“Excuse me. I’ve been watching you skate for the last ten minutes and I was wondering if you’d mind my skating along with you for awhile.” Claudia, who had just sat down looked up at the man who had spoken. He had a pleasant and engaging smile. Despite his dark features, his soft smile reminded her of the man on the moon.
“So, why did you wait ten minutes?” she asked searching his face to see if she could trust this handsome intruder.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said and laughed, “that must have sounded like a pick-up line from some night stalker.”
Extending a gloved hand he said, “My name is Austin, and though I risk sounding even more like a stalker, I waited because I was enjoying watching how graceful you look on the ice.”
“So, is stalking your occupation, or do you have a day job?” Claudia chided, sensing this Austin guy was okay.
Sitting down next to Claudia, Austin pulled down the pair of skates he had draped over the shoulder of his posh tan cashmere coat, which looked straight out of a shoot for Gentlemen’s Quarterly. Austin made eye contact with Claudia to get permission to put on his skates. When she unconsciously nodded her permission, Austin began changing into his skates.
“No, stalking is only a hobby,” Austin said giving a grimaced smile while straining to get his skates on. “To be so fluid on the ice, you must have skated a long time.”
“Well, if you think these Chicago winters are good for skating, you should have seen the ones we had in upper Michigan.”
Austin’s smile broadened as he looked straight into her eyes. Claudia can’t remember what he said next, or how they finally made it on to the ice. Yet, she vividly remembers how graceful he was on the ice, and how pleasantly embarrassed she was when he started to ice dance with her.
She was taken by his ease and composure and surprised at how oblivious he appeared to be to the people staring at their impromptu performance. Young girls giggled and looked at them as if they were the most romantic couple they had ever seen. Claudia who hadn’t danced like this in years, felt reconnected to a simpler time in her life.
It appeared to her she wasn’t the only one who had lost track of the time when Austin said, “Oh my, they are about to close down for the night….Please excuse me for a minute.”
Still filled with the joy of skating, Claudia drifted in little circles occasionally sweeping into a slow motion theatrical spin with her arms flung out and her head tilted upwards to feel the crisp air brush against her numb cheeks. The warmth caused by the mild intoxication of the ice dancing still hadn’t fully waned when Austin reappeared and asked,”Can you stay a little longer? I know one of the guys here and he said he’d let us skate a while longer if we want to.”
Claudia found this man very intriguing. Here he was skating so relaxed and free while wearing expensive neatly pressed business clothes. Yet, he was unlike any business man she knew. The entire time he was at the skating rink, he never once looked at his watch, made or received a cell or page, and made no mention of his job or how late it was getting.
Claudia, not wanting to seem too interested or nosey, tried her best to avoid asking many questions. He, on the other hand, asked her many questions and seemed delighted by her every answer. Claudia could not see any purpose behind his questions. They varied between inquiries of her childhood, her likes and dislikes, and just spur of the moment kind of free association impressions. He neither bragged nor concealed, but answered any question regarding himself openly and freely. Claudia found it strange that such a neatly pressed businessman could be so calm and relaxed. She couldn’t recall ever meeting a man more at home with himself.
Just when she felt the evening could not be more perfect it began to snow. Big huge flakes cascaded down in slow motion. The flakes did not even seem to fall, but rather they looked like they were suspended in air. As beautiful as any photo or painting, the snow just dangled in the calm of this most perfect eve.
Here she was dancing with this prince of a man, who smiled, laughed and talked with a calm far beyond that she had ever known. His eyes sparkling in the evening chill, and his arms cradling her ever so gently and then releasing her into this dreamlike winter photo.
Nodding towards a man at the edge of the ice, Austin mentioned they probably should let the poor man go home to his family. Without saying another word he escorted Claudia over to the bench where they met to change out of their skates.
“I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun skating,” Austin said waiting till Claudia sat before he joined her. “I would love to skate with you again. I could come here again the day after tomorrow. How about you?”
Claudia who was expecting him to ask her for her phone number, took a moment to consider his proposition. She looked for a brief moment into his kind eyes and warm smile and then looking out into this perfect winter scene said she would enjoy skating with him again.
Austin inquired if she needed any help getting home. When she responded she didn’t, he thanked her again for a wonderful evening, and said he looked forward to their next skate.
