by Kiki Archer
Susan pulled on her top and zipped up her lilac fleece. “Can we talk about this downstairs, I really need to freshen up and clean my teeth.”
Marcus turned back around and opened the door wider. “She really is rather naughty taking up your much needed morning preening time.”
“Marcus, please. The girls will be waiting.”
Marcus saluted and clicked his feet together like a soldier. “Action man’s here and ready to assist.” He smiled, leaning back into the room. “But we both know our girls are fairly self-sufficient. Champagne Willington will be flicking her hair as she licks some flaky pastry from those luscious lips of hers and Eugenie Rohampton will be tucking into a plate of ham and cheese and I’m sure that’s what gives her those huge,” he paused, “you know, it’ll be all that calcium making its way to her milk ducts.”
“MARCUS!”
“I’m gone, I’m gone,” he whispered, pulling Susan’s door to and strutting down the corridor.
“Professor,” called Francesca Hamilton coming out of her room, “is it true that you were hanging from the chairlift as well?”
Marcus opened the double doors for his student, letting her lead the way down the stairs. “Yes,” he nodded, “with just two fingers.”
****
Susan slid closer to Jenna on the wooden picnic bench in the outdoor seating area of The Viking Restaurant. “It’s nice to finally get a minute to talk without those prying ears. They’ve been like leeches all morning.”
“They’re in our group. We’re skiing the same routes. You can’t call them leeches.” Jenna bit into one of the sandwiches that Sylvie had prepared for lunch. She swallowed quickly. “And you were all for telling them yesterday.”
“No, I only suggested it, and anyway, Champs and Priggy are loveable leeches. We just haven’t had time to talk about our plan.”
“I thought we’d be doing that last night.”
Susan smiled. “We must have got distracted.”
Jenna swallowed another mouthful of sandwich and glanced around the eating area that was perched half way up the mountain. “Okay, here’s what we do.”
Susan slid in even closer. “Ooo, I like this.”
“I know you do,” laughed Jenna. “So, in terms of our behaviour in front of others, we don’t deliberately show our affection, but we don’t deny it either.”
Susan glanced up at the scattering of St Wilf’s girls. Most of them had dumped their packed lunches and bought a plate of chips instead. The only group missing were the beginners. She nodded. “So, no public hand holding, but no lies if asked.”
“Yes,” said Jenna, “I can handle that.” She paused. “Can you?”
“One foot onto the ice,” whispered Susan.
“What? What does that mean?”
“It means we take that first step, we hold our breath, and we see what happens.”
“I like that,” smiled Jenna.
Susan jabbed her straw into the small carton of iced tea and took a sip, quickly realising why most of the other cartons were dumped in the overflowing outdoor bin. “This is a new experience for both of us. We’ve both got to learn to trust each other and neither of us knows whether the ice will crack below us and send us plunging somewhere dark and horrible, or whether it’ll hold us up and give us the happiness we’re hoping for.” She smiled. “Whether it will stay firm and let us skate away into the sunset.”
“That’s beautiful.”
Susan laughed. “No it’s not. It’s bullshit, but you get my point.”
“Ha! You’re hilarious.”
“Why? Because I said bullshit?”
“Yes.”
Susan prodded Jenna’s side. “Bullshit, bullshit, bull shitty, bullshit.”
“What’s so funny?” asked Amber, clomping her way over to them on the wooden decking.
“Nothing,” said Jenna, edging away from Susan.
“Can I join you for lunch? Those Mossyside kids are just doing my head in.”
Jenna nodded. “Sure, but we’re almost finished. We’re taking the girls over to the Indian Run this afternoon so we’ll need to head off pretty soon.”
“Ladies!” shouted Marcus, pulling to a nervous stop in the snow next to the ski rack. “Don’t worry, Amber,” he hollered, “I’ll give it to you from the horse’s mouth!” Marcus unclipped his skis and placed them upright in the rack, pushing past the other members of his group that had just arrived for lunch, and crunching through the snow towards the decking. “Let me buy some food and then I’ll regale you with the story of my heroism.” He sniffed and pulled some frosted nasal drips from the top of his moustache. “I’m assuming that’s why you’ve come over? To hear the news?”
Susan looked at Marcus who’d started to unpack his lunch from his backpack. “Aren’t you going to eat what Sylvie’s made you?”
Marcus clomped over to the bin. “No. I need a hearty meal. I fancy a lasagne.” He looked at the queue of Mossyside Comp kids and the girls from his group who’d just dumped their lunches like him. “Amber, are you eating? I can regale you in the queue.”
“I get to queue jump because I’m a Club Ski guide. We take priority.”
“Superb, mine’s a lasagne.”
Amber rolled her eyes. “Come on then.” She smiled. “I am actually rather intrigued to hear your side of the story. The cable car guys said you pretty much pushed her.”
Marcus guffawed and tapped Amber on the shoulder. “Oh you tease.” He turned to the picnic bench. “Back in two ticks, ladies.”
Jenna watched as the pair of them made their way across the decking and into the self service restaurant. “He’s one of a kind.”
“Did you move away from me when Amber arrived?” asked Susan.
