Free Breaking the Ice by Mandy Baggot Page B

off the ice and straightened her leg behind her, copying a move from the Miss Saigon routine. She smiled to herself. She was shaky but she had tried it and no one had seen her. She felt like a naughty schoolgirl doing something she shouldn’t. It was unlike her, she didn’t do anything she shouldn’t, but this felt fun.
    She was so busy racing back round the rink to try the move again she didn’t see Jimmy taking to the ice behind her. She pushed off, gained momentum and gingerly lifted her leg up behind her again.
    ‘ Nice work,’ Jimmy announced, appearing at the side of her.
    Samantha panicked, shocked at the sound of a voice so close to her. Her leg came down, she slipped in her desperation to stop herself and she landed with a bump on the hard, cold floor, jarring her back. Dainty and coordinated, hmm.
    ‘ God, I’m sorry. I thought you heard me come on the ice, I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you OK?’ Jimmy asked, bending down beside her.
    ‘ I’m fine. I was just being stupid. I’m sorry I was on the ice, I didn’t think anyone else was here,’ Samantha responded, quickly getting to her feet.
    ‘ Just me and some guy on the bar. He let me back in. What are you still doing here?’ Jimmy wanted to know.
    ‘ Cleaning up, health and safety regulations. It all has to be properly disposed of,’ Samantha informed him.
    ‘ I can imagine. So are you going to keep me company? Skate a while?’ Jimmy asked her.
    ‘ No. No, I should get going. Cleo will be wondering where I am,’ Samantha spoke, skating across the rink towards the exit.
    ‘ I don’t think she will. She seemed rather attached to Jeremy. Said they were going for an Indian and then on to a club,’ Jimmy responded, following her to the edge of the ice.
    ‘ You met Cleo! Oh I’m glad. She’ll be so pleased, she thinks you’re fantastic,’ Samantha gushed, happy for her sister.
    ‘ I didn’t have a lot of choice. She burst into my dressing room with two other women with really blonde hair. They screamed a lot and wanted photos,’ Jimmy told her with a smile.
    ‘ That was Chantelle and Harmony. They work with her,’ Samantha answered, preparing to get off the rink.
    ‘ Come on, don’t go. Skate with me a bit, tell me what you thought of the show,’ Jimmy asked her.
    He had put his hand out and touched her bare arm. Her arm wouldn’t usually be bare but she’d got awfully hot sweeping up and had to remove her Civic Hall jumper. Now she was wearing the short-sleeved Civic Hall polo shirt and he’d touched skin. Her stomach turned over and she felt sick. Then the words were tumbling to her lips again, threatening to gush.
    ‘ I’m sorry about earlier, about the coughing and the laughing and for what I said - you know - the rehab thing,’ Samantha blurted out, her temperature rising and the headache returning.
    ‘ Come and skate with me,’ Jimmy urged her and he took hold of her hand.
    His hand was firm and warm and not unpleasant to hold. He was coaxing her back onto the ice, smiling. She didn’t want to offend him, it would be rude to be rude and she kind of knew him. It wouldn’t be like touching the fingers of an acne-faced Tesco employee.
    She stepped back onto the ice and let him lead her back into skating around the rink.
    ‘ So did you enjoy the show?’ Jimmy enquired as he let go of her hand and they skated alongside each other.
    ‘ Well obviously, for the most part, I had to pay attention to the audience - to ensure there were no breaches of Civic Hall regulations. But what I did see was very entertaining,’ Samantha replied.
    Jimmy laughed out loud at her response. It was a nice laugh, warm and deep and it made his eyes wrinkle at the edges.
    ‘ What?’ Samantha queried, unaware she had said anything to provoke laughter.
    ‘ I really don’t know whether you’re being serious or not,’ Jimmy told her.
    Samantha didn’t reply, she didn’t like being laughed at, even if it was a nice laugh. And she really