Laying Low in Hollywood by Jean Marie Stanberry Page B

with the realization that if we were going to try this, I would just have to be the guinea pig.  I would try it with Ron first, if things went well, I would work on coercing Elena to try it.
     
       I explained to Ron what he needed to do, he basically just needed to skate in a small circle, holding my arm, and keep my head from hitting the ice.  It seemed easy enough, but I was suddenly nervous.  What was I thinking?  Ron was, by no means, a skater and I hadn’t done a death spiral in years.  I had just recently turned forty three years old!  Luckily, my life meant little to nothing to me anymore, all I had left were my children, and they were both far away at college.  Really, what did I have to loose?
     
       Elena was staring at me in shock, as I gave Ron a few last minute instructions before we actually tried the stunt.  Elena was watching wide eyed as we skated around and gained speed for our first try.  I felt a twinge of fear as I grasped Ron’s hand tightly and I slowly leaned into the spin, my back parallel to the surface of the ice.  I’m sure Elena thought that I had completely lost my mind!
     
       On that first try, I hadn’t quite got my edge, so my foot slid out from under me, and I skidded across the ice on my back.  Ron was horrified, but it really wasn’t his fault.  Like I said, I hadn’t attempted this in years.  I was beside myself with excitement that we had come so close to nailing it!
     
       I was anxious to try the move again, but Ron was not so enthusiastic.  He wanted me to give it up, he was afraid I would get hurt.  I was finally able to coerce him to try it one more time.  Our second attempt was much better.  We made two nice rotations, then Rob pulled me up so hard, I almost fell on top of him.  As I struggled to right myself, I looked up to see that  he was gazing down at me, admiringly.  I almost fell right on my butt, I was caught more than a little bit off guard.
     
      “Wow, that was completely incredible,” said Ron, smiling down at me.  He was beaming at me proudly.
       “Well, if you pull Elena up that hard, we might have to retrieve her from across the rink,” I told him with a smile.
     
       I had to look away.  I was very uncomfortable, he was still smiling at me, and for some reason, my heart was pounding with an adrenaline rush.  I wasn’t sure if it was because I had just pulled off the craziest move of my middle aged life, or if I was just charmed by his dazzling smile.
     
       It seemed as if I was paralyzed, I was standing there staring up at him, suddenly completely mesmerized by his smile. Abruptly, I was snapped back to reality by Jorge’s voice booming across the ice.
     
      “Lane Jensen, you are completely amazing!” cried Jorge. I was completely stunned to see Jorge standing there, near the entrance of the ice.
     
       I whipped around quickly and tried to conceal the look of pure guilt that was washing across my face.  Jorge was standing there at the edge of the ice waving at me, I couldn’t read his face at all.  Elena was smiling sweetly at him.  Of course she was, he was a producer, and her ticket to stardom, or so she thought. 
     
       I tried to hide my embarrassment, I’d been caught in the act of ogling.  Of course, Maurice was right there, with his camera trained on our every move.  I grimaced painfully, I couldn’t get away with anything, I’d totally forgotten about Maurice.
     
       I gave Jorge a guilty smile, hopefully, he hadn’t noticed that I had been gazing up into Ron’s eyes like a school girl with a massive crush.
     
      “That was amazing, obviously, I picked the wrong woman to do the actual skating,” said Jorge, giving Elena a meaningful glance as he waved her away distastefully.  “Lane darling, may I have a brief word with you?”
     
       My heart sank guiltily.  The jig was up, Jorge had seen everything.  He had trusted me, now, I was about to get a lecture.  I