“What? No, you were tickling me. You shoved me.”
“One foot onto the ice, Jenna.”
“My foot’s out there, it’s hovering.” She smiled. “I’ll tell her, it’s fine.”
Susan inhaled deeply. “It must be difficult though. A few days ago you had her propped up on a bar.”
Jenna laughed. “And didn’t you just love it?”
“I’m being serious. It must be awkward.”
“But that’s just it, when it’s never serious it’s never awkward. It’s the way I’ve always played it.”
“And now?”
Jenna edged in closer. “And now I just want you.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as you’ll have me.”
Susan felt her heart flutter. “Isn’t this just a holiday romance?”
“Not if I come back with you on the coach it’s not.” Jenna smiled. “I’ve got a week off next week. You’re the last school before my mid-season break.” She reached under the table and found Susan’s hand. “I’d like to spend it with you.”
Susan’s head started to spin. “But I’m teaching. I’ll be at school.”
“Not in the evenings, and anyway, I’d like to observe you. Maybe I’d make a good teacher after all.”
Susan laughed. “But you don’t have any qualifications.”
Jenna dropped the hand. “Do things like that matter to you?”
“No, no, I’m flapping, I’d love you to come. But why would you want to observe? It would take you years to train,” she took a deep breath, “but there are ways. Not that you’d really want to be a teacher … would you?”
Jenna rested her elbow on the table and turned to Susan. “Could you please just describe me in three words.”
Susan frowned. “Okay, you’re fun, carefree, and spirited.”
“Ugh, I get that all of the time. People are always assuming that I’ve got no qualifications and no money to my name, that I take nothing seriously, and that I’m just here for the laugh. It’s exactly what Marcus thought when he met me.”
“But you set him straight.”
“Yes, by lying.”
“Jenna, those three attributes are great and I’d switch them for mine any day.”
“Uptight, serious, and quiet.”
Jenna shook her head. “That’s so not you, and I’m so much more than just carefree.”
“Yes, you’re spirited too.”
Jenna lowered her voice. “Don’t pass this on.”
“What?”
“I have a degree.”
“What?”
Jenna nodded. “And I’ve used most of my income for the past five years to invest in a couple of student flats back home.”
“What?”
“I’m not stupid, Susan.”
“I never said you were.”
“I do know things and I do have a life plan.”
“I just assumed you’d given up on school when you left St Wilf’s after our GCSEs.”
“Exactly, everyone assumes.” Jenna shrugged. “Yes, I followed her up north, but I didn’t give up my education.” She smiled. “I studied drama.”
“No?”
Jenna nodded. “Yes, but I chose to spend my time doing something I really enjoyed, and I love skiing. I run stage school classes off season and it’s nothing special but it keeps my hand in.”
“Why on earth don’t you tell people?”
“Why should I when it’s assumed I’m just another carefree ski-bum seeing out an extended youth on the slopes? It’s a bit like us, Susan. I don’t broadcast it, but I don’t deny it either.”
“So you could teach?”
“I guess. I’d need a PGCE but that only takes a year and I could do that during a school placement.”
“At St Wilf’s?” Susan was beaming.
Jenna smiled. “We’re just seeing where this goes.”
“Right, right, I’m sorry. Listen to me getting all carried away.”
“But yes, theoretically I could, if they’d have me.”
Susan could feel her heart pounding quickly in her chest. “I’d love you to come back with us on the coach, and I’d love to spend next week with you.” She giggled. “And I’d love to find out what other secrets you’ve been hiding.”
Jenna grinned. “I can play the tuba.”
“No?”
“Yes, I learnt at uni. It’s good for us actresses to offer an additional skill.”
Susan was shaking her head. “You were Jesus in the school play. I should have seen this coming.” She laughed. “Crikey, the most exciting thing about me is my thimble collection.”
“You have a thimble collection? You’re joking?”
“No, I’ve got about forty.”
“Do you sew?”
“No, I just display them in a cabinet.”
Jenna laughed. “Will you show me your cabinet next week?”
“With pleasure,” said Susan, smiling.
****
“They’re giggling again,” said Marcus, peering out of the steamed up restaurant window at the picnic area outside. “If your boss was your way inclined I’d start to worry.”
Amber frowned. “James? He’s not gay. Just because he’s hygienic and clean shaven doesn’t make him gay.” She dropped the bowl of lasagne onto Marcus’s tray. “You really need to stop stereotyping.”
“No, I mean the big boss.”
“Richard? When have you met Richard?”
“Who? What?” Marcus reached for a can of cherry coke. “I’m talking about Jenna. She seems to have formed a real bond with my Susan.”
“Jenna’s not my boss.”
Marcus followed Amber’s lead to the front of the queue. “Your director then.”
Amber dropped her tray in front of the cashier and ran her fingers through her pink hair. “What are you going on about?”
“Jenna, she owns Club Ski, and she’s been getting rather close to my mon amie, and I think Susan’s rather in awe of her entrepreneurial status, and if she was like you I’d worry.”
Amber laughed. “Jenna’s a ski guide.”
