Chapter 23
By the time Monday rolled around, I was more than ready to get back on the ice.
All the reasons I had been dreading going back to the rink were gone.
I felt lighter than I had in ages. Without the stresses of the previous year weighing me down, I felt ready to take on the challenges the new year would bring.
Plus, it had been far too long since I had been thrown in the air.
It was nice to have plenty of time to just be Hazel and not Hazel-the-figure skater, but apparently my limit of the number of days I could be away from the ice had been reached.
“Good morning,” I said, practically skipping into the locker room. I’d been to an early morning class at the gym, my first in two weeks, and it felt good. I hadn’t even minded having to get up earlier than usual. As I dropped my bag at my feet, I asked, “How was your holiday?”
Elodie looked towards Seohyun. “It was pretty good. My family all got together, so it was hectic and crazy busy, but nice. So much drama, though.”
Seohyun nodded. “Her family is very loud. So many cousins.” She joined Elodie at the Bergeron family functions, since her own family was halfway around the world.
I knew Elodie’s father came from a huge French Canadian family with half a dozen kids, all of whom had their own children.
Many of Elodie’s cousins had families of their own, so she told me it was a loud, chaotic affair whenever they all got together.
An extra person wasn’t just welcome, but expected.
I turned to Seohyun. “Your family isn’t that big? ”
She shook her head. “No. Only two cousins on each side. Nothing like hers. They played a drawing game. Everyone shouted their answers at once. It was hard to hear the guesses.”
“The drinks didn’t help the noise,” Elodie said with a shrug.
She was digging through her bag, clearly having trouble finding something.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t cut each other off and try to have a dozen conversations at once, but that’s never going to happen.
You kind of get used to the fact that they will all talk over each other in increasing volumes.
It gets more pronounced the more they drink.
” She pulled out a tube of lip balm triumphantly.
“The fact that they insist on inviting everyone they know who doesn’t have a place to go for the big holidays makes it crazier every year.
” She said it fondly, like she wouldn’t know what to do with a reserved family get-together.
“It is a lot to get used to,” Seohyun said, attempting to be diplomatic. “You would probably find my family boring.”
“Well, you don’t have two aunts who hate each other and are competitive behind each other’s backs, but who act polite.
Or a cousin who is constantly bringing a date who somehow manages to be worse than the one she brought the year before.
Or a different cousin who, rumour has it, is lying about his life on the rare occasions we see him and who refuses to tell us how he could buy such a nice car.
You might think your family is boring in comparison, but at least you don’t have to worry about any of that. ”
I repressed a laugh. “I knew you said things could get crazy, but I thought it was an exaggeration.”
“Nope,” Elodie said, capping her lip balm again and tossing it atop her messy bag. It would be a miracle if it weren’t lost again the next time she needed it. "But what can you do? Family is family, and you’re stuck with what you’ve got."
“I suppose that’s true,” I chuckled. “When do you guys want to try out a new class at the gym?” Seohyun and Elodie exchanged a pointed look. “What?”
Without exchanging a word, they gestured at each other. Finally, Elodie sighed and said, “It’s just that you weren’t like this the last time we saw you. Before Christmas you kept to yourself and didn’t want to talk much.”
“There was just some personal stuff that was bothering me,” I said. Best to keep it vague and to downplay it as much as possible. “I sorted things out over the break. Now that I don’t have that weighing on my mind, it’s easier to be cheerful.”
After a brief stop in the corridor to greet some acquaintances, I pushed open the door to the room where Dom and I liked to warm up for the day.
He was already there, wearing black pants and a fitted green shirt.
He wiped a lot of dark hair off of his forehead with the back of his right arm and grinned at me. “Hey.”
It was amazing how that one word was able to convey how much things had changed since the last time we were in this room. “Hey,” I replied. I couldn’t help but smile back. The fact that he was in such a good mood made me happy, too. “I am so ready to get back on the ice.”
“Same. I have a good feeling about this year.”
I walked up to him and smacked him gently on the arm. “Don’t say that,” I hissed. “You are going to jinx us if you talk like that.”
