“It isn't for the cameras,” Dom said. He didn't offer any further explanation.
“If you feel better trying to get in the right headspace now, I won't stop you,” Mark said. I suspected he was thinking about our struggles earlier in the season. Better we act like a team too early than not soon enough. He raised a hand, fixated on somebody in the distance.
A moment later, Olga joined our group. “You are both ready early,” she said approvingly. She looked us over, ensuring our costumes were ready to go. “Let’s begin.”
There wasn’t much for her and Mark to do this close to the skate. We had already completed all of our final run throughs and practices. We had to try to keep our muscles loose and our energy up until the last moment of the competition. With so many other competitors, we had a lot of time to kill. Olga and Mark chatted about completely unimportant topics while Dom and I bounced and swayed and fidgeted. I had mentioned once, years ago, that I didn't mind them talking while I was waiting to skate. I enjoyed having their familiar voices in my head instead of the rest of the chaos. When we got closer to go time, I would put my headphones in. I didn't want to start too early, though.
It felt like no time at all before we drifted towards the entrance to the ice. I saw the other four pairs waiting with their coaches out of my peripheral vision, but I kept my focus on Dom. Everyone else would skate however they skated. I just had to put all I had into my own program. If we did it cleanly, we should be in medal contention going into the free skate.
Even during the warmup, the atmosphere in the arena was electric. There were countless flashes and cameras visible as we zipped around, all moving around the ice in a counterclockwise direction. I did a few double jumps, trying to absorb everything around me in between. There truly was nothing else like this. It felt surreal. The team skate wasn’t enough to prepare me for this. It was on a completely different level than anything else. Knowing that there were some people who were only skating fans every four years made it a unique experience.
I saw Dom skating towards me out of the corner of my eye, hand outstretched. I sped up ever so slightly to match his pace and took his hand in mine. “This crowd is intense,” I said as we did a lap around the ice together.
“They know what's coming,” Dom said with a grin.
We ran through a few elements. My attention turned to what we were doing and making sure we weren’t hitting anyone when we did. I had witnessed a few crashes during warmups in my career. I didn’t want to have my first one now.
After the announcement that the time allotted for the warmup was out, those of us still on the ice skated to the entrance in the boards. I looked out over the crowd until I found the collection of red jackets and the waving Canadian flags from our teammates. Just above them my eyes landed on my parents and my brothers. Somehow my mother looked more nervous than I did. My father and Levi gave me unconvincing smiles. Isaac was the only one who looked calm, which surprised me. I waved at the group and smiled. I hoped they could tell that I was feeling okay.
Mark handed me my skate guards as soon as I got off the ice. By the time I had slipped them on and reached for my headphones, the announcer was announcing the first pair of the final flight. “Skating for the United States of America, Hannah Williams and Benji Coleman.” The crowd roared.
I turned my back to the ice as I shoved my headphones in my ears. I didn’t want to see how they did. I had less than fifteen minutes until I had to get ready for my turn on the world stage. Until then, I needed to go through my pre-skate routine.
We didn’t go very far. I rocked from side to side, halfway dancing while I listened to my music. When I heard the noise of the crowd over the music, I resisted the urge to see what was happening. I would turn my attention to Dom every time, watching his glazed-over face as he moved his body in the directions he would have to for our skate. He took the better part of ten minutes to ignore the world.
I could tell when he was done, because it was the first time he truly saw me standing in front of him since we’d gotten our skate guards on. It was also the first time that he started tolook slightly nauseous. Shit, I thought. Now was not the time. I needed to make him laugh. The first thing that sprang to mind was copying his ridiculous smolder from earlier.
His lips pressed together as he tried to choke back a laugh. “Did I really look like that?”
A wave of relief washed over me. I put my phone and my headphones in my pocket. “Presumably. Irresistible, huh?”
“Definitely,” he said. “But I think we should stick to the original choreography today.”
I gave an exaggerated sigh. “If you insist.”
Olga stepped towards us and beckoned us forward. “It’s time.”
Evgenia Levedeva and Pavel Sorokin were sitting in the kiss and cry, chests heaving as they tried to catch their breath. I forced myself to look away from them. Did they look happy? Had they done well? There was nothing to gain by trying to figure it out. I shouldn’t even focus on their score. Yet, with the booming voice announcing their score to the crowd, I couldn’t ignore it. They’d had a clean skate.
I swallowed hard and instinctively looked for Dom to see if he had registered the number. He was already watching me when I made eye contact. He winked. “It’s reachable.”
It was, but we needed to leave everything on the ice.
His hand tapped mine just as our names were announced. Then, instead of pulling it away, he opened his hand for me to hold.
“Together?” I asked.
He gave me a single nod. “Always.”
We raised our hands in one fluid motion and waved to the crowd with our free hands. Then, instead of separating, we skated to centre ice together. Together, we could do this. Everything about this program had been designed to play to our strengths. If there was ever a time to feel comforted by that fact, it was here.
We settled into our starting position and locked eyes. I watched his shoulders move ever so slightly as he breathed and matched my own breaths to his pace. We were one person on the ice. The more synchronized, the better.
My body moved as the first note rang out. I didn’t need to think about what I was doing. We had run through our program countless times. I would probably still be able to remember all the steps when I was eighty years old. The only thing that got through to me other than the music and what Dom was doing beside me was the occasional roar of the crowd.
As we moved into the step sequence, our eyes met. The crowd knew what was coming and their excitement was palpable. Dom could feel it too. His eyes were alight. Their excitement was feeding him.
By the time he lowered me from our last lift, I was smiling. We had made it through the entire program with no mistakes. The atmosphere had pushed us to be better than we had been all season. They had cheered us on through every element and, as Dom and I waved to the crowd after the music ended, I saw our teammates and family standing and going crazy for us.
