Hear No Evil - Chapter 25

Fifteen minutes after leaving her apartment, Jack and Sue arrived back at the fairground they had been to the day before. Jack had seen the smile on Sue’s face during the whole journey and knew that she was looking forward to getting back out there, but he also knew that it would be tinged with sadness for her too.

When they’d parked and locked the car, Jack took her hand and led her over to the rink so that they could hire their skates. As they approached the ice, Sue paused, causing Jack to turn to her.

“Hey, everything okay?” He asked her.
“Yeah, it just feels a little a little strange. I haven’t been on the ice since...for so long.”

Jack detected the hesitancy in her voice and took her hands in his.

“If this is too much we can do something else?” He said quietly.

He kept his eyes on her as he watched her look at the ice and all the other people who were already out there. He could tell that she was in two minds about what she wanted to do but she finally turned to him and took a deep breath.

“No Jack, let’s do this.”

Nodding at her, he led her to a nearby bench where they sat and laced up their skates. Sue finished just ahead of Jack and stood up, walking to the edge of the rink. Jack watched as her as she took a few moments to just watch the others before stepping onto the ice and gliding off.

Finishing lacing his skates, Jack got up and followed her onto the ice. He moved slowly, content to just watch her as she circled the rink. He could see that she was slowly getting her confidence back since she had stopped skating all those years ago. He knew how losing a close friend could affect people and it was hard enough for adults to cope with, but she had been a child when Judy had died. Added to the fact that Sue partly blamed herself for her friend’s death which has resulted in her staying off the ice ever since the accident that had killed her friend.

He carried on watching her as she continued skating forwards. She slowed slightly as she passed him and blew him a kiss as she turned and started to skate backwards. He pretended to catch the kiss and smiled as she laughed at him, speeding up to catch up with her and wrap his arms around her waist, her laughter filling his heart. They did a couple of laps holding hands before Sue slowed them and turned to him and nodded.

It was almost like he could read her mind as he smiled and released her hand, watching her go off at speed. After a few more laps, he could see that Sue’s confidence was back to full strength. He watched as she moved towards the centre of the ice and he stood in awe as he watched her perform a perfect camel spin and change smoothly to spin on the other leg. He looked around him and noticed the other skaters watching her, equally as impressed as Jack.

When she stopped spinning she had a smile on her face that could have lit up the darkest of rooms as everyone on the ice began to applaud her. Jack skated over to her and matched her smile. His heart swelled to love and pride as he looked at her. He could see that she was slightly embarrassed at the applause she was still receiving as he enveloped her in a hug. He pulled away after several moments and looked at her, unable to stop the tears that were forming in his eyes.

“That was amazing. I don’t think I have ever been as proud of anyone as I am of you right now.” Jack said as he smiled widely.
“I can’t believe that I did it. Judy and I practiced those spins for hours but Judy was never able to keep the spin central and kept losing her balance. That was the spin that was meant to get me the place in the state finals. No one my age had even done it cleanly, but I never finished the routine.”

He listened as her voice trailed off at the memory of her friend and he could see the change in her mood. As he saw her eyes fill with tears, he pulled her into a warm embrace as she clung to him. He felt her shoulders begin to shake and knew she was crying for her lost friend. He helf her for as long as she needed until she pulled away. Taking her face in his hands, he used his thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks as he looked at her.

“You wanna go? We can go somewhere else if this is too much for you.” Jack asked

He saw her smile at him and sighed when she lifted her hand to rest on his cheek.

“You’re sweet Jack. I’m fine now. Let’s just skate for a little while.” She said as she moved her hand and gently kissed his cheek.

Smiling at her, Jack took her hand and they skated off with the rest of the people who had come out to enjoy the newest addition to the fairground.

oOo

Several hours later, Jack and Sue were sat in his car outside her apartment building. They weren’t sure how long they had been skating but Jack had been complaining all the way back that his legs hurt and all Sue had done was laugh at him. She knew that figure skates weren’t what he was used to as he was used to hockey skates, but he had picked it up the different skates pretty quickly.

As they sat there, Sue knew she should go inside. She had hardly seen Levi for the last couple of days and it wasn’t fair on Lucy to keep having him while she went out with Jack. But she found herself not wanting to leave him. Just the thought of leaving him created a hole inside of her that only his presence could fill. She turned to face him when she felt his hand cover hers.

“I can’t believe that I waited so long to ask you out. The last two days have been the best of my life.”

She smiled at his words as she looked into his eyes, their magnetic pull drawing her in. It took all of her willpower to keep herself in her seat and not just move into his arms but the look he was giving her was too much for her as she sighed when his hand went up to cup her cheek. She felt herself moving closer as his lips lightly brushed against hers. Moving forward she applied more pressure, wanting to be closer to him but knowing that, if they started something here, she didn’t know where it would stop. It was as if he was reading her mind when he pulled back and smiled at her.

“As much as I want you to stay, I think you should go inside now before I start up the car and continue driving to my apartment and forget to let you out.”

Despite what her heart and body were screaming at her, Sue knew that he was right. She wanted nothing more than to let him carry out what he’d just said and take her with him to his apartment where they could just be together and shut out the rest of the world, but she knew that, on this occasions, she needed listen to her head. She smiled at him before leaning over to place and small kiss on his lips, pulling away after only a few seconds.

“I guess I shall see you tomorrow.” She said as she looked at him.
“Try and keep me away.” He said as he took her hand and placed a kiss against her knuckles.

With one last smile, Sue climbed out the car and entered her apartment building. She turned to see Jack still outside and smiled as she realised that he was waiting until he was sure she was inside and safe. It was something else that he always did whenever he walked her home and it was another little thing that she loved about him. She waved at him and started to climb the stairs to her apartment. When she was inside and in her bedroom, her thoughts instantly shifted to Jack. She thought about the last couple of days, their kisses, his hands on her. A smile crept to her lips when she thought of what had gone on between them and she knew she was going to sleep well tonight.