“Oh, just thinking of something back home. The last time I went out it got a little crazy and that’s definitely not me. I was with a guy from work. I guess you could say we’re kind of best friends. Anyway, we drank a little too much and were dancing crazy.”
“What kind of dancing? Dirty?” She smiled almost seductively and wiggled her eyebrows. She was very playful by nature. Cason had noticed she was like that with everyone.
“No. I don’t dance like that.” Cason laughed. At least not with men. She thought to herself.
“That’s too bad.” She tipped her beer and turned back to one of her friends that pulled on the back of her sweater.
When the bar closed at two a.m. Cason was tired. She wondered how many of these people shouldn’t be driving because of their alcohol consumption, let alone the road conditions outside. A fine blanket of snow had fallen while they were inside. She had only drank a beer and a half and felt fine.
“Do you want a ride home?” Cason asked Adler when they got outside. She watched her hesitate. “I know you’ve been drinking, please don’t drive. I don’t want to get called in to work and find you. I see it all too often unfortunately.”
“I’m okay to drive. I really didn’t drink that much, only two.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not much of a beer drinker.”
“I saw people buying you drinks and shots all night.” Cason said.
Adler grinned, “I’m very good at handing them off to others nonchalantly.”
“Oh.” Cason smiled.
“Thanks for looking out for me though. I actually don’t want to go home and find my husband in my house to be honest with you. I hope he slithered back to California a while ago.”
“You can stay with me if you want. It’s nothing fancy, just a studio style condo.”
“Thanks. I’ll be okay. If he’s there I’ll just kick his ass out.” She said.
“Well, call me if you need anything.” Cason said. “I just realized you probably don’t have my number. I called you the other day to see how qualifying went, but it just rang and went to your voicemail. I figured you didn’t know the out of town number so you didn’t answer.”
“Never got the call. My phone’s in a thousand pieces up on Brush Creek Road.”
Cason raised her eyebrows. “Oh.”
Adler grinned. “Long story,”
“I guess so.”
“I’ll probably get another one Monday.”
“Alright, well I had a good time tonight. Congratulations again. You really are incredible on a snowboard.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you came out with me.” Adler hugged her lightly. Cason caught a whiff of the citrus scent that always lingered when Adler was around. It reminded her of the summer. It made Adler’s bright personality remind her of sunshine in the summertime.
Thirteen
Alder walked into her townhouse and was surprised to see Kevin sitting on the couch in front of the TV. She set her gear to the side and took her hat and jacket off. He stood up and walked towards her.
“Don’t touch me.” She growled. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Adler, come on we need to talk.” He leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her make herself a glass of water. “I just watched the competition. I’m glad you won your fourth gold. I’m happy for you.”
“I didn’t do it to make you happy,” she paused and sipped her water. “You son of a bitch. I still don’t understand why you are here…in my house.”
“Damn it. I told you it didn’t mean anything it was a onetime thing.” He said.
“Kevin, I don’t care if it was one time or a hundred times!” She yelled. “I heard you demanding that she get back in the shower. Is that really what you want, some whore you just picked up sucking your dick in the shower? You absolutely fucking disgust me!” She threw the glass against the wall behind him. “I want a divorce!”
“God damn Adler, calm down!” He yelled back.
“Three years! I wasted three goddamn years of my life with you and two being married to you. I wondered why you never wanted to travel with me or come here during the season. You were probably off with your whores while I was traveling the world nine months out of the year. You had free rein to do whatever you wanted while you’re idiot wife was off playing in the snow.” The tears that fell on escalated her anger. She didn’t want him to see her like this.
He reached for her but she backed away. “I’m really sorry. We live such completely different lives. I know that’s not an excuse, it just happened. I love you Adler.”
“Different lifestyles don’t give you a free pass to fuck whoever you choose.” She wiped the last of the tears. “You don’t love me Kevin, because if you did you would have been here with me and know I had a bad accident at the beginning of the week and got rushed to the hospital with a concussion. You would have known I finally landed a double cork ten-eighty in Breck a few weeks ago. You would have known that tonight I made history and you would have been by my side for all of that. You weren’t though. No. You were with your whore or doing whatever else it is when you avoid having anything to do with my life. So, no, you don’t love me. Don’t hide behind that like some coward.”
“I didn’t know you got hurt. Why didn’t anyone report on it?”
She sneered. “So that’s how you get news on your wife, you watch your fucking network. You expect your job to keep you updated on your wife’s life is that it? Wow Kevin.”
“It’s not…I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Look, I’m done with this conversation. You need to leave.” She walked towards the front door.
“Where am I supposed to go?”
“Kevin, I really don’t give a shit. Go to a hotel, or one of your whores, or sleep in your fucking car. I want a divorce. My lawyer will be in touch with you.” She swung the front door open. She didn’t have to worry about giving any of his belongings, he had nothing there. She did have a few things at his house in L.A. but she could live without them.
“I didn’t want it to be like this.”
“Me either. You think I like this?”
“We probably never should have gotten married.” He said with his head hung low.
