Practice had gone thoroughly horrendous today. It upset Conner to no end that he kept falling after each jump he went up on. Perhaps he wasn’t focused today? His mind in other places. Either way it was frustrating him as well as his coach.

”That’s enough Conner. There’s no reason to continue today if you can’t focus on what you’re doing.” His coach stated and then abruptly left the arena.

What? No. He couldn’t possibly do that to him! He needed to practice. His competition was in a week. Skating to a halt at the side of the rink, he stepped off and put the blade protectors on his blades.

”You can’t do this! I need help!” He shouted after his coach, but it was no use. ”Damn it!” He picked up a bench along the rink and through it at some of the nearby rink seats, breaking the seats as well as cracking the bench.

Well that got his coach to come back out; though he had quite a red face and angry at that.

”You better find somebody to fix those seats and bench before the owners of this rink find out! And you better pay for them to.” With that he walked off once more for good.

Conner’s face was red from being upset, but now as well as blushing for he was embarrassed about what he just did. His temper rarely got away from him. But skating was his passion and one of the few things he could easily lose his temper over if he didn’t get something right.

He called a woman that said she could fix anything and told her where he was at and what needed to be fixed over the phone. And so now he waited, sitting on the banister surrounding the rink, waiting. He had changed out of his outfit and skates into white tennis shoes, a pair of tight jeans and a white shirt that had the sleeves cut half way off. It was evident that it was home done as the sleeves were raggedy.

Really when Viv took the call she'd thought it was a prank but she's not been very busy so she'd gone to look for herself. When she showed up at the rink, she saw it wasn't a crank call after all.

She walked in and set down her long, red, metal, tool box, and hitched her thumbs through her tool belt while she surveyed the scene.

It looked like a temper tantrum to her, one of her own might yield similar results.
At least the seats weren't badly damaged, simply the rod that ran underneath them linking them in a row had been broken......she'd be doing a little welding today. Always fun. The bench was wooden. Thankfully it was painted, so once she replaced the broken portions, a new coat of paint and one would never know.

The man who had called had a heavy Irish accent, and this indeed looked like the doings of an Irish Temper.

She was wearing a pair of dark green carpenter's jeans, a green plaid workshirt and a navy blue flight jacket. She was still a bit cold, and the rink, made her feel colder.

She shook her head. "You do this or someone else?" she asked as she turned over the bench.

His attention turned to the woman as she came in sight. Conner watched her survey the damage he had done and then turn to him, asking if he was the one that did it. Needless to say the bright red hue his face just turned gave away that he was the guilty party.

”Yes. I guess my temper got away from me. Hasn’t done that in a while.” He sighed and slumped, resting his chin on his hands, elbows on his legs. Muscular tan arms flexed in the process of moving.

”You can fix it right?” Hopefully that wasn’t a stupid question. It probably most likely was though. She was, after all, a repairman….er…repairwoman.

"Yes, but if you'd actually torn any of the seats it would take a few days. Lucky for you it isn't oo aweful. I'm not sure I even want to know what's enraging about and iceskating rink." she said already measuring the bench and tossing away the splintered sections she couldn't save.

He sighed in relief knowing that it wouldn’t take a couple of days to fix. It needed to be done before the owners of the rink found out. If they did, it might cost him extra rink time.

”Just a bad day.” He stated. After all she didn’t want to know right?

"Oh so they rink was at the wrong place ana the wrong time. " She nods as if this makes sense, though to Viv it does.

She cleans up the small pile of debris she's made and begins making trips with boards and tools in order to get started.

"You in a hurry about getting this all done?" she asks. If he is she'll likely send him to get a bucket of royal blue paint to save time.

”No.” He sighed and ran his hands along the side of his face and back along his hair, but careful not to mess it up.

”I can’t land my jumps today and my coach gave up on me. I got made that he left, because I have a competition in a week that I need help with.” He finally told her what was wrong since she was going to keep talking about it.

”Kind of in a hurry. Need to get it done before the rink owners find out. Could cost me rink time alone.”

She pulls a note book out of the front pocket of her shirt and makes a note. She tears it out. It says Royal blue # 12. She hands it to him. "If you're in a hurry then, walk down the block to the hardware place and get a gallon of this, so I can have the bench all matched up." she says. At the moment she;s conecting everything to hewelding torch and putting on her protective equipement.

He took the note she gave him and slid off where he was sitting. ”Sure.” Looking at the note he headed out of the rink and down the street to get what she needed.

Conner returned ten minutes later with the required item and set it down next to her for when she needed it. ”Hope that’s right.”

She lifted her welding shield long enought to check it and nodded then finished fixing the rink chairs. It took her a few minutes to getthe gear off and disassemble teh torch. Then she moved on to the bench. She cut the pieces to fit before bolting them in place. Last she painted the whole bench and put a wet paint sign on it. the work had taken her a little over an hour. She sat in one of the rink seat and wrote up her bill once she'd cleaned up and put her tools away.

While she sits she's shivering.

He was surprised how quickly she got everything fixed. She really was the ‘handyman’. Conner watched her the entire time, put her tools away and then sit down to write up the bill. Great. A bill he definitely didn’t need. Stupid temper.

”The rink can be kind of cold.” He notices that she’s shivering. ”I have a jacket in my bag if you need it.” It was only polite to offer.

"I doubt it will do much, if the one I've already got on isn't. and I'm almost done here. Thanks though. It will be better when I eat." she says as she finishes with the bill and tears the ticket out. The amount isn't that unreasonable.

That caused him to raise and eyebrow. ”What does eating have to do with being cold?” The idea really confused him.

Taking the bill he was glad to see it wasn’t too bad. Heading for his duffle bag he got out his checkbook and filled it out.

