Beautiful Lorien

The Ice - Navrina

The moment her beautiful yet incredibly clumsy boyfriend stepped a cautious foot out onto the ice, Marina had to hold herself back from racing across the cold surface of the rink to catch what she thought and feared would be his pending fall.

What she thought could break him.

Luckily, he had grabbed the railing in time. This time. She held back a laugh.

Marina always felt most comfortable when she was on the ice. The soft gliding of her skates as they tipped and slid in shapes along a frozen surface helped her find peace. She felt like she could do anything in a pair of ice skates and her signature knit scarf. And she wasn't just fond of it skating, she was good at it. Thanks to her hard work and all of the hours she put into this old ice rink, she was a figure skating instructor and the pay was very good.

She let her skates delicately cut the ice beneath her, feeling the rush of the chilled air against her cheeks and whip through her hair.

This was where she found herself best. This is also apparently where Naveen found her too.

The young, tan skinned boy came to the rink originally for a party. Marina forgot what the event was but she remembered he was the only one who didn't know how to skate.

"These things look dangerous, do they come apart? I could use a new shank," his laugh had been nervous but he tried to make her laugh nonetheless and it had worked. She found herself trying to stifle a snort, fully aware of his forest green eyes and kind smile watching her the entire time.

"Be careful out there, the ice can hurt if you slip hard enough," she had returned his smile with one of her own. It was her attempt of keeping her blush from pouring out of her cheeks.

He fell flat his first time on the ice. How could someone so charming be so nervous all at the same time? The second and third falls happened sometime later. After the fourth fall, he thought forward, that today was enough time on the ice, and sat on the railing that bordered the rink with his legs hanging down. He changed into a spare set of boots if he would have to jump down and hide from management. Lucky for her soon to be best friend, Marina already tipped off her employer about him.

"You're incredible," was the second thing he had breathed in awe to her. Marina had completed a basic combination of butterfly spins and toe jumps. It was basic to her as she has been skating all of her life. She can still feel her skin turning warm even this long after.

"I just like to figure skate is all," she quickly mumbled the reply. Her mistake was turning her head to look at him. The sparkle in his eyes never faltered, and his lips were parted in soulful amazement. He didn't have time to make a comment when one of his friends, a tall, tan boy with long black hair knotted in a painful bun, came and physically pulled him off the railing.

She only remembers what that boy looked like because he was the one who brought Naveen to their first official date. Stanley his name was. She remembers seeing Stanley's eyebrow angled up and the stupid smirk on his face most of all, though. He had teased Naveen the entire time about going out and meeting up with a girl all on his own, like Naveen couldn't do anything on his own. Like Naveen wasn't someone to behold. Had she made a mistake? When Naveen brushed off every word he jabbed at him, however, Marina knew she was safe.

What she remembers most vividly, however, was how grateful she was to the blonde boy in the front seat next to Stanley for punching the tan boy clean in the arm and making him drive away.

What was fate really?

Marina had waved her goodbye that first day at the ice rink, too shy to say anything more or anything too loud, but she wasn't sure Naveen saw it. She wasn't sure he would even remember her. It was a choice encounter, not fate. People like her didn't get the liberty to believe in fate. They had to make life easy, to let their skates skim the surface of the ice.