It’s winter and we decided to go ice skating. It feels like forever since I’ve done it one time as a kid. Hopefully, I remember how it works. When I finally have my skates on, Nat takes our stuff and puts it into a rented locker and helps me up. I stumble a little because it’s different, but get the hang of it pretty fast and follow her to the ice-skating ring. Luckily, there aren’t a lot of people here today. Nat casually goes onto the ice and it looks so easy, but it’s not. I stumble a little and she grabs my arms to keep me up. We get out of the way slowly and I have to admit that I had it easier in mind. “Are you okay?” Nat asks with a little grin and I nod. “It’s just a little slippery.” “Well, that’s because it’s ice.” She teases a little but kisses my lips when I pout at her. “You’ll soon get the hang of it. Here.” I take her outstretched hand and we slowly start to move. Even though I can lean on her a little for balance, it’s still hard to hold the balance. For a second she thinks about how to help me, before she holds out both her hands for me to take. I do so and after looking behind her, she slowly starts to pull me, still facing me. Since I’m now holding both her hands, I can hold my balance better and slowly start to get a feeling on how to move. We stay like this for a few rounds until I feel more and more safe and she carefully lets go of one hand and goes back to skating next to me. A smile creeps onto my lips as it starts to be fun and I enjoy skating next to her. After a lot of rounds, we decide to take a little break and go to the little café of the ice-skating-ring. A little while later, the waitress brings us our hot chocolates and we drink them while chatting about random stuff. My body warms up again, after the cold and I take another sip of my chocolate. When our drinks are empty, we pay and put back on our hats and gloves and I have to say, Nat is looking adorable with a hat. We go back onto the ice and skate a few more rounds and I feel myself getting better with each round. I feel safe enough to try it without holding her hand, even though I really liked it. I’m not fast but I don’t fall and move forwards, so that’s a win.
Nat takes the time and tells me that she’ll skate a few rounds on her own and I nod, leaving her her freedom. “Two last rounds?” I debate and look at her with puppy dog eyes after she suggested to get back home. As often when I look at her like this, she gives in and we slowly skate two more rounds and I enjoy the time, holding her hand and seeing her cold red cheeks. After we got off the ice and brought our skates back, we head to the car. I grin a little and we start to drive home after a wonderful date.
© Daria Lehmann 2022-08-09