Elodie had stopped fidgeting while I was speaking. Her lips were pursed together while she looked off into the distance. When she focused on me, she said, “You know those aren’t what I meant.”
“I do, but they’re what you need to focus on,” I said. “We’re already doing well after the first couple of skates. And since there are eight parts to this score, it’s not even going to have as big of an impact as the short usually does. Plus,” I grinned at her, “you only have one little Russian girl to compete against.”
That got a small smile out of her. “How are they so good?”
“Dom and I had the same conversation back home,” I said as I reached out to steer her back to the rest of the team. If I could keep things light, maybe Elodie would be too distracted to relive everything that had gone wrong for her last time.
When I caught sight of Dom again, two additional people were standing near him. I recognized them as Nicole Lalonde and Jeffrey Pollock, a married couple who had been national ice dance champions in their own right back in the late nineties. They had since moved on to coaching and choreographing. They worked with both Alexa and Seth and the other Canadian ice dance team, Sierra McCormack and Ben Hillier. For them to find their skaters, it must be getting close to the start of the event. Sure enough, Elodie and I had only been with the group for a few minutes when Alexa and Seth were ushered off. Nicole andJeffrey were both speaking, their instructions overlapping each other.
When they were gone, Dom turned to me and asked, “Have you seen Mark yet today? Or Olga?”
I shook my head. “They’re probably busy.” Since Dom and I wouldn’t skate until after the ice dancers and ladies, we weren’t a priority right now. Mark and Olga would both be trying to give any last-minute advice or tips to their other skaters. “Why?”
“Just curious,” Dom said. He then changed gears and started talking to Elodie about the night before. Ever since we had arrived, there had been parties all over Athlete’s Village. We had been given strict instructions that we weren’t to participate until after we had finished competing, but ignoring it was easier said than done. Even when we tried to block everything out, it was hard to ignore hundreds of people drinking and hooking up throughout the building. I thought I had been prepared for how crazy things could get, but university kids had nothing on elite athletes who were in their prime and surrounded by others like them.
It didn’t take long for Dom to have Elodie laughing and invested in the rumours he was sharing. I wasn’t completely sure that he wasn’t making some up himself just for the hell of it, but I wasn’t complaining. He had a way of putting people at ease.
By the time we went to watch the ice dance, Elodie looked relaxed. She spotted her coach as we were walking and dashed over, leaving Dom and I alone. When I was certain she was out of earshot, I spoke softly to Dom. “You are a great teammate. Did you know that?”
He looked taken aback, but recovered quickly. “Thanks." His arm brushed against mine. After a beat, he asked, "Where did that come from?”
“You aren’t even close to Elodie, but you knew what she needed. It was nice of you.” I had long known that he was a goodguy, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t appreciate seeing him help somebody out who was struggling.
He looked embarrassed but happy. He didn’t have to say anything for me to know that. We both knew that he was the sort of person you’d want on your team, but I wasn't in the habit of saying as much out loud. I’d figured he knew it, so it was okay to leave it unspoken. But maybe he did need to hear it more often if he got so embarrassed by the compliment. It never hurt to hear good things about yourself.
We were only hours away from our next skate, but we wouldn’t have a good sense of how our team was placed until after we had watched the other skaters. Dom being so at calm, in sharp contrast not only to our teammates but to other faces I had passed in the corridors and in the locker room, helped put me at ease. We fed off each other's energy. It was impossible not to be reassured when your partner looked like he was up for the challenge.
By the time the ice dance event started, Elodie had made her way back to us. Whatever conversation she’d had with her coach seemed to have helped, because she was back to her normal self. At the very least, she was doing a better job of hiding her nerves. Her eyes would dart around the arena during the conversation occasionally, but she wasn’t the only one. It was hard not to look at the crowded seats. I’d already skated once and I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we were here.
