Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir - Silence and Sound

Chapter 9: Iniquitous

One person stood between the events of yesterday: Marina Zueva.

Marina was a small woman with few words, but striking green eyes. Her signature bangs were always freshly dyed, auburn, and a smile rarely escaped from her lips. In some ways, she was rumoured to be the Anna Wintour of the ice. Marina Winter. 

She had also been their coach. Young Tessa and Scott had moved to Michigan, in the United States, to train competitively in 2003. They left her in 2014, after their controversial defeat to Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White in Sochi. They had seldom spoken since. 

Today, they stood beside her as they awaited their next interview. 

"I see you not retire." Marina noted, as she glowered. Her Russian accent was distinct as it had been when they first met her. She remained unchanged. 

"We missed competing, and wanted to do these Olympics for us." Tessa explained.

Marina had always spoken in her own language, using the fewest words possible to convey her design. Scott hadn't realised how much it vexed him until now. She did not ask how they were, and yet Tessa was polite enough to continue,

"How is Fedor these days?"

Fedor Andreev was Marina's son, and became engaged to Meryl Davis in 2017. They had been together for over seven years. 

The American team was family to Marina. Davis and White left the Olympic arena to pursue their personal lives, but Marina was never far behind. She now coached bronze medallists, Maia and Alex Shibutani, part of the next generation of skating. These siblings were commonly coined the Shibs Sibs. 

While Tessa and Scott had planned to retire after Sochi, the fickle nature of the sport made Scott feel uneasy. The Olympics had always been a dream of wanderlust, but Sochi created resentment. Politics had become increasingly intertwined with the games, and judging became evidently notorious. In 2014, they left Russia befuddled. Scott now understood that they lost nothing by leaving the scene once and for all.

He massaged Tessa's back as she continued to converse with Marina. Ms. Zueva was stern, as she raised her eyebrows, brewing malice before the world. 

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What will Marina do next? I'm not trying to write a conspiracy here, these are mere observances from their reality TV show, Tessa and Scott. Neither Tessa or Scott have publicly dismissed Marina, and changed coaches to train in Canada. But who doesn't love a villain, in between the fluff of fiction? Thank you for all the lovely comments, messages, and votes. Stay tuned for more of...well I suppose you'll see.

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