Blue Scarf

10.

"A surprising reunion! What could have happened between Kaganovskaya and Angelopol?" Channel 1 wrote. "Did Angelopol apologize?" Another headline asked the question. "The world's favourite ice dance duo back together! Everyone is dying to know the details!" And then there were the ones like "Kaganovskaya and Angelopol already back together! Was it all for publicity?" or "Did Kaganovskaya agree to pay for Angelopol after all?" and "Why can't Kaganovskaya hold on to a partner?" And these weren't even the most unhinged ones. We've announced our reunion only yesterday, but people were already going wild. So much so, that Anjelika scheduled an emergency meeting (apparently this was a thing we were doing now...) today before practice at 5 am.

I took another sip from my coffee, desperate for something to keep me awake as Anjelika kept on listing all the upcoming interviews and events we got invited to. Our calendars were filled to the brim. My eyelids felt made out of lead and I let them fall shut. Just for a second... "Vasilisa focus!"
"Sorry coach. I'm just-"
"We don't have the time for excuses!" She cut me off. "Tell me instead what the closest upcoming event is so I know you've paid at least some attention."
"Um..." I flipped back a couple of pages in my planner. "Interview next Friday" I answered. "Good. Valera, did you write that down?"
"Yes coach." I heard from beside me. "Excellent. Now onto our last point." She took a deep breath before continuing, which never signaled anything good. "We are going to training camp two weeks from now."
"But-" Valera began. "Before either of you cuts in, this is already decided. Don't try to convince me you don't need it, because you do. You're both unfocused and all over the place, not to mention the fact that you can't even stand next to each other for the duration of a 15 minute photoshoot! I'm hoping a change of scenery will allow you to dedicate the entireity of your energy to training instead of whatever you two got going on." What a wonderful idea... "Any questions?" She asked giving us both a scrutinizing look.

-

"It's going to be so much fun!"
"So much fun!" I groaned as I stepped into the rink after Annabelle. At least it won't be only Valeriy and me. "Did she tell you where we're going?"
"No. She said she'll send an e-mail with all the information tonight." I answered. I shook out my legs and got started on my warm up exercises. I circled the rink once, twice, allowing the familiar cold air to fill my lungs. I felt each muscle, each ligament wake up in my body and prepare for another long and exhausting day.

Valeriy was late, but I didn't worry. It was about time he relaced his skates I thought to myself after doing the math. He did it every 3 weeks and I knew he still kept it up. Valeriy stuck to his routines. They made him feel like he was in control. He liked being in control. Over himself, over his whole life. There was no need to reprimand myself for thinking about him, I was in the rink, the rules were different here. I started another step sequence. This particular one was my least favourite and I didn't practice it if I could help it. Anjelika noticed it early on and incorporated it into my warm up exercises in the blink of an eye.

Valeriy appeared 15 minutes later, deep in conversation with Egor. I watched as he walked up to the side of the rink and tied up his hair... it was getting way too long, he was going to need to cut it soon. He stepped onto the ice and started skating towards me. He acknowledged me with a small dip of his chin and I returned the gesture. The rules were different here. He joined in on my warm up and I felt as our bodies tuned themselves on the same frequency. This feeling never got old. The buzzing began in my fingertips and slowly spread up my arms, then down my torso and my legs, all the way to my toes. Our tempo increased, and when he extended his hand towards me I was ready. I didn't even need to look, I just knew where he was, where I would fit. We increased our tempo even more, in preparation to practice the more complex elements of our short program. We were a whirlwind of limbs and blades and the whole world stopped to matter around us. Which usually would have been positive, but things were different now. It made me distracted, reckless. I let go of him and went in for another twizzle, when the all too familiar blinding pain shot up my leg. I couldn't let it show. I stuck it out until the end of the element, gritting my teeth through the waves of cramps. I caught Valeriy's hand again and continued as if nothing had happened.