We watched Seth and Alexa skate with the rest of our team. Nick was wearing his team jacket over his everyday clothes. He didn't have to do his free skate until the next day, but there was no question that he would come to support the rest of us. It had been decided that the women's portion of the team skate would be given to two separate competitors, so Grace also had the night off. But, unlike Nick, she hadn't had the chance to shake the jitters that inevitably took over before the start of a competition.The other skaters who were part of the larger delegation, but hadn't been chosen to take part in the team event, had taken over a section at the bottom of the stands. They were ready to loudly cheer on those of us who had to skate.
Elodie didn’t wait for their marks to be read before excusing herself. Her event was next and as fun as it was to watch everyone else, it wasn’t conducive to getting in the right frame of mind. Before she left, she asked, “Are you guys going to stick around to watch me?”
Dom and I exchanged a glance. We hadn’t actually talked about it. She was slated to go seventh of the ten women, which wouldn’t leave much time between her skate and ours. They would Zamboni the ice surface between the events, but that wouldn't take long. The events were on such a tight schedule that there wasn’t much time built in between the events as a buffer. As soon as one ended, they would start the next, so all three skates would happen in succession. Watching Elodie would limit our time to focus, but it was hard to say no. She clearly wanted the support.
I took slightly too long to answer. “We’ll watch your skate,” I promised. “We can take a few minutes to do that, right Dom?”
He nodded. “I’m cool with that. It’s not really a distraction today, since your skate will affect how we do. We’ll still have awhile to really get focused after that.”
Elodie beamed. “Great!”
After she left, we were on our own. We stood in comfortable silence through the next skate before Dom said, “Do you think we should head back, too?”
I craned my neck up at him. I hadn’t noticed that we had moved closer together while we watched, but we must have because I hadn’t had to crane my neck this much earlier. “If you want to. Last-minute practice?”
“I don’t know. I think I just need to get away from the crowd and the noise. Even if it’s just stretching.” He stared straight ahead, although he didn’t seem to register the Japanese ice dancers who were making their way into position. “I guess I don’t really need you to come if I’m just stretching though, huh?” It sounded like it had just occurred to him that we didn’t have to be together.
His hesitation was irrational, but it made sense in my mind. There was a lot we did to get ready for a skate. As long as we both found the time to get into costume, stretch, and do whatever routines we found helped our mental states in time, they didn’t have to happen at the same time. But maybe because of the scale of this competition, I got why he wanted to stick together. Every time I glanced over to see him right there, it brought me a small measure of comfort. Knowing that you didn’t have to go into it alone was a relief. If he felt the same way, I could help him that much.
“Come on then,” I said. I turned halfway towards the exit, hand extended.
He wrapped his hand around mine and followed close on my heels the entire way. If I was smart, I would’ve made him go first and stuck close to him. Thanks to his height, he was better at clearing a path than I was. Thankfully, most people seemed to have settled down now that the events had started, though, so I didn’t have to fight against a bunch of people also pushing their way in various directions.
I let my thoughts wander as I ran through my usual stretching routine. I took my time, making sure that I loosened all my muscles thoroughly. Any injury now would be disastrous for our events in a few days, so after completing my stretches in the usual order, I did a few more just to be sure. Since Dom had wanted to start so early, there would be more than enough time to spare before Elodie’s skate.
I finished by stretching all the way forward while sitting on the floor, legs stretched and spread in front of me. I took an extra few seconds to breathe in and out slowly with my eyes closed before sitting back up. I felt like I could be ready to go now if somebody told me that I had to be on the ice in a few minutes. Something about the breathing and not needing to think had left me feeling calm and relaxed. The adrenaline would kick in soon, I was sure, but I was in no rush. Things had been incredibly hectic lately, so the unexpected peace that washed over me was a welcome surprise.
I pushed myself off the floor and watched Dom as he stretched out his back. His eyes were so intently focused on a point on the far wall that I looked over my shoulder to see if there was something interesting there. There was nothing to be found, just paint. Deciding to let him be, I put in my headphones and started listening to my favourite pre-skate music.
