Chapter 3
Victor�s POV: The rain pelted down heavily on the roof of my car. My head was swimming�how could all of this happen? How could I mess so much up when it all felt so right? I couldn�t focus�I had to pull over. I put the car in park and rested my head in my hands. How could so many lives just fall apart when things felt so right? For the first time that I could remember, things just fit. I didn�t have to try to be anything other that what I was and that was enough. I laughed more, smiled more�loved more in the past few months than I had my entire life. I smiled and thought back to when it was all fresh and new�. -Setting: Same as Shae's in Ch.2 Feeling the sun shining brightly on my face, I grimaced and buried my face deeper into the pillow beside me. A few more minutes of sleep wouldn�t hurt. Besides, I was up late last night. Then, I heard my pillow begin to snore softly. I opened my eyes cautiously, still trying to find my bearings. I was still in the living room and Shae-Lynn was snuggled in the crook of my arm. We both must have drifted off sometime after one, after talking for hours prior. Something told me that I should get up and wake her�that since I was engaged and she was living with Nikolai, it was wrong. But no matter how much my head told me that it was wrong, my heart told me even more how right it felt. A feeling of pure happiness washed over my body as I pulled her closer to me and marveled at how perfectly she fit against my body. She cuddled closer to me and sighed. �She must think I�m Nikolai,� I thought sadly as I prepared myself to allow her to leave my arms. �Vic?� She mumbled, her voice groggy from just waking up. �Are you still here?� Her eyes remained closed and she made no efforts to move from my arms. My heart skipped a beat. She knew that she was with me! My head was filled with confused thoughts. Why was I feeling this way about Shae? She was my buddy and skating partner for years. Nothing more ever developed from that in the past. Why was this changing now? �Yeah,� I replied quickly. �Yes, I�m still here, Shae. Do you know what time it is?� �Uh�� She strained her eyes to see the clock by the end table. Her eyes just about shot out of her head, cartoon-style, when she saw what it read. �Crap, Vic. We�ve got fifteen minutes to get to practice on time!� I don�t think either of us had ever moved that fast in our lives. Shoes were thrown on and skating bags we grabbed and we were out the door in ten seconds, flat. We sped quickly down the street in silence. If we were late, Nikolai would have our heads and if we showed up late together�well, he wouldn�t be happy and that would make for a really difficult practice. �Don�t worry, Shae. We�re going to get there,� I assured her, tapping her hand gently. �I know but Nikolai�� She skidded quickly into a parking space, we grabbed our stuff and began to run. �Shae, don�t let him intimidate you, ok? You don�t have to explain anything,�. We finally got in the rink and were relieved to see that Nikolai wasn�t there yet. �I know,� She said softly, as we tied our skates quickly. �I�m trying to work on that.� She added with grin. It was one of those goofy grins that she sometimes allows to slip through. Shae-Lynn likes to emote a real sophistication, which she has, but when we joke around together that silly girl that I first paired up with always shines through that hard exterior. �How could he not appreciate her?� I thought to myself. I couldn�t believe I was allowing myself to think like this. I was engaged to be married�to a woman who obviously loved me very much. I had to stop, for my sake and for Maikki�s. �Did you notice how he didn�t even come home last night?� Shae asked quietly as we stepped on the ice. I grimaced. �I was hoping you didn�t notice,� She shrugged. �Well, I figured that he would see us sleeping on the couch and that probably would have bothered him for some reason. Anyway, when I wasn�t woken up to slurred Russian swearing, I figured he never came home,� I looked at her, concerned. �Are you ok?� She took a deep breath and then looked up at me confidently. �It still hurts but I�m getting over it. I will be ok,� �Of course you will,� I said wrapping my arm around her. She smiled brightly back up at me. Suddenly, the rink door slammed shut. I dropped my arm and shifted my gaze upwards to see an obviously exhausted Nikolai walking towards the ice. �Ok, let�s get to work,� He announced gruffly, as he sat down on the bench next to the ice. Shae looked at me and rolled her eyes. Then, we did exactly what he asked. We got to work. Weeks past and our skating continued to improve. Shae just came alive again. The old Shae that was so happy slowly but surely broke through that tough exterior that she had used for so long and it showed in every movement she made on the ice. Nikolai continued to stay out at all hours and show Shae-Lynn a sort of kind hostility when he was around. Instead, of being alone like she was in the past, we were now spending every free moment we had with each other. It wasn�t at all like I was doing a favor for her or that I felt bad for her, which she sometimes asked me in the beginning. The more time we spent together, the more we discovered we had in common. We learned more about each other in only a few short months than we did in all our partnerships. �So you�re coming over tonight, right?