”Who should I make it out to?”

"Blood sugar sort of thing."she responds. "Make it out to KilDares's Kwikfix if you please."

”Oh.” He was satisfied with the blood sugar reply. Finishing writing out the check he tore it out and gave it to her. He even put a little extra on there to thank her for getting it done so quickly.

”Thank you again. I’ll be sure to keep my temper in check next time.” He better or it would just cost more money that he really couldn’t afford spending at the moment.

She shakes her head, "Are you apologizing to me?" a very quizical look crossed her face. At least he was happy with her work, some people were never pleased.

She put the check in her ticket book and pocketed it.

"Did that sound like I was apologzing?" Well he was sorry that he lost his temper, but perhaps she needed the money. Either way he turned red in the face. He did that a lot; so easy for him to be embarrassed.

"In a strange way, yes, it did." She said picking up her tool box and welding gear. "You sure nothing else is bothering you, that you hurtled a bench into the rinkside?" she asked. He seemed very sensative, the way he's colored in the face like that.

”Oh. I don’t think I meant it that way. ‘Course I’m not exactly sure ‘bout that though.” He sighed. Was anything bothering him? Maybe perhaps that Reagan and him were still trying to work through some issues, plus his competition in a week that he was totally unprepared for. Perhaps he should just drop out. But he had already paid for his slot in the competition.

”I don’t know. I guess I’m just stressed right now about stuff. Perhaps I need a vacation or something.” His voice sounded stressed and sort of down at the same time.

"I can't fix the vacation thing, want a bite to eat though, Italian food might make you feel better." she told him.

”Food sounds great.” He grabbed his duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. ”Where exactly did you have in mind?”

"Small cafe about four blocks from here. Good and not pricey, so I can eat alot. I warn you I eat a lot. So don't offer to pay, just let me." she says as they walk towards the door.

He nodded in agreement to not paying for her. ”Alright. Won’t spend a penny on you. He spoke with a smile on his face. He needed to get himself relaxed after this morning’s events. Maybe he could try the rink again later to practice once again when he was feeling more up to it.

”So do you get a lot of calls like mine? Or am I the first to ruin skating rink seats.”

"I've fixed stadium seats, sometimes a baseball bat gets let go of too quickly and goes hurtling, but this was new. I thought it was a crank call at first, but I had to see, curiosity killed the cat and all." Vivienne says as they get outside. She walks over to her truck and unlocks it to put her things away.

He brought his hand to scratch the back of his head. ”Yeah. I felt rather embarrassed about the whole thing. I usually can keep my temper under control. I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself if I was in your shoes.” He said laughing at himself basically.

"Well, it's Canada, I should have considered it might have been an amatuer hockey fanatic." she said to him with a shrug. "You want a ride, or did you want to follow?" she asks him.

He shuddered. ”Hockey’s so violent. I don’t know how they can stand getting hit all the time.” He couldn’t even stand watching it on television and left whenever the local hockey team came to the skating rink for practice. That was one form of skating that he did not like.

”A ride would be great. If you don’t mind that is.”

"Just be sure and buckle up. " she said casually. She opened the passenger door and walked around to let herself into the truck. She pulled on her sunglasses, buckled up, and then put the key in to start it up.

”Will do.” He got in and closed the door and then buckled up as she started the truck up. He put the duffle bag on the floor in front of him.

It didn't take her long to get to the restauarant. She pulled in and parked at curbside. There weren't other any cars. She turned the truck off and unbuckled to climb out. She pocketed her keys and walked over to the entrance to wait for him.

He unbuckled as well upon arrival at the place and got out and followed her to the door. ”I don’t think I’ve been here before.” He said looking up at the name of the place. Even after living here for four years he still didn’t know about every place in the city.

The sign reads Belle Italia. Viv opens the door and walks in as soon as she does the waitress yells something in Italian to the kitchesn. I'm sure it translates as, "Oh my god the five orders of lazagna lady is back."

"The usual table?" the waitress asks. The place has a half dozen tables. Viv nods and they are led back to one of the corner tables. "Ice water and you sir?" The waitress asks. It seems Vivienne might eat here regularly.

Since he knows Italian he definitely picked up on what the woman had shouted. Five orders of lasagna? This woman did eat a lot. She had warned him about that after all.

”Water’s fine as well for me.” He said sitting down opposite of Viv.

The waitress nods, "I'll be right back with the water." she tells them.

Viv loosens her coat a bit, it's warm in the little resturant from the ovens. The place has those little paper place mat menus. "All the food is good, but I can't vouch for the espresso or the desserts. I've never tried any of them." she tells him."The house salad dressing is also very tasty."

”How’s the lasagna?” He remembered what the waitress said about her eating five orders of it. Obviously that meant it was good right? ”Salad sounds good to.” Looking down at the menu after speaking.

"It's good, not five star or anything, but is cosas as much as the microwavable crap and tastes ten times beter. " she says. The menu prices seem down right reasonable.

”I guess I’ll have to give it a try then eh?” He said smiling. Looking down at the prices he agreed that the prices were quite reasonable. Everything was rather cheap which was good after he just had to spend money on fixing rink seats.

The waitress comes back with water and to take their order. Viv orders four different dinners and then the waitress looks to Connor. Viv was finding it hard to believe the guy had picked up a bench and hurled it in a fit of temper.

He took him a moment to collect himself after listening to everything Viv was ordering. Conner ordered one of the house salads, some soup and then an order of lasagna in Italian which earned him a smile from the waitress. He handed her his menu and then turned back to Viv.

”I don’t believe I got your name before. I’m Conner.” He said holding out his hand.

"Viv." she said simply shaking his hand briefly with her own frigid hand. Her fingers are so cold touching them is painful.