North South Holiday
by
DISCLAIMER: Story mine, Characters mine.
"What size shoe do you wear?" Catherine blurted out before she lost her nerve. She completely expected the woman to call her a freak and walk away. So she was surprised when it didn't happen.
Hayden Powers looked stunned by the question and replied, slowly and carefully, "A seven. Why?"
Catherine sighed in relief. "I thought you were the same size as me."
Catherine then realized Hayden was waiting for an explanation and quickly said, "You said the other day that you wanted to experience the Christmas season in New York while you're here. I'd like to take you to Rockefeller Center to go ice skating tomorrow afternoon. I have an extra pair of skates that you can use."
Hayden was in New York for the first two weeks of December overseeing a business deal between the company she worked for and Catherine's. Catherine and Hayden had exchanged greetings and even went out for a cup of coffee. Catherine was almost sure she was getting the right signals from Hayden and with the busy deal coming to a close, it was the perfect time to see. With this new deal, Hayden would be visiting New York very often and Catherine if she played her cards right.
Hayden's face lit up but then slowly fell. Fearing she was about to get rejected, Catherine said, "If you have other plans, that's okay. I did ask at last minute."
"It's not that," Hayden said, shaking her head. "It's just…"
"Just what?"
"I don't know how to ice skate or even roller skate for that matter. I'm afraid I'll make a fool out of myself," Hayden admitted with a light brush.
Catherine had to stop herself from kissing the blushing woman. Instead she said, "I promise I wont laugh at you and I promise you'll have fun."
Hayden smiled at her. "Well I guess I can't refuse. Tell me how to get to this Rockefeller Center."
The next day, Catherine looked around anxiously for Hayden. She left out a sigh of relief when she saw her and then chuckled. Hayden was wearing more layers then a jawbreaker.
"Warm enough?" Catherine asked when Hayden came to stand next to her. Hayden gave her a little glare through her wool cap and thick scarf. "It's cold."
"But this is a perfect day," Catherine protested with a smile. "If anything it's a little warmer then usual."
"For a Georgia girl, it's cold," Hayden said, her southern accent showing now that she wasn't doing business.
Catherine protested, "I've been to Atlanta. It gets just as cold down there as it does up here."
Hayden shook her head. "That's northern Georgia. Northern Georgia is a whole 'nother state and Atlanta is a world of its own."
Catherine chuckled not only at what Hayden at said but the way she had said it. She liked how Hayden pronounced it add-lan-ta.
As they put on their skates, Hayden asked, resound, "I'm going to fall the moment I stand up, ain't I?"
"Probably but don't feel bad. Almost everyone does."
Fifteen minutes later, Hayden lay on the ice as people skated around her. She groaned, "Just leave me here. I can't make it."
Catherine stood over her, trying not to laugh. She succeeded but failed at not smiling. "Well at least all your clothes help pad your falls."
Hayden was giving her a glare when someone accidentally pumped into Catherine, sending her falling.
Hayden grunted as Catherine landed on top of her. Catherine struggled to get onto her hands and knees. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
Hayden said, as she looked up at Catherine, whose face hovered near hers, "You know, falling down isn't so bad after all."
Catherine was going to kiss her. She didn't care that they were surrounded by at least a hundred people. She was going to kiss this beautiful southern belle and nothing was going to stop her. Well almost nothing. Just as she was leaning in, the stranger who had bumped into her started helping her up while apologizing. Catherine could have cried at the missed opportunity. Hayden also looked upset but allowed herself to be helped up.
Later they walked along streets, window shopping. Or in Hayden's case, limping. Catherine apologized, feeling bad, "I'm sorry about this. I should have picked something else to do."
Hayden shook her head, smiling. "No, today was fun. I wouldn't change it for the world. Well, perhaps one thing. No, wait, two things."
Catherine stopped in front of a large lit up tree that glowed in the darkening sky. "What would those two things be?"
Hayden said, stepping closer to her, "I wish we wouldn't have been interrupted before."
Catherine didn't ask what she meant by before because she knew. She stepped closer to Hayden and wrapped her arms around the thickly bundled woman. Looking up the two inch distance she asked, as Hayden wrapped her arms around her, "And what is the second thing you would change?"
Hayden was glad the sun was setting as she blushed a little. "You're going to think I'm silly, but I wish it was snowing."
"Snowing?"
"Well I've never seen snow. At least not real snow. I was either too young to remember or it snowed while I was asleep and melted by the time I woke up."
Catherine smiled, finding her adorable. She was about to apologize for the fact that there was no chance of snow when something landed on her nose. She tried to cross her eyes to look at it and then looked up. Her jaw dropped when she saw snow falling.
The look of awe and delight on Hayden's face was enough to make Catherine get over her shock at this holiday miracle. Nature had made one of Hayden's wishes come true, and it was up to her to make the other one come true. So when Hayden met her eyes, she kissed her.
Story by: SILVERWRITER01
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