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“A break? She doesn’t have time for a break. We have to get her ready. And, Belle, right now, you’re her only shot. I’m not even sure this whole plan is going to work, but can you do this?”
“I am doing this. So is Chandler. She’s having an off day, but she’ll be fine. We both will be. But let me ask you something. Do you really think this works?”
“What?”
“Your approach with her. Has it worked so far?”
“She needs the pressure. She thrives on it.”
Belle laughed and replied, “She does, does she? How many gold medals does she have, exactly? I’ve seen that family trophy case in the house. There’s one Olympic medal in there. It belongs to someone else, and it’s silver. Chandler has other golds, yeah, but none from nationals, which is pretty damn important. You’ve been her coach for how long now? Years, right? She’s been an alternate. And I don’t think you can put that squarely on her shoulders. So, maybe you should think about reevaluating your coaching techniques here because they’re not really working, are they?”
“You realize that I’m the one paying you, right?”
“I realize it’s your mother paying me. Or, maybe your dad. I don’t know how that all works.”
“Right. But it’s not Chandler. So, if I make a call and tell my parents that it’s not working out, those checks stop, and you’re moving out of your new apartment. I’ll have a guy in here with her tomorrow, which is what I really wanted anyway, and she’ll skate with whomever that is because she won’t have another choice. You won’t be some karmic situation she’s trying to fix because she picked on you as a kid and now wants to give you a chance to be in a competition again. That’s what this is to her. I know you have a chance of helping her in the interim until Walker is back, or I can find someone else. That’s what this is to me. So, one phone call, and it’s over for you. You’re back at that dinky Ice Park, as you call it, and cooking hot dogs for ten-year-olds at their birthday parties.”
Belle nodded and said, “I don’t think any of that is true. If Chandler wants me here, I’m here. If you don’t want me to get paid, fine. But if she wants me here, I’m not going anywhere. And that ice rink may not matter to you, but it’s my home, and my father and I have worked hard to make it what it is. So, if you want to insult me, you do that. You leave him and my home out of it. I don’t happen to see anything wrong with serving hot dogs to ten-year-olds when they’re having fun on their birthdays, but to each their own, I guess.” She shrugged. “And you know that eventually, this will all be over, right?”
“What? You being here?”
“No, Chandler’s career. No matter what happens in the next few months or this Olympic cycle, it’ll all be over soon. This rink will get less use, but so will you. You might want to start thinking about that now. I’m going to check on her.” Belle skated off then.
When she got outside, after changing into her shoes as quickly as possible to get away from the glaring Catalina, she saw Chandler standing there, looking out at a tree cropping covered in snow, and walked over to her, tucking her hands into the pockets of her coat.
“Hey,” she said.
“Oh, hey,” Chandler replied. “She tell you to get me back so we can run through it again?”
“No, she just threatened to take away my paycheck and make me move.”
“What?” Chandler turned to her and had a look of surprise and fear on her face. “She did what?”
“It’s fine. I’ve been threatened with worse from the people at the program as a ten-year-old, so I’m good.”
“No, it’s not okay, Belle. What did she say, exactly?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle. And I gave it right back to her. I just came out here to check on you. Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not, but because she was an asshole to you, apparently. I’m so sorry, Belle. I don’t know why she’s like this.”
“I can guess. But as my dad would say, it would just be dime-store psychology.”
“I’d take a little of that right now if it would help us.”
Belle turned to her and said, “Your mom only cares about skating.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“And Catalina can’t skate anymore. Not like you still can, anyway. She’s jealous of you, and she’s been put in a position of authority by your mom. She’s trying to prove her worth to the family because skating is how you do that around here, it seems. That’s not true, by the way. You’re not worthy or not worthy of love by how you skate or how you coach a skater. Your parents should just love you because they’re your parents. And Catalina isn’t a good coach, Chandler. She doesn’t know you. She doesn’t listen to you, help you get any better, or even listen to me, at this point. She’s technically my coach, too, now. We’d probably be better off without her, honestly. But she’s your sister, and I know there’s a whole other dynamic here that’s not about her being our coach.”
Chandler nodded and turned back to the trees.
“When I was really little – and I mean maybe three or four – and I was doing that toddler waddling thing, we had a swing attached to that tree.” She pointed to a tree a little off to itself, with a large branch extending out to the side. “It was here before they bought the estate. My mom wanted to take it down, but Catalina loved it. She’d come out here to swing whenever, and once, we were out here together. I got on it and started trying to push myself with my tiny feet. She was supposed to be watching me, but I guess she wasn’t doing a great job. I don’t know.” Chandler shook her head. “Anyway, I fell off and skinned my knees. I was crying like a baby, and the nanny, who was actually supposed to be watching both of us, ran over and carried me inside. My dad found out and had the swing taken down.” She sighed. “I’ve always felt bad about that. I don’t even remember it much, but Catalina told me about it years later, and I’ve always felt guilty because I was the reason she lost something she liked. Yeah, it’s a swing, but it was something away from skating that she enjoyed, and it was taken away because of me.”
“You were a toddler,” Belle replied.
“I know. But she’s my sister, and it was my fault. I’m not sure she’s ever let that go.”
