Quitting Time: At The Ice Rink

Walking through the ice rink's cold corridors, Jack Adams sighed and rubbed at his temples. Today had been a very, very long day. One customer had claimed to have lost a dollar and fifty cents in the arcade machine. A fat, dorky teenager with several pimples on his face. His voice had a 'I'm better than you' tone to it and Jack hated those kind of kids. Jack remembered asking the teen how much he had lost. This evidently fell on deaf ears. The teen repeated his story, and Jack repeated his question.

After several un-needed retellings of the story, Jack had almost lost it when he managed to get out the problem from the customer. While Jack was well aware that it was impossible to lose one dollar and fifty cents, (the machine would spit out any loose change if it didn't make a complete dollar), he managed to pry open the front of the large machine and almost convince him he was in some sort of spooky roller disco.

The flashing lights and constant beeping of the machine made Jack's brain want to scream out in pain but he endured. Fishing out the loose change, Jack removed his head from the machine and passed it to the teenager. Closing the big door to the arcade machine, Jack pulled himself up off the machine and dusted off his jeans. To Jack's amazement, the teenager continued to tell him the story. Looking at the change in his hand, Jack asked him.

"Didn't I give you enough?"

"No, you gave me the right change. I'm just saying..." The teenager started but Jack quickly cut him off.

"OK, well I've got work to do." Jack quickly spun on his right heel and darted out of the room.

Angel, one of the older supervisor's, came over to Jack as he was gearing up to clean out the garbage bins.

"OK Jack, guess where you're going to work now." Angel said, a smirk creeping across her wrinkled face, her smile reminded Jack of a terrifying witch from Shakespearean lore. Jack shuddered to think of what she could possibly conjure up for him.

"... The women's bathrooms?" Jack asked, knowing that he would never get so lucky.

"Close but no cigar. You're in the hole." Angel said, her sly smile was now a fully, yellow, toothy grin. 'The hole' was common slang among the ice rink staff for the shoe rental office. Jack's heart plummeted, not only did he have to pass around smelly boots all day, but he had to deal with obnoxious people and dumb ass questions.

'The hole' was a large circular room, that had a large oak desk wrapping around the front of the room. There was a large Perspex window that ran from the top of the rink's ceiling down to the desk, cutting off at least three feet above the oak desk. Behind the window, there was a large, black leather chair with wheels on. There was also a large black chalk board with prices and shoe sizes available for rental.

Slumped at the desk, Jack looked up as a teenaged kid walked up to the desk.

"Do you have half sizes?" He asked, looking at the size chart above Jack.

Jack stared at him for a couple of seconds, then looked at the size chart. "No. We only have full sizes."

"OK, I'll take a nine and a half."

Sighing, Jack fought all urges to put his head in his hands and scream. "Is that a nine or a ten?"

"Huh?" The teen asked, looking at Jack with a goofy confused look.

"We. Don't. Have. Half sizes." Jack said, spitting out the words, struggling to control himself.

"Uhh... Can I get back to you?" The teen asked as he darted out of Jack's sight. There was a knock on the side door and it crept open slowly. Standing behind it was Amy Williams. Amy was African-American and a major cutey. She had her black hair in a short pixie type hair cut and was dressed in the uniform of a black polo shirt and long black jeans that covered her killer legs. Jack had seen her out of work before and knew she was hot, but at work the magic seemed to fade. Amy was one of the resident 'weekend' staff. People who only put in a few hours due to prior contracts.

"Hey Jack."

Sighing, Jack ran a hand through his head. "Hi Amy, how's it goin'?"

"Good. Angel said I need to take over." Amy said, a smile on her face.

Jack nodded, his mood was down near the bottom, but this was making his day a little better. "OK, people are dumb today." Jack added in passing.

"When aren't they?" Amy added as Jack shut the door. A smile on his face as he walked into the 'Staff only' area. Walking down a few steps, Jack found the ice rink's office and walked in. Looking around, there wasn't any one in the office. Shaking his head slightly, Jack let out a long sigh. Thinking to himself, Jack walked over to the printed out spreadsheet on the wall. It was split into several columns with many rows below them.

Running his finger down the paper, Jack found his name and ran it along to the 'Finish' column. Fumbling around on the table, Jack grabbed a blue ball-point and looked at his watch. Jack scrawled in the time he was leaving and placed the pen back on the table.

