Olympic Conquest

Cory - Trouble Spot

I step outside of the rink and feel the bitter cold hit my face. My tears crystallize, reminding me of what a blithering idiot I was in front of Lainey. I try to shake off the image of her hitting the ice. I force myself in the direction of my room.

It's snowing pretty hard now. The Village is filled with athletes starting their day. The visibility looks pretty poor on the slopes. My adrenaline is pumping and I'm getting the itch to tackle the mountain. But I also know if I don't get any rest or food, I may not make it down the mountain.

I open the door to my condo and find my coaches, Dave and Jeremy, waiting for me.

"Hey," I say. "I just need to take a quick nap and grab some food. I'll meet you on the slopes in a couple of hours, right?"

Dave shakes his head. "Cory, have a seat."

I sit down. Jeremy, my head coach, leans forward. "Cory, we're worried about you."

I roll my eyes. "Oh come on Jeremy. I'm the fastest skier you've got. I think you should be more worried about the rest of the team. I'm the only one favorited for gold and you know it."

"That may be true, but you're not going to win gold when you're partying every night," Dave points out.

"So I had fun the first night? Big deal. I'll have something to eat and get some rest now. I'll be as good as new. You'll see."

"We believe that you want to win. But we also know you're fighting some pretty major demons at the moment. We understand and we want to help you. Dave here is going to be your roommate the rest of the time. We've moved John to another room. Dave will make sure you eat, rest and get to practice and massage therapy. Lean on him. We want to keep you healthy Cory."

"Whatever," I say. "You're going to do what you want to do. Can I get some rest now?"

"Sure, Dave is going to make you a protein shake and some eggs and toast when you're ready. We've got a practice slated for 2 pm. Get some rest and we'll see you on the mountain. We're hoping the visibility clears up by then."

Jeremy stands and holds out his hand. I stand and grab it. He pulls me in for a quick hug. "We're here for you Cory."

"Got it. See you later," I say.

I head to the shower as Jeremy leaves and Dave starts cooking breakfast.

After some food and sleeping for a few hours, someone knocks at the door and Dave opens it. I hear a woman's voice. It sounds familiar. I grab a pair of track pants and walk out to the living room. It's Lainey.

Dave excuses himself.

"Hi," she says.

"Hi," I say back. She looks at my bare chest. I grab a sweatshirt from the back of a chair. "Sorry, I just got up."

"No, it's okay," she looks the other way. "I'm glad you got some rest. I was just, I wanted to drop these tickets by to you."

"Oh yeah, what are these?"

"They're for my short and free skate programs. I wanted to thank you for your help this morning. I know it's figure skating, which you're probably not into but I'd like you to come. If you can."

"I'll be there."

"They're not until next weekend. I have team competitions first."

"Sounds good. Listen, I'm sorry for freaking out on you this morning."

"It's okay. I'm sure it looked much worse than it felt."

"Yeah, I hope so."

"Well, okay, I'll see you later then. Good luck with the competition this week. I hope you win."