Because Denis Ten is a cutie!! Hope you'll still like it. :))
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Felice's POV (2014)
The Olympics is near and I really need to practice extra hard this time. My training place was at El Segundo, Los Angeles. It was a great place to train. I also saw Gracie Gold a couple of times in there and learned that she, too, was qualified at the Olympics.
After more than an hour of practicing, I decided to rest for a while and sat on one of the benches.
I slowly took of my skating boots, my favorite pair from my F&L skating boot collection. A man then sat beside me and started taking off his skating boots, too. I looked at him closely because he looks familiar.
As if feeling my stare, the man looked at me too. I suddenly felt embarrassed and just grinned goofily.
"Uuhhmm.. Hello there. I frequently see you here. Do you compete?" I said awkwardly.
"Uh yes, I do compete. I can ask the same thing to you." The stranger said.
"Yeah, I compete too!... Oh I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Felice Lelievré. Nice to meet you... ummm.."
"Denis. Denis Ten. And nice to meet you too." He said.
Oh! So that's his name. He's one great skater, alright. I saw him a couple times on tv so his face looks really familiar.
"If I'm not mistaken, I think I already saw that face of yours in a magazine..." He said.
"Umm.. I do a little modeling in our company so I think it's not strange to hear those things from people." I said shyly.
We had a little conversation about skating and the like. He also told me that he's going to the Olympics too. I couldn't believe that we only just met because he already seems like one of my best buddies.
This man is very friendly.
We decided to stop by a coffee shop before going back to practicing. I ordered my all time favorite - Strawberry Frappe and cheesecake.
While eating, Denis cracked a very funny joke that had me laughing for about five minutes because he was just so funny. Our conversation then shifted from jokes, to very serious topics.
"You see, I always do my best when I skate.." He said.
"Me too."
"You know, there's this skater that's really nice and competitive and I really look up to him." He looked very serious.
"I feel you. Michelle Kwan is an idol of mine. Simply the best.. I'm also a fan of Yuna Kim. She has this something that makes her special.. I don't think I can beat her though.. That would be unreal." I admitted.
"Yes.. Michelle Kwan and Kim Yuna are really talented. Not to mention humble, too." Denis said a matter-of-factly.
I just nodded as I scooped some cheesecake and put it in my mouth.
"The same goes to Yuzuru." He added.
I choked at the sound of Yuzuru's name. I coughed and coughed but you managed to say
"Water... please."
Denis quickly asked for some water and gave it to me. After a while, I sighed in relief.
"Uhm. Thanks. I'm sorry about that. What were you saying?"
"I said, the same goes to Yuzuru Hanyu. You know.. Japan? An earthquake once struck their place while he was practicing in the rink and the poor guy had to walk out in his skates!" He continued as he took a sip of his coffee.
Oh yeah. I remembered that one week where I almost didn't sleep because I was so worried about him and our company was sending out donations for the relief of the people in Japan. I was really devastated back there knowing that my - I mean, Yume's country - was damaged. It's really a good thing that they recovered from that tragedy.
"But he still makes his country proud. Very down to earth, I must say. He really deserves the respect that people give him." Denis interrupted my thoughts.
"Really? Yuzu...ru Han...yu has been through all of that?"
I almost called him 'Yuzu' because I was used to it so I just pretended that I'm not familiar with his name. I acted as if I never knew him - one of the hardest things to do.
"Unbelievable, right? At a very young age too." Denis said as he took one final sip of his coffee. I also happened to finish my meal.
He then took out his phone.
"Done eating! Now, it's time to take a selfie." He said as he flashed a smile. I smiled too. We took a couple more pictures including some wacky poses.
After that, we headed back to the rink to practice more.
