Page 39 of Shining Through

“Don’t be nervous,” Ilya added. “We are here with you, so there is nothing to be afraid of.”

She hugged Anton and Ilya, but stopped short of doing the same to Daniil. They’d had a brief fling last season, just one of those things that sometimes happened between two people who were together a lot. At least he’d seen it that way. According to rink gossip, Lena hadn’t. Since, she’d kept her distance.

“And Lena,” Daniil said, looking into her gray eyes, fringed with reddish brown bangs. “If the reporter asks questions you don’t like, just distract her by saying something bad about me.”

Her mouth twisted in a smirking smile. “That won’t be hard.”

He’d hurt her, and this was the result. Just one more relationship gone bad. Tabitha was right, it was all bullshit.

A stick-thin, forty-ish blonde sat among four empty chairs arranged in a circle. Daniil assumed it was to make them feel comfortable, but it didn’t have much effect on Lena. She hung back as if she were about to face a firing squad.

Visible nerves only made reporters more suspicious, so he reached for her hand. She took it and offered a tentative smile. They walked over to the circle and sat in the chairs closest together. Only then did she let go of him. The reporter’s gaze lingered, as she introduced herself and then offered a wide, red-lipped smile. The video camera lights went on, and the interview began.

“Daniil, this will be an amazing season for you. We’re all thrilled to see you take the ice this weekend for the Maple Leaf Classic.”

“Thank you,” he said. “It means a lot for me to be here, competing against skaters like your champion, Mitch Hastings and Brett Stafford, from United States. The men’s field will be very exciting this year.”

“You’ve had an amazing comeback, following your drug suspension four seasons ago. But you’ve remained controversial, and this past summer, you were arrested again. How do you respond to that?”

Anton jumped in to answer. “I’ll respond to it by saying his suspension was not for performance drugs, but recreational, one-time use of marijuana. The incident you refer to in Delaware was settled before a judge who found Daniil not guilty of charges. Everyone makes mistakes, but this skater has worked hard to put his behind him.”

Daniil nodded. “Few expected me to stay in skating after Bogdanov dropped me, but working with coaches who believe in me has helped me turn things around.”

His dig at Yuri Bogdanov wasn’t lost on the reporter. “Well, there’s no question you’ve become a more dynamic skater. If things go right, you could skate in Grenoble next February. What does that mean to you?”

How could he even put it into words? In four years, his life had changed. He had a future in the sport he loved, not only as a competitor, but maybe even afterward. Tabitha had said he’d make a good coach, and that meant a lot. If he could take one positive thing from his last day with her, it was that. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but I’m determined to make the most of it.”

As the interviewer shifted her focus to Yelena, Daniil kept thinking about Tabitha. Maybe he should call her to apologize for being such azhopa. It would bring him some peace and make it easier to focus on skating. He didn’t want things to be awkward between them. Even if they couldn’t have a relationship, they didn’t have to be enemies.

Beside him, Yelena was talking. “...the competition is very strong this year, especially from the Americans, Mia Lang, and Tabitha Turner.”

The mention of Tabitha’s name grabbed his attention and drew him back to the conversation.

The reporter nodded. “Mia Lang is a skater to watch. But Tabitha’s performance at Star Spangled Skate was disappointing. She’s getting older, and it’s hard not to wonder if her time has passed.”

Daniil jumped in, ready to defend her. “Just because she isn’t sixteen doesn’t mean she’s not a contender. There’s a lot of pressure on skaters this season, and since we share the same choreographer, I know she’s been working hard this week here in Vancouver.”

After the interview, the reporter approached Daniil. “Thanks for the heads up that Tabitha was here in Vancouver this week. I’ll be sure to ask about it, when I interview her and her fiancé tomorrow.”

Daniil blinked. That couldn’t be right. Tabitha claimed she had no experience with men. He assumed that ruled out fiancés. The reporter must have it wrong though it was her job to know such things. His mouth felt dry. “Fiancé?”

“Brett Stafford,” the woman said with a smile. “It’s all very hush-hush, but they’ve been dating for months. With Tabitha retiring at the end of the season, everyone expects a big announcement to come any day.”

Daniil gave a short, harsh laugh. Not everyone. But people lied all the time. How many times had something that felt too good to be true, turned out to be exactly that?

The small flame of hope, that he and Tabitha might find their way to each other, flickered out.

~

After two days of exploring Vancouver on her own, Tabitha was ready for a quiet evening in her room. After an hour, she was about to climb the walls. She checked in with Samara, but she was working on a project for her Intro to Documentary class, and too busy to talk. So was Fiona, who was interviewing for a new job tomorrow, and had sprung for a rare, professional haircut. Tabitha wished her mom luck and hung up. In the week she’d been gone, her family was thriving. It made Tabitha miss them even more than she had before the call.

With time on her hands, her thoughts returned to Sunday. She’d wanted to discourage Daniil, and she’d almost been successful. Except the way she’d melted into that damn kiss had given her away. Not that it mattered to him. He was only trying to help her get into character. This made it all worse.

She wandered about the room, all restless energy, and a queasy stomach. There were no answers here, just misery. She grabbed her purse and headed out into the early evening.

Downtown Vancouver was more laid back than Beverly Hills, with fewer cars, and casually dressed people. She passed a coffee shop with sidewalk tables. It seemed a welcoming place to hang out, so she bought a cup of herbal tea and found a seat. At a table across from her, a blond woman sat beside a handsome guy with longish dark hair. He put his arm around the blond’s shoulders and leaned in to whisper in her ear. Her face brightened with a huge smile and she swatted his arm.

The sight made her miss Daniil.

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