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Seventeen Days of Gold Chapter Four I stood just inside the padded ring of the ice arena, my arms folded across my chest, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. I divided my time between watching the skaters speed around the track and scanning the seating areas for any unusual activity. The only thing "unusual" going on was the fan club Apolo had developing up in the stands, consisting of mostly teenage girls, of course. I stuck my tongue out and rolled my eyes. I had, however, decided to take this matter a lot more seriously, as Chuck had instructed, since reading the files last night. There was something definitely wacko about those phone calls and emails, and it seemed possible that someone just may try something. I ran my finger around the top portion of my skate's shoe and cursed under my breath. I knew there had to be another reason for the lieutenant picking me out for this job; he must have remembered that I knew how to skate. So now I was assigned to stand guard at the edge of the ice while other agents mixed in with the crowds above. Not that I wanted anything to happen, period, but I hoped things would be extra quiet today. I was feeling so rusty on these skates, if I decided to throw myself over the wall right now, I would be doing nothing except a headfirst slide across the arena. I could maybe make any criminals laugh to death, but that's about it. It has been a long time since I’ve been on the ice, and these borrowed short tracker skates were quite different from the clap skates I was used to. I decided I had better take a few trips around the rink to get the feeling back after the team’s practice. My concern over my discomfort was broken for a moment when I noticed Apolo glide by. I narrowed my eyes and watched him taking his practice rounds. I was surprised by the speed of this whole style of skating, but more so by his. He was certainly very fast, and extremely agile around the curves, something I always had trouble with. (Hence, one of the reasons why I was not a speed skater.) A minor skid into the padding elicited a gasp from his fan club upstairs, and Apolo laughed. His smile faded when I caught his eye and I gave him a challenging look. I wanted to see what this boy could do; was he really as good as they said? His next run showed that he received that dare. Apolo opened up his aggressive side; deftly making his way to the front of the pack and sending a few teammates into the wall without even touching them. If it weren't for the occasional clouds of ice spitting from the back of his skates, you could swear he was hovering just above the glossy surface. I must say, I was very impressed. Apparently, there was more to him than meets the eye. The run completed, he glided by me with a satisfied smirk on his face. Undaunted, I simply nodded my approval. A few more rounds completed practice for the morning, and Apolo was immediately surrounded by reporters and photographers. A small gaggle from the fan club attempted to make their way down for autographs, but that was quickly dispersed by security. The moment the paparazzi thinned, I gestured for him to come by me. He zipped up his light blue jacket, which matched his headband, and glided over in front of me. "Excuse me, but if we're going to make this girlfriend thing believable, we're going to have to be seen together. Especially at choice moments like this." I leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I know that."  He replied. "I also know that you're going to have to come with me wherever I go. Like tonight." "What's tonight?" I frowned. Was he going to be testing my patience again so soon? "Me and some of the guys and girls from the team are going dancing at Raskal's in Murray tonight." "A dance club?" I made a face. "You bet your ass I do." I retorted. "But aren't you afraid I'm going to cramp your style?" He shrugged. I noticed some reporters suddenly discovering Apolo and I conversing and quickly made their way toward us. "Don't matter." He replied. "You can't stop me from going, and you have to go wherever I go...so I guess we're going dancing tonight." "Way to flex your muscles there, babe." I said sarcastically, and smiled at the oncoming cameras and microphones. Here came the flood of questions: who am I, where am I from, how long have we been going out, do I skate too, etc. I answered the questions, as previously provided by Chuck, and made up the rest as I went along. Oh yes, I am terribly frightened about the death threats, that’s why I came to see him, blah, blah, blah. Apolo hardly got a word in edgewise. Pictures of us, smiling, cheek to cheek--oh, how cute. Dan eventually came by and rescued us just before it got too nauseating, saying the coach needed to talk to Apolo. I breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd quickly dissipated. Well, that seed was planted, I thought, entering the ice through the opening in the padding, and began a few laps around the track to refresh my memory. I was unsteady at first, but the short track skates were actually easier to get used to than I expected, and I quickly got my groove back. Apolo watched my steady, albeit slow, progress around the ice. It made me a little nervous, especially since I now realized how good he was. But then I gave myself a mental shake. “What the hell do I have to prove to him?” I thought. Besides, as I neared him, I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn’t just watching how I skated. Strangely, that made me feel a little warm inside. "You look good out there." Apolo said quietly, taking my hand to steady me as I stepped off the ice. "You've done this before?" "Long track." I replied, sitting down and taking off the skates. "I learned from my father." "Need to work on your speed though." He smiled, charming again. "I'll leave that to the expert." I smiled back, and quickly looked away. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but tonight was certainly going to be interesting. Copyright Material TMS2002 Chapter 4, pt. 2 Back to Chapter 3, pt. 2 Return to Home   page created with Webpage Designer (NS)