shane responded, hoping Sally would ask Natasha the same question. “Are YOU married?” Shane asked Sally who broke out in giggles. “Noooo, I’m not old enough Shaney” she responded. “Sally wants to marry Frodo” Hannah teased. “I do not!” Sally retorted, “at least I don’t want to marry Smiegol” she shot back. “I don’t want to marry him, I want to marry Spongebob”. Shane and Natasha laughed, “Ya know, I think I’d marry Patrick” Shane joked. “I’m a fan of the PowerPuff Girls myself” Natasha confessed, giving Shane a wink.


**********

~tbc~