"Bonjour, Cosima," Delphine smiles broadly as Cosima joins the ski group Monday morning.
"Good morning, Delphine," Cosima responds with a smile just as enormous. "Good morning, little monsters," she gives the kids high fives.
"Did everyone have a nice Christmas?" Delphine asks.
"It was awesome!" Gemma enthuses. "I got nunchuks!"
"Good luck getting those through customs," Cosima laughs.
"I got a Toronto Football Club jersey," Oscar raves.
"This ski trip was supposed to be my Christmas gift," Charlotte says, "but Mommy surprised me with an iPad mini!"
"My Daddy got me this leopard cap," Kira pulls off her helmet to show off her knit hat with a cute leopard face and ears.
"Very nice," Cosima admires. "You all made out like bandits.
"What about you, Cosima?" Gemma inquires. "Did you get anything cool for Christmas?"
"I got," she glances at Delphine, "way more than I expected."
Gemma crinkles her nose, "What's that mean?"
"That means I got a really awesome t-shirt and an incredible Christmas dinner."
"How was your Christmas, Delphine?" Charlotte asks.
Delphine looks over Charlotte's head at Cosima, "It was one of my best yet."
Cosima tries to control her reaction as her cheeks turn crimson at Delphine's words.
"What are we gonna learn today?"
"Well, Oscar, I was thinking we'd work on getting you out of the wedge and into parallel ski formation. We'll start on Verte 1 so we can practice the basics on a flatter incline. Once you've got it down, we'll move back over to Verte 2."
"Cool!" The kids race to the drag lift, while Cosima and Delphine trail behind.
"It was one of my best Christmases, too," Cosima remarks. "And yesterday was the icing on the cake."
"I'm glad to hear that," Delphine smiles. "Oh, I have something for you."
"You do?"
Delphine nods and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a tube of Chapstick and presenting it to Cosima.
"Thank you," Cosima takes it from her hand. "So does this mean I won't be getting any more full contact lip balm?"
"No, this just means now we can equally share in each other's lip balm."
"That's a compromise I can live with," Cosima says as she uses the Chapstick and then puckers her lips in Delphine's direction.
"I didn't mean right now," Delphine laughs.
"Oh," Cosima pouts.
"Don't even start," Delphine warns.
"Start what?" Cosima responds innocently.
"Your sad little face, I'm working."
"You're right, you're right," Cosima accepts with a nod. "I just miss your lips."
"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't stopped thinking about kissing you since we parted last night."
Cosima brightens, "That does make me feel a lot better, actually. How long until you're off the clock?"
"I finish work at 4:30."
"Okay, not ideal, but I guess I'll survive… maybe."
"I do get an hour break for lunch."
"Oh?" Cosima wiggles her eyebrows.
"That has to involve food, though, Cosima. I can't ski all day on an empty stomach."
"Yeah, yeah, totally. Food is good."
"Are you two coming?" Gemma shouts from the base of the lift.
"Let's go, hot lips. Class now, lunch later," Delphine promises as she guides Cosima towards to the waiting students.
"Okay," Delphine starts when they're all at the top of the slope, "in order to become an advanced skier, and get the most out of this sport, you need to learn to ski parallel. To begin, you will get into the wedge position as normal. As you go downhill, I want you to bring your skis parallel in the turn and then keep them parallel as you continue down. It will help keep them straight by making large, flat turns, keeping your weight on the downhill ski. You'll want to keep your legs no more than hip width apart. As you get more comfortable skiing parallel, you'll naturally start to bring your skis closer together. Stopping will also be different, now you'll end the run with a quick hockey stop. To do this, you'll need to use your downward momentum to turn both skis in front of you and come to a clean stop accompanied by a strong pole plant. We'll work on the hockey stop a bit up here before continuing down." Delphine moves up the hill a bit and then skis down to the group, demonstrating the maneuver. She then has each of them do the same.
"That was very good. Now I am going to ski down to the bottom and I want you all to come to me one at a time." Delphine descends the hill, demonstrating the wedge to parallel transition, followed by the hockey stop, then waves them down.
"I'll go first," Gemma volunteers.
"Very good, Gemma," Delphine praises when the young girl stops in front of her. "Just try to get your uphill ski a bit straighter in the turn so it stays a little more parallel coming out of it."
Kira takes her turn next. "Nicely done, Kira, just watch the backs of your skis, they started to widen there at the end."
"Go ahead, Oscar," Charlotte says.
"Alright," Oscar shrugs as he heads down the slope. As he nears the bottom, he makes way too big a stop and falls backwards onto his butt.
Delphine helps him up, "Oscar, you were doing great up until the hockey stop. Remember to firmly plant your poles so you don't lose balance and tip your skis too far backwards."
"Cosima, you can go next."
"But I always bring up the rear." Cosima notices Charlotte's tentativeness, "Hey, what's up?"
"I'm a little scared to ski parallel," Charlotte admits.
"Honestly, so am I. How about we go together?"
"But Delphine said one at a time."
"I think she'll allow it this once. What do you say?"
"Okay," Charlotte agrees.
Cosima and Charlotte head down the slope in tandem.
"Why'd you both come down?" Gemma asks when they arrive at the bottom.
"I, um—" Charlotte starts.
"I asked her to come with me, I was kinda nervous," Cosima cuts in. "Guess I had reason to be with that great performance."
"You both did fine for your first try," Delphine insists. "Charlotte, you need to keep your skis a bit closer together. Cosima, yes, you teetered a bit and went back into the wedge position, but the turn was perfect. Let's keep practicing."
The kids all head to the lift, while Delphine holds Cosima back. "That was really sweet of you."
"What was?"
"Accompanying Charlotte, covering for her nerves with the others."
