by Kiki Archer
Jenna jumped up and wrapped the little girl in a full bodied hug. “You’re gorgeous, Daisy. You have perfect porcelain skin, you have the most beautiful dainty little china doll features, and best of all you’ve got a totally wicked smile.”
Daisy looked up and grinned, showing off her slightly wonky teeth. “You’re so nice, Jenna.” She lowered her voice. “I wish Madam Quinn did like you.”
Jenna bent down to the little girl’s ear. “Oh don’t worry, she does.”
Daisy did a little squeal and jumped around to leave. “I need to go and have breakfast. I’m hungry. Madam Quinn, you should sit down and tell Jenna what’s been going on. I want her to know what I told you.” She smiled. “You two can bond over me.”
Susan stood up and watched the little girl rush from the room. She turned to Jenna as the door slammed shut. “You are so terrible.”
Jenna waved away the remark. “I’m not. We used to gossip about Madam Fisher and Professor Richards all of the time. Kids love this kind of stuff.”
Susan frowned. “I didn’t gossip about anyone.”
Jenna stepped forwards and reached out to tuck Susan’s brown hair behind her ears. “That’s right. You were too busy being a good girl.” She started to lean in closer. “I think you have some making up to do.”
Susan stepped backwards, sending Jenna off balance. “What are you doing?”
Jenna caught hold of herself and frowned. “I’m trying to kiss you.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
Susan flattened her lilac fleece. “We’d been drinking last night. It was late. We were alone.”
Jenna reached out and stopped Susan’s hands from flapping. She kept hold of them and squeezed lightly. “I didn’t kiss you because I’d been drinking. I didn’t kiss you because it was late.” She paused and spoke clearly. “I kissed you because I like you.”
Susan closed her eyes. “You don’t.”
Jenna moved in closer. “I do.”
Susan’s mind was in overdrive. She should be out in the dining room, greeting the students. She should be talking to Marcus about the phone call. She should be doing anything other than standing alone with Jenna and desperately wanting to be kissed. She took a deep breath and found the courage to look up. “You like me?”
Jenna gently reached forwards and held Susan’s face. “Yes, I like you. But I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do. Last night you asked me to stop, so I stopped.” She smiled. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try and restart things again this morning.” Jenna maintained the eye contact and punctuated every word. “I. Like. You. Susan. Quinn.”
Susan felt her heart surge. Jenna was staring at her with earnest eyes. Could this really be happening? Was this really how it felt? Susan’s response was quiet. “I think I might like you a bit too.”
Jenna smiled and moved her hands down to Susan’s waist. “You only think?” She drew their bodies together. “And it’s only a bit?” She gently stroked a thumb up and down Susan’s back. “Let’s see if we can change that to a know.” Jenna moved her head forwards and kissed Susan slowly. “And a lot.”
Susan closed her eyes and melted.
Chapter Thirteen
“Please can we go, Madam? Please?” Champagne Willington had her ski poles clasped together in front of her chest and was begging her teacher. “We’ll go with Hugo this morning and we’ll come back with you two after lunch.” She glanced around at the girls who were all clustered together in their allocated groups. “Please say yes, they’re about to go.”
Susan ignored the wide eyes and bent down to close the clips on her boots. She looked sideways at Jenna who was also crouching down and dusting the snow off her skis. “Where’s Hugo going?” she asked.
Jenna’s smile was wide and her dimple was deep. “He’s taking the intermediates over to the penguin play park.” She eased herself back up and grinned at an eager Champagne. “I told the girls how much fun it is. They have obstacles to ski through, moguls to dodge, and there’s even a ski jump you can try.”
Susan stood up straight and stamped her skis, ensuring they were secure. “So why aren’t we going?”
Jenna rolled her eyes teasingly. “We’re the advanced group. We ski long distance endurance routes. We don’t mess around at the penguin play park. Plus it’ll be full of ski-school kids.”
Priggy clomped out of Sylvie’s boot room, wary of the slippery decking. She dropped her skis onto the snow and nodded at Champagne. “Are you talking about the play park?”
