Page 13 of Conner

“That sounds amazing.”

“I need to finish up out here but do you wanna meet there in fifteen minutes?” said Evie with a soft smile as they skated another lap.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there.”

Sasha completed her lap around the rink and then got off and returned her skates. By the time she was finished up and back in her own shoes, she headed to the concession stand.

She was just about to order a hot chocolate when she heard a voice from behind her. “Hey Nate, can we get two hot chocolates and some pretzel bites?”

She turned and saw Evie smiling next to her.

“Sure thing, Evie,” answered the teenager as he disappeared to get them their order.

“Thanks.”

“Of course!”

They took their food and sat at one of the tables overlooking the rink full of what looked like middle schoolers warming up for a hockey game.

“How long have you worked here?” Sasha asked once they settled in.

“Oh gosh, on some level I’ve worked here since I was a teenager. I took lessons and competed here. Then after college I came back and got a job coaching the couple high level skaters we have here and teaching some of the other classes.”

“Oh wow, that’s awesome. You used to compete?”

Evie chuckled and blew on her hot chocolate taking a careful sip. “Yeah, I did for a long time. What about you? How long have you worked for the Magic?”

“It’s actually only been a little over a month,” she said, taking a small sip from her own hot chocolate. “Wow, this is good!” She looked at the cheap looking cup of hot chocolate in front of her surprised by its richness.

“I told you. It’s the best. Do you like working for the Magic?”

“Yeah, it’s been great.” That answer was true mostly, but she knew better than to say anything disparaging, let alone anything disparaging about the golden boy.

“Good, we work with them sometimes on some hockey scholarship programs. Hockey can be an expensive sport and we like to help when we can.”

“That’s amazing. I would love to spotlight your program on our page.”

“Really? That would be awesome.”

“Here,” she said, handing Evie her phone. “Put your number in and I’ll see what I can work out.”

After she did that the two of them sat comfortably conversing.

“This was fun,” Sasha said as she got up to throw away her cup.

“It was. We should get a drink sometime,” said Evie.

“I’d like that. It’d be good to have a little more feminine energy in my life. My job has pretty much consumed my time since I started.”

“I’ll text you. I have to run, I have a class starting soon, but it was really nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Sasha said.

As Evie walked away Sasha took a deep breath. Making friends wasn’t always easy to do in a new place, so this felt good. It looked like she was starting to settle down here in Glendale. It had been a long time since she felt this comfortable, even with all the contentious energy between her and Conner, she could see a place for herself here. She even felt fairly confident she wouldn’t make a fool out of herself on the ice the next day.

The following morning Sasha woke up with a jolt. Her nightmares didn’t come as frequently since she moved, but every now and then she would wake up from a dream about a masked man hiding in her room. She hated that someone made her feel uncomfortable in her own space. And she was mad that she had to leave her old career not because she wanted to, but because someone had made that decision for her.

Walking into her bathroom she turned on her shower and looked at herself in the mirror, reminding herself she was safe. She had moved halfway across the country; he would not find her here.

---