Journey to the Past
Somewhere down this road
I know someone's waiting
Years of dreams just can't be wrong
-
Aaliyah, Journey to the Past
Montreal was one of the last stops on my cross-country search for a partner. I�d been through 11 cities already without having found a person I thought I could do well with, and I was getting desperate. I had been so certain that there was a perfect match out there for me, but I was beginning to wonder. What if I never found anyone? I�d give up skating. I�d find a different job, a different dream. God help me, I don�t think I could just invent a new dream! For as long as I could recall, I�d been an ice dancer. It was my life. I had a meeting with the head coach of the CPA club in an hour, so I headed off to the rink a little early, hoping to scout out possible partners. The rink was almost empty, just a lone blonde girl twirling across the ice, her braid thumping against her back. She looked to be about 17 years old. Her nose was dusted with a multitude of freckles and she had the prettiest smile I had ever seen. I glanced down at my watch, 12:03. I was late for my meeting! What had happened to the past 40 minutes? I had been totally captivated by a teenager�s practice. Mentally reproving myself, I hurried out of the stands and into the office. There was an older man seated behind the oak desk. �Hello! You must be Dominic Riefen,� he boomed in a deep voice, �I�m Philipe Treseau. We have two young ladies that are eager to try out with you. Let�s head over to the rink. They should already be warming up.� �Sure. I�d just like to thank you up front for your time.� �Not a problem.� We walked on in silence. �Here we are. We�ll just be using this end of the rink.� A petite brunette skated over to where we stood. �This is Jeanne,� Philipe informed me, �She doesn�t speak English very well yet� I don�t suppose�� He left the thought hanging. �I do know a little bit of French,� I replied hesitantly. Truthfully, I hadn�t spoken the language in years. How much would I remember? �Bonjour Jeanne. Je m�appelle Dominic.� I said, introducing myself. �Bonjour Nick. J�ai entendu beaucoup appropos de toi! J�aime patiner. Toi, tu aimes patiner aussi? Et tu parles fran�ais! J��tais tr�s nerveuse parce que mon anglais est si horrible!� She blurted out all at once. I understood most of what she�d said, in a general sense. �Est-ce que vous voulez commencer aujourd�hui?� asked Treseau, waiting impatiently for us to start. Jeanne and I skated out to the center of our half of the rink. �Un waltz peut-�tre?� I suggested. �Non, je n�aime pas le waltz. Je veux faire un sarabande.� Well, if she wanted to skate a sarabande, I wasn�t going to argue. �Uhh, alright.� A song came on and we started the dance. Every single time either of us made the slightest mistake, Jeanne stopped and I was forced to start the steps all over again. She was fairly polite about it, and she was fairly talented but under no circumstances was I prepared to put up with this sort of perfectionism for the rest of my career. We had yet to get through a song without errors when Treseau called us over. �Alright, c�est tout le temps qu�on a. Vic, you need to try out with Sarah,� I heaved a sight of relief. Thank god that was over! A red haired woman, about my own age skated over, and Philipe introduced us. �Dominic, this is Sarah McNeal. Sarah, this is Dominic Riefen. �Good, it�s about time you found me a possible partner,� Sarah exclaimed, �This one looks better on paper than the last dolt you set me up with. I hope he is a half-decent skater.� Sarah didn�t even care that I was standing right there, listening to the entire conversation. Ah well, maybe her skill would make up for the attitude problem. I was really getting desperate! After one trip around the ice together I knew her skill didn�t even out the odds in her favour. Unfortunately I had to at least finish the dance. I tuned out, allowing my feet to do their thing while I scanned the ice surface. The girl I had been so transfixed by earlier, glided gracefully across the rink to speak with Treseau. After a minute she span around. She was staring straight at me! Her eyes were a pale brown, without a speck of a darker colour. I was drawn irrevocably into those strangely beautiful tawny eyes. Before I knew what was happening, Sarah and I were on our butts in the middle of the ice. �You clumsy oaf! I wouldn�t skate with you if you paid me!� Sarah shrieked as she scambled to her feet and stormed off the ice. The blonde was trying to hide her infectious grin. She didn�t succeed and I found myself laughing at my predicament. Shaking his head, Philipe skated over to help me up. �I�m aware that you�re a very busy man Dominic, but Ally has just started in ice dance and she was wondering if you could�� I was going to say no until I realized that the girl was still standing nearby. Could that be Ally? �There�s only an empty hotel room waiting for me. I�m game!� When he glanced down to the other end of the rink, the opposite direction from the blonde, my heart caught in my throat. Then he looked over his other shoulder, �Oh, there you are! I lost you for a moment. Dominic, this is Allison Monroe. Now, go skate!� Ally grinned at him and replied, �Sure thing coach!� She slipped over to my side, �I know that I�m not nearly at your level, but if you could just give me some pointers�� In answer I grabbed her hand. Big mistake. A tingly shock bolted up my arm. I stared at her, and from the expression on her face, I concluded she�d felt it as well. �How old are you?� I asked while we waited for the music to start. �I�ll be sixteen in January,� Ally replied, still smiling. Did this girl ever get upset? A waltz came over the loud speaker and we set off. My strides shortened automatically as hers lengthened so that we were perfectly synchronized. She was smaller than many of the ladies I had skated with, at least 7 inches shorter than me. We whirled through the dance. When we stopped I made the most important decision of my life up to that point. �Allison Monroe, will you skate with me?� I asked bluntly and somewhat nervously. Her mouth dropped wide open; even Treseau appeared shocked. Then Ally�s eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. �Absolutely!� Ally trilled, �When do we start?�
