Page 26 of Ice Dance

Walking away from Navarro was the only way.

Rain tapped at the apartment window. Most of Nottingham’s skyline had been smothered under a quilt of gray cloud for the three days since we’d returned from Montreal.

A whole new place, new city to train in, new start to the next nine months. At least two ice sessions a day at the Nottingham Ice Performance Center, working on strength and positioning, choreography, feedback in the afternoon, dance studio after five. Alisha and I had TV interviews lined up at the end of the week, and a sponsorship discussion early the following week.

We were always busy. The pressure was on. I almost liked it.

Almost.

I headed to the ice center for nine, meeting Alisha and Dylan there. Warm-up went well. We were both on form.

Dylan wanted to discuss the dance elements that the judges insisted were required. The free dance was a new category for the Meridian and ice dance in general. It was looser, offering more freedom on the ice, fewer necessary technical elements. More showy. Camden would likely be thrilled at the new style of ice dance category. But with only one dance to perform, not the typical two for most competitions, everything relied on it.

We ran through the moves like a well-oiled machine, and after lunch, moved from the rink to the dance studio.

Dylan set up her laptop feed to a big screen, and showed our morning session on repeat. Then tore it apart. It was good, but not Meridian good enough. We’d shown the selection panel we could work as a team, but we had a long way to go before thinking we could win.

The next day, same again.

Ice sessions in the morning, feedback in the afternoon, dance in the evening. It was during the second day in the studio that I noticed Alisha’s form was off.

Dylan had us working on the technical holds, the leans and poses, checking our form in front of the mirrors. Correcting, adjusting, again. In many ways, the dance studio was harder than being on ice. Ice was movement, ice was thrilling. The studio was small, personal, confined. And hot.

I had Alisha in the arched hold, her body loose, warmed up but tired. We both were.

“Step, lean, turn,” Dylan said.

We performed. Step in close, hip to hip, lean out, support, weight transfer, turn.

Alisha twitched and pulled free. “I need a minute.”

“Alright, take five,” Dylan said.

I stayed at the bar and stretched, while plucking my shirt away from my damp skin. Dylan stayed at the edge of the room, looking at the footage of our day on her laptop. She’d been watching it a lot, more than usual, and saying little. When Dylan was quiet, all was not well.

Alisha pulled her dark hair from its ponytail and ruffled it out, then dragged her hands through it roughly, tugging it back into a tight tail again. She had her back to me, and wasn’t saying much either. I almost missed Navarro’s incessant chatter. He’d have had something to say about all of this. Some casual throwaway comment that didn’t mean anything. Pointless noise.

Alisha sat on the bench and massaged her ankles, her gaze going to the fogged-up windows.

After five minutes, we went again, and again. And finished the day at ten.

The next day we were on the ice again, trying to make it all click, like pieces of a jigsaw that needed to be forced together to fit. I didn’t need Dylan to tell me something wasn’t working. I knew it. More training would fix it, more ice time, more practice.

The TV interviews came around. A day of bright lights, similar questions, and multiple studios for various sports channels. Alisha and I were ushered from one place to the next.

In the afternoon, we were ushered into a filming studio for Sports Elite, and sat on two couches under bright lights.

“Ren, Alisha, congratulations on your selection,” the presenter said. A woman in her fifties, with a soft, comforting demeanor. “How does it feel to be selected for this prestigious new cup?”

“Thank you.” I leaned forward. “It’s a privilege to be included in a field of this caliber. The Meridian Cup is ambitious, and that suits us.”

“We’re excited,” Alisha said, hands locked in her lap. “It’s a big opportunity, and we know the work starts now.” She smiled brightly.

“You’ve had a relatively short time to build your partnership. Has that been difficult?”

We both tried to speak together. Alisha laughed and backed down, leaving me to reply. “Any partnership is difficult to begin with. Ice dance relies on precision and trust. You don’t create those things by waiting for them to happen. You work until they become reliable.”

“Ren likes things reliable,” Alisha said.