A Slippery Slope Ch. 01

May 22nd, 2012

The double paned glass door swung open as my hand pushed against the chilled glass. As the gap between the door and wall widened, I was bitten by the familiar scent and flood of brisk, chilled air. A scent unique, one of stagnant humid air; dusty aluminum and a faint smell of bleach coated rubber floors. The initial dark outlines became more clear seconds after entering the dark lobby. Some light trickled in from the overcast sky, accented by the 6 glass doors directly behind me. Two florescent lights flickered half on to my left directly above the front desk. It wasn't the most appealing and inviting front desk I have seen, but that's the way it looked every day I arrived. The gray face of the counter with a single blue stripe that expanded the width from the wall all the way to the door to the office. A countertop the same color gray looked battered and a little cluttered with a couple binders, tools, and leftovers from lunch that was made earlier in the day.

Looking straight ahead I could make out the lightly faded blue tables that made up the center of the lobby. To the left of the tables appeared a small cave, accented by bulky machines, glass reflections, and that music that eerily never turned off - the arcade was darkest part of the lobby. In the background straight ahead creating the top two corners of the concession stand were a Bud Light neon sign circa 1999 and a more recently added Bud Select neon. Both flickering dimly, but still vibrant given the dark desolate atmosphere. To the right was a dark split corridor. The left fork led to four red weathered metal doors with small window panes. All four neatly placed side by side with a single light above them. The right fork faded off into blackness as your eyes ventured deeper until you're able to see the faint red glow of the exit sign in the darkness two-hundred feet down.

Immediately to the right, eyes wander to the red and white painted cinderblock wall that extends forty-five degrees' out from the farthest end of the front doors. Breaking up the scuffed wall was a rectangular opening. A window that was about four feet by 6 feet. It was complete with a rubber topped counter, two chairs tucked neatly under and a small Rubbermaid container of lost and found gloves.

To this day, any glance down the right side of the building will give me chills. Are we alone in this building? Is that wing haunted? Who is the unlucky soul who will have to go down that hallway at the end of the night and return to the front desk with nothing illuminated?

The whole essence given off by the building at this point of the day is enough to make you think some pretty weird things regarding the afterlife. To most seeing it for the first time would consider it very unwelcoming. I, however, have recently made this place my second home. It also has to do with time of day and business of the facility. Showing up at three in the afternoon, there isn't much going on. Around four I venture over to the electric box and flip some breakers. The halogen lights slowly begin to glow a blueish color as the emit a loud static buzz. They begin to illuminate the lobby, the graveyard to the left brightens up as the games turn on in the arcade. The lights brighten up the lobby tables. Down the dark hallway, fluorescent lights immediately flash on, scaring away any notion that the hallway is haunted. The dark window to the right is now backlit from inside the room. Neatly organized shelves with nearly one-foot by one-foot cubby holes make up the backdrop.

What remains is the intoxicating musty scent and the bitter cold air you feel everywhere in the building. Welcome to The IceBox. One of the largest Ice Skating Facilities in the Mid-West. Known for being a very quickly built and cheaply finished building, it acquired multiple reputations - coldest rink, smells funny, creaky roof and stands, haunted, etc. The list goes on. I knew it as work and as a stepping stone to where I want to be.

I had been working there a year and a half at this point. I was the only employee hired in the buildings history to skip over two rungs of the "corporate ladder". Skipping over Desk and Ice Attendant positions, I started as a Building Manager. Having worked the preceding 3 years at a smaller Ice Rink definitely put me in a better position here and I'm glad I pushed myself.

Being self-motivated most of my life allowed me to learn the sport of hockey at a young age and fell in love with it and the atmosphere. I had taught myself a lot in high school, spent time in honors classes and learned quite a bit from a few short-term jobs here and there while preparing for college. I was always a personable guy. About 5'11", athletic built but more on the thin side. I was outgoing and talked with people I recognized as regulars. More importantly I got along well with employees and upper-management. I was always the one who would step forward and train employees no matter what section of the building they worked in: concession, rink guards, attendants, janitorial, pro-shop. I've had to work them before and it's good to train people right.

This day I knew I was to spend a little time training a new Skate Guard. This is an easy job to train for so I knew it wouldn't take too long. Plus, this job is primarily done by figure skaters finishing up their way through high school and they tend to be more on the intelligent side.

June 17, 2015

"Hey!"

I jumped a little bit. I was impressed, I'm hard to startle like that. I looked up to see Jennifer walking by the front desk.

