The girls in the back were struggling to bend over or grasp anything because they were dressed like the little
boy from A Christmas Story. I tried my best to hide my smirk and chuckle as the shorter one almost fell over, reaching for the taller one and nearly taking them both down. They looked so ridiculous bundled up like that, but I assumed they were probably from somewhere warm and had been bamboozled by the local shops into buying everything in the store for their probably one trip down the bunny slope. It must be nice being that rich that you can spend that much money on completely unimportant items of clothing, just to never wear them again. At least they didn’t have their cellphones out, not that they could press the buttons with the thickness of the gloves that they were wearing.
The wind had died down a lot since the day before, and I felt like if I had been bundled up like they were, I would be sweating to death by now. However, I guessed that I was used to the frigid temperatures, and some even worse. I can vividly remember a time where we were hired by the National Park service to come out for a week straight and give safety lessons to skiers who trekked to Denali to brave the natural slopes. It was definitely the most gorgeous place I had ever skied, but damn if it wasn’t bite through your jacket cold out there. After the first day, I had them take me to the closest town to get a temperature-rated coat and snow pants. That was what these girls looked like, except their movements were going to be very restricted because of all the layers. At least if they took a fall, they would just roll down the hill and not get injured.
When it came time to help everyone with their movements, Glen sent me over to the overstuffed girls, laughing at me as I tried to help them through their clothing. The short girl was hopeless, and had gone into full out laughing mode, sitting down in the snow and telling me to just help her friend. I shook my head and laughed, trying not to make them feel silly.
“What are your names?” I asked.
“I’m Hailey,” the one on the ground said.
“I’m Bea,” the tall one replied with a giggle.
“Are you girls from California?”
“No.” Bea laughed. “Believe it or not, we are from Colorado. You would think with the way we are dressed that we had never felt cold weather before.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything.” I chuckled.
“At least I won’t be cold when I go inside,” she said, a smile in her voice, though I couldn’t see her lips at all.
“All right, show me how to put on your skis,” I said, standing back.
She slipped her feet right into the latches, but grunted and giggled as she strenuously bent at the waist and clicked the straps in place. She then stood up and grasped onto the poles to keep her balance. We went through several different motions, her arms going in all the right places. She was actually pretty good at this, and I was a little surprised they were taking a beginners’ course.
“So, have you girls skied before?”
“Maybe when I was a kid,” Bea said. “Believe it or not, we live in a ski town, but work is so crazy, and until now, I didn’t have skis.”
“Oh, well, what do you do?”
“I’m a writer, a ghostwriter actually,” she said.
“What is a ghostwriter?”
“I write books for a publishing company, for authors that aren’t actually authors but want to publish a series of books,” she explained. “I sign my rights away to the material, and then the client purchases it.”
“That’s interesting,” I said. “I didn’t even know that was a thing.”
“Apparently,” Bea said, laughing.
“All right, Hailey,” I said, reaching down and helping her to her feet. “Your turn.”
Hailey was a bit more challenged by bending over, and her movements were a little jumbled, but they were good enough to make it down the mountain without breaking her neck. At least, I hoped they were. Part of me was curious what Bea looked like, since she sounded really sweet and probably around my age. However, her full-on mummy suit kept me from seeing more than her cheekbones, which was unfortunate, or fortunate, depending on the way that you looked at it.
“All right,” I said, looking back at the rest of the class. “Are we ready to make a run down the bunny slope?”
“Yeah,” the class said enthusiastically.
“You ladies want to go first?”
“Sure,” Hailey said.
“Why not? If we fall, we will just lay there as cushion for the rest of them.” Bea laughed.
Hailey situated herself at the edge of the hill and pushed off, letting out a little squeal as she went down. Not long after, Bea let loose, showing me really great form as she pushed through the white fluff, moving her skis back and forth. I was impressed at how quickly she seemed to catch onto everything. The ski down the bunny slope was the last thing they did with us for the day, so I liked to make sure every one of them made it down the hill safely. I felt that it was a testament to my teaching skills if they didn’t fall or lose a piece of equipment on the way down. My first two were a success, and I smiled as they reached the bottom and celebrated, ramming into each other with their cushioned suits and falling backward.
Everyone laughed as they went down, and I stood there waiting for them to clear the bottom before sending the next skier down. Bea threw her head back and pulled off her beanie and goggles, laughing wildly as she tried to climb to her feet. I stood there, slightly taken back, squinting my eyes down at the flashes of red glimmering in her hair. Her smile was bright and big, and she looked absolutely gorgeous surrounded by all the snow. I stopped the next skier for just a minute and moved to the edge of the hill, taking a closer look. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Bea was the girl that I had seen in the hotel the day before. I had spent the entire morning with her and didn’t even know who I was talking to. God, I was such an idiot. I had totally missed my chance, though I did get to talk to her for a little bit.