Page 4 of The Fall

I knew of them, of course. We’ve competed in so many of the same competitions, but I always made it a point not to compare myself to my competition. I rarely ever watched other pairs unless my coach specifically told me to, but even then, I looked at their movements, not studied their faces.

I should’ve looked them up. I should’ve done some research at least. But the past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. I was packing up my life when Tati told me I had the job. I thanked her and didn’t think about it again until I got her email telling me when to show up at the rink.

“Savannah, Max, should we show Logan your last program so he can see what he’s working with?” Tati suggests, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Savannah slaps her hand down on the table as she stands from her chair, commanding everyone’s attention. I take my time looking up at her. She can throw all the tantrums she wants, but I’m still her new coach, whether she likes it or not.

“Sure,” she bites out. She makes eye contact with me as she says it. She’s ballsy, I’ll give her that. Max lets out a quiet laugh behind her, which makes me think he’s used to this type of behavior from her. “Let’s go, Max.”

She turns and strides out of the room with Max close on her tail.

Tati sighs next to me. “She’s… not one to let go of a grudge.”

I grunt. “Should I know what the grudge is about? I’m fairly certain I’ve never even talked to her before.” I think I’d remember the attitude. And the unique green shade of her eyes.

Tati turns to look at me as I meet her questioning stare. “You really don’t know?”

I shake my head.

“Look up footage from the National Championship three years ago. You’ll figure it out.” Tati stands and walks toward the door, but stops before she leaves. “Logan, she’s not going to make this easy for you. She’s going to push you every step of the way. I wouldn’t have paired you with them if I didn’t think you could handle it, though, ok? Just stand your ground. I truly believe that you are what they need to get where they want to be.”

I give her a curt nod before she leaves the room. I take a minute for myself in the emptiness to exhale. I knew coaching at this talent level wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t expect… her. I assumed people would be excited to work with me, but clearly, I was mistaken.

I stand and make my way out to the rink. There are several couples on the ice now, but it’s easy to spot Savannah and Max. They’re skating through what looks like part of a routine. It seems a little rusty, though, as if they haven’t done it in a while.

Tati tells them they have ten more minutes before she starts the music.

They nod, use their allotted time, and take their places in the center.

The music starts, and they take off.

Three minutes later, I’m staring as they pant in their finale pose. The routine was… fine. I’m assuming it’s been a little while since they last performed it because there were several small mistakes, but I got the gist. They’re good, but they can be better.

That’s what I’m here to do: make them better.

They skate over to me and Tati.

“Well?” Savannah says with raised eyebrows and a hand on her hip.

“It was good,” I say evenly.

“Good? That’s all you have to say?”

“This is my first time seeing you skate. I don’t want to make assumptions yet, but I see a few areas where we can make changes.”

Her confident smirk falls, and a scowl takes its place, like she can’t believe I would find anything that could be improved. That’s a dangerous attitude to have in ice dance. There’s always room for improvement.

“Like what?”

“Like you try to take too much control. Max needs to be leading you. The judges look at that kind of thing.”

“He does lead me,” she counters.

“There were several times when you tried to take the lead, and it messed up the spins. You hit them too early.”

Max is trying his best to hide his smile, like he knows I’m right but didn’t want to be the one to tell her.

“I’ve been telling you that,” Tati chimes in, validating my assessment.