Christmas Miracle

Chapter - 10

He was mad. And she was equally mad.

She had never skated in her life. And here she was holding on for dear life to the edge of the ice skating rink. Where the hell had he found this place? It wasn't far from their hotels he had told her. Somewhere in the middle. Like she cared. She was so scared of falling that she refused to let go of the banister.

"It is easy," Tilak said trying to cajole her into letting go of the banister around the rink.

"Easy for you to say?" Riky said quickly, "How long have you been doing this?" she asked.

"About five years," Tilak said and grinned.

Riky looked at him annoyed.

"It is so slippery," she complained, "I will fall. I shouldn't have let you convince me otherwise," she said as she shrieked when she felt her feet slip from beneath her.

"Come on Riky, it is going to be fun, trust me, I will show you how to balance, you will be fine," Tilak said gently.

Riky glared at him. She did realize she was making a spectacle of herself. She looked around her. Even little kids were skating like pros. It didn't look that bad. She just needed to balance her body weight. On her two legs. Which were on two feet encased in those ice skates. She should at least give it a try. It was the least she could do. Tilak was trying to make this fun for her and she was giving him such a hard time. She bit her lip. Then straightened slowly.

"Okay," she said trying to sound confident, "but you promise you won't leave my hand," she said.

"I promise," Tilak said with a smile, "cross my heart, now come on," he said and held both her hands in his.

They started out slow and steady.

"Easy, you are doing great," he said encouraging her.

Riky felt the air gently move around her face and hair. It felt good even though it was cold. It wasn't as difficult as she had thought. Tilak held her hands straight out on both sides almost as if they were having a ballroom dance. He asked her to keep her weight evenly balanced on both feet and move as if she was gliding. The skates did the rest for her. The solid frozen ice was slippery and the blades were made to glide on the surface. After fifteen minutes she breathed easy and glided over the snow slowly. She stumbled and slipped but Tilak caught her. His teases made her laugh. And soon she forgot about her concerns over the ice and falling. When she was sure, she let go of Tilak's hands. On her own. As she glided slowly over the ice rink she felt great. Free. Happy. She kept out her hands to keep her upright. Tilak was right ahead of her. He moved with such confidence. Though he kept turning to make sure she was doing fine. Why was he so concerned? Because he felt responsible. For her. Because she was with him. The knowledge made her feel fuzzy. Coming back to the man she noticed how graceful he was in those skates. A pro. His hands were inside the pockets of his wool jacket as he skated. He could go fast. He had proven it to her when she had taken a two minute break. It had been as if his skates had propellers to push him forward at such amazing speed. And he had stopped right before her as if he had applied immediate brakes but without breaking motion. Oh man. He was so agile. So fit. And she felt breathless just watching him. She hadn't been impressed with his physicality but now she was. The whole package interested her. Attracted her. She wished she could skate like that. So she would match him step for step. Maybe she could learn once she went back to London. The thought made her a little restless. Going back. But that was her home. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her head. As she moved forward she heard some children come in behind her. They would pass her. She knew that. But she turned her head slightly to make sure. That was when her concentration got diverted and she slipped. A terrified scream left her lungs and throat as her legs slipped out from under her suspending her into air for the briefest of seconds before she felt the jarring pain as she fell on her back with her legs in the air. For the next few seconds she lay there dazed. Her eyes wouldn't focus on anything. She hadn't hit her head as her back had made the connection with rock solid ice beneath her first. And yet she felt disoriented. She actually saw lights going out of focus completely before coming back into focus. As the voices that had seemed distant become very clear.