Flash of The Moment

Chapter 7

" So what do you do for a living Angel?" He asked as we walked down the street away from the café and towards the heart of the city. The sirens blaring mixed with the abundance of lights whether from the stores and their signs to the numerous cop cars that zipped past us was almost overbearing. My mind drifted to Barry. I wonder if he's headed off to wherever those cops were going?

"Oh well, I'm starting a job ironically at a café as well, but its across town, closer to the park." I replied bringing my attention back to my date. It felt so weird to say it. Yeah, a date....you've never had one of those before. It was kind of sad really. Christian slightly turned towards me as we crossed the road coming to a stop before a big pair of oak doors. They stood tall and looming and it felt really gothic once I noticed the intricate carvings on the top and along the sides of them in the form of vines. There was no sign to indicate what was beyond the doors but Christian just went right on in and as then probably noticed he left me outside, held the door open at last minute. Upon entering the venue the first thing that caught my attention was the music. From the outside there was no sound coming from the building, but inside, it felt as though my very bones were shaking from the bass pumping inside. Walking towards the music, I completely ignored Christian as he followed behind me to where the music was originating. There before me was a huge roller-skating rink alive with the constant traffic of skaters and laughter. Lights flashed in time with the music and singing was heard added to the mixture of noise already stuffed into the atmosphere. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Hey, you ready to go or are we gonna sit here and watch everyone else? I want to see what you've got." Christian laughed as he guided me to the counter to get situated with skates. After getting the right fit for the both of us, he helped me walk to the edge of the rink and that's when I froze. I never told him I'm too clumsy to skate. I never learned from back in Italy and my mom and I never did it when she as alive. I didn't budge even though Christian was already on the hard wood floor. He stopped about halfway down the rink and turned to see my staring at the floor in frozen horror. In a few seconds, he was right before me waving his hands in front of my face.

"Angel? Hello? Angel! What's wrong?" I blinked. Then I blinked again. Then I blinked one last time. My brain finally rebooted and I jerked forward crashing into Christian which effectively got me onto the hard floor. My feet felt like they were running away from me as my sudden lunge carried me headlong into my date.

"Whoa there! I got you." he said barely catching my arms to steady me. "I'm guessing you've never skated before, huh?" he asked as we both made sure I was stable enough to put just enough breathing space between us.

"Uh, no. No I haven't. It's that obvious huh?" I asked as he slowly pushed off carrying me with him. He chuckled as we glided down the length of the rink. I craned my neck upwards to look at him. The lights were glowing in his eyes and his smile never once left his face. He seemed so carefree and happy. Not once had I seen any sign that he was a player. Besides forgetting the door at the entrance, he was the perfect gentleman.

"So besides skating, what do you do for fun?" I asked, trying not to focus too hard on my balance.

"Well, I like to dive. Some of my friends and I go diving at least once a month, just off the coast at WestPoint." I nodded taking in the information. "Hey, you ever been to WestPoint?" he asked. Once again I nodded but answered anyways, "I've been before, just not recently."

"Oh, Ok. So what do you do for fun?" he asked. That my friend is a very good question. What do I like to do for fun?

"Well, I like to dance and I love to watch movies. I hope that counts." I replied gliding across the floor, towing behind Christian, holding onto his shirt sleeve. After going around the rink a few times, I warmed up to the idea of just holding hands as my only support. I felt myself start to smile uncontrollably at my achievment of not falling face flat and I managed to catch Christian's eye.