Chapter 21: A Wary Arrival
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I spotted Alexi Stanachev immediately and had the opportunity to make an appraisal before he recognized me. I knew from his stats that he was 6'2" tall, 185 pounds. He did seem incredibly tall and broad shouldered but his waist looked slimmer than his weight had lead me to believe.
He had dark brown hair, a strong brow and chin and preternaturally, light green eyes which were sort of slanted, with folds at the corners. He looked slightly Asian, but only very slightly. His lips came together in a thin nervous line. I couldn't exactly place him... he looked just like... hmmm... then it came to me. He looked just like a Russian ice dancer I had met in the Olympic Village, Federov... but taller, slimmer and... I had to admit, handsomer.
I had watched my few tapes of his skating many, many times. He was a good spinner and a reliable jumper. He was quick and sure on his feet; strong for good lifts, controlled for steady throws and balanced for powerful spins. To move so much bulk and so much height in the air and land anything at all, required almost perfect form.
He was a good skater and a partner of great potential. If this worked well, this partnership could last a whole career, spanning 20 years or more. If I was making odds on taking a partner who could get me to the Olympics, my best money would be on Alexi Stanachev.
I knew that being the US, there were several young women trying out. I was number 3 of at least 5 who would be here in the next weeks. Of the two girls who had already been here, I thought one was too young and the other I knew that I could beat technically. There was only one problem. I hadn't done a pairs element in 7 months. I would have to start over from the beginning. Or I should say, there were two problems. Alexi had a past. He'd be on his best behavior during the tryout, I was sure.
I approached Alexi. He was standing with what was obviously his family looking for whomever I might be. It was a wary sort of meeting.
"Are you Yelena?" He asked in Russian.
"Yes. I'm Yelena, are you Alexi Stanachev?"
"Yes, I wasn't sure, you do not look like your picture. You have lost weight... and your hair is not brown." He looked me over carefully, and did not seem to be displeased with what he saw. He stumbled over the words, "I had another partner... "
"Really?" I replied politely, knowing it all and not letting anything on.
"You must be tired, can I take your bag? You have other luggage. The baggage claim is this way."
He introduced me to his mother and father and to his younger brother Ivan. "Ivan skates singles," Alexi added.
I was not much for conversation on the way back to Alexi's family's house. I really was tired. I was eager to get a nap and something to eat. I hoped that I wouldn't be gaining weight again. I would be staying with them for 2 long weeks.
As soon as I was settled, I asked if I could use the phone. I explained to Mrs. Stanachev that I had promised to call home every day. I hoped that it would be all right and I had a calling card so the charges would be no problem. I was past desperation hoping that Alexi did not see that the name on the card was "Alexandre Klukov." Was there somewhere I could talk in private?
Mama was not home. I decided to bite the bullet and leave a message.
"Hello Mama, this is Yelena, I mean Elayne. I stayed in Sasha's guest room last night and I have made it to Chicago all right. The Stanachevs picked me up at the airport okay and everything is going pretty well so far. If I don't stay in Chicago, I am hoping to come home. I am sorry what we had to come to over Sasha. I will love him, but I cannot live with him. I know that you did what you did because you loved me and I want you to know that I forgive you. The number here is xxx-xxx-xxxx, call me if you want to talk. Please do not tell Sasha that I am with Stanachev, he knows Alexi's past and he would worry himself sick."
I sincerely doubted that Mama would tell Sasha anything. I doubt that she'd even deign to talk to him, but you never know. I didn't need Sasha to worry about me and I didn't need him to come to Chicago and gum up the works. Alexi might be a rat, but he's a big rat, bigger than Sasha. Sasha would want to tear Alexi's head off if he hurt me and he might not be able to do it. When a rat is the best chance I have for a gold medal at Salt Lake City, I'll take the rat.
Sasha, himself was not home. I was glad of that. I missed him already, but I didn't want to talk with him at that moment. Alexi had come into the room and was plainly waiting talk with me. I left a quick message on Sasha's machine. "Hi, got to Chicago and I'm here... where I'm staying. The number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Don't call unless it is an emergency. I've got the card and I'll call tomorrow. My partner wants to talk to me, so I've got to go. Love you. Bye." There, there was no way Alexi could tell that was a call to Sasha. It could have been a call to my mother.