"I really was just as worried about it as she was."
"You've got a big heart, Cosima Niehaus."
"Yeah, yeah," Cosima brushes off the praise. "This big heart does nothing for my skiing ability."
"Then let's go work on that some more."
—
At lunchtime, Cosima and Delphine pick up sandwiches and take them to an empty break room outside the ski school.
"This is nice, getting to spend lunch together," Cosima says as she starts eating.
"Yes, it is." Delphine abruptly puts her sandwich down, "Cosima, I have a confession to make."
"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. Do I want to hear this?"
"It's nothing bad," Delphine swears, "just something I need to get off my chest."
"Okay," Cosima says tentatively, "spill."
"Spill?"
"It's an expression, like spill the beans. It means to let it all out, lay it on me."
"Ah, okay, well, the thing is, I lied to you yesterday."
"Oh god, you don't really like me," Cosima worries.
"Non, non," Delphine grabs her hand, "don't be silly. You know I like you. I don't exactly go around kissing people I detest."
"Okay, that's a relief. What else could you have lied about?"
"When I snuck up on you in the lobby yesterday, I didn't just happen to see you there. I had been looking for you."
"Because you wanted to hang out after your plans were cancelled?"
"Well, you see, that's just it, I didn't actually have plans with a friend. I just said that so you wouldn't feel like I was being too presumptuous. I wanted to see you and spend time together and I thought maybe you'd think it was too much too soon after Christmas. Which you kind of did."
"No, Delphine, I didn't think it was. When I said I was surprised you wanted to hang out so soon it was because I didn't think you were into me like I was into you and I couldn't imagine why you'd want to waste more time on me."
"Time with you is never a waste, Cosima. We spent Saturday apart and all I could think the whole day was, I wonder what Cosima is doing. This is probably going to sound silly, but I missed you, even though we had just spent so much time together. I realized when I was skiing alone at Grand Montets that since I met you, a day hasn't gone by where I wasn't laughing because of something you said or did. And on Saturday, the only laugh I had was thinking about how you'd have fared on those slopes."
"Oh, gee, thanks, I'm glad thoughts of me falling amuse you so much."
"I'm sorry that probably didn't come out right."
"No, no, I get it," Cosima squeezes Delphine's hand. "You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say all that. And, since we're being honest here, when you asked what I was thinking about when I was staring into the fire, it wasn't actually Buckminster Fuller and sacred geometry."
"It wasn't?"
Cosima shakes her head, "I was thinking about you."
"You were?"
Cosima nods, "You're pretty much all I've thought about since we met, but after Christmas, I just had so many feelings that I didn't know what to do with. I had resolved myself to just being your friend, but I couldn't stop wishing it was more. There was all this stuff on the glaciers at the museum and I couldn't help but laugh about that stupid joke you had the kids play on me. We had this tour guide and the whole time she was talking, all I wanted was for you to be the one telling me all about the history of Chamonix. I wanted to hear your perspective on this place where you grew up skiing. I guess I just kinda missed the sound of your voice and that smile of yours that makes me weak in the knees every time it's directed my way. So yesterday, when I was sitting by the fire with visions of you in my head and all of the sudden there you were, it felt almost like I willed you there. Seriously, yesterday felt so much like a dream, I had Scott pinch me when I got back to the suite."
"It wasn't a dream," Delphine reaches out with her free hand and strokes Cosima's cheek as they gaze deeply into each other's eyes.
Their lunch is quickly abandoned in favor of a different kind of hunger as Delphine surges forward, capturing Cosima's lips in a fervent kiss.
"Cosima," Delphine pants a while later.
"Mmmhmm," Cosima mumbles as she busies herself with Delphine's neck.
"I have to get to my teen group in 15 minutes and we've barely eaten."
Cosima pulls away, "Right, right, sorry. Guess we got a little distracted."
"Just a little," Delphine smiles as she bites into her sandwich.
"Oh my god," Cosima exclaims.
"What?"
"I just realized that I can now say I've had an authentic French kiss."
"Yes, you can," Delphine giggles before continuing to eat her lunch.
"How was I?"
Delphine practically chokes on the food in her mouth, "Excuse me?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant my skiing, I know the kissing was good."
"I thought you did really well out there today. I know you feel safer in the wedge position, but I was happy to see you really try to ski parallel. When you pick up speed, you tend to get nervous and brake too quickly, which caused that big spill you took. All in all, I think you're making great progress, especially from where you started last week."
"I couldn't get much worse."
"You know, you really should try to be as confident in your skiing ability as you are with your kissing ability."
"Yeah, well, one cannot be good at all things. I prioritize."
"You can always reprioritize."
"Do you really want me to put skiing ahead of kissing?"
"I am a ski instructor," Delphine reminds.
"I know, but I enjoy kissing so much more."
"Did you really just tell your ski instructor that you enjoy kissing more than skiing?"
"Yes and it's your fault."
"How is this my fault?"
"You kissed me yesterday."
"And?"
"And now it's replaced skiing as my favorite activity to do with you," Cosima brings her face close to Delphine's suggestively.
Delphine shakes her head and is about to kiss Cosima again, but stops herself suddenly. "I just thought of an idea."
"Can't you think of it in a few more minutes?" Cosima tries to lean back in.
"No. Starting tomorrow, every perfect ski run you accomplish earns you one kiss that evening."
"What do you mean by perfect?"
"No falls, no wobbles."
"That is so not fair," Cosima complains. "I'm internationally known for falling and wobbling."
Delphine laughs, "Maybe it's time to be known for something else."
"And what if I have no perfect runs?"
"Then no kissing."
"Was this your plan all along? You lure me in with those luscious lips and then hold them against me unless I learn to ski well?"
"More like hold them away from you," Delphine giggles.