"How are you doing today?" she asked.

"Oh, just another day in paradise. The usual. What about you, how was school?"

"Just fantastic! Glad to be back in town for the summer! I'm running late though, I need to hurry up and get on the ice before my coach bitches at me."

"Seems legit, you're her second late lesson for the day, you may want to keep your distance so you don't get smacked! I know how Jamie can get out there!"

"Thanks for the warning, I'll keep my head up today. Talk to you after!" She glided across the lobby to a table and set her bag down.

I thought it was a little odd that it was June and she was wearing a hoodie, but I didn't think too much of it at the time. We are in an ice rink after all. The hoodie was from her college, I had talked to her quite a bit about her time up in Wisconsin. Growing a couple inches since I met her three years ago, she was about 5'8", a curvy but toned woman, she had gotten more athletic than she used to be. She had gotten couple scholarships for academics and skating. I was proud of the woman she turned out to be! I still missed our Friday night skate-rental gossip talks. Mostly poking fun at old employees and such up until she graduated and left. I'm sure she's got some stories of people she's met up... I snapped out of my day dream almost instantly.

I caught myself still staring in her direction but wasn't paying attention to what was happening in front of me. As she pulled her left arm out of the hoodie sleeve, she tossed the hoodie onto the table and stretched with both hands above her head. Jennifer had already put her skates on and was standing next to the table. Her skates were an elegant beige color. She wore leggings, which almost all figure skaters do, which were black and skin tight running up her smooth muscular legs. Met at her waist, her legs were topped with curvy hips that sat right above a well sculpted and toned buttock. My eyes traced up the side of her hips as they cut back into her stomach giving her a beautiful hourglass figure. The leggings were high waisted, topped with a deep blue band around her stomach. Contrasting with the blue was her pale complexion. Her lower back was just as toned as her legs as you could see the faint outline of the muscles as they ran up each side of her spine. Blocking the back of her spine and some of her shoulder blades was a sports bra. The deep blue matched her leggings and brought out the red in her strawberry-blonde hair. As I marveled in what I was seeing, she pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

I kept staring for what seemed like an eternity. I had never seen her like this before. She had always been this adorable, smart, and quirky girl. Now I'm staring at a gorgeous woman stretching in a sports bra and leggings. Something I would never expect her to do. I quickly looked around to see if anyone else was in the lobby and realized she was alone. Either thinking I wouldn't care or that I would be reading something coupled with her running late, she probably didn't want to take the time to change somewhere. Whatever the reason, I'm glad she made that decision.

As my eyes made it back to her across the lobby, she began to turn around, looking down at her bag. I had never seen too much of her figure until this moment. She had always worn leggings so her legs weren't too surprising, they had always been nice including her butt. What was always hidden was her torso, always in a hoodie or loose-fitting jacket.

Stopping as soon as she was nearly facing my direction, still staring at her bag, I couldn't look away. In slow motion, I watched her turn toward me, the sports bra clinging tightly to her shoulders and her lower back. The blue fabric stretching across the front of her chest. I traced the hem from the side of her neck down across her collarbone and overlapped the fabric from the other side. Just above the "v" of her neckline, you could make out the subtle shadow of the start of her cleavage.

Following the line down to below her sports bra, you could see the start of her bare stomach. Her stomach was flat and lightly chiseled. Enough to tell she had a solid set of abs, but not enough to look like a body builder. As I followed it down, it meets her belly-button as the rest hides beneath her blue waisted leggings.

Staring at her bag, she began to reach down with her hands. As she did so, she barely bent her knees and lowered her shoulders. Inch by inch she moved down, reaching for her bag. With each split second, more and more of her pale cleavage became visible. I watched as her sports bra became tighter. Her cleavage became more defined. By the time her hands reached her bag in what seems like eternity, I could see most of her cleavage. I guessed she was roughly a 32 C. Her breast looked amazing pushing hard against the top of her sports bra. The way the fabric held them and pushed her cleavage together created a beautiful site. I gazed upon her in awe, her body almost a perfect combination of curvy and toned, she was completely proportioned. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. In the matter of about 5 seconds I had gone from seeing an adorable friend to ogling a gorgeous woman. I don't think I had ever gotten hard so quick in my life. It was a quick 5 seconds that will last a lifetime

She quickly reached into her bag and grabbed her black skating jacket, quickly threw her arms in it and had it zipped up as she walked through the doors to the ice.

To be continued...