The weight off his shoulders Jack grinned. Tonight was going to be a good night! One of his best friends, Ian, was getting all of his old friends together and they were going to get wasted. A sly smile crept across Jack's face as he walked into the break room/locker room of the ice rink and headed over to his own personal locker.

The row of lockers curled around the corner of the top left corner of the room and stood a little higher than he was. Jack had decorated the gun metal grey locker with various rock and roll band stickers, such as AC/DC and Metallica. As he was about to punch in his combination on the dial, a gruff voice called out to him.

"Hey! Jack!"

It was Martin Ramone, the manager of the ice rink. He was a short, stout man with black hair that was graying at the temples. No doubt a result of having to deal with the general public all day. Jack bit his tongue and turned around.

"Yeah boss?" Jack asked, as Martin entered the room. Closing the door behind him, Jack wondered if this was going to be something that could possibly dampen his evening plans.

"You want to make some extra money?" Martin asked, rubbing his hands together.

Jack knew exactly what he was offering. "Who's coming in tomorrow?"

Expecting a member of the management board to be in tomorrow to inspect the rink. This happened on a bi-monthly basis and it always fell on Jack's shoulders to ensure the rink was up to standards. Everyone else always seemed to be busy and Jack always had a problem with saying 'no' to people.

"No one from management. We have a V.I.P member coming in later. Want to work it?" Martin asked as Jack opened his locker and grabbed his cell phone. Looking at the newly illuminated screen, a graphic for 'New Message'. Clicking the green button to accept the message. 'Hey guys. Busy right now. Do something later?' It was from Ian, and he was busy, leaving Jack now plan-less.

"... I guess I can. What time do you want me here?" Jack asked as he closed his locker again.

"The rink shuts in one hour. So, can you come back in two?" Martin asked as Jack looked back at him.

"Well... I live close to an hour from here so there's no real point. Can I stay here?" Jack asked as Martin nodded his head.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Come and find me at eight." And with that, he was gone. Martin had left the room, and Jack was alone. Looking around, Jack reopened his locker and grabbed his book he had been reading on the bus. 'Flash Forward' by Robert J. Sawyer. It had kept him occupied and was bound to keep him occupied for the rest of his two hour stay.

Pulling a cold steel chair away from the oak table, Jack tossed his book to the hard wood and walked over to the microwave in the corner of the room. Passing past the worn leather couch, Jack reached into the cupboards above the chrome appliance.

Opening up the left cupboard, Jack grabbed a cardboard box of popcorn. Tearing the lid off the box, Jack grabbed one of the foil packages and checked the instructions.

'Place bag in microwave. Cook for three minutes. Add additional minutes until popping is heard. Sincerely, the voice in your head that speaks when you read things.'

Jack allowed himself the Monty Python gag and pressed the big black button on the microwave to open the door. The door popped open ever so slightly, Jack pulled the door open for the rest of the way and tossed the bag in. Looking at the digital key pad, Jack pressed the minute button three times and walked back to the table. Sitting on the chair, Jack opened the book up to where he was and started to read.

***

Deeply engrossed, Jack was about to turn the page when he heard a bustling of people. Grabbing a till receipt from an earlier purchase, Jack tucked the paper in the page he was on and walked over to his locker. Opening up the door, he saw he had another new message from Billy.

Billy was another of Jack and Ian's friends who lived deeper in the heart of L.A where the socialites and movie stars would visit. Billy always had a tale of having to pry Paris Hilton from some poor loser who was desperate to not have an STD.

It simply read 'You would not believe what just happened!'. Rolling his eyes, Jack muttered to himself. "I'm sure I wouldn't."

Putting the cell back in his locker, Jack placed the book on the shelf of his locker and walked out of the room. Getting a high five from Chad, the very cool, possibly permanently stoned, concessions stand guy. Standing at five foot eight, Chad had his long brown hair, unwashed and tied up in dreadlocks. He had a stubble on his face and was wearing his work polo shirt.

"Yo dawg! How's it goin'?" He asked as their skin recoiled from the high five.

"Low." Jack smiled at the pun. "Gotta work late though."

"Bummer dude! V.I.P?" Chad asked, as they stood in the hallway.

"Yeah, Martin can't seem to be assed to do it himself."

"Dude! No kidding. Listen, you know they're hiring a new supervisor? You should totally go for it!"

