Page 43 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

“No. Do you need me to do any more chores?” He doesn’t mean to sound so blunt, but he’s had a rough day. He regrets it the minute he says it. “Sorry.”

Dalisay shakes her head. “It’s not about that. Can we meet at the Union Square ice rink?”

“The ice rink?”

Dalisay nods. “Please?”

Evan lets out a breath and tucks the corners of his lips down. “Sure,” he says.

Evan doesn’t know how to ice-skate to save his life. The last time he came to the Union Square ice rink, it was for Yoon-gi’s twenty-first birthday, and everyone was drunk and fallingover one another. Evan barely remembers the day at all. He woke up with the worst hangover the next morning and so many bruises, he couldn’t walk right for a week.

The rink at Union Square is outdoors, surrounded by white tents selling hot dogs and hot chocolate under the shadow of the giant Macy’s Christmas Tree decked out for the holidays. The square is already packed with families as Evan waits near the gate, looking for any sign of Dalisay.

His insides squirm as he tries to figure out why she would want to come here. After everything that’s happened, he’s sure this is the end. While Dalisay may have warmed up to him a bit, he’s certain that she’s not the type to change her mind about things, especially when such things made her family look like complete fools in front of their community.

He’s not upset he lost the bet, he’s upset he lost her.

At the far end of the square, Lola and Dalisay appear, arms linked together, walking toward Evan. They’re speaking in Tagalog while they approach, and Lola’s face splits into a grin when she sees Evan.

She says something to Dalisay, and Dalisay translates. “Lola says she’s never ice-skated before, and she’s excited for you to teach her.”

“Oh!” says Evan. He wasn’t expecting Lola to be here. He thought when Dalisay said to meet at Union Square, she’d be alone. He recovers quickly. “I’ll do my best.”

“I’ve never ice-skated before either,” says Dalisay. “You’re probably an expert.” When her eyes sparkle like that, it makes Evan feel like he really is standing on ice, weak-kneed and prone to falling over.

Evan laughs nervously. “Right.” He doesn’t have the heart to explain that the opposite is true. Why is she dragging out the inevitable?

With their rented skates, they sit on a few benches under one of the tents to tie their laces. Lola and Dalisay chat happily in Tagalog, but Lola is having some trouble bending over to tie her laces.

“I can do it for you, Mrs. Ramos,” Evan offers, unsure if she understands him. But Lola stares at him with one eyebrow raised, so similar to the way Dalisay does it, then nods. When he kneels down and ties the laces on Lola’s skates, she says something to Dalisay, and the back of Evan’s neck feels like it’s caught on fire.

He’s failed every single stage. He fumbled their first meeting, she threw away all his gifts, she didn’t sing back during his serenade, he broke a priceless family heirloom, and he made an ass of himself today. Regret tugs at his gut as he lingers behind as Dalisay and Lola wobble their way to the ice, gripping the wall for support. Other skaters whiz past in a giant oval on the rink but Lola and Dalisay are fearless.

The moment Evan steps onto the ice, he nearly falls. The ice is smooth, and he slides across the surface, arms thrown wide for balance. Dalisay’s smile is huge as she looks back at him, her own arms flapping beside her. His instinct is to reach out and hold her upright, but someone else’s hand slips into his—Lola’s.

“I can hold your hand,” Lola says, her voice gravelly and stern. “But Dalisay cannot.”

It’s like she’s read his mind.

Heat creeps up Evan’s face. All this time, he had assumed she only spoke Tagalog. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, speechless, but Lola doesn’t let go.

Without them, Dalisay takes off, getting the hang of ice-skating quickly enough to join the flock of skaters around the rink, smiling the whole time.

Sweat breaks out on Evan’s back as he helps keep Lola upright. Once, Evan nearly loses his balance and throws his foot out, almost tripping a couple of women skating by.

“Watch it, dude!” one of them yells at him.

“Sorry!” he calls.

Lola’s hand grips his like a vise, and his fingers start to lose feeling, but if it means losing an arm to keep her safe, Evan will do it.

“So,” Lola says, “you have had quite a journey to this point.”

“Yeah. The stages were a lot harder than I thought.”

“Not for the faint of heart.” The wrinkles on her face deepen with a smile. He thinks this is the first time she’s directed one at him. “What are your intentions with my granddaughter?”

Evan finds that he can answer truthfully for the first time out loud. “I like her. A lot.”

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