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“What?!” Zoey’s incredulous and despairing voice rang out through the office as her fellow coders all turned to look at her as she slapped her hand over her mouth, rapidly turning red. She had not meant to say that out loud. Joan pursed her lips, fighting down amusement as she turned to Zoey.
“As I just said; an “office holiday activity” was mandated by the company, and as Tobin was the only one who actually submitted a reasonable response on the questionnaire asking for activity suggestions; we’re going with his suggestion, and we’re renting out an ice skating rink for a few hours this Saturday.” Zoey nodded stiffly, and relaxed as attention was taken off her and redirected to Tobin, who was grinning, apparently delighted.
“Wait, Tobin?” Max said incredulously, “I know for a fact that I suggested a-”
“ Reasonable requests Maxwell, not laser tag, or a LOTR marathon, or birdwatching .” Joan sent pointed looks to various coders on the floor as she listed the denied activities before rolling her eyes and continuing. “The H. Gross rink on fifth has been rented out from 3 to 7 Saturday, skate rentals and entrance are covered by the company. Attendance is Mandatory. ” With a final warning glare to the group, Joan dismissed them and Zoey was immediately pulled aside by Max, who seemed to have recovered from his disappointment in favour of taking delight in her suffering. He gave her an insufferable grin as he guided her over to the cereal bar.
“Shouldn’t you be tending to your wounds after Joan shot you down like that?” Zoey said grumpily, shoving him away and grabbing a bowl. Max was unphased, and grabbed one as well.
“Maybe, laser tag would have been great! Even with last year's, uh, incident. But instead of wallowing in my loss, I am instead going to be finding joy in yours.” He ended his statement by playfully shoving her and cutting in front of her to get to the fruit loops. Zoey scrunched up her face with a childish pout,
“Why’d it have to be ice-skating?” She complained, filling up her bowl and plopping down at the island counter. “Why not escape rooms, or a puzzle night, or a movie?!” She turned to face him, “Why must these things be both social and physical?!” Max very obviously pretended to think about that for a moment, and Zoey smacked him in the arm before he could give her some smart-aleck remark about karma. He both laughed and winced at the blow, before holding his hands up in a form of surrender. Zoey rolled her eyes as his phone buzzed and he pulled it out, turning his attention away from Zoey and towards his screen and his bowl of rapidly decreasing cereal.
“It probably won’t be nearly as bad as you think Zo,” He said, interrupting her from her thoughts and glaring match with her bowl. “I mean, at least you can bring Autumn! Ice skating is a cute date activity.” Zoey whipped her head to face him,
“I can do what now?” Max smirked, raising an eyebrow at her a held up his phone,
“Well according to the faculty message Joan just sent out, we each get a ‘plus one’ covered by the company.” Zoey hurriedly snatched the phone from his hand and scrolled through the email as Max watched her amusedly. Sure enough, every employee could bring a friend to the rink.
“Oh thank Gods, I was starting to think the universe really did hate me.”
“Mhm, yes, because ice skating is such an awful occurrence.” Zoey would have defended herself but Max kept going before she could interrupt. “Also, Zoey, you get these emails before us. How did you not know this?” Zoey opened her mouth, and let it hang there for a moment as she tried to collect her thoughts enough to come up with an excuse. When nothing came to mind, she merely handed Max his phone back silently. Max must have thought that was hilarious, because he burst into giggles as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“In my defence I have been very busy lately!” She said, and when that only made him laugh harder she pursed her lips in a stunning impression of Joan, grabbing both of their bowls and stacking them. “And speaking of busy, we have coding to get done.” Max shook his head teasingly at her, and fine. If he wanted to play that game, so could she.
“And just so you know-” She said, keeping her voice carefully light as she turned away from him, “Simon’s included in the invite, and like you said, ice skating is a cute date activity.” Max turned red, and he gaped at her for a second before sputtering to try and defend himself. Zoey didn’t bother to listen as she bit down snickers on her way to her desk. Revenge was the best.
Zoey smiled as she opened the door to the coffee shop, a rush of warmth hitting her face, a nice contrast to the cold outside.
“We’re closed!” A cheerful voice said, and Zoey felt herself smile as she spotted the blonde wiping down one of the tables near the back.
“Really?” She said with faux disappointment, watching Autumn immediately perk up and turn to face her, “Dang, I was hoping to talk to my girlfriend. Have you seen her? About yay’ tall,” she continued, standing up on her toes and holding up a hand above her head, “Blonde, most gorgeous person you’ll ever meet?” Autumn grinned, speed walking over to Zoey as she tossed the rag onto the counter. God, she was so pretty, Zoey still wasn’t sure just how she had managed to land the one person in the entire city with the smile of an angel. Zoey couldn’t help but laugh lightly as Autumn threw her arms around her in a tight hug.
