Dana was sat at a long table by the window, gazing at the panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and the people skiing the slopes below. She was sipping her hot chocolate when she noticed movement to her left. Alice slid her hand over Dana’s shoulder and kissed her lips softly, “mmmm chocolatey kiss” Alice purred as she pulled away slowly. “Mmmm Alicey kiss” responded Dana as she kept her eyes closed and smiled dreamily. The rest of the gang sat down with Dana, Alice beside her, Bette and Tina together, and Shane with Tash, pulling out a chair chivalrously. “Hey there new person” Dana greeted Tash, causing her to giggle as she went to shake Dana’s hand. “Oh sorry, Dana this is Tash, Tash … Dana” Shane introduced them, “Ohhhh the ski hire lady right?” Dana asked suddenly recognising her. “You got it, it’s nice to meet you Dana” Tash smiled, “Likewise” Dana gave Tash and Shane a grin.

“I have a lot of new names to remember” Tash commented to Shane. “Well hopefully you know mine by now …” Shane grinned, “and then we have Bette and Tina, they’re the cute ones … “and Al and Dane, the ummm weird ones!”. “Hey!” the weird ones exclaimed together, “… that’s not true” Alice declared, “… yeah … they’re not cute!” Dana added causing everyone to laugh. “See what I mean?” Shane said as Alice and Dana pulled faces at each other. “Okay, so what is everyone having for lunch, my treat?” Tina announced. “No way Tina …” Dana objected, “you can’t pay for us all”. She reached into her pocket for some cash, “Put your money away Dana!” Tina ordered, “Alice, Bette and I had a deal, whoever won the race down the slope just then was to buy lunch”.

Tash was a little confused “That doesn’t sound like much of a prize for winning” she commented. Tina smiled sweetly, liking this woman already “Ahh but my prize comes at 5pm, right girls?”, she slid her arms around Alice and Bette’s shoulders. Tash reached into her pocket, then slid a $20 note over to Tina who smiled at her and immediately slid it back to her. “That includes you Tash” Tina declared, “Well at least let me buy the drinks, I insist” Tash suggested. Tina gave in, nodding to Tash respectfully, realising that she probably wanted to make sure the others were comfortable with her before she started mooching off everyone. “In that case …” Alice started, “I’ll have a bottle of Dom and a long drinking straw”. Dana slapped Alice’s knee playfully and laughed with the others. “Sure …” Tash played along “With a beer keg chaser?” she cheekily retorted, drawing surprised laughter from the table.

Having taken note of the orders, Tina and Tash headed over to the counter. Alice smiled and nodded at Tash and the rest of the gigglers, “Good … she’s good!”, she was glad to see that Tash could hold her own and match wits with someone who had an equally acidic tongue. Now, while the Tash was away … the others got the chance to ask Shane a few questions. “So … spill it Stud!” Alice demanded. Shane cringed at that word “Al, please don’t call me that okay?” she insisted. “Why the ***** not? Al pushed, “Because … cos I’d just rather not be called that right now” Shane reasoned. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re going soft” Al replied, drawing a “drop it” look from Bette “Okay okay, sorry Shane”.

A wry smile tugged at the corner of Shane’s mouth as she thought about how this all started. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her, so today I decided to do something about it” she explained. “How did you end up in a kids skiing class though?” Dana questioned. “Well … I asked at the ski hire place if Natasha was around, they told me she was taking a ski lesson, so I asked if I could join” came the explanation, her friends hanging on her every word. “Of course when they told me it was a kids class, I had to come up with something, so I said that I’d never skied before so I’m at a kids level anyway. The woman behind the counter must have seen through my intentions and gave me a wink, then booked me in. So there we go”. Bette, Dana and Alice chuckled, knowing that only Shane could get herself into that kinda situation with her charm.

“No prizes for guessing what the discussion is about at the table” Tash joked. Tina smiled, thinking this girl is smart “Well, they’re just curious … as am I”. Tash laughed softly, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before all the questions started. “I’m just as curious … about Shane” she shyly admitted to Tina, feeling that she could already trust her “… and the rest of you of course”. It warmed Tina’s heart to see the beginnings of something bloom between two people. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she had a good feeling about Tash, and knowing where Shane was in her life right now, she could sense that perhaps Tash is just what Shane needed. They headed back to the table to join the crew who suddenly became very quiet.

When Tash sat down she felt all eyes on her, “So … who’s going to get the interrogation lamp out?” she joked. The others nervously giggled, all wanting to ask so much, but not willing to take that first step. Finally Bette started the ball rolling, realising she was probably the only one brave enough to. “So Tash, since none of these other chickens want to open their beaks, I’ll do it”, “Shoot!” Tash responded, shifting in her seat slightly as she settled in for the impending questions. “Well, ok … we’re all from Cali … where are you from?”, Tash relaxed, Bette’s demeanor helping to ease her into the conversation. “Wow, I’m a Cali girl too …” Shane’s eyes lit up, a sight not lost on Tash “I’m originally from San Diego, but I’m kind of a seasonal traveller. I float around here or Europe in winter, then I head down to New Zealand or Australia for their winter”. The gang were hanging on her every word.

“So do you get back to San Diego much?” Tina asked, she wanted to know, for Shane’s sake, whether Tash would be in California much. “I do … in between ski stints I head back there. I stay at my sister’s place, she has a room over the garage that I can hang in. She owns a bookstore and I work there to raise cash for my next adventure”. Shane was smiling softly as she heard Tash talking about her life, there was something promising about her answers, but something daunting about them too. She tried not to think about that too much. Alice had the next question, and she was never one to hold back. “Okay, let’s get this over with …” she began. Shane’s expression dropped, unsure where exactly Alice was headed with that beginning. She braced herself for major embarassment.

“Are you married … divorced … single … taken … ***** … straight … undecided?” Alice put her best investigative skills to the fore. “Okay, wow, not backward in coming forward huh …” Tash commented, “I’m single and *****, how’s that?”. “Very good answers” Shane thought to herself, she was about to ask a question however Alice butted in with her interrogation. “For how long?”, “Umm how long what? ***** or single?” Tash asked confused, “Both” Alice confirmed. “Alright … ***** since high school, single for almost a year” came Tash’s answer. “Reason?” Alice continued to pester, “Ummm it’s complicated” Tash retorted, trying to keep some things private, or at least only to her and Shane. “Okay okay I think that’s enough questions …” Shane butted in, rescuing Tash from Alice’s onslaught, “leave me some things to find out for myself” she smiled at Tash who mouthed a “thankyou” for the rescue, softly patting Shane’s arm in gratitude, causing the others to smile at the simple contact and Shane’s glowing grin.

**********

~tbc~