“Yes, I’m aware of how she likes to keep her hand in at grassroots level and that’s very admirable.” Marcus continued to talk over Amber’s shoulder. “I mean she’s even calling around to Susan’s room in the early hours of the morning to discuss one thing or another.”
Amber laughed. “Jenna’s been spending time in Susan’s room?” She placed a twenty euro bill into the young girl’s hand and turned to look at Marcus.
“Oh yes and poor Susan was so delayed that I found her in a state of undress.”
Amber laughed loudly and took her change. “And what was Jenna wearing?”
Marcus paid his bill and lifted his tray, following Amber towards the window. “A ridiculous all-in-one outfit that I’m rather glad she decided to change.”
Amber stared out at the couple. “What time was this?”
“Half seven.”
Amber blew out a low whistle. “So she’s gone and bloody done it. Wake up and smell the coffee, mate. Was Jenna wearing any shoes?”
Marcus thought back to his encounter in the corridor. He’d been so intent on racing round to Susan’s room to bask in his glory that he’d hardly paid attention at all. “No,” he said slowly shaking his head, and she didn’t have those awful bunches in that she wears every morning at breakfast.” He frowned. “But then she arrived at breakfast with a different outfit on and the bunches were back in.”
Amber nodded at the giggling pair. “Why go to an early morning meeting in your night wear?”
“I’ve no idea, that’s why I’m so glad she’s not like you.” He paused for a moment. “Maybe they had a girly evening reminiscing about the good old school days. Or maybe they were discussing ways to reward me for my heroism.”
Amber scoffed. “Oh get with it, Marcus. Miss Jenna James is the lesbian of all lesbians and she’s also the champion of all dares.”
“What?” Marcus was pulling a face. “What?”
Amber laughed. “Jenna’s a lesbian, and if your observations are correct then she’s a very good one at that.”
“Womanly Jenna? With the long hair and pretty face? A lesbian?”
“Absolutely, and she’s been talking some shit if she says she’s my boss. She’s nothing more than a carefree ski-bum.”
Marcus gasped. “No? I thought she owned Club Ski?”
Amber hooted with laughter. “As if! The only thing she owns is the record for most shags on the slopes.”
Marcus wailed and wobbled forwards in his heavy snow boots, trying to control his tray. “My mon amie, she must be warned.”
Amber smirked and followed him out. “For once I think you might be right.”
****
Susan pulled her skis from the overcrowded rack and dropped them into the snow. “We should wait for Amber and Marcus.”
“That queue’s huge. She knows we’re having a short lunch.” Jenna glanced across the decking. “But they’ll probably come back before Priggy and Champs get out of that blinking toilet. What are they doing?”
Susan clicked her boots into position. “I think they’re avoiding Mischa and Phats.” She nodded her head towards the restrooms. “Look, they’re hovering at the hand wash.”
The shout was shrill. “Mon amie!” Marcus clomped towards the picnic bench and dropped his tray, quickly freeing up his hands so he could scramble up the small snow incline towards the ski racks. “I need a word!”
Susan sidestepped towards his frenzy. “Okay.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes at Jenna. “Away from her.”
“What? Why,” asked Susan.
Marcus lowered his voice. “Trust me, this is delicate.”
“I’m sure Jenna can listen in.”
Marcus pointed his finger at the Club Ski guide, unable to hold it in anymore. “No she can’t,” he hissed, “she’s a fraud. A lesbian fraud.”
Jenna laughed. “Oh, is that all? I thought it was something important.”
Susan shuffled in closer. “For goodness sake, Marcus, just say whatever it is you’re so desperate to say, but keep the noise down.”
Marcus
growled out the words. “She doesn’t own Club Ski.”
“I know,” said Susan calmly. “It was a joke. It was a joke on you because you treated her so badly at the service station.”
“You knew? Well why have you been so pally?” He shook his head. “Forget it. That pales into insignificance when compared with THIS home truth.” He placed his hands on his hips and declared his monumental news with a snarling whisper. “She’s a lesbian!”
“I know,” said Susan just as calmly.
“But she was in your room! You need to watch out. I’m worried for you, mon amie. You’re so inexperienced and so fragile. What if she tries something?”
“I invited her in,” Susan took a deep breath, “and I’ve invited her to spend next week with me. She’s coming back with us on the coach.”
Jenna butted in, “Actually I think I invited myself.”
Marcus was flapping. “What? Why?”
Susan took a deep breath and smiled at Jenna. “We like each other. We’re seeing where it goes.”
Amber, who’d been straining her ears from the picnic bench below, laughed loudly. “In your dreams, love,” she muttered.
Jenna sidestepped through the snow so she was shoulder to shoulder with Susan. “We’re putting one foot onto the ice.”
Marcus shook his head. “This is ridiculous.” He started to pace around. “Surely it’s not allowed.”
“Priggy and Champs. Finally.” Jenna spotted them crossing the decking and hollered. “Come on girls, we need to go.”
Marcus was pulling on his moustache. “I need to think, I need to think. What to do? What to do?”
Priggy scrambled up the small snow incline. “Watch it, Professor, the slope’s…” It was too late, Priggy watched as her teacher lost his footing and slipped backwards down the small mound of snow. “…right behind you. Oooo, and there’s the decking.”