“You’re right. One wonderful summer doesn’t constitute spending the rest of your lives together. We are just two totally different people.”
He tried to hug her when he stepped outside. She backed away. “I guess there’s nothing to contest then. Just have the papers sent to me. I’ll sign them.” He wiped away a lone tear as he walked to his car.
Adler closed the door, put her forehead against it, and let out the breath she was holding. She opened a new bottle of wine and took it with a glass over to the couch. She cried away the last three years of her life as she drank glass after glass. What a mess. She had the best night of her life and the worst all at the same time. How did it get this far, this bad? How did she not see the signs? They were right in front of her face now as plain as day. She was miserable and she should be so happy she could shout it from the rooftops. She turned the TV off and opened the vertical blinds over the French doors leading to her patio. She swirled the red wine around the glass as she watched the snow fall silently to the ground. She wished she could go out and ride the fresh powder in the middle of the night. That was like asking for death. It was dangerous, dark, and the biggest rush she had ever had. She hiked up Snowmass when she was eighteen and free rode about two a.m. It was a full moon and the mountain was gorgeous. Just thinking about it made the fine blond hairs on her arms stand up.
Fourteen
A week after the Winter X Games Adler hopped off the chair lift and hiked over to the start of the black diamond trail. She had been going out and riding powder every day. Free riding in the back country for her was like chicken soup for a cold. It always helped her heal or made her feel better. She spent most of the day Monday at her lawyer’s office, then on the phone with her family breaking the news of the divorce. Her lawyer knew th
e truth, but she put irreconcilable differences on the papers. She also wrote a very small paragraph on her website announcing her decision to file for divorce and asked for privacy during the personal matter. She knew ESPN knew some of what the true reason because they saw the incident at X Games and tried to ask her about it in her interview. She was sure her statement was all over the internet and news channels by now. She changed her phone number when she finally got a new phone. The only numbers she programmed in it were her family, friends, and sponsors. The rest of the people trying to call her could go to hell.
A light dusting of snow was falling when she started down the mountain shredding powder and kicking up a cloud of white snowflakes in her wake. She felt free, pulling tricks over the jumps and edging around stray rocks and tree. Riding pipe was like flying, this was like standing on the nose of a runaway freight train heading downhill. She was pretty far away from the tourist crowd so she only encountered two or three other locals on her path. She went unnoticed as she rode over and over every day. She had more jackets and pants than she would every really need so she could easily blend in every day as a completely new snowboarder. She also had a handful of boots and half a dozen snowboards of various colors and sizes based on whether she was riding powder or pipe.
At the base of the hill she walked the short stretch back to the lift chair and rode back up. She pulled a protein power bar from her jacket pocket and ate it while she rode in the lift chair. She was surprised when her mind flashed to blue eyes, short messy dark hair, and a sexy smile. She had spent most of her time trying to clear her mind and push past the sadness, anger, and hurt over the last week. She really did have a great night after X, until she walked into her house. Her mind flashed back to Cason. She had no idea what it was that drove her towards that woman. She just knew she enjoyed being around her. She seemed happier for some reason. Maybe it was the excitement of having a new friend, or maybe the fact that she was so down to earth and easy to talk to. Either way, Adler knew she wanted to see her again.
***
Cason had just finished sewing a man’s leg back together after he cut it on his snow blower. The blade nicked a major vessel and tore some of the muscle tissue. She rushed him right into surgery and thankfully was able to save his leg. She changed into a fresh pair of scrubs and went back out into the ER.
“Hey, Macauley, you got someone asking for you at the nurse’s station.” One of the ER doctors said when he passed her in the hallway. She knew Serena was at the nurse’s station. She had somehow weaseled her way back onto the same schedule. Cason walked down the hall and turned the corner. Adler was standing there, her face lit up when she saw Cason.
“Hey stranger,” Cason smiled.
“Hey. I’m sorry to bother you here. I finally got a new phone, but I didn’t have your number.” Adler explained.
Cason grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side away from the nurse’s desk and Serena’s ears. She was already starring daggers at the blond. “It’s okay. I just got out of surgery, have you been here long?”
“No, just walked in actually. I asked the woman at the desk if you were here and she was giving me the third degree. That’s when I saw you.”
“Just ignore her. I’m glad you’re here. It’s good to see you.” Cason watched her blue-green eyes and noticed she was biting her bottom lip.
“It’s kind of been a week from hell. I’ve been hiding on the mountain.”
“Yeah, word got around pretty fast I guess. I’m sorry.” Cason wanted to push a stray lock of curly hair from Adler’s face, but decided against it.
“Such is life I guess. I wanted to go ahead and leave for Australia early, but I have competitions and a bunch of other shit lined up for the next three months so I guess I have to ride it out. I’m sure my demise will be old news soon. Tiger Woods or Kobe Bryant or some other athlete will mess up sooner or later. It doesn’t help that they sort of smeared Kevin’s name because he’s a writer for ESPN, but hey, do the crime do the time, right.”
“You’re very philosophical today.” Cason grinned.