Champagne pouted. “Madam Quinn’s not said yes yet.”
Priggy clipped herself into her skis and stabbed her poles into the snow. “We want to go! Please? Hugo says it’s fine. It’s only for the morning session and I’ve always wanted to try a ski jump.”
“Pleaseeeeeeeeease,” pleaded Champagne, trying a different tack. “It’s only the second day. I think we need some more warming up before we do these endurance routes that you’re talking about.”
Susan shrugged her shoulders. “Fine. If that’s what you’re happy doing.”
“Yesssss!” laughed Champagne, sliding herself backwards and sidestepping towards the group of intermediates. “We’re allowed, Hugo!”
Jenna nodded at her colleague. “You’ve got two extras, Hugo, and watch it, they’re trouble.”
“We are not!” laughed Priggy, sidestepping in her long skis and joining the other group. She glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at her teacher. “I’ll see you at lunchtime,” she mouthed the last word, “Susan.”
“Très bon,” whistled Hugo, tapping his ski poles together above his head. “Follow me.”
Susan watched as the group of intermediates began to snake off behind their instructor. She turned to Jenna and shook her head. “You talked up that whole penguin play park area just to get them interested.”
Jenna nodded. “Totally. I wanted a morning alone with you. You can’t kiss me in Sylvie’s lounge and expect me to behave myself all morning.”
Susan laughed. “You kissed me, actually. Again.” She rubbed the side of her chin, and strained her eyes towards the group of intermediates that were almost out of sight. “I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with this on a professional level.”
“Yes you are.” Jenna pointed her ski pole in the direction of the beginners who were all clumsily carrying their equipment towards the cable car and heading back down to the ski garden for a second day. “All schools are different. Sometimes the teachers are beginners and they stay with Lisa all week. Sometimes I get a group of competent skiers who want me as their guide and they insist there’s not a student in sight.” She pulled her large beanie hat over her ears and smiled. “While the students are in their lessons they are the legal responsibility of the ski instructor. You, Madam Quinn, are totally free to relax for the next two hours.”
“And what’s your role?”
Jenna started to slide through the snow. “Let’s head over to the Nabor. I have a beautiful run planned.” She grinned. “I’m the facilitator. I’m the person who makes things happen. The person who makes sure that everyone’s needs are met.” She slid closer to Susan as they started to pick up pace down the small incline. “I’m going to make sure your needs are met.”
Susan reached out and hit Jenna’s pole with her own. “Stop it.”
“Make me,” laughed Jenna, bringing her skis together and speeding straight towards the bottom of the chairlift.
Susan felt a rush of butterflies. The wind was in her face, the sun was on her back, and her heart felt like it was dancing. She smiled to herself and sped after her old classmate.
Jenna reached the bottom of the slope and pulled to an abrupt scraping stop, noisily spraying snow against the metal barrier. She laughed as Susan pulled up beside her. “You’re grinning like a Cheshire Cat. It’s because we’re alone, isn’t it? You want this just as much as I do.”
Susan lifted her arm to the sensor and pushed
her way through the first barrier. “How long’s this chairlift?”
“It’s a short one. We’ll be on it for about three minutes. But then we’ll ski over to the Chavannes Express and that one’s much longer. Why?”
Susan slid forwards and positioned herself in front of the yellow barrier. “I want us to talk about this, but only once. I want us to get it all out in the open and then I just want to forget about it.”
Jenna pulled up next to her. “Forget about what? The kiss? The connection?”
Susan heard the beep and shuffled herself though the barrier. She stopped in the designated position and waited for the chairlift to scoop her up. “No, I want to forget about having to worry about the kiss and the connection.” She smiled. “But I think we’re actually onto kisses now. We’ve progressed to the plural.”
Jenna lifted herself slightly as the chairlift swung around the corner and hit the back of their thighs. She checked that Susan was in the right position and pulled down the safety bar. “You’re worrying about it?”
Susan moved her poles into her left hand and turned towards Jenna. “Of course I am. We kissed. Twice. I want to get it out in the open. I want to know where I stand.”
