Chapter 5
Shae�s POV: I hurried down to the lobby, thinking I was late. I carefully scanned the room, looking for Vic and was relieved to see that he wasn�t there waiting for me. He always teased me for taking so long to get ready, regardless of what we were doing. I was lucky to find Jen fast asleep when I got into the room. I quickly got changed, fixed my hair and make-up and jotted down a quick note to let Jen I was going out with Victor. I glanced at my watch. Where was he? I began to worry that maybe he had just changed his mind. That maybe he has decided to just shut himself up again. Just then, I heard the sound of the elevator opening. I glanced up to see Victor hurrying over to me. �Sorry,� he said quickly. �I was trying to be quiet and not wake up my roommate so I couldn�t rush too much.� I laughed. �I�m lucky my roommate could sleep through an earthquake and not even flinch!� I looked around at the somewhat deserted lobby. There were still some people milling around, mostly staff workers, even at this late hour. �Um, do you want to stay here?� I asked hesitantly. I really didn�t want to talk to him in a setting where there were people of any kind around. I wanted it to be just us. He shook his head quickly. �No, I don�t want anyone else around. I want it to be just us,� I smiled at him. �You�ve read my mind�but, uh�where will we go?� He grabbed my hand and my heart skipped a beat. I was shocked at that reaction. Victor�s been holding my hand for over ten years now. There was just something different in it tonight. There was something deliberate, something gentle, something spontaneous about it. It wasn�t like when he takes my hand on the ice�it was somehow different and scary yet exhilarating at the same time. Sparks seemed to fly. Trying to keep my emotions in check and not allow him to see the look of pleasant shock on my face, I allowed him to continue. �Come here,� he said as he pulled me to one the main desk. He spoke quietly to the desk clerk. The man smiled and handed him a small package. Then, we walked away. �What was that?� I asked once we were out of ear shot. �Wouldn�t you like to know,� He said with a joking grin, jabbing him gently in the side with my elbow. �Vic�.� I warned �Just come with me. There was another reason why I took so long in my room,� I grinned and followed him out the door. �Do I want to know?� I kidded. �Funny�� Giggling, I followed him to a small blue Honda Accord. �What�s this?� I asked. �I figured that nothing would be open at this time and there was no way we could have a real conversation in our rooms since we were sharing soooo�� He gestured to the car. �You bought a car?!� I squealed, jumping up and down, squeezing his arm. His face drooped slightly. �Um, no�I rented a car,� I tried to stifle my laughter. �Oh�.of�of course�� It was obvious he would see I was trying not to laugh and started to milk it for all it was worth. �Sorry to disappoint you, Ms. Bourne,� He said opening my door and helping me in. �Not everyone can afford to buy a car at the drop of a hat,�. He spoke with a gleam in his eye that indicated clearly to me that he was saying everything in all fun. �I guess this will do,� I said in a mock rich voice. �But reeeally, Victor�.a rental? You mean, REGULAR people have used this vehicle? That�s dreadful!� The corners of his mouth began to tug upward into a smile. ��Fraid so, Miss,� I burst out laughing. This is what I enjoyed most about Victor, I decided. He was the only person I knew that really played along with me. I never had so much with anyone like I did with Victor. We were able to have fun in any situation and find humor in anything. We both knew that, most of the time, those around us didn�t understand what we were laughing or talking about but it didn�t really matter. We would be having fun and that was all that mattered. There were so many times with boyfriends in the past that I would try to joke around with them like this and they thought of me almost as a little kid. Like I didn't know how to take things seriously. I noticed that especially in my relationship with Nikolai. He spoke to me almost as a child and got frustrated with me when I wanted to just be goofy. He thought being an adult was being serious all the time and that was something I couldn't deal with all the time. �Really, in all seriousness Vic, where are we going?� I asked as he turned on the car and slowly pulled away from the curb. �The clerk told me of a good place to go where we can just sit and talk. It�s only supposed to be 10 minutes away. You game?