Alexi had changed out of his suit and into a t-shirt and jeans. He looked better, less nervous and more casual. I grinned appreciatively, in spite of myself. "It's time for supper." He said, with a smile of his own.
"Good, I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starved."
The conversation at table was mostly in Latvian, which I did not speak, but Ivan appeared to speak little Russian. Alexi's father grunted rudely and said something that even in Latvian sounded very negative when Alexi reminded his father and mother to speak English or Russian. Then I remembered Latvians hate Russians. I demurred saying that I was always happy to learn another language. I hope that they didn't recognize my jacket!
After supper, I asked Alexi about the schedule. He said that he had drawn up a grid in the office and we could look at it in there away from all the noise. He did mean noise. His mother and father were having a heated discussion, maybe a fight in Latvian and Ivan was parked in front of the TV which was on full blast.
Alexi closed the office door to shut out the noise and for the first time. I was alone with him. He pulled two chairs up to the desk and brought out a piece of paper which had been ruled into squares. I sat next to him, well aware of how close we were. He smelled a bit like shaving cream. It was not an unpleasant smell, but it was very different from the way Sasha smelled and that was disconcerting. I was going to have to get used to being close to this man if he was to be my skating partner. So I sat down and tried to relax.
"What kind of training do you do and how long?" he asked.
"Well, I run 3 miles, I usually skate about 4 hours in 2 pieces and I weight train 3 days on 1 day off. At home, I go to school 5 hours a day, I won't have to do that here and I will graduate in June, but until then I'll still need to spend at least 3 hours on my studies every day."
"You run farther than I do. What's your pace?"
"I run about an 9:48."
"Sustained? I run a 6 minute mile. But I only run 1 and then I jog 4 miles at an 11 minute pace. Can you do that?"
"I guess so. It sounds a bit too fast."
"Maybe we should alternate, one day we'll run fast and long and I'll die and the next we'll run really fast and then go longer and slower and you'll die." He laughed. I laughed too.
"I've only got 2 hours of private ice time and it is in the evening, but there's club hours every day. We can use them. What kind of weight training do you do?"
"I can handle night ice time. My regular time is 3 AM. I've been working on my upper body strength, but I'm also trying to put on some overall tone so that I don't look like such a stick."
"How much weight have you lost?"
"Well, I weigh 94 pounds, give or take a half pound or so. I used to weigh about 111."
"So you lost 17 pound for this tryout? Are you sure that is smart? And are you sure that you can maintain it"
"No, me losing weight didn't have anything to do with the tryout. My body's finally equalizing and I've been burning a lot of calories. Will you be able to throw me?"
"I don't think there'll be too much of a problem." He grinned and flexed an arm. It was truly impressive on a man of his frame. "I have an hour of ballet every day. You do that too?"
"Yeah, I forgot. I only do ballet once a week at home, it's a money thing."
"You will share my lessons, then. Well, that finishes that, now we just need to figure out times for things. You run in the morning? Good, so do I. Before breakfast? I wake you up a little later than usual tomorrow so that you can beat your jet lag. We have to see the coach at 1, so you can spend the time on your studies and skip the ballet lesson. When we run earlier, you'll do the ballet with me? Okay. We have ice time during supper. It was the only time I could get. So we'll eat late? No? Early would be better. We'll do the weights after the coach and before supper. That does it." Alexi carefully made a copy of the schedule. He left it on the desk for me to copy. I examined it.
"Alexi, I didn't catch that. I don't read Russian and I have no idea what this says."
He came to stand next to my chair then leaned forward to look at the schedule, putting a hand on either side of me on the desk. I must be imagining things.
"Ah. Here, this means ballet. This means practice and this means skating lesson. This is weights and the first thing in the day is running."
I finished copying the schedule and I folded it up and put it in my pocket. Alexi straightened and I stood up. We walked toward the door.
"Alexi."
"Yes," He stopped short of the door.
I stepped up next to him... and he moved closer, a little too close for comfort. "I don't know if you know, but I haven't had a partner for 7 months, I haven't skated a pairs element in that long."
He stood over me and looked earnestly into my eyes. "It will be okay. You'll see." Then he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Everything'll be fine."
Great, Alexi's turning on the charm. Obviously I had made a favorable impression, too favorable. Now I had another thing that I couldn't tell Sasha. Everything would not be fine.
Text Copyright © 1998-2003 Mary E. Tyler
