The kids were gathered at the top of the slope waiting for Natasha, Shane, Sally and Hannah who were just disembarking the chairlift. When they were all assembled together, Natasha organised them into a line. “Okay, this is our last run for today, we’re gonna slither down like a sssslippery sssslimey ssssnake!”. “Ewwww” the girls squealed, everyone giggling. Jake was at the front of the row, he had become a good skier, and Shane was at the back behind Sally. “Everyone we’re gonna go real slow, from side to side, follow the person in front of you. I’ll be watching you all and ready to help if you need it. Okay, are we ready?” Natasha asked. “Yeeesssss” the kids plus Shane replied. And away they went.

Bette and Tina raced to the bottom of yet another run. They’d had such a good time getting out in the fresh air and reconnecting during their morning. Out of breathe, Bette bent over slightly, her hands on her knees inhaling deeply. “Not as young as you used to be huh” Tina teased, rubbing Bette’s back gently. Bette giggled standing up “Tee you’ve been playing catch up with me all morning” she retorted. “Hang on a minute there Porter, I’ve caught you a few times” Tina boasted. “Okay, how about we have one more run, it’s almost time to meet the others at Blizzard anyway, c’mon, are you up for it?” Bette challenged. “Care to make it interesting?” Tina boldly asked, causing Bette’s mouth to drop open slightly as she pondered the consequences of such a challenge.

Dana headed down the slope at a reasonable speed, making turns carefully, giggling at each change in direction she successfully negotiated. Alice was smiling as she skied slowly behind her, giving her encouragement. “That’s it baby, you’re doing great, my little tennis-slash-skiing champion” she proudly declared as Dana reached the bottom of the slope. Dana was sooo excited at her progress, she hugged Alice and planted soft sweet kisses on her face, giggling all the while. “I couldn’t have done it without you Al, you’re my hero, I mean it” she gushed as Alice blushed. “It was my pleasure darlin … oh hey there’s Bette and Tina, why don’t we ski on over and show them how much you’ve learned”.

Dana was on her way before Alice could even get an answer, following behind her as Dana was shouting toward her friends. “Bette … Tina … look at meeeee!”. “Wow Dana you’ve got it, way to go!” Tina praised her, “Looks like you had a good teacher huh” Bette commented, giving Alice a smile. Dana came to a stop, wrapping her arm around Alice’s shoulder when she’d caught up “She’s the best! But I think I’m gonna take an early break, my feet need a rest” Dana commented as she took her skis off. “Well Al … Tina and I were gonna go for one last run, you wanna come with?” Bette asked. “Sure, I’d love to, will you be okay baby?” Alice asked her honey who nodded and waved her away as she started to wearily head to the cafe. “We won’t be long Dana, just one run okay? Shane should be here soon” Bette shouted after Dana. “Sure, no problem, I just need a rest” Dana replied giving them a smile “have fun!”.

The three shared a chair lift and chatted on their way up to the top. “Wonder what Shane is up to” Bette commented, “or who she’s up to” Alice chimed in. “Now come on Al, one of these days Shane is going to settle down, its inevitable. Right now she’s young, she’s allowed to have her fun” Tina answered in her motherly tone. She continued “I think Cherie really messed her up, and to mask her hurt, she’s thrown herself back in the game”. “I care about that girl a whole lot, don’t get me wrong …” Alice spoke, “I just wish she’d take a little time to get to know people rather than just mackin’ on them”. “Tina’s right, she’s young. Who knows what is really going on in her head. Maybe moving from one woman to another is her way of moving on with her life. Standing still might pull her back into a place she’d rather forget” Bette reasoned.

“Oh my God is that …” Tina exclaimed as she pointed down at a group of kids snaking along the slope. “At the end?” Alice asked as she pulled her shades off to get a better look. Tina nodded, “Shane?” … “skiing with kids?” Bette added. “Oh … you guys look … who is the instructor?” Alice smirked, knowing full well who it was. Tina was slightly confused “What does that have to do with anything?”. Alice tried to explain “C’mon Tina, this is SHANE here, she’s skiing for ***** sake, with children, you do the math … she’s obviously doing it for the sake of a woman”. It bothered Tina that Alice thought so little of her so called friend. “Al, even if that were the case, it’s a lot of trouble to go to just to meet a one night stand candidate, maybe she actually LIKES this woman, is that so hard to believe?”. Alice rolled her eyes, not wanting to start anything.

Shane was doing remarkably well, following along behind the kids. “We got it Shaney!” Sally shouted as they successfully turned and headed the other way. “Good job sweetie” Shane gushed, extremely proud of herself and her new little friend. Natasha was watching them all, paying particular attention to Shane, after all, she didn’t want Shane running them all down and creating a huge child-snowball, rolling down the slope. Of course there were other reasons why Natasha was watching Shane, but she kept those thoughts to herself, for now. “Looking good up there Shane” Natasha commented, giving her a wink, causing Shane to smile and giggle as she concentrated on the next turn.

“Woohoo! Go Stud!” Alice shrieked, wolf-whistling from the chair lift above them. Shane looked up and glared at Alice, almost losing her footing. Natasha looked up at the source of Shane’s distraction and recognised Shane’s friends from yesterday. “Hmmmm, she called Shane “Stud” … I wonder …” Natasha thought to herself before she was woken from her mind’s processing by Shane who was apologising. “Sorry about that, she’s supposed to be a friend”, Natasha smiled “It’s cool, no problems … Stud” she giggled. Shane was slightly embarassed, giving a wry smile and focussing back on her descent. “You’ll pay for that Al” Shane muttered softly to herself, vowing revenge.