Cosima rolls her eyes.
"No, I just came up with this plan. The original plan was just to spend as much time with you as possible, and if a good portion of that time involved kissing, then so be it."
Cosima groans, "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
"Not if you put all your focus into skiing."
"Ugh, I don't know about this, there's gotta be a better way."
"It's not up for debate."
"Fine," Cosima agrees reluctantly. "What about tonight?"
"Rules don't go into effect until tomorrow."
"Thank goodness! What do you want to do later?"
"How about a movie?"
"Movie sounds good."
"Great! I need to get back to work, but how about I meet you in the lobby at 7?"
"7 it is!"
Delphine gives Cosima a quick kiss before getting up to leave, "Au revoir."
"Bye," Cosima grins. As soon as the door closes behind Delphine, Cosima gets up and does a little happy dance before composing herself and leaving the break room.
—
The movie is in French and Cosima has trouble following along with the subtitles, her focus, instead, drawn to the way Delphine is mindlessly playing with her hand, tracing patterns from the tips of her fingers up to her wrist, where her digits swirl around the pattern in her nautilus tattoo.
Delphine glances to her left to find Cosima looking right at her. They instantly abandon all interest in the film for each other's mouths.
"This is so not gonna work," Cosima laughs as they leave the theater hand in hand. "If we couldn't even get through a two hour movie, not to mention lunch this afternoon, how are we going to manage to not kiss even if I can't perfect my skiing?"
"You underestimate my resolve, Cosima. Tomorrow is a brand new day."
"Yeah, yeah, we'll see," Cosima challenges.
—
"Shit!" Cosima shouts when she stumbles coming downhill and nearly wipes out.
"Cosima, there are children present," Delphine warns.
"Sorry, but that's the third time in a row I've messed up. Somehow shucks just wouldn't have the same impact"
"Maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself."
"No, maybe you're putting too much pressure on me."
"I don't think Delphine puts too much pressure on us," Charlotte remarks. "She just wants us to do our best."
"Thank you, Charlotte," Delphine says before shooting Cosima a proud look.
Cosima rolls her eyes, "Fine, whatever, let's get back up there and try again."
—
"Fu-" Cosima begins to yell when she lands on her ass. "Dge," she corrects before getting reprimanded.
"Were you drinking last night?" Gemma inquires.
"What? No. Why would you ask me that?"
"When Mommy falls down a lot, it's usually because she's had too much to drink."
"I'm just clumsy. Maybe your mother is, too."
Gemma shakes her head, "No, I don't think she is." She then hurries to get in line at the lift.
Cosima laughs, "That was interesting."
"Indeed," Delphine chuckles.
"I wish I could use drinking as an excuse."
"Come on, you're not doing that bad and you still have some time left today to improve."
45 minutes later, Cosima is sulking as the lesson comes to an end. "Not even one decent run. How the hell is that possible? I suck."
"Stop. It's not that big of a deal, you may not have been perfect, but you did pretty good those last two runs."
"Do I get a kiss credit for pretty good?"
"Yes," Delphine nods, "you get one kiss credit."
"When can I redeem that credit?"
"You can't. Only I can decide when the credit can be used."
"That's so not fair."
"It's perfectly fair," Delphine disagrees. "Only perfect kiss credits are able to be redeemed by the earner, pretty good kiss credits can only be redeemed by the awarding party at their leisure during the course of the evening."
"You can't do that, you didn't state the rules up front."
"Yes I can. Rules are subject to change at the discretion of the rule maker. It's in the handbook."
"What handbook?"
"The one you obviously didn't read. Now I have a meeting to get to, but I will see you tonight." Delphine taps Cosima's frosty little nose with her finger then walks away, leaving Cosima absolutely dumbfounded.
"What the hell just happened?" Cosima wonders as she watches Delphine go.
—
"Hello," Delphine smiles as Cosima meets her in the lobby that evening.
"Hi," Cosima grins as she stretches to give her a kiss, but Delphine pulls away. "What's wrong?"
"Have you already forgotten? You're not allowed to initiate kisses."
"I thought you were just joking about that whole thing."
"Cosima, I take the rules very seriously." Delphine turns and walks out the front door of the hotel.
Cosima scrambles to catch up, "This is ridiculous."
"You're only saying that because you're not getting what you want. You know what you have to do to change the situation."
"I'm not a skier like you, Delphine. I can't just glide downhill like it's as natural as walking."
"I don't expect it to come naturally to you, but I know you can do better."
"How can you have that much faith in someone you've only known a week?"
"Let's call it good intuition."
"Yeah, well, what you call good intuition, I call delusional. Anyway, I'm so gonna come up with a reason to withhold kisses from you when we get past this whole kiss credit thing," Cosima warns as they arrive at Delphine's Jeep.
"No, you won't," Delphine states firmly.
"Yes, I will."
"Sure, whatever you say."
"I will," Cosima insists with a stomp of her foot.
"I don't think so," Delphine stares Cosima down.
Cosima tries to remain resolute in her threat, but falters when she gets lost looking into Delphine's eyes. "You're right," she concedes. "I hate you."
"No, you don't," Delphine insists as she brings her hands up to cup Cosima's cheeks.
"I do," Cosima nods.
"You don't," Delphine shakes Cosima's head from side to side. She confirms her assertion by bringing her lips down to meet Cosima's.
After attempting to stay firm and unmoved, Cosima pretty quickly gives up and kisses Delphine back. After a few seconds, she feels Delphine's lips form a smile against her own. "Yeah, yeah, I don't hate you, no need to gloat about it."
"You're very cute when you're grouchy."
"I am not."
"See? Trés cute."
"Remember at the beginning of all this when you were just a super sweet ski instructor?"