When they separated Claudia walked about 30 yards before turning and calling out to Austin, “Hey, where did you learn how to ice dance?”
“My older sister was a dancer,” Austin called back, “she was bigger…she made me.”
With that she turned and walked off into the darkness towards her car. Wondering, no hoping, that he watched her a little as she walked off.
Over the next two days Claudia found herself thinking of Austin quite often. She described her encounter with Austin to a couple of her workmates and to a girlfriend of hers over the phone late the night between her next scheduled rendezvous with Austin.
Her friends at work had serious doubts regarding Austin. They both asked what a man like him was doing “lurking” about the ice rink at the park. They felt uncomfortable with the fact he avoided talking about his job or personal life. One could not understand why a well dressed man would avoid talking about his job. She concluded that if he wasn’t bragging, he was hiding something.
The other workmate instantly decided he was married. She justified this at every opportunity regardless of what Claudia or their co-worker said. While Beverly was unflinching in her belief that Austin was looking to cheat on his wife, Sue was more inclined to believe he was involved in drug dealing, organized crime, or the possibility that he wore such expensive clothes to mislead women. Sue believed this last theory would be proven true if he came dressed down for their second encounter.
Claudia told Gloria about the negative intuitions of her workmates. Gloria, who was even more of a romantic than Claudia, felt they were being far too cynical. Once she heard Claudia trusted him, she was all but sure Austin was someone special, someone destined to shower Claudia with the love and appreciation she deserved.
Claudia who had been dating a lot at this time, leaned towards Gloria’s assessment. After all, why would she be so intrigued and impressed with this guy, when she was so enjoying playing the field? Though she had no current plans on marrying any of the men she was seeing, she truly enjoyed the time she spent with a couple of them. Up until this time, she just assumed one of those relationships would flower into “that special relationship” on its own.
Yet, she found the allure of the mystery and magic of last evening irresistible. It wasn’t just the evening, there was a quality inherent in every one of Austin’s movements which drew her to him. She wasn’t sure why, but the anticipation of seeing him again was stronger than she could ever recall. The prospect of seeing Austin again was more exciting than any vigil she had kept for any previous Christmas, birthday, prom, or the first day of college.
Meeting someone on a winter’s night does limit the experience. She could easily recall his angular face and dark features. His wavy dark brown hair and olive colored skin led her to believe that his ancestors were either Italian or Spanish, or maybe South American. His speech was soft and precise, giving her the impression that he was well educated and came from an upper middle class family.
Other than their sparkling whenever he spoke, she had trouble remembering much about his eyes. His eyes, though warm and friendly, were rather small. She couldn’t recall seeing any whites to his eyes, or even their specific shade of color. Rather, they seemed like little joyful dark moist pools leading her to surmise they must have been brown, since they blended in so well with his hair and skin.
The cut of his long coat make him look rather tall and strong. Yet, since she did not feel dwarfed in his arms she guessed him to be near six foot and solid, but leaning more towards slim than hefty. Even through his coat she could sense his arms and legs were quite powerful and took this as a sign he probably worked out at a health club or gym.
She arrived early at the rink that night hoping skating a while would reduce her nervousness. Yet, after a half hour or so she found her anxiety began to climb ever higher. She worried he’d never show, or worse yet that he would and be everything Sue and Beverly imagined.
She barely recognized him when he appeared out of nowhere at her shoulder. She was immediately embarrassed when she laughed nervously at Austin when he fulfilled Beverly’s prophecy by being dressed far more casually.
Her discomfort lasted for a few minutes while they made small talk. Yet, once he took her arm, looked her in the eyes and began dancing, she not only calmed down, but felt so incredibly at home. Though she never could have believed it, this evening flowed by even more perfectly than the last.
They talked they laughed they melted into each other’s soul. At least that’s how Claudia experienced it. So touched by the perfection of the night, of the utter beauty of this glorious man, Claudia could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Knowing the brittle cold could only mask the true source of her tears for a few seconds, she did the only thing she could to keep herself from breaking down in front of this wonderful man. While he cradled her arm she stopped and grabbing the back of his head, pushed his mouth toward hers and gave him a long deep kiss.
She knew the tears of appreciation and hope would come later on that night. She only hoped she could forestall them till she was alone. Though she was now convinced she wanted to share everything with this man, she did not yet want him to see this desire, to be aware of the life changing feelings he was arousing in her.