“You can’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“Fernando, come on, you’ve got to admit that sometimes being single is lonely.”
“Nope.”
“What about when you and I have gone out to dinner, and I’ve caught you staring longingly at some of the attractive women sitting alone? Or the dating app I know you have on your mobile.”
“I don’t have any dating apps installed.”
Gemma snorted. “We’re friends on more than half of them. I can see when you’re online.”
“What are you doing on dating apps? Aren’t you in a relationship?”
“Fair point.”
She’d only logged on once recently, and it was to remove her credit cards from her profile before she deleted the apps.
“Do you want the honest truth? It’s difficult for a male skater to find a woman who understands our profession.” He shot her a sad expression and shook his head. “More than once, I’ve been out for a date and been laughed at when I told them what I do for a living.IfI end up going on a date, now I just tell women I’m a member of the mafia.”
“Oh, Fernando.” She face-palmed. “Does it work? Wait, you know what, don’t tell me. What I should be telling you is that you just haven’t found the right woman yet.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” He shrugged. “Either way, I’m not in the market for a relationship. I’m more interested in enjoying life on the road and stepping in to coach Frankie and Charlie.”
As she watched the body language of her skating partner, she knew that he was lying, but it wasn’t her place to judge him. She promised herself that she’d find a way to help him. He was her partner, and partners helped one another out.
“Don’t worry about me, Gem. Let’s get to work.”
* * *
Fernando’s hands gripped Gemma’s hips firmly and rotated her around in a circle. The arena was dark, but still lit with soft pale-pink lighting. The neon glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets the audience members wore pulsed with the beats of the music. She could see all the way up to the top of the bleachers. Although she couldn’t make out any faces clearly, she could still see little hands clapping and eagerly waving to her.
As she changed positions and sat on top of Fernando’s hand, she stretched her arms out and gave her best princess wave. That’s when she heard the voices.
“Cinderella, you’re my favorite princess!”
“Cinderella, try not to lose your slipper and watch out for your sisters; they’re evil!”
“Mom, look, she waved to me! Mom, did you see that?!”
Hearing the high-pitched, excited tone of the children was why she was here. Seeing them light up with excitement was the reason she was pushing herself to skate as much as she could.
She remembered being five or six years old herself when her parents had taken her to her first ice show. It was the closest she could get to seeing her favorite princesses and heroes come to life. Her parents had never been able to afford a trip to a fancy theme park.
I want all those children who are like me to be able to get the same experience I did out of seeing Dreams on Ice. I want them to walk out of here talking about one thing: how much fun they had at the show tonight. Who knows, maybe I’m even performing in front of a few future skaters.
Fernando set her down on the ice. They skated one more lap, then disappeared backstage. “Somebody has a lot of extra energy today,” he laughed.
“I don’t know, I can’t explain it. I just feel so inspired. When we were out there just now, I had this flashback to when I was little, and Mum and Dad were with me, watching the mermaid princess battle the evil sea witch.”
Techs dressed in all black darted around the small back area, moving sets and props from one location to another and talking to one another on headsets.
“Aww, you sound like Frankie. She got her start in skating by watching a show, too,” Fernando said.
“I didn’t know that. Funny, I know pretty much everything about Frankie except that.”
As they stepped off the ice, a tech handed them their skate guards.
