May 22, 2012.
Tuesday 2:55pm
A low pitched mechanical screech filled my ears as the time was printed faintly on my manila punch card. I took a deep breath and wondered how tonight was going to go. As I walked to the front desk I went through the probable routine of this particular Tuesday. I would start with the usual conversations with our Skating Director, Melinda. Followed by talking with Charley and Evan, our Operations Manager and Assistant GM respectively. I'd get the schedule which I assumed was first Freestyle (figure skating) followed by a Stick n' Puck. After that we open up our other two rinks and begin our busy day with 6 of our youth club practice times, 2 AAA practices for the 2012-2013 season teams, a public session and last but not least, the Men's pick-up group that lets me skate with them every Tuesday to close out the night.
Figuring it was to be a regular night, I was thrown off when I didn't see Melinda anywhere. Entering the office and found neither Charles or Evan at their desks. Odd. I snagged the clipboard and was baffled by the schedule as well. 6 of our ice slots cancelled and the other two AAA teams moved practice up to 5:30pm. This left nothing but Public Session at 7:30 and my group at 9:00.
This was anything but a regular night. I texted 2 of the guys that were supposed to work that night and let them know they could have the night off. They both seemed ever-so heartbroken about not having to come in.
I grabbed one of the old, yet comfortable office swivel chairs and took a seat behind the old wooden counter. I noted to myself the times the ice needed to be resurfaced on my phone and began devising a plan to ensure I wouldn't have to stay late after I got off the ice.
A resurface at 5:10 and 6:50 on our Olympic Rink and 5:20 and 7:00 on our NHL Rink.
I stood up from my chair and began noting my routine for the night. Public session would begin as the 2 teams and parents made their way home to enjoy the rest of their night. I wouldn't expect it to be that crowded this evening since it was a Tuesday in May. Probably 10-20 guests total. I would use this time to go through the lobby, locker rooms, bathrooms etc. periodically as the night progressed. By 8:30 most of it would be done and no one else would be showing up which would allow me to get ready for hockey.
As I was finishing that thought, a distinct faint squeal of a worn metal hinge attached to a door I had remembered as the left one entering the Olympic Rink. Filling the quiet and muggy air in the lobby with his voice, Evan was in the middle of his "new employee tour" and "preliminary training session" with a new employee. Evan had a mildly deep gravely voice and sounded like he was talking through a cone, both acoustically and with loudness.
"Now if there's ever any issues that arise on the ice that you simply cannot handle, like little Timmy and his buddies won't listen or someone gets hurt - you're more than welcome to come get the manager on duty."
From 40 feet away, it sounded like he was right next to me, even around the wall blocking my vision.
As they rounded the wall, I saw who he was giving his speech to. Standing about 5'6" was this figure skater I recognized from random Freestyle sessions. She was usually on the ice before I arrived at work so conversations with her were very rare. "What was her name?" I asked myself.
"Speaking of Managers, Chris is here. I'll hand you off to him" Evan said directing their attention my way.
I watched as they began the trek across the lobby. Each step simply and slowly in front of the other. She had an elegant stride, each step quiet as it contacted the rubber floor. From her white tennis shoe clad feet sprouted these slender, toned legs wrapped in black leggings. About halfway up her thighs, the black leggings were met by the hem of an over sized white Chicago Blackhawks sweatshirt. Each arm swaying back and forth in sync with her rhythmic steps. As she got closer to the front desk and into the light coming through the front doors, I noticed her lightly wavy strawberry blonde hair bouncing to both sides of her face. I noticed her pale complexion which is not uncommon in the skating community. Her face was slightly rounded, her lips were pale burgundy color, her bottom just a little bigger than her upper. She had a cute little nose, her nostrils flared out just a bit. Set atop her nose was a pair of boxy black glasses outlining her eyes. She wore a moderate amount of eye liner which really made her eyes "pop" as she got closer. I found myself needing to know what color eyes she had. But I digress. For being a high school girl and all of 100 pounds, she looked like a pretty darn cute bookworm. She gave off the essence of private school girl, but one of the actually catholic ones.
"Hi, I'm Chris" I extended my right hand across the counter. Her hand slid out of the sleeve it was hiding in as it raised up to meet mine. Her hand was soft and noticeably smaller than mine. Delicately shaking my hand, I got a good glimpse at her eyes. Hazel. Hazel eyes contrasting with the white sclera of her eye. The dark eye-liner only made the eyes more vibrant. What a cute color.
"...ifer, nice to meet you." She said, quickly snapping me out of my trance. Trance probably isn't the best word to describe it. I wasn't as distracted as a puppy is to the world when you're holding its ball. But her eyes were something for sure.
"Nice to meet you too." I said as Evan rounded the counter. I released her hand and sat back down in my chair. "Are you going to be working the Public Session tonight?"
"Yes, this will be my first time on the employed side of a Public Session. Normally I'm one of the "unruly" skaters causing a scene."
"Well luckily we have you on our side now. You'll see how fun it is to yell at kids." I chuckled. "Are you hanging our around here until your shift?"
"I suppose so, I've got nothing better to do than hang around this enticing facility. There's - "
"I'm gonna stop you right there, there's nothing enticing about it."
"I actually have a lesson at 3:00 and some homework to get done so it's more a matter of convenience. But I'll be here until Public Session, to answer your question."
"Gotcha, well I'll let you get to it since the session started already."
"Oh crud, I have a lesson that started at 3, my coach is going to kill me!" she began to turn and speed walk to the table on the far right of the lobby "it was nice to formally meet you!" she said as she plopped down next to the white and blue skating bag, pulled her skates out and began to lace them up.