“Ugh.” Adler rolled her eyes. “My friend Gordy that you met, he reads all this philosophy shit and he gave me some books a while back. I’ve been reading them.”
“I see.”
“Do I sound all educated?” She laughed.
“You’re a very smart woman Adler, no matter what you read.”
“Thanks.” Adler tucked that loose hair back over her shoulder. “So anyway, I came here to see if you wanted to go snowboarding tomorrow. I know I promised you a private lesson.”
“Oh.” Cason cringed. “I’m not much of a snowboarder, like I said. But, if you’re willing to deal with an old chicken-shit, I’m in.”
Adler smiled. “You’re not old.”
Cason raised an eyebrow. “I’m much older than you.”
Adler raised her hands in an excuse me sort of way and laughed. “Oh please.” She said and laughed again. She gave Cason her home address. “I’ll see you at six a.m.”
Cason watched her walk away, then she turned around to go back to the doctors lounge. She only had about four hours left on her twenty-four hour schedule. Thankfully, she would be off in the late afternoon so she would have plenty of time to rest before her snowboarding excursion.
“Getting a little cozy with the patients aren’t we?” Serena said when she walked by.
“She’s not a patient, at least, not anymore. We’ve become friends, not that it’s any of your business.”
“She’s straight you know.”
“So are you.” Cason countered.
“She’s just a kid Cason. That’s a little overboard don’t you think?” She leaned over the counter purposely pushing her busty chest up so that her cleavage showed in the V of her scrub top.
“Serena, she’s an adult number one. She’s a straight married woman number two. And again it’s really none of your business. Adler and I are friends, that is all. Now, if you will excuse me I have a patient to check on.”
“She’s going to hurt you.” Serena said to her back as she walked away.
Fifteen
Cason arrived at the small townhouse complex just before six. She still wondered why the hell she was doing this. She was not a snowboarder and never would be. She realized when you get to a certain age the no fear mentality disappears. Maybe if she had learned as a child she wouldn’t be so nervous. Oh well, it was too late now. She knocked on the door.
“Hey!” Adler said when she pulled the door open. She was dressed black ski pants and a white thermal shirt. “I’m almost ready. Are you excited?”
“Yup,” Cason said as she looked around. The bottom floor of the townhouse was an open floor plan. The kitchen overlooked the living room which was modernly decorated with a crème colored sofa and silver tables. She assumed the bedrooms were upstairs.
“You look a little scared.” Adler smiled as she ran up the stairs and came back down with her dark purple ski jacket and matching ski cap. “Okay, I’m ready. I put all the equipment in my SUV when I got up this morning, so we’re all set.”
“Okay.” Cason followed her outside to a black Mercedes SUV with black leather interior. “This is nice.”
“Thanks. I use to drive a Jeep, but my soon to be ex-husband decided I needed to look flashy or some shit and talked me into buying this. I like it though.”
The drove around the mountain in silence, Adler seemed to know all of the short cuts. When they finally reached their destination they parked in a small lot and grabbed all of the equipment. “We have to walk a little ways to catch the lift chair. There is a little private spot I know about on the back side of the mountain, so we will have to hike a bit when we get up there. It has some nice little bunny hills.”
“Sounds great,” Cason forced a smile. She really enjoyed Adler’s company, but she hoped she didn’t embarrass herself to bad.
When they reached the spot Adler was talking about she helped Cason get her helmet and go
ggles on, then she had her sit in the snow while she strapped her boots into the bindings on her board. “Okay, I want you to watch me first. I’m going to go down the hill and I’ll hike back up. Watch my lines and my movements.”
Cason watched Adler shred from side to side all the way down the little hill that was almost flat. She had to be bored to death; this was nothing like the slopes she usually rode. When she got to the bottom she unstrapped her board and walked back up to where Cason was sitting. “Did you see how I used my body to lean in and out?”
“Uh huh,” Cason said.
Adler laughed and grabbed her hands and pulled her up. “Lean towards me and balance up on the edge of the board. The edge is like your brakes.”
“Okay.” Cason was holding onto Adler for dear life.
“Here we go. Flatten the board out. I’m going to walk you around.” Adler said as she walked next to Cason pulled her along. “Okay now go up on your edge and move your body weight to the front and you can turn to go the other way.” She said as she helped her get to the edge and began pulling her in the other direction. “Good.”
“I feel like I’m five.” Cason laughed.
“You’re cute.” Adler laughed. “Okay, we are going to turn to go back the other way. You need to lean back to get on your back edge and shift your weight to turn the board.” Adler said. Cason leaned back too far and fell on her back pulling Adler on top of her. “That was a little too far.” Adler laughed and got up off of her.
“Sorry.” Cason said as she brushed the snow off her butt.
“It’s okay. You’re going to fall, that just comes with the territory. Now, let’s try it again.”
Adler pulled Cason back and forth showing her how to make the board go, stop, and turn. Just when Cason thought she was finally getting the hang of it she fell again pulling Adler down on top of her. “Damn it.” She said.
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