"Me? A supervisor? No thanks, I'm sick of this place as it is." Jack said with a smile, Chad voiced his differences, but Jack had made his mind up. They said their goodbyes and Jack carried on. The last set of customers must've gone as another group of people were now walking down the hall.

Amy was in the mix too, who gave him a happy, if slightly frenzied wave from side-to-side. Smiling, Jack matched the wave, as they walked past each other.

They were going home and Jack was stuck inside the fucking ice rink. Walking down the hallway, Jack passed the many photos hung on the wall. Walking up to the back of the 'Staff only' door, Jack turned the steel knob and pushed the door open.

Ignoring taunts from Angel, Jack walked down to Martin who was standing with who he could assume was the V.I.P. She had on big black sunglasses, possibly to avoid people recognizing her. She was clad in a purple beanie, she had a dark brown coat on, covering her striped top. She was also wearing tight denim jeans with some brown boots.

"Ah, this is Jack! He will be staying with you tonight Miss?"

"Summers. Dawn Summers." The stranger said with a warm smile, extending her hand to shake.

'Dawn Summers? As in Buffy's sister?' Looking at the V.I.P to shake her hand, Jack realized exactly who she was! Michelle Trachtenberg! Oh shit, the times he'd jerked off to her on Buffy... This would be a long, hard evening.

Jack shook Michelle's gloved hand as the staff filed out of the ice rink. Martin smiled and simply said. "I'll leave you two to it!"

And with that, Martin was gone. Michelle's agent, who was dressed in a suit with her hair up in a bun stepped forward. "Miss Summers is simply here for recreation. She will not be signing autographs or have photos taken with her. Are we clear?"

Jack, slightly taken back by this simply nodded.

"Thank you Anne. I'll see you in two hours." Michelle said as she dismissed the agent. Anne nodded and walked away as the last of the staff exited.

Martin tossed Jack the keys for the ice rink. Jack caught them and looked over at him. As he shouted back to him. "Lock up once you're done!"

"Because you normally leave doors unlocked right?" Michelle said with a smile as Jack locked the doors behind them.

"Yeah. Especially since we're so close to drug dealers! Should we get you some skates?" Jack asked as they walked towards the hole.

"Yes please, can I grab a 7?" Michelle asked as Jack opened the door to the hole and walked through. Jack nodded as he looked in the many holes in the wall to find the size 7.

"Pink OK?" He asked as she grabbed the size 7 in 'Girl' design.

Michelle smiled and nodded. "By the way, my name's really Michelle. The fake name bull shit really annoys me but my agent says it's for my best interest... But... I don't know it pisses me off."

"You don't like pretending?" Jack asked as they walked towards the ice rink. The actual rink itself was quite large, big enough for junior ice hockey to be played on and small enough for casual skating. There were two sets of bleachers on either side of the rink, Martin had installed them specifically for ice hockey games in the local area. The local high schools would use the rink for play offs or just days out from school and Martin reveled in the attention.

Since they had installed the bleachers, business had doubled. Single parents would take their children out to the rink for their weekend custody, and Martin loved these people the most. You could guarantee that they would spend several hours on the rink racking up to at least $14 and then there was the concessions after the rink. Boxes of chocolate, bottles of soda and other stuff that wasn't good for you, they would all be snapped up by the parents.

"No dude! It's bull shit!" Michelle cursed again, slightly taking Jack aback by her no mercy vocabulary. "Are you not coming on?" Michelle asked as she noted that Jack wasn't changing his boots as well.

"You want me to?" Jack asked, some what surprised. The majority of times, Jack was simply put to the sidelines, simply watching the V.I.P skate.

"If you want to. I'm not going to stop you." Michelle said with a smile. She bent down and unzipped the side of her brown boots so she could slip on the ice skates.

"Sure OK. Give me five seconds!" Jack said with an excited grin. Darting back to the hole, Jack grabbed his boots from under the desk. Jack and the rest of the staff would normally pick out the right pair in their size and keep them to one side. Jack was glad they did this, Jack had a common foot size and all pairs had been rented out today, so they would reek of other people's feet.

Walking back to the rink, Jack saw that Michelle had placed her normal boots to the side of the bleachers and was waiting patiently by the side of the rink. The side door opened, so that she and Jack could get onto the rink. Jack quickly changed his boots and the two got onto the ice.

