Rising From the Ashes

15. Ghost from the Past

“Can I trust you not to fall while I clip this on?” Nick said, gesturing to his lift ticket that he was about to clip on to his jacket. We were standing outside, my feet freshly clad in long skis that were causing me to have the grace of a hippo. My hand was firmly gripping his arm, scared to take a step with the meter-long wooden sticks on my feet.

“I’m not that incapable!” I protested, despite digging my poles into the ground immediately to keep my balance as his arm slipped out of my gloved hand. “I bet I’m a better skier than you!”

Nick chuckled into his striped scarf. “You’re actually adorable.”

“Shut up!” I screamed, my cheeks reddening as he clipped on the ticket to his jacket. “Let’s just get this done already!”

“Aw, babe, are you scared?” Nick teased, taking my hand again as he led me toward the lifts.

“No!”

“Whatever you say, cutie.” Nick replied easily. “So if you’re not scared, let’s go straight to the black diamond hills?”

“No!” I screamed again, this time more resoundingly. “Can’t we at least go on the ones Jasmine and Mike went on?”

“That is the one they went on.” He explained patiently. “Now, just admit you don’t know how to ski and we’ll go to the bunny hills. Look, we don’t even need a lift for that one.”

After grudgingly agreeing and following him up the small hill on a wooden ramp, I finally convinced myself to ski off and not fall midway because I was getting scared of the speed.We skied down the hill a few more times, with Nick placing small kisses on my frozen lips in between laughing at my clumsy attempts to maneuver my poles. Finally, after three more semi-awkward slides down the bunny hill, he finally declared that he was confident enough that I wouldn’t break both of my legs to take me to the medium-sized hill, the lift to which was a five minute walk away.

We chatted comfortably on the way to the lift, with Nick telling me about the restaurants and entertainment in the small town that was located about a fifteen minute drive away from the ski resort. Apparently, he used to live there before he moved, going to the local high school before his dad had to abruptly relocate in order to supervise a company that he was buying out. He told me that he would take me to his favorite Chinese restaurant tonight after we had our fill of skiing – it was his favorite place in town.

“Excuse me,” Nick said patiently to the girl that was directing the lifts, whose back was turned to us. “Could we get on the lift please?”

“Just one moment,” the girl replied, turning around to face us. Her cerulean blue eyes widened as she stared at us. “Nick?”

“Elise?” He said, his face breaking into a grin. “It’s been so long!”

“Way too long.” The girl replied with a flirtatious smile. Her hand shot up to smooth out her wavy blond hair that was falling to her shoulders, bouncy despite the uniform ski hat that she was wearing. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans, her slim toned legs clad in heavy boots, and a thick puffer jacket that did little to hide how petite her frame was. She walked the few steps separating her from my boyfriend and enveloped him in a tight hug that lasted way too long for my comfort, completely ignoring me. Nick’s hand slipped out of mine as he embraced her back, the loss of warmth noticeable even despite the gloves.

“How have you been?” Nick asked eagerly as he finally stepped away from her. I noticed how he didn’t take my hand back, creating a small distance between us.

“I’ve been okay,” Elise smiled again, her eyes never leaving Nick’s. “This place is no fun without you around though. I miss our Chinese food Fridays; they were way more fun than helping people get onto old lifts.”