"Yes."
"What happened to her?"
"That was just to lure you into my web. But if you want me to cut you loose…"
"No, no, you've got a great web, I can deal with a little venom."
"Oh, I can promise you that while I may bite, it's not deadly." Delphine emphasizes her point with a little nip to Cosima's lower lip before backing away and getting in the car.
A wide smile stretches across Cosima's face as she's momentarily intoxicated by the preceding events, until a lucid thought enters her brain. "Hey, did that count for the one kiss credit, cause we still have a whole night ahead of us?" Cosima asks as she hops in the passenger seat.
"It did, but maybe if you're really good tonight, I'll bend the rules."
"Oh, I'm gonna be good. So good."
—
At the end of the evening, Delphine walks Cosima back to her suite.
"That restaurant was fantastic," Cosima raves. "And their fondue… that was something else."
"And you said you wouldn't be able to eat for a week."
"I know, I was so wrong about that. I really like French food."
"I'm glad."
"Actually, I like a lot of French things."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, like my ski instructor, for instance, she's pretty awesome. There's only one problem with her."
"What's that?"
"She loves to torture me by withholding kisses."
"That's awful."
"I know, right? Do you know she made me go all throughout dinner without once trying anything?"
"So rude. What about dessert?"
"We shared an ice cream sundae. That was it!"
"Poor you. What about when she walked you to your room," they stop outside Cosima's suite, "pinned you against the wall," Delphine places a palm flat against the wall on either side of Cosima, "leaned in, and—" she captures Cosima's upper lip between her own, sucking greedily, then pulling away. She looks at the euphoric expression on Cosima's face, bites her lip and goes back in for more, Cosima welcoming her with parted lips. As the kiss grows more and more passionate, the sound of a door opening down the hall halts their activity. They turn and see a woman with a severe bob haircut exit her room and head their way. She gives them a nasty side-eye glare as she walks past them.
As soon as the woman gets on the elevator, Cosima and Delphine start laughing. "Maybe that wasn't the smartest location for a make out sesh."
"Non, probably not."
"It was a hell of a way to end the night, though."
"Yes, it was," Delphine agrees with a smile.
"Guess I better go get some sleep, my ski instructor will be expecting me bright and early in the a.m."
"Ah, yes, you do not want to keep such a torturous individual waiting."
"Torturous, but awesome," Cosima reminds.
Delphine scoffs and shakes her head before giving Cosima a quick nose boop, "Bonne nuit."
"Goodnight," Cosima grins as Delphine walks away.
Cosima enters the suite and closes the door behind her, taking a moment to lean against it.
"I'm guessing, judging by that goofy look on your face, you and Delphine had a nice night?"
"Dude," Cosima jumps, opening her eyes to see Scott lounging on the couch watching TV with his hand in a bag of chips. "Yes, we had a very nice night."
"So everything is going well with you two?"
"Oh man, 'well' is an understatement. I'm still in shock that this is actually happening. I fully expect the other shoe to drop any minute, like I find out I have days to live or something."
"Stop."
"Scotty, things like this don't happen to me. I don't go all the way to another continent and find the perfect girl. Something's gotta give, the universe will find a way to right itself."
"Things like this obviously do happen, it's happening to you now. Don't be such a pessimist. It's nice seeing you so happy."
"It feels good being this happy." She reaches into his bag and pulls out a chip, "But when I get buried in an avalanche, don't say I didn't warn you."
—
On Wednesday morning, the group gathers around Delphine. "We're going to continue on Verte 2, but if you all get a couple of really strong runs in, we're going to move to Bleu 1."
"Awesome!" Oscar exclaims.
"Wait, all of us have to do well?" Gemma asks, looking pointedly at Cosima.
"Yes, all of you."
"Excuse me, I'm totally capable of doing well," Cosima insists. "But do you really want to move on to that slope, it's so high?"
"It's not that high," Gemma scoffs.
"It's not that high," Cosima mimics as they follow Delphine to the lift.
The kids all get down the hill with relative ease, while Cosima wobbles a bit trying to maintain balance and speed on parallel skis.
"Get your shit together and do this, Cosima," she yells at herself after her first not-so-successful run.
"That wasn't bad," Delphine says as they stand at the top of the slope.
"Wasn't that good, either," Cosima contends.
"Ready to try again?"
Cosima takes a deep breath, nods, and sets off down the hill. Her skis stay straight as she makes her descent. As she approaches her first turn, she shifts her weight to the downhill ski, bringing the uphill ski in parallel for a perfect maneuver. "Alright, that's what I'm taking about," she pumps herself up as she keeps them parallel out of the turn.
"Holy watershed!" Cosima exclaims when she comes to a stop at the bottom of the slope. "Did I just…" She turns when she hears Delphine approaching. As soon as she sees the gigantic smile on Delphine's face she knows for sure. "I did it?!"
"You did," Delphine replies excitedly before giving her a hug.
The kids rush over to them. "Good job, Cosima," Kira gives her a high five.
"Can we ski Bleu 1 now?" Gemma asks eagerly.
"Cosima, are you ready for that?"
"I guess I can give it a try now that I'm such a great skier."
"Very funny," Gemma laughs as she leads the group towards the chair lift.
"That wasn't a joke," Cosima shouts after her.