“I didn’t say why I thought it was going to be a good year. For all you know, it has nothing to do with skating. Maybe I just think I’m going to win the lottery. Ever think of that?” he joked.
I rolled my eyes. “Not buying it.”
“Well, that’s on you. But in all seriousness, I think this is going to be the year we land the quad twist. We were so close in November. Now that things are back on track, I think we will have it.” He paused. "Just in time for—"
“I told you not to talk like that,” I said, glaring at him.
I knew it was ridiculous to have superstitions, but that didn't make mine go away. The prospect of him tempting fate made my stomach twist more than his throws. “It’s one thing to say that we should be able to nail it. The whole ‘just in time’ thing I could do without.”
“Fine, I’ll just think it. And you can keep your negativity to yourself.”
I leaned down, stretching to grab the toes of my shoes. “Good,” I said, even though I was speaking into my legs. “Now let me stretch so I don’t hurt myself.”
“Are you saying you can’t talk and stretch at the same time?” Dom teased.
I stretched my legs out more, but shot him a glare as best I could from that position.
“I didn’t miss you constantly insulting me,” I said, even though that was a lie.
He obviously wasn't being serious, and I had missed his teasing.
He had gone too far in trying to be professional and it had taken a lot of the fun out of the more boring parts of our day.
“I doubt you spent much time keeping yourself in peak physical condition over the break.”
He nodded his head, conceding the point. “Why do you think I got in even earlier than usual today? My joints were creaking like an old man's this morning.”
“Just what you want to hear from somebody who is going to be carrying you over his head for a couple of hours,” I said, pulling down the light grey sleeves of my shirt. “I did not sign up to be partnered with an old man.”
“Now who is the mean one?” Dom asked with a smirk.
I smirked back. “Still you.”
It seemed like no time at all had passed when the distinctive metal clang of the door latch rang out.
I turned from my spot on the floor, my ponytail whipping against my cheek.
Olga was standing near the door, wearing her favourite cream coloured sweater and jeans.
Her blonde was hair pulled back from her face in her signature French braid.
As always, her expression was hard to read.
“Good morning,” I said, pushing myself up.
“Did you have a good holiday? I mean, did you do anything fun during the break?” Dom asked, correcting himself. He did this every year. I don’t know why he had such a hard time remembering that the Russian Orthodox Christmas was after ours.
Olga nodded. “Yes, I had a quiet time with some friends. We will have a bigger gathering next weekend.” She looked between us. “Are you both well? Ready to work?”
“Absolutely,” I said, retying my hair in a ponytail. “We want to get back to work on the twist.”
Her lips pressed together in a thin line. “It may be best to improve from last month first. You need to be more in unison.”
I caught Dom’s eye from his spot to her left. “Oh, I think we’ve moved past that problem,” Dom said. He was only semi-successful in trying to sound casual.
“You have skated together since then?” she asked. When we shook our heads, she said, “If you have not been on the ice, we cannot know that. I will see if you are correct.”
Thankfully, even Olga had to admit that we had vastly improved from the Grand Prix Finals when we got on the ice.
We zipped through the brackets and edge changes that led to our throw triple Flip, getting the feel of being next to each other for the first time in a couple of weeks.
When I landed, I felt a wave of relief. Dom had thrown me higher than usual, giving me plenty of time to complete my rotations and get into the correct position for landing.
The landing was just as smooth as the takeoff had been.
Our timing was vital for a throw to go well, so it had been yet another thing we’d had to work much harder at than usual the previous month.
When I reached Dom again, we skated to where Mark was standing.
His eyebrows were raised in surprise. “Where was that last month?” he asked.
“You were struggling for weeks. Frankly, I thought we would have to spend today working on that. It seems your time apart was good for you. Like a reset button, allowing you to go back to your usual state.”
“We are going to try the quad twist again,” Dom said. It was a statement, not a question. His tone made it clear that he and I had decided that we were going to work on this, regardless of anyone else’s opinion on the matter. “We were so close. I really think we could get it before Nationals.”