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“You’re leaning too far back. Your center of gravity is getting all skewed,” Alex snapped.
No shit. Why did I hire you? “I’m doing what my body tells me to.”
His ski kicked against mine as we rode the lift up to the top of one of the smaller slopes. Even with the bitter mountain air, my palms were sweating. I didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to have to potentially risk my life just to get to the bottom of this damn hill, but knowing at least some of what it took would be helpful.
“I feel like I should get every single shot updated after the amount of snow I’ve ingested today,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood just a hair.
Alex laughed. “Yeah, probably. Tetanus, hepatitis… all of them. Oh, and don’t forget rabies. Who knows how many animals piss on the slopes overnight.”
I gagged just thinking about it. “Please, if I ever see you again, never say that.”
"So are you here on vacation?" Alex asked, probably more out of courtesy than a real interest.
"I'm here to interview for the job as executive assistant to the CEO," I said, blowing hot air onto my gloves with the hope of defrosting my fingers.
"And so you thought you'd learn how to ski."
"Something like that," I replied.
The chair reached the top, and as my skis touched down onto the packed-in snow beneath, I struggled to get my footing. I dug my poles into the snow, pushing myself forward as Alex hurriedly rushed toward me. His brows were furrowed, his mouth taut. “Hurry up, Raylene. You’re going to cause a pileup.”
“I—” I snapped my mouth shut before the abuse that sat at the edge of my tongue could drip out. I didn’t want to be an asshole to him, to anyone here for that matter, but more than that, I didn’t want to look like a failure. Even if he’d seen me fall on my face all day.
He helped me over to the starting line, halfway down the bigger slope, and connecting like a Y. Not only did I need to make it to the bottom without dying, I needed to make sure I wasn’t going to get t-boned by someone much better than me. So basically anyone.
“You go down first. I’ll watch,” I offered, looking up at Alex with a smile that I absolutely did not mean.
“Not how it works,” he laughed, his graying beard flying in the wind. “You go down first. That way if you fall and hurt yourself, which I’m half expecting at this point, I can ski down to you.” Ouch. “You’ve got this, Ray.”
I definitely didn’t.
I looked up the hill, waiting for a break in the skiers coming down, and when I was well and truly in the clear, I sucked in my breath. I can do this.
Looked down the hill. So steep.
Dug my poles in. I’m going to die.
Aimed my skis. Someone, please take care of Mom.
Pushed off. I’m so fucked.
If my sheer lack of direction and ability to stay upright didn’t warn everyone around me that I was not good at this, the scream that ripped from my throat definitely did.
Learning how to ski is so much harder than learning to skate. Skating had come naturally to me—just an easy extension of my own feet. But this, this was like I was wearing clown shoes and trying to walk a tightrope. I had zero control, but I knew I needed to at least lean forward — Alex hadn’t stopped hammering that in. So that’s what I did.
Too fast. Way too fast, way too careless. Trees zoomed past before I could even make out their shape. I passed people much better than me, yelling out, waving their arms. Even with my goggles, the glare of the sun off the snow made it hard to tell where I was going.
Lean back, my body screamed at me. Or maybe that was someone on the slope. I couldn’t tell.
A group of what looked like a blurry mess of people were in front of me, and I was rapidly approaching them. I couldn’t turn, didn’t know how without falling, and as the shouts and yelps got louder, I did the only thing I could think of—dig my poles into the snow.
I promptly lost them.
Before I could blink I slammed to a stop, hitting something far too hard and warm to be snow. A grunt, not from my own mouth. A loud clunk against my helmet, a snap that made me cry out because oh my god is that my leg?
I peeled my eyes open, adrenaline shooting through my veins like a fire. Terror filled me to the brim as I looked down at the snow, tiny droplets of blood tainting the pristine white. I didn’t feel injured. Maybe I was and the adrenaline was keeping me from noticing.
“Are you okay?”
