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CHAPTER 8
“Yes, yes, Ed, I totallyunderstand.”
Brian rested his elbow on the arm of his chair and pressed the phone even closer to his ear. With his free hand, he drummed impatiently on his desk. He gritted his teeth and mentally cursed himself.Brian, if you’d just kept your mouth shut and thought outside the box a little, none of this would be happening right now.
What was Ed saying? “Brian, if she can’t make high enough scores in the traditional route, the fact is that she simply might not be the best choice for the next group of Team Unlimited athletes. I’m sorry, but I have a responsibility to my superiors. You understand. I’m on a short chain, and the decision isn’t always mine, and for every athlete that gets to be a part of Team Unlimited, there are ten more that may be just as deserving but don’t—”
“But, Ed, I don’t think you hear what I’m saying to you.” Brian fought to control his voice.Don’t panic.“Miss Miles is a truly exceptional athlete, one of the best in her field. She is a—” Brian searched for the psychological combination of words and found it—“a rising star, full of promise and potential. She didn’t even begin skating professionally until her late teens, yet she’s still been able to achieve incredible milestones. She’s one of the first American women to land two quads in a non-Olympic competition, she bounced back from a terrible injury, and she placed fifth in the Eastern Sectional conference of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In fact, she missed the pewter medal by only three hundredths of a—”
“I know all of that, Brian. You don’t have to read me her resume. I keep abreast of events in the figure skating world, you know, and I am well aware of the fact that Miss Miles is a very gifted and exceptional young—”
“But I don’t understand what else you think you have to know!” Brian’s irritation frayed the edges of his control until his voice was only a couple of decibels below shouting. He stood abruptly and paced around his office to try to release the excess tension.Get a grip, man.It wouldn’t do to irritate Ed at this point. He forced himself to lock his frustration away and bring his voice under control again. “I don’t understand what more I could do to convince you to accept Miss Miles as a member of Team Unlimited. I mean, what else do you need?”
Ed gave a long sigh. “Brian, I need to see her. In person, on ice. I need to see a solid routine with pizzazz and talent. Miss Miles has to prove to me that she’s a future Olympian.”
Well, there it was. This was what he had been afraid of. Brian strolled to the window and glanced out at the city, thirty-four stories down, a tangled mess of cars and people and lights and buildings. Somewhere in the wilderness of the world, Addisyn was floating. He just didn’t know where.
“I would think her record would prove that.” No way would he even consider admitting to Ed that the future Olympian had flown the coop. “She has worked her rear off to get to where she is today. I mean, Eastern is not an easy division, yet she—”
“Look, I know all the numbers, okay?” The rising annoyance in Ed’s voice shot Brian’s excuses dead in their tracks. “I understand she gave a strong performance at Sectionals and that she’s willing to work hard and that she’s up to her ears in passion for the sport. I get all that. It’s not enough. I hear that all the time from managers. I need to see her, not just her numbers.”
“But why—”
Again, Ed cut him off. “Brian, the Olympics are about more than numbers. They’re about people—real, individual people with stories and passion and determination.” His voice was undeniably sincere, no longer agitated. “I don’t want to know the stats on your girl; I want to see her passion. And I want to see how her passion translates on ice.”
Brian could feel his throat tightening. What nonsense. Ed was sounding like one of those maudlin reporters—passion and magic and whatnot. “Ed, you’ve seen her on ice. You said you were there at Sectionals.”
“Yes, I saw her. But I need to see her again and evaluate her by Olympic standards. By Team Unlimited standards. I need to look at her performance from a more critical viewpoint.”
“Can’t you watch a recording of her performance? It was really—”
“I could, yes. But I’m not going to do that for two reasons. First of all, I want to meet her. You know, shake hands, get to know her story. Secondly, I think it’s only fair to give the athletes the chance to really develop a routine that puts their best foot forward. When they audition for me, it’s more like an exhibition skate, if you will; I obviously want to see technical prowess, but I don’t require them to follow all the choreography guidelines that Sectionals and Nationals impose. I want them to show me their heart. So I don’t think it would be fair for me to judge Miss Miles’s fitness for Team Unlimited based upon her performance at any other competition, even Sectionals.” Ed’s voice was becoming increasingly aggravated again. “Listen, Brian, we’re talking Team Unlimited here, okay? This isn’t a call I can make lightly. There’s a significant amount of sponsorship and promotion involved, not to mention financial support.”
“I know, I know.” Oh, how well he did.
“So, can I see her?”
What could he say? This was a take-it-or-leave-it deal. Either throw all the cards on the table, or fold his hand and walk away. Jump for the chance, or chicken out. Brian clenched his jaw. Chicken out? Never. He could do this. He was used to taking risks.
“Brian? Are you still there?”
“Yes, absolutely.” Brian lowered himself into his desk chair and prepared to take the plunge. A leap of faith, he might have called it, if he were a religious man. “Okay, you got it. It will put a lot of stress on Miss Miles’s—uh—training schedule—competition planning—and so forth...but...yeah, you can see her.” He glanced at the calendar on his desk. Good grief, it was still on May, four days into June. He pinned it to his desk with his elbow and used his other hand to rip off the defunct page. “When do you need to see her by?”
“Let me check my calendar.” There was a brief pause. “Tell you what...I’m already going to be in Chicago the first weekend in August to scout the competition for the National Showcase. I can come a couple of days early. How about we meet...uh...Wednesday, August first?”
August first? Brian couldn’t believe it was happening this fast. “Uh...I didn’t think Team Unlimited auditions began until mid-August, right?”
“Yeah, I’m doing you a favor. Look, maybe I shouldn’t say anything, but the athletes that audition first have the best chance of being picked. Sure, maybe it’s not fair, but it’s just life. You know that.”
Of course he did. Brian was no stranger to the rules of the game. “Well—thanks, man. I appreciate this. You won’t be disappointed in Miss Miles, I can assure you of that.”If I can find her.
“I’m sure I won’t. I look forward to meeting her in person. I must admit, on paper, she sounds exactly like the kind of person we’re looking for.”
Looking for.Brian thought he might choke on the irony.Where is she?“She is. Totally. See you on the first, then.”
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before saying goodbye, but Brian couldn’t concentrate. After he hung up, he rested his head in his hands and stared at his calendar.
August 1. And today was June 4. Addisyn would require at least three weeks to help him choreograph a smashing program and learn it down pat. Three weeks? Anger bubbled through him. No, he’d make her do it in two, by gosh. This was her fault, anyway. Some nerve of her, taking off like that.
