Since our first date at the rink, Sym continued to pay for weekly lessons with Soulan, which I thoroughly looked forward to. I was catching on so fast that she was impressed with me. Those days, I would go to the rink and free skate if there was a lot on my mind or if I had the desire to be free. It felt like I was flying when I was floating across the ice. I wasn’t even bothered by the cold temperature of the rink anymore. I actually found comfort in the frosty air.
I nodded. “Okay, thank you for making sure I didn’t oversleep.”
He bopped my nose, making me giggle. “Of course I wouldn’t. I know how much these lessons mean to you. Which reminds me.” He stood up, and my eyes followed his short trek to the closet. He disappeared inside before coming back out with a large white box. “I bought you something to wear.”
Sym was always buying me things, so I didn’t think twice about it. I clapped my hands together excitedly as Iylah came to sit beside me with a contagious giddiness. She’d also taken up an interest in ice skating, so she was taking lessons as well. He set the box on my lap, then stepped back like a proud father.
I peeled the top off to find a bed of tissue paper. Inside was a gorgeous, cropped, white fur coat with a matching headband. There were also leg warmers and a white uniform with beautiful crystals on it. “Wow, this is really beautiful,” I said, running my fingers over it. I squealed excitedly as the little girl in me rose to the surface. “I’m going to look like an ice fairy princess, wearing this.”
He chuckled lightheartedly. “That was the point. I’ve seen how hard you’ve been working, and you deserve to feel like your best self when you’re living an answered prayer.”
I tossed the box aside to hop up. I used the springiness from the mattress to launch myself on him. He caught me with ease as my legs went around his waist. “I love you so much, Symphony. I don’t think you understand.”
I couldn’t read the expression on his face, but it made me swoon. “I think I do.” He pushed my hair from my face and cupped my jaw. “I love you too.”
“Aww,” Doodle cooed from the bed where she lay on her stomach. Her chin was resting on her hands while her feet kicked back and forth as she watched us with stars in her eyes.
Sym smiled, looking down at her. “This is how the man who loves you is supposed to support you, Doodle. If that nigga not applying pressure, fuck ’em.”
“Fuck ’em!” she parroted him excitedly.
I slapped a hand over my mouth to hold in my laugh. Sym sucked his teeth. “Iylah, don’t say that word.” He placed me on my feet. “Go ahead and get ready, baby.”
I nodded before prancing along to the bathroom to do just that. I was so excited to get to the rink and practice my routine while wearing my new outfit. Sym nailed it perfectly, but when it came to me, he never slacked. It felt so good to have a man who knew you so deeply that every gift felt like he was peeking into your soul.
I glanced around, noticing that we weren’t at Arctic Three; we were at Lake Whisper, which was frozen over because of the season. It was the coldest winter in years. “Why are we here?” I asked, noticing the vacant lot except for Soulan’s Bentley. She stood beside it, waiting patiently for us to park.
He shrugged. “Soulan wanted the lesson to be here today.”
I nodded, unbuckling my seatbelt. Sym eased into the parking spot beside Soulan then hopped out to open my door for me. I accepted his hand to help me down. I waved at Soulan. “Hey, girl.”
“Hey, babe.” She snapped her fingers with a grin. “Loving the fit today.”
I glanced down at my all-white fit and realized the things Sym purchased were perfect since it looked like we would be skating outside. “Thank you. My man bought this for me.” I struck a pose with my lips pursed.
Sym chuckled while placing a kiss on my cheek. “Be back when you’re finished.”
I nodded. “Okay. Later, babe.”
He climbed back in the car with Iylah and pulled away while Soulan and I headed up to the frozen lake. I gasped when I saw how beautiful it was. There were string lights suspended from one end of the lake to the other. The snow on the ground helped create a beautiful winter oasis. The mountains and trees in the distance also played a huge role in the beauty surrounding me.
The wind blew softly, making me hug myself a little, but as we got started warming up, I forgot all about the cold. We chatted like girlfriends all throughout the lesson, which always brought an ease into our sessions. Toward the end, Soulanallowed me to free skate. I circled the rink, completely lost in Chris Brown’s “I Wanna Be” playing over the speaker system.
I’d just successfully completed a backward one-foot glide into a camel spin. I felt so free and alive when I was skating that it was easy to zone out. I came to an abrupt stop when I saw Symphony standing in the middle of the rink. I glanced from side to side, looking for Soulan, but she was missing. I skated over to him nervously.
“Is the lesson over already?” I asked with a frown.
He shook his head. “Not quite. It’s just something I have to do first.” He took my hands in his and stared deeply into my eyes. There was that look again that I couldn’t label. “Valleigh, I always knew there was something special about you. It’s why I made you mine when we were just little kids who thought we had life all figured out.” He chuckled lightly. “The only thing I had figured out in that time of my life was my feelings for you. We were forced to go our separate ways because of circumstances beyond our control, but destiny brought us back together. One thing I never want to do is be separated again. You are my other half. My rib. The missing puzzle piece to my crazy life.”
I couldn’t fight the tears pooling in my eyes, because I had a feeling that I knew where this was going. Hearing him confess his feelings for me had my heart racing, but not from nerves. It was from alignment. It was that inner knowing that told me Symphony was the one and always had been.
I gasped when he dropped to one knee in front of me. He took my left hand and kissed it gently. He pulled a red velvet box from his pocket and sniffled. When he looked up at me, there were tears streaming down his face. “Valleigh Andover, will you marry me?” He popped open the box, and I screamed when I realized it was the ring we’d been recently looking at while window shopping.
I vividly remembered obsessing over the three-carat East-West princess cut ring with a gold sculptural band that mimicked veins. It wasn’t the typical engagement ring, but it was just so beautiful, and I told Sym I wanted it. I couldn’t even remember what excuse he came up with for not getting it that day, but there we were.
“Yes! Yes! Yes, a million times!” I replied.
He smiled, slid the ring on my finger, then stood up to hug me. I melted into his arms as the tears continued to pour from my eyes. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I came into the new year, thankful for life. When Tobias walked away from me, I thought it was the end of the world when, in reality, it was the beginning of one—the beginning of the world God had for me.