They skated a couple of laps, talking about this and that not anything ground breaking. Eventually, Michelle's job came up again and brought up another rant from Michelle about the fake name business.

"It's all bull shit. They're so paranoid. Thinking if anyone finds out that I'm skating here the paparazzi would find out and invade the place!"

"You don't like pretending?" Jack asked again, repeating his question from earlier.

"Nah dude. Bull. Shit." Michelle said with a smile, skating around the rink.

"Well, it's not like your job depends on you being able to pretend... Or say... Act right?" Jack said with a big grin as Michelle realized what he had said.

"Funny. Prick." Michelle said with a grin. Punctuating the 'Prick' with a playful punch to his arm. "That's what I mean though! I have to do it for a living, I don't want to do it on my nights off too!"

Jack nodded as they skated to a halt near one of the goal areas. Standing still, Michelle looked over the whole rink. "You know I used to skate a lot when I was younger? Used to be good too." She said, sounding like she was boasting.

"Yeah? Me too." Jack said with a grin.

"Really? Can you Axel jump?" Michelle asked, crooking an eyebrow looking at Jack with admiration on her face.

"Absolutely!" Jack said with a smile. It took all of his mental strength to not look behind him to see if someone else had said that instead of him.

"Me too! Want to do one? It's been so long since I did one!" Michelle said, smiling at the prospect.

Jack took a cartoon gulp of air and nodded. "Ladies first." Jack said with a grin, motioning away from him.

Michelle grinned and nodded. Skating to the wooden side, she pushed away from the side and started to skate towards the middle. Skating faster and faster, Michelle crouched down before leaping in the air and with the grace of a true professional rotated a single time in the air before planting herself perfectly down on her feet to skate away.

Michelle skated to the other side and shouted over to Jack. "Your turn stud!" She said with a smirk. Jack smiled and shook his head. How did he get himself into this shit?

Jack mimicked Michelle's actions and skated to the edge. Taking hold of the side, Jack skated to the middle, faster and faster, he crouched down and as he reached the spot where Michelle was roughly. He leapt in the air and aimed to spin around. The only problem? He'd gained at least forty pounds since he last skated and he had never managed anything quite like that.

Jack unfortunately never managed a rotation and landed down on his feet, his left foot hitting the cold ice very hard. His entire weight managed to crash down on the single ankle and Jack felt it twist beneath him. Screaming in pain, Jack fell to the floor and held it in agony.

He could hear Michelle curse as she skated over to him. Jack felt like an idiot and didn't really fancy being taunted as well. But, to his surprise Michelle was quite worried about him.

"Jesus! Are you alright!?" She asked as she crouched down next to him.

"Twisted my ankle... Can you help me up?" Jack asked, moving his arm up for a hand.

Michelle nodded and helped him up. Wrapping an arm around his waist, Michelle and Jack steadily moved from the middle of the rink to the side they had got on from. They picked up their normal shoes while changing over, Jack however had opted not to put them back on and simply walked bare footed.

"If we can get to the break room, there's a medical kit there where we can patch my ankle up." Jack said, through gritted teeth. The pain still sharp in his ankle.

"Where's that?" Michelle asked as she helped him up from his sitting position.

"Just down there. Not far." Jack said, motioning to the corridor where he had walked from earlier. Michelle nodded and held him up, as they started to slowly move down the hall.

Jack and Michelle hobbled down the corridor to the break room. Jack looked in the room, and saw the medical kit. Hobbling over to the couch in the corner of the room, Jack hoisted himself onto the couch. Motioning over to the kit, Jack asked in a slow voice, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.

"Can you pass me the kit?"

Michelle looked over at the kit and nodded. Running over, Michelle brought it over to Jack and unclipped the plastic hooks. Opening the kit, Michelle grabbed the bandage and looked at his bruised ankle.

"Can I get to it from here?" Michelle asked, her face twisting in confusion.

"No... I'm going to have to take my pants off. While I do that can you grab some ice? There should be some in the canteen. Three doors on the right from here." Jack said, as he unbuttoned the fly of his jeans as Michelle darted out of the room.

Taking a deep breath, Jack pressed his hands on the couch and pushed himself up. Doing an incredibly dumb move, Jack tried to take his pants off by himself. Tugging at the denim, Jack managed to knock his own supporting arm out and he fell to the floor with a crash.