AnguiSH (31 page)

“What?”
Ovailia said, her voice airy with surprise. Why she was surprised I had no idea. I had always assumed it would take pigs standing and walking to surprise her.

“I do not need to remind you of
Ilyan’s proclamation regarding who is acting in his stead do I?” Talon wrapped his arm around me, pressing my shoulder into him.

“No, I quite remember,” she said snottily, the airy confusion in her voice gone now.

I stared at Ovailia intently, the nerves in my spine jumping sporadically. Something about the way Ovailia shifted her feet was freaking me out. Her whole body was screaming liar! Run! But I couldn’t tear my eyes from the icy blue of her eyes, and the way her lips curled in warning.

“Speaking of
Ilyan,” Ovailia asked, her voice hesitant, “How is my dear brother?”

“Wonderful,” Talon said his voice pinched.

Ovailia smiled, but said nothing. She ended the conversation with one scowl and Talon began to lead me out of the large room, the basket perched on his hip.

“Oh and
Wynifred,” Ovailia sneered the moment we had passed her, “I wouldn’t go poking around corners if I were you.”

“Is that a threat?” I hissed
, my body pulling away from Talon as my magic surged angrily.

“Of course.”

I wanted to lunge at her, but instead I let Talon’s strong arm around my waist serve as a warning as I let him drag me out of the roughly carved chamber and into the smooth stone halls that would take us to our room. I didn’t feel comfortable just leaving her there, but something in Talon’s body language begged me to.

So I complied, choosing instead to stick my tongue out at the stone wall that stood between us.

Yes, sometimes I was just that childish.

Chapter 1 - Sara

"No!"
I said yet again.

"Please?"
 

"No!"
I pushed my hand through my natural curly, brown hair in frustration. 

"When was the last time you were out?"

I
stared at my best friend right in the eyes and stated firmly, "I went to the grocery store last night.” 

My petite friend put her hand on her hips and hissed, “
That is not what I meant."

I slapped my hand to my forehead, “Rachel, I do not like hockey.
Why would you want to go with me?”

Rachel
looked at me once more and pointed her manicured finger at me. “Look, I got a great deal on these tickets and you are going. I will pick you up at six pm. No excuses.” She turned and walked out of my office. I really don’t know why I even try to argue with her.

Rachel ha
d been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Every good and bad memory I have, she is right there with me. I know that she is just doing this because I have not been out in almost a year.

Wow, has it been that long!
It seemed like yesterday that I remember waking up, only seeing the ceiling above me in the hospital. I could still feel every pin, needle, and stitch that was in my body. I could still hear Rachel crying in the corner waiting for me to wake up. The smell of disinfectant and sadness still haunted me.

I closed my eyes so the tears
wouldn’t show themselves. I knew that I could not cry about it, anymore.
Push it out of your mind. Don’t think about it.

However, with everything that happened
, I did care for him. He was in my life every single day for two years and even though a long time had passed, my thoughts still wandered back to him, despite knowing that they shouldn’t.
No! Let's focus on work.

Being an attorney is what I am good at and being here is where I felt more complete
. I turned my attention back to the brief that I was drafting when my legal assistant, Charity, came in.

"Do you need anything before I leave?” Charity was the kindest person that I knew and the greatest assistant anyone could ask for.

"No, thank you. I am going to try to finish this up before I am forced to be with Rachel tonight.” Though, I really didn’t want to go.

"I heard Rachel talked you into going to the game."

"Like I had a choice with her," I scoffed. Charity laughed.

"I think it’s great.
See you tomorrow." Charity always had a positive attitude. I smiled at her as she walked out the door.

             
Looking at the clock, I realized it was five pm.
Ugh!
 If I was going to make it home to change and go with Rachel, I had to leave now.
Good thing this brief was not due tomorrow
. I shut down the computer, grabbed my jacket and purse, and shut my office door. I turned and headed toward the stairs. I was still scared of small spaces so I never took an elevator. It’s a fear that I have not overcome since the accident.

"Sara, are you leaving already?" Charles, the security guard,
looked over at me. He was an older man, with a very kind heart. He was retired military and in better shape than I could even think of. Rachel had hired him and he was always looking out for me and the girls.

"I know it is almost unheard of
, but Rachel is forcing me to go to a hockey game with her tonight."

“That little girl is something else.
You have fun tonight.”I smiled my best fake smile and headed down the eight flights of stairs.

