Fire on Ice

Part 18

Nikolas POV

The jarring noise of my phone ringing wakes me from my restless sleep and I grumbly answer it, ready to curse whoever is waking me up. But before I can even get a word in, a loud, angry voice comes through the phone, "Dove sei stato? Perché non sei venuto a trovare tua madre? Sai l'ultima volta che ti ho visto? Il tuo compleanno! Il tuo compleanno Nikolas. Come osi trattare tua madre in questo modo!" (Where have you been? Why haven't you come to see your mother? You know the last time I saw you? Your birthday! Your birthday Nikolas. How dare you treat your mother this way!). The rapid fire Italian shoots through the phone and I can tell my mother is mad. I can hear her breathing heavily on the phone when I apologize. I might be intimidating, but that woman scares the shit out of me.

"Mi dispiace mamma. Verrò presto, promesso" (I'm sorry mama. I'll visit soon I promise).

"No signor . Tu vieni oggi. Lily mi ha chiesto dove sei e io sto finendo le cose da dirle. Ci vediamo tra un'ora." (No sir. You are coming today. Lily has been asking where you are and I'm running out of things to tell her. See you in an hour).

With that she hangs up the phone leaving me no choice to see her in an hour. I check the time on my phone and see that it's 6 o'clock. Normally I'm up at five to go to the gym for a solo session, but I decided I could skip today.

I start getting ready and realize I have a couple hours to spare before I need to go to the club and hit the rink.

An hour later I am standing at the front door of my mother's house waiting for her to open the door. I know I haven't been visiting my mom and sister recently and I feel like shit for it. But, sometimes it's too painful to be back home, be back with the memories my father left me with when he left our lives. He was a piece of shit. He is a piece of shit.

After he left I had to step up and help my mom with money. I got a job and started learning and observing a lot about business management and how to work your way to the top. In a way I am glad because those years of shit are what helped me get to where I am now with Sebastian and our club.

I still help my mom out with the bills every now and then, but she is more than capable of sustaining herself. That's what I admire about her, the fire. She would do anything to stay on top. First for me and now for Lily too.

I hear the lock latching and the door opens and I'm greeted with a familiar, warm smile, but that quickly turns to a frown and a smack on the head when I go to embrace her. "Nikolas! Sei un cattivo ragazzo. Non lasciare mai tua madre in sospeso così!" (You are a bad boy. Never leave your mother hanging like that!). My mom is about 5'9 and has deep blue eyes, which pop out against her short, dark brown hair. Growing up, she always spoke to me in Italian because she wanted me to be close to my heritage. Her frown turns right back into a smile when I lean in for a long hug.

She closes the door behind me, "It's only 7 in the morning so Lily is still sleeping." she whispers. I simply nod and we make our way to the living room. She leaves me for a second to get some coffee and when she's back she hands me my cup and sits down eagerly, "Come va il pattinaggio?" (So! How's skating?")

One of the things I love about my mom is her endless support for what I love: Figure skating.

My dad was a hockey player in high school, he signed me up for hockey classes when I was five. I played hockey until I was 12 before figure skating caught my eye. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed hockey, the body slamming, the adrenaline, the speed, but I loved figure skating.

Most rinks have both hockey and figure skating programs so I would watch the skaters after practice while I waited for my dad to pick me up. There was one skater in particular who caught my eye. I never knew his name and generally, I never paid much attention to skating, but when I saw him, I was completely enthralled. Instead of the usual gentle and fluid moves he directed himself with a strong and powerful dynamic. I remember being utterly in shock from the spins and jumps. It was just an indescribable attraction to the sport.