Jenna made a low groaning noise. “Let’s save that for the longer chairlift. Can we just keep it superficial for now?”
Susan frowned. “Superficial?”
“You know what I mean. Let’s not get too deep. We’ll be nudged off in two minutes.”
“So there’s nothing you need to know? Nothing you want to ask?”
Jenna tilted her head up and looked at the clear blue sky. She thought for a moment, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face. “Okay, tell me about the emotion you experienced when I kissed you.”
Susan laughed. “And that’s not deep?”
“No, there’s a difference between emotion and feeling. Emotions are raw, intense, passionate.” Jenna paused. “You can trust your emotions. But feelings.” She shook her head. “Feelings are dangerous. It’s when you start talking about feelings that it all gets too deep.”
Susan studied Jenna’s animated face and laughed again. “When was the last time you had a proper relationship?”
Jenna adjusted her beanie hat and pushed her shades further up her nose. “I’ve had lots of things with women and some of them have lasted a while, but nothing’s been exclusively relationship based.”
“Exclusively relationship based?”
Jenna flicked some snow off the safety bar. “Oh you know, I’ve had girlfriends but it’s always been in a loose, more friendshipy, type of way.”
Susan laughed. “Did they know that? These girlfriends of yours?”
“Why am I feeling uncomfortable? Tell me about you. Tell me about last night. Tell me about this morning. Tell me why you didn’t insist we stayed together as a group.”
Susan looked forwards and saw the drop-off point approaching. “You’ve said you don’t like deep, so I’ll keep it short and sweet and I’ll stick to keywords.”
“Make sure they’re emotion based, not feeling based.”
“I’m still not sure I know the difference.”
“Emotions are intense, but temporary. Feelings are low key, but sustainable. Lust is an emotion, love is a feeling.”
Susan lifted the safety bar in preparation for their arrival. She looked straight ahead at the fast approaching mound of snow. “So being in love is dangerous and feeling in love is bad?”
Jenna nudged herself to the edge of her seat. “Lust is much more fun. Come on, you’ve got about five seconds to give me your keywords.”
Susan took a ski pole in each hand and prepared for the forward shunt. “Okay, last night, when you kissed me … I felt like I fell in love.”
Jenna jolted in her seat and mistimed her rise from the chair. She lunged forwards and managed to get the tip of her ski wedged into the snow, causing her to topple over as the chair swung quickly around the corner. “Shit!” she shouted.
Susan, who had slid perfectly from the chair, pulled to a stop and looked back over her shoulder. “Oh my goodness, Jenna, I’m sorry. Are you okay? I was only joking!”
Jenna quickly stood up, shuffled forwards, and scrambled to grab the ski that had fallen off and slid under the orange safety netting. “You were?”
Susan skied over to help. “Of course I was.” She laughed. “Look at you! I mention the L word and you fall off the chairlift. You’re a good kisser, but you’re not that good.”
“Susan Quinn, this is why I like you. You have a wicked sense of humour. That was totally mean.”
“I can tease too,” smiled Susan.
Jenna dropped her ski onto the snow. “You see what I mean though? What I experienced then was fear. Fear’s an emotion. It was momentary. You said you were joking, so now I’m fine. In fact, I love the fact that you made me fall off the chairlift. That hasn’t happened in over three seasons.” She nodded. “Fear can be momentarily exciting.” Jenna carefully took her weight on her poles and clipped her boot into position. “Now if you seriously were in love then I’d be worrying. Both love and worry are feelings, hence my case in point.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
Jenna lifted her pole and pointed in the direction of the red run. “This way to the long lift. You have the time it takes to get to the bottom to think of your real keywords.”
Susan smiled. “Fine, and I give you the time it takes to get to the bottom of the run to think of your excuses.”
Jenna frowned. “Excuses?”
“Yes, the long list of reasons you’re going to spout out for not wanting to fall in love.”
Jenna wailed, “Please don’t make me go deep.”
Susan smiled. “What if I like going deep? I thought you were my facilitator. I thought you were here to give me what I want?”
