The first time he saw her was at the Winter Time Ice Skating Rink. It was a stupid name for a rink, after all when else would you skate on ice? Summer Time? He had a feeling "Summer Time Ice Skating Rink" wouldn't go over as well. But it paid fairly well, and he got to skate on his breaks. He loved the feel of the ice beneath him as he glided across it, cutting through the purity of its smooth surface and creating intricate patterns with the blades he wore.
It was a lazy summer afternoon when she walked into the rink, two little girls in tow. What first drew his attention to her was the gold of her hair. He'd seen his fair share of blondes- platinum to nearly brown- but hers was such a pure gold, as if the strands were made of the metal itself. The second trait that caught his attention was its length- she had to braid it to keep it from brushing the ground. She walked past him to the front desk and paid for herself and the girls. When she disappeared behind the counter to rent skates for the youngest, the older girl went onto the rink in her own pair. She couldn't have been older than ten or eleven, and her stark white hair was pulled into a tight bun on top of her head. The way she took to the ice was professional and calculated, as he had seen many ice skating troupes come through and have their practices at the rink. Luckily for her, the rink was nearly empty. Mondays were particularly slow, despite the freedom of summer.
The youngest girl was a bit more hesitant with her skates. The blonde held her hand as she tested the ice, and it was obvious after the first few steps that she wanted to stop. The blonde girl simply laughed and agreed to buy the little one a hot chocolate to sip on while they watched- her sister, perhaps?- practice her turns and leaps.
And so the three made a habit of coming in every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He noticed that they stayed away from the rink on their busiest days. He learned that the white-haired girl was called Elsa, as her sister and the blonde would cheer her on from their seats. The youngest, an adorable strawberry-blonde, was named Anna, and the girls called the blonde Punzie. He didn't know what sort of a name that was, but he shrugged it off. Probably foreign or something.
The first time he got to speak with her was when he happened to be working the rentals the following Tuesday. He flashed a smile and made small talk despite the fluttering in his stomach whenever she looked at him. The deep green pools of her eyes seemed to see right through his protective exterior and right down into his core. He shook his head; that was a silly thought.
When he took his break, however, he was disappointed to see that she had already left.
"She must really love to skate," he remarked one day. He had decided to take his break early and joined Punzie and Anna in the bleachers with a hot chocolate of his own.
"Oh she does," Punzie replied with a proud smile. "She's practicing. She wants to audition for the local troupe."
"I haven't seen you all around here before," he commented, "I would have remembered someone with that level of skill."
Anna took a break from her warm drink to inform him that Elsa was the very best ice skater ever, even better than the ones on TV, and that they had just moved here. When he raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and rubbed his chin, seeming to mull over her claims, she giggled. When he asked if she thought Elsa would be willing to sign an autograph for him she laughed again, showing off a missing front tooth.
He turned his attention to Punzie once more. "You look awfully young to have two kids," he remarked. She blushed and giggled, and he decided that he liked the way her eyes squinted when she smiled.
"No, they aren't mine," she explained, "At least, not my children. They are the very best cousins in the world, though," (this elicited a proud smile from Anna) "and I'm watching them while their mom works."
"That's nice of you," he said politely. Then he excused himself to get back to the rest of his shift. As he walked away he overheard Anna asking Punzie if he was their cousin too, since he and Elsa had the same hair and eye color. Punzie giggled again, and he walked through the door out of the rink before he could hear her response. Her giggle stayed in his ears throughout the remainder of his shift.
The following Monday he worked up the courage to ask Punzie- he learned that this was only a nickname, and that her full name was Rapunzel, understandably a mouthful of a name- if she'd be interested in having coffee with him some time. She smiled and said that coffee would be nice. He decided to go a step further and ask if Friday afternoon would be okay, since he had the whole day off this week. His heart fluttered in his chest when she agreed, and the way she said his name when she and the girls left that day (We'll be back, Jack) played over in his mind for the rest of the day.
On Thursday he cursed himself for not asking for her number. His manager had informed him that the guy who was supposed to work Friday called in sick, and that he was the only one available who could cover the shift. He hoped against hope that he'd see her again before then, but alas he did not have such luck.
His luck turned around on Friday, hours after they were supposed to meet, when the golden-haired girl poked her nose inside the building. A look of relief washed over her face when she saw him in uniform behind the counter. His face felt like it was on fire as she approached him.
"I'm so sor-" he began, but she raised a hand to cut him off.
"I see you got called in," she said, smiling knowingly, "I understand. I guess I should've gotten your number, huh?"
He smiled, and wrote his phone number on a piece of paper, along with his name.
"You can't be serious," she asked, pointing to the paper. "Jack Frost" was written by his number, and he only shrugged.
"That's what they call me," he said with a wink.
She rolled her eyes playfully and added him to her phone, making her way to the front door.
"Hey!" he called out. She turned.
"How about you come back by here, say, around eight?"
She looked over at the wall where the hours of operation were posted. "Won't you be closed then?" she asked.
"I can make an exception," he said, and gave her another wink. She smiled and walked out the door.
Night had fallen by the time Rapunzel pulled into the parking lot. At least, he was assuming it was her. He had cleaned out the rental skates, the locker room, and the checkout counter. All that was left was the rink itself, but that was usually done the following morning before they opened.
Her petite silhouette appeared before the glass doors, and he walked over to unlock them and let her in. It seemed as though her hair glowed even more beautifully in the light of the moon rather than the sun. At least, in his own opinion.
"So what do you have planned for tonight, hm?" she asked. "I have a feeling all the coffee shops will be closed by now."
He just smiled and led her to the rink, where two pairs of skates sat by the bleachers.
"You can't be serious," she said for the second time that day. He only laughed and said that he hadn't seen her on the ice much. She only smiled in response.
Even so, she laced up the skates and stepped into the rink. He took her hand as they glided across the ice, and he was impressed at how steady she held herself. They went around a few times, and the mood seemed right, so he pulled her close and leaned in…
…just to nearly fall flat onto his face! He heard the familiar sound of her laugh up ahead. With expert precision, she sped up and looped around the rink, turning around and skating backwards so that she could stick her tongue out at him. He gave her a grin and sped up himself, trying to catch up to her. He did when she finally slowed.
"You almost made me fall over!" he exclaimed.
"I didn't say you could kiss me," she countered playfully.
"Fair enough, fair enough," he conceded. "I hope I didn't ruin your time on the ice?"
"Oh no, you only slowed me down a little bit," she said, giving him a wink of her own.
When they finally made their way out of the building, he locked the door behind them and turned toward her to see her back as she walked to her car. She turned for a moment and called out goodbye, thanking him for the fun night and promising to see him again Monday. He smiled to himself the whole way home, wondering if he'd be able to wait that long.