� I asked as Shae-Lynn and I walked out the rink. �You even have to ask?� she asked with a wink. I guess you could say there was always a type of flirtatious nature between Shae and I since very close to the beginning. We were always very unaware of it. It just happened. Everyone would call us on it, yet we just shrugged it off. It was natural for us to act that way towards each other. Acting any other way wouldn�t be normal. Lately, I couldn�t help but notice all the times I would find myself stealing glances of her, the way I would linger closer to her when I whispered in her ear during practice, the way I craved her attention, her touch�this wasn�t normal for us. Maybe it was all the time we suddenly found together�maybe it was that we finally found someone else who knew exactly how the other felt. At first, I thought it was just me�or at least just in my imagination but then, I noticed the same from her. I would notice the way she would stare right back at me in a way she never had before, her eyes soft and focused only on me. I noticed the way she would smile back at me when I leaned in to talk to her during practice, they way she too would allow her hand to gently brush mine one too many times. It scared me to death that , in these occurances, I would feel more joy, more excitement, more vitality than I ever had in my whole relationship with Maikki. We did the usual. She went home to change and then drove over to my place, which wasn�t any more than ten minutes away and just settled in. �You up for Pizza?� I called from the kitchen. She looked at me warily. �I am supposed to maintain a steady 114 pounds, Vic,� I rolled my eyes. �Please, I haven�t seen you gain a pound since the day we started skating together,� �And that�s why I eat healthy,�. I could see her trying not to smile. She loved to bicker with me. She especially loved to be right. �Come on�live dangerously. Besides, I�m the one that would have to deal with it if you did gain�god forbid�a pound or two,� She began to lose her battle and a small smile started to grow on her face. �Ok, you win,� �Yeah!� I exclaimed raising my right hand to her face. �Come on, high five�taking risks�living on the edge,� She began to laugh and weakly slapped my hand. �You�re insane.� I shrugged as I picked up the phone and called the pizza place. �Nothing we both didn�t already know,�. I ordered a large cheese pizza for the both of us and a side Caesar salad to make Shae-Lynn happy. I walked out into the living room to find Shae already searching through the channels. �Find anything good?� I asked sitting closely next to her. She looked up at me and smiled, obviously aware of how close we were sitting. �Don�t worry�I will. No way I�m letting you get this thing like you did last time,� She made a point to hold the remote far away from me. �Are you accusing me of hogging the remote?� She nodded with a grin. �You�re a definite clicker-hog,�. Leave it to Shae-Lynn to not try to sugar coat anything. She went back to switching through. Then she landed on it. She squealed and I groaned. �Sleepless in Seattle! And look! It�s right at the beginning!� There is nothing more painful to a straight man than watching a romantic comedy. First of all, there is no comedy in these movies. No one is getting hit with anything�no one is falling down. For a man, this is not funny. To be up-front with you, it�s two hours of hell. �Shae, do we have to watch this?� I whined. She turned and looked at me. �Vic, there�s nothing else on. It�s either this or�� She picked up the remote and went back a few channels to an older woman sitting behind a desk answering questions. �Ah, Dr. Sue�s Sunday Night Sex Show,�. She turned up the volume and gestured for me to watch the TV. �And when your husband touches your�.� The old woman began to demonstrate with two dolls. �NO! NO!NO!NO!� I screamed covering my face. It was horrible. Imagine your grandmother teaching you about sex�but worse. Shae began to laugh hysterically. �Change it!� I exclaimed, trying to find the remote. She quickly changed it back to Sleepless in Seattle. �Vic, it�s nothing you didn�t know,� I paused and tried to compose myself. �But, Shae, she�s�.old!� I shuddered. �That really was disturbing. Anyone could just switch that on and watch that!� Shae-Lynn continued to laugh. �Glad to see you�re enjoying this,� She nodded and rested her head on my shoulder. �Always,� I sighed and prepared myself to two long hours. I glanced down at Shae-Lynn who was making herself comfortable against my body. Maybe they wouldn�t be as bad as I thought.
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