"Okay, since we are now graduating from the drag lift to the chair lift, let's do a quick lesson on getting on and off properly and safely. This is Martin, he is the lift attendant and will tell you when it's safe to come forward and wait for your turn. Once he gives you the signal, you will ski up to the line, hold your poles in one hand, reach for the back of the lift, and sit down as the chair comes under you. Then you will lower the safety bar and stay seated until it's time to get off. Once you see the first orange cone at the top of the slope, that's your cue to lift the safety bar. The second cone will alert you that it's time to get off. You'll want your ski tips pointed upwards like this," she demonstrates. "That will insure you get up and over the little snow bump. You need to stand and glide smoothly off the lift. Don't stall or you could get in the way of the chair behind you. I will ride up to the top first and make sure you properly exit the lift. Normally, you will ride up with your buddy, but for this practice you will go one at a time. Make sure to sit closer to the center of the seat when alone so the chair isn't heavily weighted to one side. Gemma will go first, then Oscar, Kira, Charlotte, and Cosima. Good luck and I will see you at the top."
Once Delphine has gone up, Martin signals for Gemma to come forward. "Okay, poles in your left hand, here comes the chair, grab the back with your free hand, now sit," he instructs. "Bien. Pull down the bar." Gemma manages perfectly and up she goes. Martin then repeats the routine with each of the kids. Finally, he waves Cosima forward. "Do just as they did. Poles in your left hand, grab the back of the chair with your right, now sit." She mounts the chair and quickly lowers the bar without incident.
Cosima maintains a tight grip on the bar throughout her ascent. As soon as she spots the first cone, she raises the bar. At the second cone, she stands and slides off the lift. "Whoa," she yelps, as she tries to keep her balance.
"You're fine, just come to a stop right here," Delphine instructs. Cosima does as told. "Very good," Delphine grins. "You all managed that wonderfully. Now we are going to take our first run down this slope very carefully and slowly so you can get used to the new terrain. If you want to use the wedge position, that's fine, whatever you're most comfortable with. We are all going to go down together. Listen carefully to my instruction and stay with the group."
Everyone except Gemma opts to remain in the wedge position as they go down. They listen to Delphine's guidance, turning, slowing down, and stopping when told. They reach the bottom of the run without incident. "That was perfect! Did you all feel comfortable using the chair lift and skiing down this slope?"
"Yes," Kira answers and everyone agrees, even Cosima.
"Wonderful, now let's go back up and do it all over again on parallel skis."
This time they line up for the lift with their buddies. Kira and Charlotte go first, then Gemma and Oscar, followed by Delphine and Cosima.
"I'm so proud of you, Cosima," Delphine says as she squeezes Cosima's hand.
"Thank you. I still can't believe I managed a perfect run back there. And I didn't screw up this first one too badly, either."
"No, you definitely did not screw up. There's a very capable skier in there."
"I don't know about that, but me not messing up definitely up has its perks."
"Yeah, like what?"
"Like earning a kiss credit."
"This is true."
"And I can redeem that anytime I want, right?"
"I suppose. Within reason."
"Okay, so how about right now?"
"Now? I told you I can't kiss while I'm on the job."
"Come on, we're on a chair lift, overlooking these gorgeous, snow-covered mountains, you couldn't ask for a better moment." She scoots closer to Delphine.
"I suppose you did earn it. And you do look particularly adorable right now," Delphine says as she relents to Cosima's increasingly nearing lips.
With their eyes closed and mouths joined, they quickly get lost in each other. They shut out everything around them, the only audible sounds being the smacking of their own lips and accompanying satisfied moans. That is until they're suddenly interrupted by disturbingly loud voices.
"Cosima and Delphine sitting on a ski lift, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," the kids chant, snapping Cosima and Delphine out of their stupor as they near the end of the lift.
Delphine lifts the bar and they speedily get off the chair as the kids continue their song.
Delphine blushes, while Cosima laughs at the serenade. "Okay, you can stop now, we get the point."
"You owe me $1, Oscar."
"Why does Oscar owe you money, Charlotte."
"I bet him that you and Cosima liked each other and I was right."
"Oh god, what gave us away?" Cosima wonders.
"What didn't?" Kira replies with an exaggerated eye roll.
"It really was obvious," Charlotte adds. "Oscar just doesn't understand women yet."
"I don't think I ever will," Oscar admits as he pulls a dollar out of his pocket and hands it over.
"So does this mean you two are officially dating?" Kira inquires.
"Of course it does," Gemma says. "Why else would they be kissing?"
"My uncle Felix kisses guys that he's not dating."
"Okay, well, I don't know anything about your uncle Felix's situation, but, yes, Cosima and I are dating."
Cosima looks at Delphine with shock.
"I'm happy for the both of you," Charlotte says sweetly.
"Me too," Kira agrees, "you make a cute couple."
"No wonder Cosima gets so embarrassed falling," Oscar realizes, "she wants to look good in front of you."
"Yeah, must be hard when your girlfriend is an expert skier and you're, well, you, Cosima," Gemma states.
"Gee, thanks."
"Now that that's settled," Delphine interrupts, "let's get back to skiing, shall we?"
"Wait, we want to talk more about this," Gemma insists. "Who made the first move? I bet it was Delphine."
"Hey, what makes you so sure about that?"
"Delphine is definitely braver than you. I think she would just go for it, you'd be too nervous to make a move."
"Where do you even get this stuff from, you're eight?"
"I've done a lot of living in my eight years."
"I feel like I've entered the Twilight Zone. Is it the altitude? Is that why everyone is so weird around here?"
"Am I right?"
"No." Gemma stares her down. "Fine, yes, you're right," Cosima admits. "But that's only because I have more self-control and Delphine couldn't keep her hands off me."
"Cosima!" Delphine reprimands. "We're not talking about this anymore. First one down wins a prize."
The kids immediately abandon their interrogation of the couple and race down the slope.
"I couldn't keep my hands off you?" "We're dating?" Delphine and Cosima ask in unison.
"Yes," they both reply.
"Really?"
"What do you think we've been doing the last few days?"
"I don't know, hanging out… with tongues."