Jenna narrowed her eyes. “Susan Quinn, are you double-entendre-ing me?”
Susan saw the smirk and blushed. “No I jolly well am not!” She nodded towards the slope. “Just ski, woman. I’m following you.”
Jenna pushed herself forwards and playfully tapped Susan’s bottom as she passed. “I like it when you call me woman.”
Susan looked down at the snow and attempted to disguise her smile. She tried to think of a quick witted response, but failed. Instead she pushed off with her poles and followed in Jenna’s wide arcing tracks, wondering how she could possibly make the pounding feelings of excitement and desire that were resonating across her chest sound a lot less extreme. She brought her skis together and broke free from Jenna’s tracks, speeding vertically down the slope. “See you at the bottom,” she shouted.
Jenna watched with admiration as Susan bent her knees and tackled the slope head on. She smiled to herself, realising that her old classmate was much more than just a competent skier; she had real talent. Jenna jumped her skis together and joined Susan’s fresh tracks, enjoying for once the opportunity to let someone else take the lead. “I’ll follow your bottom all the way down,” she shouted.
Susan tilted her head to the side, sure that Jenna had just shouted something. No doubt it was rude or teasing, or possibly both. She kept her head facing forwards and let the fast-flowing air take her breath away. Never before had she felt this free, this liberated, or this relaxed; such a strange sensation, given the total incomprehensibility of her situation. She bent her knees as she spotted a small dip approaching. She hit it with speed and jumped out with ease, giggling excitedly at the rush of adrenaline it brought. All this from one kiss? she wondered, quickly correcting herself. Two kisses. She closed her eyes for a split second, re-living the arousing sensation of Jenna’s lips on her own, Jenna’s tongue tenderly entering her mouth, Jenna’s fingers wandering teasingly up her back. She suddenly felt a different sort of shudder. A shudder that could only mean one thing: she’d dropped into another dip without realising. Susan flung her arms out to the side in a last ditch attempt to steady herself. It failed and she felt that dreaded wobble start
at her feet and move quickly up her body. Her right ski crossed in front of her left and she was about to have her first wipe out of the season.
Jenna watched the fall unfolding in front of her. Susan was doing her best to stay in control, but she’d been going too fast. She hit the slope and snow sprayed out in all directions. Jenna stopped herself with a huge snow plough and grabbed one of the loose skis that was trying to slide all the way to the bottom. “You okay?” she asked sidestepping up to a snow covered Susan.
Susan shook the white powder from her head. “I hit a dip. I’ve had my first wipe out.” She stretched out her hand and laughed. “Help me up?”
Jenna dropped the ski horizontally on the slope and gave Susan a hand, only to have Susan yank on it sharply. “Susan Quinn! What are you doing?”
Susan pulled again and laughed as Jenna fell into the snow next to her. “I’m down here because of you, so I thought it only fair that you join me.”
Jenna adjusted her skis and rolled onto her side, lifting herself onto her elbow. “Is that so? What happened? You thought of me and your knees went weak?”
Susan brushed some more white dusting off her jacket and moved onto her side, mirroring Jenna’s horizontal position. “Something like that.”
Jenna laughed. “You’re a devil, Susan Quinn, I knew there was something exciting hiding under that bloody awful lilac fleece of yours.”
Susan grabbed some snow and threw it towards Jenna. “What’s wrong with my lilac fleece? It’s from Cotton Traders.”
“That’s nothing to shout about, Susie.”
“You were pretty eager to get it off this morning.”
“Yes. Because it’s so god damn awful.”
Susan laughed and flicked some more snow. “I always thought Cotton Traders was a good brand?”
“It is, for pensioners.”
Susan pretended to huff. “Whether my fleece is, or is not, fashionable, is not the issue—”
“Yes it is.”
“Stop it,” laughed Susan. “Fleece aside—”
“So you’ll take it off?”
“Stop it! The fact remains, we were in Sylvie’s lounge, the girls were next door, and there was no way you were getting under my fleece. Plus I’m not even sure I’m comfortable with any of this yet.”