� He asked, glancing over quickly with a smile that made my heart skip a beat. �You know it,� I said and settled back into the seat. Victor�s POV: I followed the winding country roach slowly, trying to find the turn the desk clerk told me about. I wanted to just be with Shae-Lynn in a place where we were both comfortable, both at peace and able to just sit and talk. It didn�t have to be about anything in particular. We could even avoid the subjects that seemed difficult and just speak�anything to just calm ourselves after such a long and disappointing day. I also had to admit, I was beginning to chicken out about telling Shae of my feelings. Even though I was so comfortable with her, just being with her made me nervous. It reminded me of the way I felt with girls I had an innocent crush on when I was younger. You get that feeling of butterflies in your stomach. You begin to worry that you will say the wrong thing and make yourself out to be an idiot. You have trouble forming sentences just because looking at them makes your heart race. That�s how I felt with Shae-Lynn and it was overwhelming to me. I glanced over to see Shae-Lynn looking out the window. She began to tuck her hair behind her ear and smooth it gently. I smiled to myself. Shae had all these little mannerisms that let you know exactly what she was feeling. I think I was probably the only person in the world that picked up on it, just because I am around her so much. The simple motion of tucking her hair behind her ear usually indicated to me that she was nervous. As silly as it sounds, it made me feel better about the knots I had in my stomach at that point. She glanced over and caught me looking at her. I felt my face turn red and quickly turned my attention back on the road. �What?� I heard her ask, her voice full of laughter. �What do you mean?� Play it cool, Kraatz�.just pretend like you weren�t ogling her from behind. �You know what I mean, Vic!� She said, allowing a small giggle to escape her lips. �What, do I have something on my face?� She quickly pulled the mirror down and began to examine her face frantically. I began to laugh at her antics. �It�s nothing really,�. She gave me a pointed looks. �It�s just that�.you�re really pretty, you know that?�. God, that was so corny. Her face softened and a sweet smile grew on her face. �Only you, Kraatz,� She said softly. �What do you mean?� I asked, silently cursing myself for being so damn sappy. I really belonged on some lame romantic comedy or something. �I can just depend on you. You always know what to say. I�.� She paused, looking for the right word to say. �Only you would say something so nice and genuine,� We paused, not knowing what to say. Luckily for us, we had just reached where the night clerk told us to go. �Here we are,� I said, pulling into a parking space, happy to change the subject. I quickly got out of the car and ran to Shae-Lynn�s side. I opened the door and helped her out of the car. Despite the fact that it was February and in Salt Lake City, it was surprisingly warm out. It was enough to be outside and feel comfortable but not enough to melt the beautiful blanket of fresh, white snow around us. �What do you think?� I asked, gesturing around me. Shae�s POV: Victor helped me out of the car and I took in the sight in front of me. It was breathtaking. Where we stopped, we were looking out over a crisp blanket of snow. The mountains stood proudly in the background and the moonlight reflecting off of the caused the entire scene to sparkle. Everything looked so quiet and undisturbed. I felt as though I should talk in a whisper�just so I didn�t ruin what was already perfect. �Shae?� Realizing that I hadn�t said anything for the past few moments, I looked over at him quickly and turned to him with a reassuring look on my face. �This is absolutely beautiful, Vic,� I said truthfully. I walked over to the guardrail separating the busy road from the quiet peacefulness of the expanse in front of us. I looked out and just took it all in, trying to memorize every part of it all. I took a deep breath and smelled the fresh, invigorating smell of the air around us. I listened to the sound of snow falling gently from branch to branch. It was all such a nice distraction from the intense, relentless feelings of competition. I sat quietly, as I heard Victor walk around and sit next to me. Somehow, without me even telling him, Victor knew exactly what I needed. It wasn�t to be around other competitors, or to be with our coaches, or to be back at the athlete�s village. Hell, it wasn�t even to talk about what had happened or anything at all. It was just to be here and to enjoy each other�s company. To just be. Victor�s POV: We sat in silence, just over looking everything. We were just enjoying each other�s company and taking in the beautiful sight in front of us. Shae was the first to break the silence. �Really makes you put things into perspective, huh?