"You really didn't think we were dating? Maybe I should have been more transparent with my intentions. When I invited you to Christmas, I wanted it to be a date. Everyone was going to be there with their significant others and then there would be me, Delphine, who is so independent, who broke up with René because he wanted a wife and I wanted to be a doctor, who cares more about science and school than relationships. And don't get me wrong, I was fine with going on my own, I've aways gone alone. I dated René for 18 months and didn't even think of inviting him, didn't want to invite him, frankly. But then, a few days before Christmas, I met you, and it felt like a sign. Here was this beautiful, smart, quirky girl who barreled into my ski instruction and made my heart race whenever she was near. Then you told me you were a scientist and I was completely smitten. How much more perfect could you get? Suddenly, in just a few days, all I wanted was to see you and talk to you and introduce you to my family. And when I kissed you on Sunday, it was because I was tired of inventing excuses to spend time with you under the pretense of friendship. I wanted you to know how I felt and, assuming you felt the same, I wanted you to be my girlfriend."
"I made your heart race? Mine hasn't stopped pounding from the moment I laid eyes on you. And if either of us is perfect, it's you. Seriously, if I had to create the ideal girl in a lab, she wouldn't even hold a candle to you, like, you're mind-blowingly, unimaginably perfect. I was afraid to ask what Christmas and all the kissing and spending time together meant because I'm only here for a couple more weeks. I didn't want to look stupid for trying to put a label on something that you might just see as a fling."
"A fling? Do you think I just choose a vacationer every winter to get involved with?"
"No, I just, well I guess I didn't know what to think."
"You'd have been correct in that assumption. I'm French, we enjoy lovers," Delphine states nonchalantly.
Cosima stares at her, mouth agape, before forming the only coherent words she can at that revelation, "Wow, okay."
"Oh, mon dieu, Cosima, I'm joking. You're the first tourist I've gotten involved with."
"But you're so gorgeous, I'm sure plenty of people around here hit on you."
"Maybe a few, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in them. You didn't hit on me," Delphine reminds.
"No, because I didn't want to make a fool of myself and be rejected. I'm glad you're braver than I am, as Gemma so astutely pointed out, and did what I was too afraid to do."
"So am I," Delphine smiles.
"Okay, so now we're dating, what happens next?"
"It's all downhill from here."
"Excuse me?"
"We need to get down the slope. I can't leave the kids unattended for too long, who knows what trouble they'll get into." Delphine extends her arm towards the slope, "After you."
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
"Shouldn't we seal this new relationship status with a kiss?" Cosima angles her face towards Delphine's.
Delphine laughs at the ridiculous look on Cosima's face but obliges her with a quick kiss. "Now go," she smacks Cosima's butt.
"See? You can't keep your hands off me," Cosima smirks as she starts down the slope with Delphine following after her.
"What were you two doing up there for so long?" Gemma asks when Cosima and Delphine reach them. "Smoochy, smoochy?"
"Yes, Gemma, it was a smoochfest up there," Cosima responds. "All kissing, all the time."
"She's kidding. I was giving Cosima a few tips."
"With your lips?" Kira teases.
"Yes, lip tips," Cosima admits. "There's no hiding it from them, Delphine, they already caught us."
"I'm not talking about this anymore," Delphine sighs. "Let's get back in line for the lift."
"So you can make out again?" Gemma asks.
"You know it," Cosima winks.
"I knew you belonged in this group, Cosima, you're just as immature as they are. And now you'll be going up the lift alone."
"Oooooh, someone's in trouble," Gemma teases.
"You can't be serious, Delphine."
"About which part, you being immature or going up alone?"
"Going up alone. Immature I'll concede."
"I'm trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism here."
"Professionalism? Was it professional when you had them prank me with that whole jump thing the other day?"
"That was all in good fun."
"And how is this any different?"
"Because this is bringing our relationship into my workplace."
"You should have thought of that before you started a relationship with your student."
"Are you two breaking up?" Kira asks sadly as she observes their argument.
They both stop and look at Kira. "No, we're not breaking up," Delphine assures.
"We're not?" Cosima asks with surprise.
"Go get in line for the lift, we'll be over there shortly," Delphine instructs.
The kids do as they're told, leaving Delphine and Cosima alone.
"Were you just saying that for their benefit? Is this over?"
"Cosima, we're having a disagreement, that doesn't mean I'm breaking up with you. It hasn't even been ten minutes since we settled that we're dating."
"Yeah, but you called me immature and don't want to ride up on the lift together."
"You are immature sometimes, but that's just part of what makes you you. I just need you to respect that when I'm working, we need to be professional. I already bent the rules multiple times with you and now we have four kids who only want to talk about our relationship when I need to continue to teach them to ski. It's fine that they know and are excited about us being together, I'm excited about it, too, but it can't be the focus when we're out here for lessons. I'm not asking you to change your personality, your silliness is one of the things I like best about you, but I just need you respect that there's a time and place for us to fool around and this isn't it."
"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry. I was out of line. I guess I got carried away by their reaction and then you saying we're dating and everything. I like you so much, Delphine, even when you're giving me a hard time. You're the best thing that's happened to me in, like, forever and I don't want to screw this up."
"You're not going to screw anything up. We can disagree about things without it ending our relationship."
"Okay, good, cause honestly, you are incredibly hot when you're mad."
"Shut up."
"I'm serious. You get this angry furrowed brow, with these cute little creases, and your eyes get all steely like they're about to shoot laser beams through me. It's oddly sexy. I might try to make you angry more often just to see that again."
"I'm sure it won't take much."
"Ouch."
"We're next," Gemma shouts.
Cosima looks up at Delphine expectantly, "So?"
"So what?"
"So can I please ride the lift with you? I'll behave, I promise."
