Page 89 of Chasing Gold, Catching Her

She narrowed her eyes slightly, an unfamiliar edge of jealousy rising before she could even stop it, and as the two of them continued forward, still talking about something. Tora pushed herself off the wall and walked toward them from behind.

Without thinking, she reached out and placed her hand on Alisa’s shoulder—

Alisa let out a sharp scream, nearly dropping the bag hanging from her arm.

“Yeb tvoyu mat’!”11 Alisa shouted in Russian, the words felt sharp, the meaning lost for Tora, leaving only the harsh sound.

“Tora—” she said a second later, then her face broke into a smile as she threw herself at her, wrapping her arms around her so suddenly that her hands slipped free from the girl with cherry hair, which glowed brightly in the sunlight.

“Umm… eto zhe… blya, neeeet…”12 the cherry-haired girl muttered under her breath, also in Russian, clearly just as startled.

“Tora Møller???” she continued, pronouncing the name with a heavy Russian accent.

Tora simply nodded, while the girl stood there in visible shock, clearly unable to understand what the Norwegian world champion was doing here, especially when she hadn’t even applied for the qualifiers, and their country already had all its quotas filled.

Tora couldn’t hold back anymore, she had missed Alisa too much, she cupped her face in both hands and kissed her right there, in front of the cherry-haired girl. She didn’t care; they were alone enough for far too long, and it was unlikely that anyone here would recognize her or even expect her to be here at all.

The girl only gasped and fell completely silent, and when Tora pulled back, Alisa’s entire face had flushed a deep pink.

“I missed you so much,” Tora said, wrapping her arms around her again.

Alisa hugged her back, but more cautiously and Tora noticed it immediately.

“What are you doing here?” Alisa asked breathlessly, still staring at her, her lips slightly parted after the kiss.

“I came to see you… did you forget?”

“I thought you… I thought you were joking…” Alisa hesitated, her voice softer now, and Tora only pulled her into another hug.

“Just hug me,” she whispered into her ear.

And this time, Alisa did.

“Damn… you’re really here… that’s… incredible…” Alisa murmured quietly, still holding onto her, and then, after a moment, she turned back to the cherry-haired girl.

“This is Tora… um… she’s… my…” Alisa trailed off, clearly unsure how to say it.

The girl raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Girlfriend,” Tora said with a small smile, and, just to make it absolutely clear, she leaned in and kissed Alisa again.

The girl nodded slowly.

“And you didn’t tell me about her? That you’re dating a world champion? One of the top five figure skaters in the world? I’m offended, Alisa, we’re friends!” she said, now switching to English so Tora could understand.

“Let’s just go back to the hotel…” Alisa muttered under her breath, adjusting her bag and taking Tora’s hand.

“Yeah… let’s go,” the girl replied, though she didn’t let it go so easily.

The entire walk turned into a kind of interrogation, questions one after another, about why Tora had come, why she would fly all this way just to watch Alisa, what exactly she was looking for here, whether she was scouting future Olympic competitors or trying to study their programs in advance.

The cherry girl clearly didn’t trust her.

Alisa only laughed at the sharpness of her friend’s questions, brushing them off, but there was still a trace of truth hidden underneath them, because Tora did want to see, to understand who she might be facing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Chapter 18

Alisa literally dragged Tora into her room, almost by force, moving in panic, like an animal trapped in a confined space, spinning in circles without direction. She threw her hands up and dug her fingers into her hair, as if she wanted to tear it out, and Tora immediately rushed toward her, grabbing her wrists gently.