Read Online Breaking the Ice by Mandy Baggot - Free Book Online Page A

at all. Look, here are the girls with your water. Just take five and drink it slowly,’ Jimmy told her, rising to his feet and preparing to leave.
    ‘ I will and I apologise for - you know, for…’ Samantha started, feeling a complete idiot for a hundred different reasons all at once.
    ‘ I’ll catch you later,’ Jimmy replied.
    Felicity, Jane and Karen joined her and Felicity handed her a polystyrene cup of water as Jimmy skated back onto the ice.
    ‘ Are you alright now? You looked really white for a minute back there. Thought we were going to have to perform Airway, Breathing, Circulation,’ Jane commented, her fear and tears temporarily taking a back seat.
    ‘ Of course I’m alright. We must get back to work, goodness it’s almost half eleven and Dave wanted an early lunch. Pie shop has steak and kidney on offer for the first twenty customers,’ Samantha spoke hurriedly as she swallowed all the water in one go.
    What had she been thinking of? Damn Cleo for mentioning rehab and damn her stupid subconscious for allowing her thoughts to filter out. She was convinced there was a flaw in her brain, she didn’t know anyone else who had the same problem in as severe a degree as she did. The moment she thought something it was usually at her lips and out before she had a chance to process the ‘Stop! You cannot say that’ thought. How could she have asked him about rehab? She barely knew him. He was a performer at the Civic Hall. There were boundaries you did not cross, there was respect to be paid, there was distance to be kept. Cleo would have died if she had been witness to it. She would have known exactly what to say. She never got tongue tied - well at least not with words.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Five
     
    Cleo was very much tongue tied later that evening. Jeremy, the hot brogue wearer, (glossy black hair and film star looks) could hardly keep his tongue away from her. He and Cleo were sat in the second row, together with two bottle blondes from the estate agents. One was called Chantelle, the other was called Harmony. Sat with them was the much talked about Connor. Why Cleo thought that Connor would be a good match for her Samantha didn’t know. He was short, no more than five foot four inches and little in every way. He had a thin chest and narrow hips and he was wearing tight beige trousers and a white shirt that just made him look shorter and narrower. He wasn’t unattractive in the face, in fact he had quite a pleasant look about him and had managed quite a nice smile when they had been introduced. But all the time, while Cleo was bigging him up, Samantha couldn’t help looking at his tiny feet thinking that they could probably share shoes.
    The Civic Hall auditorium looked resplendent, almost like a wintery film set courtesy of the lights and smoke on the rink. Every seat was occupied and the audience chatted excitedly amongst themselves waiting for the performance to begin.
    Samantha’s ice skates were already hurting her feet. She had a chafe on her shin where the tongue wasn’t positioned properly and her ankles were aching. She had skated round the rink too many times to count, selling programmes and souvenirs. It had deteriorated into a double act of her and Felicity as, to no one’s surprise, Jane and Karen had both called in sick.
    It was a few moments before the show was due to start so Samantha left the ice and hopped up the steps next to Cleo in order to change into shoes and man the fire exits.
    ‘ So Sam, you’ve seen the costumes. How much tight Lycra round nice firm arses can we expect tonight?’ Cleo asked loudly for Chantelle and Harmony’s benefit.
    ‘ I believe the costumes are made to a very precise measurement if that’s what you’re asking,’ Samantha replied as she removed the skates and put on her trainers.
    ‘ My sister! She’s so innocent. Honestly Chantelle, Samantha will actually be admiring the skating!’ Cleo exclaimed with a loud laugh that