Page 83 of The Fall

“Max knows about us and is working through his issues with it, but we’re fine. It hasn’t impacted our skating, and we’re both still committed to this partnership.”

She doesn’t believe me. I can tell by the look on her face. Surprisingly, she doesn’t push me on it.

“You know, I really don’t like my coaches dating any of the athletes in my programs, but I do appreciate you two coming to me and being honest. I’ll allow you to continue to work together for now, but if anything changes with coaching or the skaters, we will reevaluate. You’ll need to fill out the appropriate paperwork, but let’s not flaunt the relationship, alright? We’re not going to make any big announcements.”

“No. We don’t want that,” I say. The last thing I want to do is call attention to myself for something that’s not skating related, and I believe Logan would agree what that.

Tati tells us that she’ll send us the paperwork over the next few days and then asks how everything else is going. Once we’ve answered all her questions, she excuses Logan but asks me to stay behind. Logan squeezes my hand before he leaves and shuts the door behind him.

“So, Sokolov, huh?”

I groan. “I know. Him of all people.”

She smiles at me, and I’m reminded of all the times she’s been there for me over the years, through good and bad. She’s held me when I cried and cheered for me when I was happy. Tati has always been there. I’m realizing I shouldn’t have been so nervous about telling her.

“Off the record… I’m happy for you. Logan is a great guy, Savannah.”

“I know he is. It took me some time to see it, but now… now he’s everything.”

“He treats you well?”

I can’t hide the smile on my face. “Very well.”

“Savannah!”

“What? He treats me well in all aspects of things that need to be treated.” That makes no sense, but she gets it and laughs.

“Well, good. If anything starts to feel weird or if something’s not working with the arrangement, you come to me straight away, ok? This is important. Don’t let a man derail you. Remember the goal.”

I haven’t forgotten. “Olympics.”

“You can get there. And Logan can get you there. Stay focused.”

I nod. “I will.”

“Alright, get back out there. Send Max in, will you?”

“Doing a wellness check?”

She rolls her eyes. “He is one of my athletes, too. Just like I made sure you were ok, I also want to make sure he is as well.”

“I get it. I’ll send him in.”

“Good luck at your next competition. Remember I’m always watching.”

I smile. “Thanks, Coach.”

I leave her office and find Max, who is looking at the forgotten half of my turkey wrap like he’s going to eat it if I don’t claim it in the next ten seconds.

I tap him on the shoulder. “You’re up. Tati’s in the office.”

As he leaves, I take my seat and finish my lunch, suddenly hungry again after finally airing our secret. I’m so happy she took it as well as she did.

After Max talks to Tati, we get back on the ice at Logan’s instruction. My head’s in a much better place this afternoon than it was this morning, which I think everyone is relieved about.

The rest of the day goes by quickly. When it’s time for us to leave, I decide to call my mom on my drive home. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to her, and I’ve been meaning to check in. It’s really getting to me that I’ve blown her off so many times because I was worried about skating, or I didn’t go over for dinner because I was on a strict diet.

My parents have been there for me through everything. Hell, they uprooted their entire lives in Nebraska and moved to Colorado so that I could get the best skating instruction. They deserve better than a few texts here and there.