Cosima has the cutest expression on her face and Delphine is powerless to resist. "Okay, we can ride together."
"Yes!" Cosima pumps her fist as they head towards the kids.
"Cosima is still here, does that mean you didn't break up?" Gemma inquires.
"No, we didn't break up. Cosima and I are still together."
"Thank goodness," Charlotte celebrates, "Oscar was threatening to take back the dollar if you two were already over."
"Oh please, a silly squabble isn't going to break us up. Delphine and I are totally solid. You can safely deposit that dollar in the bank. Isn't that right, Delphine?"
Delphine shakes her head at Cosima's newfound confidence, "Yes, that dollar is all yours, but we will not be discussing our relationship any further during lesson time. Understood?"
Gemma raises her hand.
"Yes, Gemma?"
"Can we talk about it before and after class?"
"No," Delphine huffs. "Now get your nosy derrières on the lift."
"Wait, I was first down, where's my prize?"
"You'll get it tomorrow, Gemma. Go join your brother."
"So I'm assuming we're done with the whole kiss credit thing since it led to all that," Cosima says as she and Delphine ride up.
"Au contraire, after that fuss, I am enforcing stricter kiss credit rules for the rest of the day."
"Stricter?"
"Yes. There will be no pretty good kiss credits given out today. You need to be absolutely perfect to earn one and they can only be redeemed at my discretion this evening."
"Fine, I guess I deserve that, but I will have a perfect run. I can't have our best kiss today be the one that led to us fighting, no matter how nice of a kiss it was."
"That's what I like to hear, a little skiing positivity."
They disembark the lift and join the kids. "You must ski parallel the rest of today's lesson and remember to use the hockey stop you learned yesterday."
As the kids begin their descent, Cosima stands at the top of the slope with her eyes closed. "Snow gods, please help me stay on my feet so I can earn something extra sweet." She then opens her eyes and notices Delphine standing right beside her.
"Were you just praying?"
"Praying?" Cosima scoffs. "Don't be silly. No, I was just making a plea to the universe."
"A plea to the universe?"
"Yes," Cosima nods before pulling her goggles down over her eyes. "Let's do this."
—
"Mmmm," Cosima murmurs as Delphine's lips trace a path from her lips to her earlobe before sucking on the soft flesh, "thank you snow gods." Delphine bites down. "Ouch."
"It wasn't the snow gods, Cosima. You are learning to ski."
"Ooh, is the instructor feeling usurped by the snow gods?"
"No, I'm not looking for credit, well not all of it. Your skiing today, that was your doing, not these phantom snow gods."
"I'm pretty sure it was mostly your doing, Delphine. Your whole kiss credit thing is a very effective teaching technique. I'd suggest you use it more often, but I don't want you kissing anybody else and you'd probably be arrested since the rest of your students are underage."
"Yes, that would be quite unwise," Delphine laughs.
"I'm telling you, your instruction is great, but your extortion is even better."
"Extortion?"
"Basically. I mean it's not the usual get me the money or I'll kill your cat kinda extortion, but ski perfectly or I won't kiss you is just as bad."
"Just as bad as killing someone's cat? I don't think so."
"Delphine, you've never kissed yourself, trust me, it's just as bad."
"Well, fortunately for you, today was the last day of my horrendous extortion."
Cosima's eyes light up, "Really?"
"Yes, really. I think you've proven you're more than capable of skiing well when you're determined and focussed. I trust that you won't let that lax now that kisses aren't at stake."
"I won't, I won't, I swear. Hallelujah! This is excellent news," Cosima celebrates.
"I agree. Believe me, it wasn't easy for me, either. You don't want to know how many times I willed you to stay upright."
"I'm sorry," Cosima blurts.
"You don't have to apologize, you tried your best."
"No, not about my sucky skiing, about this afternoon, that whole thing with the kids and pissing you off."
"I thought you said you liked seeing me angry?"
"I do, but I don't, you know? Yeah, it's hot, but I also don't want you to be mad at me for something really serious and then this," she gestures between them, "our relationship, gets permanently screwed up."
"Cosima," Delphine grabs her hand, "I told you, you're not going to screw this up. And, yes, I was annoyed because I felt you were inciting the children's chatter about us when I needed them to focus on skiing, but I was just as guilty as you were. I'm the professional and yet I was unable to resist you, which led to them catching us kissing."
"Yeah, I am pretty irresistible. I really need to tamp all this down. I mean, even in all my skiwear, you still can't keep your lips off mine. It's a blessing and a curse."
"Be quiet."
"Make me," Cosima leans in close to Delphine's face.
Delphine glances from the eyes looking straight into her own to the mouth who's gentle breaths she can feel on hers given their close proximity. She swiftly gives in to the challenge, effectively silencing Cosima.
"You realize that was your last one of the evening," Delphine points out as she rests her forehead against Cosima's once their make-out subsides.
"I know, don't remind me," Cosima laments before reluctantly pulling away from Delphine. "Did I mention how overjoyed I am this is the last day for that?"
"I think you may have."
"So how'd you get them to let us have this rooftop all to ourselves?"
"It helps to have friends at the hotel. And they weren't using it this evening."
"This fire pit is great," Cosima warms her hands up over it. "Oh man, too bad we don't have ingredients to make s'mores right now."
"S'mores?" Delphine scrunches her forehead. "I don't think I know it."
"You're kidding?" Delphine shakes her head. "That's not a thing here? Wow, you are missing out. S'mores are the best."
"What are they?"
"A s'more is basically a graham cracker sandwich with chocolate and marshmallow in the middle. They're traditionally made around campfires—"
"I thought you didn't go camping?"
