“I’ll be with you in spirit,” Mel added. “Childcare didn’t line up for me to take the time away. Sorry.”
She bumped her shoulder against mine because she knew how challenging the trip was going to be. It wasn’t lost on her that her skipping the trip was probably better for all of us, so she wouldn’t be subjected to my mom’s jealous sniping-with-a-smile.
Neil finally looked up from his phone. “Anyone want to see the rough footage from today? Because what I shot is god-tier.”
“What you shot was under Ben’s direction,” Hailey corrected him. “Give him some credit.”
Neil’s mouth twisted as he considered it. “I mean, Ben has a vision, sure, but he’s not DP on this shoot or anything. I went to film school, you know.”
“Yeah, as if you’d let us forget it,” Hailey griped quietly.
“I’m not trying to block your creative impulses,” Ben saidquickly. “It’s just that I’ve been where Quinn is sitting and I know whatIthink works with this type of storytelling.”
Neil sniffed. “Kim not being here is giving you a lot of leeway. Normally the host is just a talking head.”
“Yeah, but he’swaymore than a host,” I said, insulted on Ben’s behalf. “He’s an athlete, plus being on the other side of the camera for years and years gives you a unique perspective.”
“I guess?” Neil laughed. “So when Ben tells me he wants you in focus and the background hazy, at leastIknow he’s looking for a shallow depth of field shot with a wide aperture. Kim would be able to tell me what f-stop to use. This guy doesn’t even know what one is.”
I held my breath and watched Ben’s expression as he considered how to respond. My baggage was more than enough tension on the shoot. We didn’t need to layer crew drama on top of it. He took a full thirty seconds, chewing slowly with his eyes trained on Neil.
“You’re one hundred percent right,” he finally said. “I’m an athlete who’s out of my depth, you’re the auteur.”
Neil gave him a satisfied nod.
“But Idoknow how it feels to be filmed with shitty light or weird angles,” Ben continued. “I know how it feels to fight back during aggressive gotcha interviews with hosts who have an attitude about me. I’ve gotten the most ridiculous, invasive questions during what were supposed to be puff pieces. And you can bet I’ve had plenty of villain edits that totally distorted my perspective, especially after some of my questionable stuff with the authorities. So no, I didn’t go to film school, and I’m not exactly sure what an aperture is for, but I know firsthand that this interview is a gift to our audience from Quinn, during a critical time frame. That means I’m going to do everything in my power to keep her happy, safe, and protected.”
No one said a word, or evenmovedafter he finished his soliloquy. I didn’t realize that my jaw was hanging open until it snapped shut of its own accord.
“Well, we appreciate it, Ben,” Mel finally said. “As you know, focus is critical in the lead-up.”
“Yep, I do indeed. That’s why I’ve got three gold medals hanging up in my office,” he said.
He’d flipped from the Ben I’d encountered by the bonfire in Switzerland to the one the rest of the world was acquainted with in seconds. I wasn’t sure if it was a flex for Neil specifically, or just him settling back into his true form.
It didn’t matter, because I was slowly coming to realize that maybe both sides could exist within him.
Chapter Sixteen
Our gym at the rink wasn’t ready for prime time. Unlike the state-of-the-art gym at Ben’s home rink in Utah, our humble Woodspring offering still had a late 1980s turquoise-and-pink paint job, a sock odor that never went away, weight benches with cracked vinyl, and an incomplete barbell set that stopped at thirty pounds. Not that I was lifting super heavy, but still. My training facility and Ben’s were worlds apart.
It didn’t matter to me, because I could easily work up a sweat off-ice with nothing but my sneakers. I did wonder if the optics of the gym would make me look like some poor, scrappy little underdog from a backwoods training center when that wasn’t the case at all. Woodspring consistently turned out incredible athletes, so the powers that be subscribed to the “if it ain’t broke” theory of managing the facility.
“I can’t believe you get up this early every day.” Hailey rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“Because she’s got a winner’s mindset,” Ben said. He clapped his hands like he was trying to get everyone amped. “Let’s do this, team.”
“Where do you want me to set up?” Neil asked Ben.
It was a tiny but important power shift that meant that Ben’s little speech the day before had landed.
“Let’s talk to the woman of the hour,” Ben replied as he turned to me. “Can you walk me through your routine and we’ll figure out how to shoot it without getting in your way?”
My heart expanded a little at the question.
I scanned the empty room. “First I warm up, then I do some jumps in front of the mirror, then resistance band stuff, wall ball, box jumps, balance stuff on the Bosu ball, then hurdles. I stay in this area, mainly.” I gestured to the open space in front of the mirrors.
“Okay,” Ben nodded. “We can definitely work with that.”
