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Lumi
“I’m really not so sure about this, Sacha,” I say, gazing in the mirror at my bestie as she fiddles with my braids and tries to tame them into something she deems ‘date appropriate.’ It’s a blind date, and the first one I’ll have been on in around six months. The last was a disaster, so bad in fact, that I swore never to let Sacha set me up ever again...Yet somehow here I am. I’m weak, that’s what it is. Between her and my daughter, Adelaine, they ground me down.
“Come off it, Lumi, you’ll have a great time!” Sacha winks at me. I highly doubt it. I mean, not to be a Debbie Downer or anything but I don’t have the best track record.
Beside her, Ade nods enthusiastically, but I know it’s only because she’s terrified I’ll cancel and she won’t get her girly date night with Aunty Ya-Ya. I sigh. I’m going to have to go through with this—even though I can already feel it’s going to be a disaster—for my daughter’s sake. She’s overdue a sleepover with Sacha and she hates me cramping her style, which basically means policing her sugar intake. Something Sacha never does.
“You look amazing,” Sacha tells me, stepping back from my hair and giving me a critical once over. “Perfect.”
“You’re beautiful, Mama,” Ade says, before frowning.
“Thank you, baby, so are you…wait, what’s that face for?”
“Oh. I did not mean to do that face out loud,” she replies. I cock my head at her and give her a hard stare, making her giggle.
“Give me a hug, you tease,” I say, shaking my head.
“I’m hugging you in my mind. That’s enough,” she complains.
I kiss her and thank Sacha for her hard work. Ade sighs.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I ask.
“I’m gonna miss my life when I’m a grown up. This all looks like a lot of hard work.”
Sacha and I laugh.
“I wish you’d wear a little color.” Sacha sighs. “I don’t get your obsession with black.”
“It’s slimming,” I protest. She looks unamused. “It’s classic. It goes with everything.”
“But you’re not pairing it with anything. Except more black!”
“Well, I’ll be wearing your coat. That’s colorful,” I point out.
“Yeah, but it’s mine, and you’d never choose to wear it if you weren’t forced.”
Sacha’s my best friend in the world and even though she knows most of why I’ve been moving around and constantly looking over my shoulder, she still thinks that it’s been long enough that I should relax and live a little, even if that just means being more daring in my clothing choices. She doesn’t understand that black blends in and makes it easier to disappear in a crowd.
“Oh, would you look at the time, I’m going to be late,” I lie, fake checking my watch to get out of the conversation.
I kiss Ade goodbye, then sternly remind Sacha of Ade’s bedtime and the no horror movie and junk food before bed rule. Which I know they’ll both ignore.
Then I head out to my trusty VW Beetle, Betty, and make my way to the rink. I can’t believe Rick suggested the ice rink for our date. Are we twelve? I’m not opposed to skating, I just don’t think it’s first date material. Better than the cinema or a sex club though, I guess. And yes, I’ve been to both on a first date before. Needless to say there was no second date.
I arrive early—force of habit, and not just wanting to escape Sacha’s pushy questioning—and take the opportunity to stake the place out a little. It’s Ade’s birthday next week, and the only thing she wants for her birthday is to come skating, so it looks like I’ll be back here again before I know it.
The rink is super cute actually, with little wooden cabins surrounding the ice itself. It’s kind of crazy that the rink has been open around the same length of time as the studio, and yet this is my first time visiting. I guess between raising Ade and getting the business off the ground, I’ve had my hands a little full. Though I will admit I’ve been avoiding the place a little since it opened. I hate busy places and crowds, and the rink reminds me of home. It causes a bittersweet feeling in my chest.
Now that I’m here, I wish I’d come here sooner. The ice soothes my soul, and I can’t wait to get out on it. There’s something about it that reminds me of my original French hometown a little, which gives me a nostalgic pang, even though it’s so different from the ice rinks back home.
Although, I should probably start thinking of Silver Springs as my home now. Lord knows I’ve moved around enough that I definitely shouldn’t be thinking of Val-d’isère as home anymore. I haven’t been there since I left at sixteen, alone, disowned and pregnant.
Sacha has been badgering me to move out here with Ade for years but I’d always resisted until recently. I was nervous about trying to open a family and community wellness center in a new town, but Silver Springs has proven to be a surprisingly inclusive community. I feel like we could really build something here, something worth staying for. I know Ade longs to stay in one place for a little while. She hates the constant moving; she doesn't understand my need to keep her safe.
I’m distracted from my thoughts as the most insanely flashy sports car pulls into the rink parking lot. I don’t know anything about cars, but I can tell from the noise of this one—and the way heads are turning—that it’s impressively expensive. To me? It’s red. And I think the driver is a bit of a tit. He’s flashing his lights and beeping his horn at anyone who isn’t moving out of his way fast enough. At least he’s driving slowly and acknowledging that there are people walking around here.
After a couple of laps around the parking lot to show off, the flashy car finally parks and people slowly return to their business. A couple of guys saunter over to the car to check it out, with forced nonchalance. I shake my head. It’s just a car. Does exactly what my beat up old Vdub does, only mine probably costs a lot less in fuel to run. Maybe. Betty isn’t a cheap lady to look after, but she’s definitely worth it.