"I was more of an untraditional s'mores maker. In high school, a few of us would hang in my friend Tony's backyard, light a fire in this old metal trash can, get completely baked, then make s'mores. They're the perfect cure for the munchies. I think I once put away a dozen of those babies in one night."
"Why do you need a fire?"
"Oh, well, fire is the key to the perfect s'more. Alright," Cosima starts waving her hands around, "so you get one graham cracker ready and waiting on the side with half of a Hershey bar on it. Then you take a nice, fluffy marshmallow and put it on the end of a stick, hold it over a flame until it gets perfectly burnt, but not too black or it's totally ruined, then you use the other graham cracker to help slide the hot marshmallow off the stick and on top of the chocolate, you smoosh that graham cracker down on the marshmallow, allowing the heat to melt the chocolate just so, and you've got the perfect s'more. Bite down and you are transported to heaven."
"Mmm, that does sound good."
"Yeah, keep 'em in mind next time you go yurting," Cosima smirks.
"I certainly will," Delphine laughs. "Do you have plans tomorrow night?"
"I don't know, do I?"
"I hope not, it is New Year's Eve, after all."
"Oh shit, I totally forgot that was tomorrow. The guys were talking about hitting up the party in the hotel bar."
"So you do have plans?"
"No, I mean, they made a reservation for that last week, before I had a girlfriend that I'd much rather ring in the New Year with. I can get out of it, trust me, they'll understand."
"I'm glad to hear you say that."
"What do you want to do? Bar, club, restaurant?"
"Actually, I had something else in mind. I'll make arrangements and fill you in tomorrow after class."
"Okay, now I'm intrigued."
"Come," Delphine stands up and extends her hand to Cosima.
"Where are we going?" Cosima asks as she allows herself to be pulled to her feet.
"You are going to your suite so you can get a goodnight sleep and I am going to make a few calls."
—
"Due to the long New Year's weekend, today is our last session of the week," Delphine announces to her assembled students. "Today will also be our last day on Bleu 1, on Monday we will move to Bleu 2."
The kids cheer the news while Cosima looks over at that slope and shakes her head.
"Today we are going to learn a few turning techniques that will contribute to a smoother ride down the slope. So," Delphine claps her gloved hands together, "let's make today great and, most importantly, fun."
Gemma coughs, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Oh, how could I possibly have forgotten?" Delphine reaches into her pocket and pulls out a Chamonix/Mt. Blanc pin featuring a downhill skier. She then attaches it to Gemma's jacket.
"Thanks!" Gemma exclaims.
"You earned it. Now let's get skiing."
The kids excitedly hurry to the ski lift, where Gemma proudly show off her prize to everyone in line.
"I want to work on making wider, S-shaped turns," Delphine announces once they assemble at the top of the slope. "Your previous turns have taken on a bit more of a Z-shape. The S technique will help control your speed better as you go downhill. It's not just twisting your foot, but moving it completely through the arc of the turn. I will go first and I want you all to follow in my track, this will help you get a feel for the movement through the arc. I want each of you to count to five before following. We're going to take it nice and easy."
Delphine sets off, with Gemma following five seconds behind, then Oscar, Kira, Charlotte, and Cosima brings up the rear. They all make it down the slope without incident.
"Parfait," Delphine commends. "How did that feel?"
"Great!" Kira responds.
"You want to try doing that in pairs?"
"Yeah," Gemma nods. "Let's do it!"
They head back up the lift.
"Oscar, you follow in my path," Gemma commands as she starts down the hill with her brother trailing after her.
"I'll follow your track, Kira," Charlotte offers.
Delphine turns to Cosima, "Why don't you go first."
"No, I prefer you taking the lead."
"It wasn't a question up for debate," Delphine insists. "Go."
"So bossy," Cosima jokingly complains as she begins her descent with Delphine following closely behind.
"How was my S?" Cosima smirks when they reach the bottom. Delphine rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on, Delphine, they're not in earshot, you know you want to say it."
Delphine glances over at the kids, who are already back in line for the lift. "Fine," she huffs as she looks back at Cosima, "you have a very nice S. Happy now?"
"Ecstatic," Cosima grins and Delphine is unable to suppress a laugh at her girlfriend's cheekiness.
"You all did great," Delphine declares when they rejoin the kids. "Now we're going to reverse the order in your pairs and, after that, you'll start on solo tracks."
—
The lesson comes to an end and the students gather around Delphine. "That was another superb week," Delphine says as she places gold stars on everyone's helmets. "You've all done fantastically over the course of these last two weeks. I'm so excited to see how you'll grow in our final week of lessons. Enjoy the long weekend and I will see you all Monday morning. Happy New Year!"
"How do you say Happy New Year in French?" Charlotte asks.
"Bonne Année!"
"Bonne Année!" the kids recite gleefully as they wave goodbye.
Delphine takes Cosima's hand as they walk towards the ski rental, "I'm proud of you, Cosima, you did very well today."
"Yeah, only two and half falls. Thanks for that save by the way."
"You are very welcome."
"Sooo," Cosima leans into Delphine, "what are we doing tonight?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"What? Why not?"
"I've decided I want it to be a surprise."
"At least tell me what I should wear. I didn't bring a cocktail dress or anything super fancy, but I can probably scrounge something up."
"That won't be necessary, just wear something warm."
"Warm? Don't tell me we're going to be outside all night."
"I'm not telling you anything other than to dress warmly."
"Okay, fine. I guess that's easy enough, I did bring plenty of warm clothing."
"Perfect," Delphine says as they arrive at the shop. "I will pick you up at your room at 8 o'clock."
"Wait, where you going? Aren't we gonna do lunch today?"
"I'm sorry, I can't. I have errands I need to take care of before tonight." Delphine gives her a quick peck on the lips, "I'll see you later."
"I can't wait," Cosima grins giddily.