� She asked turning to face me. I nodded silently. �I know what you mean,� I looked over at her and smiled. Her cheeks and nose had taken on a slightly rosy hue from being in the cold. �You cold?� I asked, wiping a few snowflakes off her freckled nose. She wrinkled her nose and laughed. � A little,� She admitted. �Maybe I should move around a little to warm up,� she grabbed my hand and pulled me up. �Where are we going?� �For a walk,� She said simply, linking her arm with mine. The snow began to fall slowly and made for a real picturesque setting. We walked a little while longer and stopped. �Why�d we stop?� Her eyes began to glisten and she smiled slyly. �What are you up to Shae?� I asked slowly. She only looked that way when she wanted to have �fun� which usually meant that it involved me doing something stupid. Think of me as an Ethel to her Lucy. That�s exactly what it was. �Oh�it�s nothing,� She said slowly, walking simply around. �It�s just that�well�I�� she reached over and pushed me swiftly in the snow. Not expecting it, I fell face first into the snow. I heard her snicker playfully and scamper away. �Shae-Lynn!� I exclaimed sitting up in disbelief. She could have thrown a snowball, she could have kicked a little snow at me. Nope, for Shae, pushing me into the snow is the only thing that constitutes as fun. She began to laugh harder. �I�I�m sorry�� She said in between fits of laughter. �really,� she said trying to calm herself down. She looked away and took deep breaths to try to control her laughter. She glanced back over at me, still in the snow and burst out laughing again. �Really�I am sorry, � She said �seriously� as she tried her hardest to stop laughing. �Let me help you,� She said extending her hand to help me. �Thanks, � I said, promptly pulling her into the snow with me. She began to laugh harder as she fell face first into the snow next to me. �Hey!� she exclaimed. I looked at her incredulously. �Wait a minute, Bourne,� I said trying to keep a straight face. �It�s ok to throw me into the snow but when I do it to you I�m�� �You�re mean,� She said matter of factly. I fought the smile growing on my face and shook my head. �Shae-Lynn logic, huh?� �Only the best,� She said with a wink. I looked at her and smiled. Even though her hair was in wet knots and her face was rosy from the cold, she looked angelic. The moonlight was reflecting off her hair and the snowflakes from the rapidly falling snow rested softly on her nose, hair and eyelashes. I wanted more than anything to kiss her then. We looked at each other in silence, both waiting to see what would happen. She was the first to say something. �Uh�wow�it�s really snowing, huh?� I looked around us. The snow seemed to pick up momentum in only seconds and it was growing with time. �Wow,� I said getting up and then reaching down to pull her up. �We better get going,� She nodded simply and we began to walk back to the car. Each step seemed harder and harder and before we knew it, it seemed as though we were stuck in a full on blizzard. �What are we going to do?� Shae-Lynn asked, her voice faltering just a bit. I thought and it hit me. �I saw a cave around here somewhere. If we can just find that, we can get out of the snow for awhile and wait for it to let up. Come on, let�s look.� We scanned the area and finally Shae-Lynn spotted it. We trudged against the powerful and quickly falling snow and finally made our way to it. It wasn�t anything big, but it was shelter and that was what we needed right now. I knew better than anyone what could happen to a person out in the snow for an hour. From skiing all my life, I�ve seen that frostbite sets in, pneumonia sets in and then a person is done for. I tried to clear out as much dirty brush as possible that was in there and Shae and I settled in. Luckily, we had both dressed warmly before we left in winter coats, hats and gloves. We always got into that habit after living in Lake Placid for so long. We sat there in silence, both alone with each other and the ever present thoughts running through our heads.
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