“Zoey!” Autumn said delightedly, “I didn’t know you were stopping by tonight! You look great! Do you want a hot cocoa? I was just thinking about whipping myself up one before I close the shop for the night-” Zoey cut her off with a kiss -truth be told not a technically good kiss because both of them were smiling into it too much, but a kiss all the same-. One that left Zoey blushing slightly (as usual), and Autumn just a smidge breathless (also as usual).
“Cocoa sounds great.” Zoey said, booping Autumn slightly and taking delight in the giggle that she made in response.
“Coming right up!” Autumn said, jumping the counter and immediately busying herself as Zoey grabbed a chair from a nearby table and dragged it over.
“And while you’re doing that- I have a-uh, a proposition for you.” Autumn sent her a fond but confused look over her shoulder as she lined the cups up with the pump. “SPRQ Point is forcing- I mean funding a trip to the ice skating rink downtown on Saturday; and I was thinking you could maybe be my plus one?” Zoey nervously fiddled with a few strands of her hair between her fingers, “If you want to of course, you totally don’t have to but uh- what do you think?” Autumn paused and shot Zoey a disbelieving look before shaking her head and laughing lightly as she piled whipped cream into the cups.
“I think,” she said, walking over to hand Zoey her cocoa, “That you just asked your girlfriend out on a date and were genuinely nervous I’d say no.” She smiled sweetly at Zoey as she handed her the hot drink, and gave her a kiss on the cheek to go with it. Zoey blushed furiously, both from the teasing and the affection. “I’d love to Zoey, text me the details- and drink slowly , it’s called hot cocoa for a reason.”
“Are you sure?” Zoey said anxiously, pulling out her phone to forward the barista the time and address. “I know it’s a bit uh, scheduled for you.” Autumn laughed again, and Zoey forced herself to stay focused on the matter and hand and not the overwhelming adorableness of her girlfriend. Autumn pulled out her phone and glazed over the details, before leaning onto the counter with a smile on her face.
“Well we don’t have to stay until closing time, I mean, we could always go for a walk through the park down there- explore it a bit, maybe grab a bite to eat at a nearby cafe…” She grinned mischievously at Zoey as she rested her head on her propped up hands.
“I love you.” Zoey breathed, a laugh in her voice. Autumn leaned forward and kissed Zoey again.
“I love you too.” She moved to finish wiping down the station, and couldn’t help but squee a little bit, “Oh, this is an amazing idea!!”
“This was a terrible idea.” Zoey said, wobbling and nearly falling for the seemingly hundredth time despite having not even gotten out onto the ice yet. Autumn laughed easily as she caught her.
“Come on babe, it’ll be fun! You just need to get your-” she grabbed Zoey as she lurched forward again and laughed even more, “-skating balance.”
“The only way I’m getting my ‘skating balance’ is through witchcraft or other supernatural means.” Zoey responded, wrapping her arms around Autumn in an attempt to steady herself. Thank goodness for her girlfriend’s surprising strength, Autumn barely even swayed as she adjusted to the sudden weight increase.
“Alright Zo-dear, stop being dramatic, it’s just a little ice. I can skate pretty well, and I can help teach you.” Zoey still didn’t look convinced, so Autumn sighed before continuing, “Look, it’s likely nobody else here can skate that well either- and if you do your best, we can stop by the Cheesequake Factory later tonight.” Zoey grumbled, using Autumn as a pillar to draw herself back up to a standing position.
“Fine, but you’re not allowed to leave me alone on the ice at any point tonight.” Autumn beamed, wrapping her arm around Zoey’s and interlacing their gloves fingers.
“Deal!” And with that she dragged a wobbly Zoey into the rink. Zoey’s free arms flailed and her fingers scrambled for purchase on the railings. Her brown rental skates nearly flew out from underneath her and Autumn bent down to catch her. Zoey let out a surprised laugh as Autumn hauled her back up, her blonde girlfriend moving as naturally on the ice as she did normally. With her girlfriend supporting her, Zoey eventually managed to get herself in a semi-stable standing position, and was able to look around the rink. It was less crowded than she’d expected, with the rink having been rented out, there were probably only around 30 people there. Pretty good for a Saturday night. Groups of her co-workers and their partners littered the ice in groups, most of them leisurely skating and chatting.
Joan was in the far corner, wearing what were surely designer skates and a puffy dark red jacket, managing to look both bored and dignified. She was making an effort to be friendly though, as she talked with a nervous brogrammer who looked as if he would fall at any moment. Zoey took a moment to wince in sympathy for both of them, before continuing her scan.
Max and Simon were leaning against the railings, Max smiling softly at Simon as he animatedly told a story. She tried to catch Max’s eye, wanting to tease him, but was unable to. She smiled anyway, with any luck one of them would make a move, or skate under the mistletoe that one of the rink’s employees had put up just a few feet away from them. Then she’d really be able to tease him. Autumn followed Zoey’s gaze, and her eyes hardened when she saw who she was looking at. Him being Zoey’s best friend, and Zoey having forced him to give her a better apology, Autumn had forgiven Max for the less than ideal break up. But she still didn’t exactly like him, especially after she’d heard about the flash-mob fiasco.
