Page 12 of Finding Love on the Slopes

“Believe it or not, you are not the first person to say that to me.” Lifting his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug, he said, “I am who I am, and yet, people still can’t seem to get enough of me, especially women.”

“You are insufferable!” Pulling a pair of goggles out of the pocket of her ski coat and thrusting them forcibly into his chest so he had no choice but to take them, she huffed, “Put these on.” Leigh pulled her own goggles over her head but left them resting on the forehead of her helmet. “Besides, It’s not eventhat crowded. Most of the skiers have gone home for the day, and this resort, even though it’s smaller, is usually filled to capacity for the holidays. If it weren’t for my brother, you would have never gotten a chance at lift tickets here; they’re sold out months in advance. Try being all high and mighty in Aspen. They will laugh you right out of town; that is the playground for the 1%. Let’s see how you measure up to them, Mr. Bigshot.”

Enrique let out a noncommittal grunt in response and extended his hand to her with the goggles she had just given him. She had been inspecting him from head to toe and sighed when she saw the goggles. “Now what?”

“I’m not wearing these. I agreed to the helmet, even though I signed the dumb waiver saying you and Curtis weren’t responsible if I fell and cracked my head open. These, I will not compromise on.” When she refused to take them from him, a frown reversing the perfect bow of her lips, he pulled her hand out of her pocket and tucked the goggles back inside where she had pulled them from earlier. He reached into the breast pocket of his own coat and placed mirrored lensed aviator sunglasses on his face, throwing a charming smile at her.

“Mr. Rodgriguez, we use goggles for a reason…” She wasn’t able to finish her explanation because Enrique had started making his way to the top of the bunny slope, following the path he had observed the others taking.

Leigh caught up to him in a matter of seconds and watched him carefully as he made slow, awkward progress towards the top.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he grumbled. “I’m not some kid you have to babysit. We haven’t even done anything yet… I don’t need you stuck to me like Velcro.”

“I’m your instructor. I’m supposed to watch you to ensure your safety and monitor your progress. Like right now, you are doing a weird shuffling motion with your feet and are making very little progress for the effort that you are putting in. That was not demonstrated in the video. Instead, you should be making a skating motion with your feet. Thrust one up and out, then pick up the other ski and thrust it up and out like you are skating with really large feet. Use your poles to propel you and bend in the knees and hips a little. Watch.” Leigh moved ahead on the nearly flat path leading up to the top of the bunny hill and then turned. “Well, does that make sense?”

“Yes. I have it. Now move out the way.”

Enrique was much slower than Leigh had been, but over the next ten minutes, he saw how that skating motion was much better than his old man shuffle. His legs were not burning as much, either. Taking instruction from a woman might not be that bad, time would tell.

Chapter Nine

When they finally reached the top of the bunny slope, Leigh turned to face him. A girl waved and called out a greeting to her as she snowboarded past them on her way down to the lodge. Leigh smiled as she waved back. “Alright, just like I said back at the shop, we’re going to start easy. You were in a rush to get over here and skipped all the practice. We are not skipping this one. Your success here will greatly increase your success and safety once you go up there,” she said, pointing to the plethora of slopes tracking down the side of the mountain behind them.

“I want to see you successfully execute each basic technique before we even think about going on the lift. Take your time. Slow and steady wins this race. Remember, you’re not alone here. You have to be careful, so you don’t collide with other people. Also, the bigger the wedge you form, the slower you go, and the smaller, the faster. So open up your legs like I taught you,” she began, demonstrating as she turned her toes inwards.Enrique was still looking around at the hordes of people instead of her demonstration.

“Enrique,” she called, nudging him with her elbow. “Look at me. Legs wide, knees relaxed, and toes turned in. Understood? You’re not doing it right.”

“I am,” he argued. “I’m literally doing what you’re doing.”

“No, your knees are stiff. You need to relax them a little bit more.”

He opened his legs again and tried to relax his knees. Leigh grinned, happy with his progress and that he had actually listened to her. Her smile was blinding, and he looked away from her.

“See? That was easy. You just have tolisten,” she said, drawing her legs close once again.

“Iwaslistening,” Enrique contended, doing the same.

“Okay,then. You need to pay attention andactively listen, as in… with your eyes.”

“Now you sound like one of my old school teachers. Don’t treat me like a child, Leighann.” His eyes were hidden behind the mirrored lenses, but she could tell he was glaring at her by the tone of his voice and the wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes.

“I’mnottreating you like a child; I am treating you like a student who has something to learn. You will learn more quickly if you would put in as much effort to learn as I am putting into your instruction.” Her tone and the angle of her hips showed her irritation with him. Enrique imagined if she didn’t havepoles in her hand right now, her tiny fists would be on her hips. The image almost made him grin, but he refrained as he himself was annoyed at the situation.

“Well said, like every other teacher who ever lived. Move on. You have my full attention... for now,” he growled.

Leigh took a deep breath, “Alright. Now, I need you to watch me. I’m going to go slowly and stop so you can try mimicking the movement. Keep the wedge wide so you can control your momentum. Don’t plow me over.”

She pulled her goggles down over her eyes and thrust her poles forward gently before slowly skiing down about twenty feet and widening the wedging to a stop. “Your turn. Remember to keep equal pressure on both feet so you don’t wind up turning, and the wedge wide to keep your speed nice and slow. We are practicing the technique, not trying to get to the bottom. Got it?”

She looked up at him expectantly, but he didn’t respond. He simply pushed off with his poles, much more aggressively than she had, and tried to imitate her.

“Enrique, wait. You have to – ”

But he wasn’t listening. She debated momentarily about staying in his way and using her body to physically stop him but thought better of it considering their size difference. She quickly turned her skis, and he skied right past her.

“Widen your wedge! Edge your skis!” she shouted, but he continued in the same position, picking up speed. She sighed as she watched him go, knowing he would crash in seconds.Following in his wake, she was right behind him when, just as she had predicted, he lost his balance after overcorrecting, causing his skis to cross over each other. His arms windmilled, thensplat, face first into the snow, right after he ran into the ski and pole stand at the bottom of the slope. A couple of people who were still on the slopes or standing nearby to remove their skis laughed heartily at him.

He rolled over on the snow as she approached, and she placed her hands on her hips, pressing her lips into a thin line to prevent her face from breaking out into a grin.

---