Mother Nature brought cold winds from the lakefront in Chicago.
I should be used to this
, I thought as I headed down the street to my apartment. I have lived in the city all my life and had no use for a car. Instead, I clenched my jacket tighter and pulled my scarf higher.

Walking home in the brisk wind, with the sounds of the street all around
me, brought back memories of us walking hand-in-hand, not even minding the cold. We would talk about our future, our lives together, but that all is changed now. Closing my eyes I can see his smile, hear his laugh, feel all the love I felt for him. His words that he loved me would make my heart beat until I felt it would burst. We were perfect together in every way, until that day.

As I reached my apartment the tears were close to spill
ing over.
I can’t keep thinking about the old days, I need to move on.

Rachel found this place for me and moved everything in for me.
Although, I have been here for month, it still does not feel like home. I have not put anything on the walls. Packed boxes lined the corner. Looking around I realized I could not keep this up.

I need to decorate soon.

             
I realized that I would need to hurry. If there is one thing that Rachel was never late for, it was hockey. She lived and breathed the Chicago Eagles.
Why does she like the dumb sport anyway? All they do it fight
. I rushed to get ready and with ten minutes to spare I had on a pair of jeans, red polo shirt, gray jacket, and hair was in a low side ponytail to hide some of the scars. My contacts were killing me, so I put on my glasses. The thick purple frames brought out the green in my eyes but Rachel still called them "nerd" glasses. I looked in the mirror and decided I looked okay. I was average height with long curly hair. I have a good build, a little thick here and there but still pretty. When I was with him, I cared about what I ate and worked out all the time. Mainly, because that was what he liked. Even though I never had a serious complex about my size, like other girls had, I did it for him. Now, I worked out when I had the time and ate when and what I wanted.

             
A loud knock brought me out of my thoughts. I knew she would be early
.
"Let's go! I don’t want to be late," Rachel hollered through the door.

"I thought the game started at
seven," I said as I opened the door and looked at my petite-with-supermodel-good-looks friend. If she was taller she would be on every magazine cover in every country. However, she was short and had the brains of a genius.

 
              "It does, but they warm up first," she said as she flipped her blonde hair and headed toward the stairs. I rolled my eyes and sighed, then grabbed my purse and followed.

A preview of Melting Away
The Ice by Mary Smith

As we pulled up to the Chicago Center, Rachel was on the verge of losing her patience. Traffic was crazy around the Center and it seemed to take forever to get there. We had to walk a short distance to get to the check-in line and Rachel was bouncing around like a giddy school girl. When we made it through the large crowd to our seats I stated to her, "This is not your first hockey game."

 
              "No, but it’s my first in the glass section," she firmly clarified.

 
              "True. How did you get these tickets again?" I knew these seats had to be expensive since we were right against the glass.

 
              "I got them from the greatest site ever, the NHL Exchange.” Just then she squealed and was on her feet, cheering. The Eagles were taking the ice for warm ups. The people around us looked just as happy as Rachel, yelling for their favorite player and talking trash to the other team. All I could do was shake my head as I noticed that she was wearing Eagles gear from head to toe. She beamed with pride as the team skated around. S
he does love this team.

 
              I looked all around me. I was used to the Chicago Center since I came for NBA games, but the interior looked much smaller with the huge hockey rink in the middle. I had been to a few hockey games in my lifetime, but never liked the sport, considering it’s just a bunch of toothless, barbarians, skating around and fighting all the time. I sighed hoping that this game would go fast because I just wanted to go home.

 
              "Are you paying any attention?” Rachel stared at me.

"Did the game start?" I snapped back.

               "No, they are warming up and you look like your puppy just died,"

C
lose,
 
I have a broken spirit.

 
              "Why I should care about this warm up?" I asked.

 
              Rachel crossed her arms and gave the "stare down" that was quite frightening. "You will have fun tonight or so help me I will toss you in the lake." With that being said, there was no point in arguing.

"Fine," I sighed
, and just like that Rachel was a giddy school girl again. She began rambling about the players and the game. I stared at the ice as Rachel kept talking.

There were red jerseys everywhere.
They all looked graceful on the ice, as I watched them skate. Some looked so serious like number 19. Others were smiling, laughing and joking around like number 88 and number 10. Except there was one number 99, just standing there and not really moving.

Strange
, I thought.
Why isn’t he skating?
He was off to the side just watching the team. There was something about him, through. I couldn’t quite read his face.