They’d all reached the base of the slope successfully. “No falls gang, way to go, that was awesome!” Natasha praised her troops as she applauded them, “That’s all for today my little ski-bunnies, thanks for coming and I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow”. Natasha took her skis off and got some hugs from her little bunnies. Sally shuffled up to Shane and grabbed her hand “Are you coming back tomorrow Shane?” she asked innocently. “Ummm I’m not sure if I’ll take a lesson, but I’ll definitely come and say hello to you, okay?” Shane told Sally, surprising herself at how her usually cold heart had melted being around these little ones. The smile that spread across Sally’s face said it all, she wrapped her little arms around Shane’s legs and hugged her. Shane ruffled Sally’s hair playfully “seeya tomorrow angel” Shane waved as Sally fluttered her little angel winged hands and tip-toed over to her mother and father who were waiting to pick her up.

Natasha had said her goodbyes to the kids and rejoined Shane who had just farwelled Sally. “So, how was that?” Natasha asked, “I loved it, you’re a great teacher” Shane responded. “Why thank you …” Natasha blushed, taking off her hat and smoothing down her beautiful wavey blonde hair. “You really look like you’ve got the hang of it now” she continued. Shane didn’t know how to respond, her mind was going a mile a minute. “Yeah, at least I wasn’t falling over every five seconds” she joked, “Ok, should I ask for another lesson? Nah, she has a job to do and kids to teach, she doesn’t need me butting in” Shane reasoned to herself.

“You have a great rapport with children, have you ever done any teaching?” Natasha asked, waking Shane from her internal thoughts. “No I haven’t, and I don’t really get a chance to mingle with kids at all, so I kinda surprised myself” she answered. Natasha smiled “Well you looked like you were in your element, little Sally really took a shining to you”. “She was a sweetie, she liked me for me, and that doesn’t happen much” Shane shook her head a little as she cringed at that last comment. “I can’t see why that would happen, personally” Natasha smiled reassuringly to Shane.

Bette, Tina and Alice reached the summit, preparing to race down the slope. “Okay so Tina, what are the stakes?” Bette asked, refreshing Tina’s memories of her wager. “Oooh a bet, can I be in on it?” Alice asked enthusiastically. “Umm okay, we can have two bets” Tina reasoned, “how about … the two losers have to be the winner’s personal slave for a night”. “Oooh me likey me likey … deal!” Alice agreed, Bette nodded, smiling at Tina, wondering where her mind was going for their personal wager. “And for our wager, Bette …” Tina smirked, leaning in to whisper in Bette’s ear. A smile tugged at the corners of Bette’s lips as she heard Tina begin to explain the benefits of being the winner in their battle. Bette slid her hand around Tina’s waist, holding her at her back gently. “Deal” Bette said, shaking Tina’s hand, gazing at each other and giggling softly. “Okay is anyone gonna fill me in?” Alice asked inquisitively. “Nope” came Bette’s reply as she lined up for the race she HAD to win.

“Okay, the rules are … no foul play, no physical contact, this is about speed and skill. We don’t want anyone getting hurt, so keep it under control, don’t be reckless. The winner buys lunch, but the two losers are the winner’s slave for tonight from 5pm till midnight. Got it?” Tina instructed. “Yes ma’am!” Bette and Tina answered, saluting. “On your marks … get set … GO!” Tina shouted as the three rushed down the ski-run, negotiating trees and people, each taking their own route to get to the bottom first. It was a relatively even race with each person taking the lead at some point until their road to victory took a bump or deviation, allowing someone else to gain the advantage.

Shane and Natasha started to walk back to the ski hire place, Natasha needed to sign out to say she’d finished her lessons. Shane waited outside, looking up the slopes to see three mad women racing down at high speed. Alice was leading the charge, wailing like a banshee as she had victory in her sights. Suddenly she hit a bump and started to stumble, turning into the slope and skidding to slow down, allowing Bette and Tina to surpass her. Knowing their personal wager and what it entailed, Bette did her best to let Tina win without being too obvious. Alice desperately tried to catch up but it was no use, Tina was the winner, in more ways than one.

When Natasha came back out, she noticed Shane laughing at her friends. Alice was stabbing at the snow with her ski poles, cursing herself and whining “I soooooo had that won, no fair!”. Natasha slipped up behind Shane quietly and put her hand on her shoulder “I think your friend is upset” she joked. Shane laughed, feeling herself become flushed at Natasha being so close, “That’s nothing new, and I’ve definitely seen her worse than that”. Natasha smiled, moving around to stand in front of Shane. “Sooo …” she started, “… do you think you’ll need me again … for another lesson?” Natasha smiled, hoping Shane would catch her drift. “Ummm what do you think?” Shane put the ball back in her court, sensing she may in fact be interested in her. “I think you did great today, and I’d be happy to help you out after lunch if you’d like. I have the afternoon off” she offered. “I’d like that” Shane responded smiling, rubbing the back of her neck out of habit.

Bette, Tina and Alice approached carrying their skis, giggling at their race. They smiled at Shane and her new lady friend. “Hey Shane” Tina beamed, giving her friend a wink. “Hey guys … looked like you were having fun out there” Shane commented, “Hey where’s Dana?” she questioned. “Oh she’s resting her tired feet in there, aren’t you gonna introduce us?” Alice asked brazenly, looking from Shane to Natasha and back again. “Oh sorry, yeah, this is …” Shane started, “Natasha, hi, but please, call me Tash” she politely offered, shaking everyone’s hand and learning their names. She was sure she’d be getting to know these ladies better as the days went by. “Nice to meet you Tash, would you like to join us for lunch?” Bette asked, looking to Shane who mouthed a “thankyou” and smiled. “I’d love to Bette, thankyou” Natasha accepted, smiling at Shane as they walked into the cafe.


**********

~tbc~