Page 15 of When the Ice Melts
“Excuse me, would you mind taking our picture?” Addisyn snapped her head up to see the blonde girl holding out an iPhone uncertainly.
“Oh!” She quickly took the phone, made a feeble smile. Hopefully the girl would think her eyes were watering from the wind and cold rather than from sharp-edged emotion.
She snapped a couple shots, the guy’s arms wrapped around the young woman’s waist while both of them beamed with excitement.
“Thanks! These are good.” The girl seemed impressed. “Do you live around here?”
“Just visiting.” Addisyn smiled politely.
“Us too. Actually, this is our honeymoon.” A sparkle danced within the girl’s eyes.
“That’s wonderful.” As raw as Addisyn’s heart was, she couldn’t hold back a slight smile. The two seemed so energetic, so happy together. “Congratulations.”
“Hey, Catherine!” The man had wandered to a display sign at the other end of the platform. “Come check this out!”
“Thanks again!” The girl waved to Addisyn and started to walk away, then suddenly turned. “Wait, do you want your picture in front of the rings?”
Addisyn stared once again at their endless circles. Those rings. Strong and proud and unflinching. She’d attempted to enter that circle, but it was charmed, a magic place where she could not go. She cleared her throat. “That’s okay. Thanks.”
She didn’t need a picture. Those rings were emblazoned on her heart more indelibly than she could have ever tattooed them on her arms.
WINTER HAD BEENrelentless, but now spring was gradually peering around the corners, dropping little hints of its presence. By the last week in March, the temperatures were warmer, but the fabled Pacific Northwest rain had also come to visit and didn’t seem to realize it had overstayed its welcome.
Addisyn attempted to shake some of the raindrops from her hair as she entered the gym—or rather, as she blew through the front door in a curtain of precipitation. She’d naively assumed an umbrella would protect her during her walk from the hotel. Big mistake. Apparently Canadian rain fell parallel with the ground.
The gym was the other half of her life—the half not spent wandering through Whistler. A girl accustomed to practically living in the gym couldn’t be expected to quit exercising cold turkey. So even though Addisyn had often moaned about sore muscles and tough workouts in her past life, she was now voluntarily putting herself through equally grueling routines most days. What a joke her mind was.
Elliptical first. Addisyn gripped the handles and began pumping her legs—faster, fiercer. She bumped up the incline factor on the display and churned even harder, until she could feel sweat trickling down her back under her purple tank top. Her thighs burned with the exertion, but she gritted her teeth and kept pumping.
Exercise was the one thing that was easy. Not easy as in effortless—her legs were now shaking with the intensity—but easy as in—controllable, maybe. Simple. Predictable.
Walking endless loops through Whistler, staring at the Olympic rings, and lying on her bed in the Gold Aspen were the activities in which her mind ran faster than her body, trying to desperately understand what in the world was going on. Scrambling to unravel the tangled threads of her life, to figure out what had brought her here and what she needed to do to fix it and where she needed to go next. She vacillated between crying and enjoying the scenery, between wanting to forget she’d ever lived anywhere else to craving the next flight back to NYC. She could almost feel the mental groove that the repetitious thoughts had worn in her brain. And instead of resolving itself, the uncertainty was becoming more and more intense—as though, in the back of her mind, a yawning black chasm of question marks was slowly spreading, threatening to engulf her soul altogether.
But in exercise, her feet could outpace her mind. Exercise was comforting, familiar. Exercise required no complex decisions, no analysis of consequences. Just pump the iron, keep the tempo, don’t forget to breathe. Exercise numbed the mental pain, gave her mind a chance to quit floundering in all the craziness and just rest while her body did the work for a change.
She hadn’t stopped by the little coffee shop anymore, although she’d considered doing so a few times. Occasionally she found herself wondering if they were still hiring and if she should apply. It might give her a purpose, some order to her life, if nothing else. But she couldn’t promise permanence. Was it fair to take a job when her life was such a bundle of loose ends?
Enough with the mental gymnastics. Addisyn forced her fears to shut down and pushed herself through an intense workout for the next hour and a half, combining cardio and strength training and using nearly every machine in the gym. By the time she finished, her body was aching and sweat was making salty tracks down her face, but her outlook was much more cheerful. Well, maybecheerfulwas the wrong word. Hopeful, perhaps. After all, she was a fighter. She’d figure something out. And realistically, she had to admit that the weather might be influencing her dreary mood. She hadn’t seen the sun now for four days straight. Before coming to Whistler, she’d usually thought of Seattle as the target for persistent rainstorms, but now she realized the rest of the Pacific Northwest was apparently plagued by them also.
Thoughts of the rain reminded her of her miserable walk to the gym and useless umbrella. Addisyn grimaced. She wasn’t going back to the hotel on foot—no way. She didn’t feel like facing the downpour, especially since darkness was rapidly approaching. Plus, her workout had left her feeling limp and exhausted. What about calling an Uber? She fished her phone out of her bag and opened the app, pressing the button for the nearest driver.
She peered out the window into the greyness of the early evening. The rain made a rhythmic gurgling sound in the street drains. Already street lights were beginning to flicker to life against the darkening blue sky.
“Hello, hello!”
Addisyn knew that voice. She turned quickly to see the guy from the coffee shop. Darius.
“Hey.” She felt her cheeks turning even pinker than the exercise had left them. Almost without thinking she brushed back her hair. Why did she have to see him when she looked like a mess? Her embarrassment was eased somewhat when she realized that he’d obviously been working out too. He wore black shorts and a black long-sleeved shirt made from some kind of slick, quick-dry material. His hair, which she now noticed was not black but instead dark brown, was pulled back into a short ponytail.
“You called for an Uber.” He grinned, holding up his phone, then gave a mock bow. “Your coach awaits, m’lady.”
“Wait, you’re an Uber driver?” Addisyn laughed. “I had no idea—the girl at the coffee shop said you worked at a climbing center—”Shut up, she ordered herself. The last thing she needed was for this guy to think she’d been covertly inquiring about him.
Darius paused to wipe his face with a towel slung over his shoulder. “Yup, I work at iClimb Whistler, but I drive for Uber in the afternoons and evenings. Whenever I’m off work.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Pretty painless way to earn a few bucks. Ready to go?”
“Sure thing.” Addisyn followed Darius through the doorway. She appreciated the fact that he held the door for her to exit. Once outside, he opened an umbrella—bigger than hers—and held it over them both. “I’m parked right over there.”
Together they hurried to a maroon Chevy Traverse, where Darius once again opened the passenger door for her, then ran to the driver’s seat. In less than a minute, they were on their way back to the Gold Aspen.