Max apparently felt her almost-glare and looked away from Simon and spotted the two girls. He raised his hand in a wave, smiling politely at Autumn. Simon turned to see who Max was looking at and lit up when he saw them, mock saluting them. Zoey let go of the railing to try and wave but ended up losing her balance again and nearly fell. Zoey let out a small shriek as she fell and grasped at Autumn as she tumbled. Autumn caught her easily, laughing as she did so, and a glance towards the boys confirmed that they were laughing too.
“Alright, alright.” She said grumpily as Autumn set her back on her feet, “That was a little bit funny.”
“No kidding!” A voice said from behind them, causing both of them to startle and Zoey to almost fall again. Tobin skated around them, pulling into a clean stop in front of them with a smile. Of course he could skate, of course he could. He nodded at both of them, “Code Red, Lady Code Red, it’s been a bit.” Autumn smiled cheerfully, not acknowledging the nicknames.
“It sure has!” She held out her hand for a high five, which Tobin gleefully returned. Zoey had been surprised when she’d first brought Autumn to a staff party and her and Tobin had hit it off, but she was happy that they got along so well. Her coders really were like a second family to her; and it made her happy to see people she cared about getting along.
“I didn’t know you could skate,” Zoey said curiously. Tobin smiled at her,
“Yeah I don’t do it a lot, not really my vibe you know? But I had a boyfriend in highschool that competed; you would not believe the amount of ice skating dates we had. He taught me and I held onto the knowledge.” He shrugged, “Now, speaking of boyfriends, have you seen mine? Leif got away from me.” Zoey peered around the rink, and was able to glimpse Leif when a group skated by. She nearly burst out laughing when she did, happy that there was at least one other person in the rink as bad at skating as she was.
Leif was clinging to the railing, his skates slipping over the surface of the ice as he frantically tried to regain his footing and his dignity. Zoey wished she had her phone on her; this was a sight she wanted to immortalize, put in the company newsletter even. She pointed Leif out to Tobin through her stifled giggles, and he snorted when he caught sight of his struggling boyfriend. Autumn wrinkled her face in concern,
“Oh dear, somebody should probably help him.” Tobin nodded, sighing.
“You’re probably right,” He smirked fondly in Leif’s direction, “Z-money, Aut’s, until next time.” He spun in place before smoothly gliding over to a very grumpy Leif, offering him a hand up that Leif grudgingly took. Zoey smiled at them, before returning her attention to her girlfriend.
“They’re so cute aren’t they?” Autumn said, and Zoey carefully repositioned her grip so that she was holding her hand again.
“Yeah,” she said, squeezing Autumn’s hand gently, “Almost as cute as you are.” Autumn blushed lightly, leaning down to kiss her before gripping Zoey’s hand tightly and beginning to drag her forward.
“Now come on, we’re at an ice-skating rink and we’ve barely even skated yet!” Zoey tensed up, but allowed herself to be guided away from the railing. Autumn laughed good naturedly as they started skating, “Don’t worry Zo, I won’t let you fall on my watch!”
In reality, Zoey did end up falling, twice. She didn’t really mind though. The first time had been a small one that hadn’t even bruised. The second time she fell she had managed to bring Autumn down with her, and they had ended up sprawled out on top of each other on the ice. She did have some bruises from that fall, and she suspected Autumn did too, but both of them had laughed it off as Autumn climbed off Zoey and helped her up. After that they’d only skated a couple more loops around the rink, (stopping underneath the mistletoe to steal kisses from time to time) before a romantic musical number sung by some of her coworkers had encouraged Zoey to suggest returning their rental skates and leaving the rink. The park had been nearly empty by the time they got there, and by then the moon had already claimed the sky. So Autumn had guided Zoey through the grassy land in near darkness. Autumn had dragged Zoey from tree to tree, identifying the species and their properties. When they’d exhausted the local tree supply, Autumn had found them a bench near the pond, and had pulled out her phone to check google maps for nearby cafes. With Zoey’s help, they managed to find a place only a few blocks away that didn’t close for another hour.
They split a surprisingly large burrito at the cafe, Autumn convincing Zoey to try the (in her opinion ridiculously spicy) dipping sauce, and had split the check. Autumn drove them home, and Zoey called ahead, managing to score them the last two Cheese Quakes of the night, which Autumn insisted paying for. They barely reached Zoey’s apartment before midnight, the sugar boost of the Quakes keeping them both awake, Zoey had started an early episode of Star Trek on the tv. Normally you wouldn’t be able to drag Zoey away from a good episode of ST, but tonight she found her attention focused less on the tv and more on the increasingly sleepy blonde that was draped across her. She smiled, dipping her head down to place a kiss on Autumn’s forehead, who hummed happily in response.
“You were right Auts,” She said softly, stroking her hair, “that was an amazing idea.”