Chapter 65: Old Friends and New

September, 1983, Chicago, Illinois

The next two weeks flew by. Classes were going well, including the American Government class, though my theory that I'd be graded harder seemed to be playing out. I'd have to fight hard for an A in the class, but I felt that I'd brought it on myself and didn't blame the professor.

I had a fairly full schedule of tutoring with Charlie and George first thing on Thursday morning, and Tom and Jake later. Thursday afternoons with Anala were nothing short of amazing, and the intervening weekend was good. Jorge showed some promise and Cindi behaved, though I could tell that Jorge was extremely nervous and self-conscious around her.

Katt called Friday night to check on my plans and I let her know that Bethany was meeting us there, and that Elyse and Katy would be coming with me. Eduardo had decided not to join us and Katy had decided more or less at the last minute that she wanted to go. That had put a bit of a crimp in our plans, because Bethany, Elyse, and I had planned to share a hotel room with two full-sized beds — Elyse in one, and Bethany and me in the other. In the end, Katy decided she could handle it as long as I promised not to be naked outside the bathroom. Katt invited all four of us to dinner after the competition on Saturday night.

On Saturday morning, Elyse, Katy, and I packed bags and headed for Milwaukee. We first went to the Hyatt hotel and checked in. We left our bags in the room and went to the lobby to wait for Bethany, who arrived about fifteen minutes after we did. I took her up to the room so she could drop off her bag, then we went back to join Katy and Elyse for the short walk to the MECCA Arena. We found the 'Will Call' window, and I picked up the tickets that Katt had left for me that included a pass to the competitors' area for me for both days.

"Looks like the ice dancing competition starts at 4:00pm," I observed. "We have about an hour to kill. Do we want to go in now?"

"What's happening now?" Elyse asked.

"Pairs figure skating. Single figure skating is after the ice dancing. Tomorrow, the pairs and ice dancers are reversed and the singles are still last."

"I vote we go in," Katy said.

"Me too," Bethany said.

Elyse also agreed, so in we went. The tickets Katt had reserved for us were in the tenth row, right at center ice. In other words, they were perfect. We watched the end of the pairs' competition and then waited about fifteen minutes for the ice dancers. The current standings were put up on the scoreboard and I saw that after the Compulsory Dance, Katt and Mikael were in second place, which gave them an excellent chance to win given the Compulsory Dance was their weakest event.

My friends didn't disappoint, skating their Original Dance routine nearly perfectly, at least from my layman's view. And their scores confirmed it, losing only a few tenths from each judge, vaulting them into first place by a small amount. They'd still need to finish ahead of both the second and third place teams in the final round to win the competition. I asked Katy, Elyse, and Bethany to wait and made my way down to the competitors' area and found Katt, Mikael, and Johana.

"Steve!" Katt squealed, jumping into my arms.

I wasn't surprised when six flashbulbs went off capturing the moment. It wouldn't be the first time I was in a news photo or on TV with Katt, but it would be the first time since she'd been married. I was really glad Mikael was a good sport about the whole thing. Of course, the fact that I was the one that talked Katt into marrying him might have something to do with that. After a quick kiss, that for Katt was quite tame, I put her down and shook hands with Mikael and gave Johana a friendly hug.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"Besides winning tomorrow?" Katt asked with a big smile. "Dinner with our parents and Johana at Giovanni's Restaurant. It's an Italian place that comes highly recommended, according to one of my dad's friends."

"Cool. How was the honeymoon?"

"Tiring!" Mikael smirked.

"She is demanding, isn't she?" I asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes!" he replied with a big grin.

"What time are we meeting?" I inquired.

"Our reservations are for 8:00pm. We weren't sure if the competition would run late. We have to shower and change. Did you see Laura?"

"No! Is she here?"

"Yes, with one of her students, who has relatives in Milwaukee. I'm surprised you didn't see her because her seats are close to yours."

"I'll head back up to the stands. Given that the singles are starting, I suspect she'll be there."

I hugged Katt again and headed back to the section where our seats were. I scanned around a bit and finally spotted Laura with a cute young girl sitting next to her. I went down the steps and got Laura's attention. She got out of her seat and walked back up the steps to the deck with me. We exchanged a quick hug.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Good! I'm still seeing Blake, the guy I've been dating for a couple of years. I hung up my skates officially when I got back from Sweden. The girl down there is my star pupil, Laurel! She's thirteen and had a falling out with her previous coach, so I'm filling in until she can hook up with a more experienced coach. I'm best with the five to ten age group right now. I'm not even close to being ready to coach somebody who'll be competing in six months. Laurel's grandparents live in Milwaukee, so we decided to come see Katt and Mikael, plus it gives Laurel a chance to watch the singles."

"Is she good?"

"Better than I was at thirteen. And she's a real pistol. In fact, you should probably stay far away from that one, Steve!"

"Oh?" I grinned.

"She's cute, has a great body, is a total flirt, and likes older guys. And she has a Marine gunnery sergeant for a dad!"

I laughed, "I've dealt with KGB bodyguards! A gunnery sergeant is nothing. But she's WAY too young for me at this point."

"How's life treating you?" Laura asked.

"Pretty well, actually. I'm not seeing anyone seriously right now, though Jennifer, my girlfriend from before I went to Sweden the first time, and I are trying to put things back together. I'm glad to see that you're doing well."

"I am. I have five girls I work with, I do some choreography on the side, and I'm taking classes at the junior college."

"Sounds like you have it together! Not much has changed otherwise for me."

"It's really good to see you. You'll be here tomorrow, too, right?"

"Absolutely. I have to watch Katt and Mikael win!"

We hugged again, and she went back to her seat. I went and told Bethany, Katy, and Elyse about the dinner plans. We still had close to an hour, so we watched the singles until it was time to leave and then went outside to catch a cab to the restaurant.

Dinner was delicious and my friends had a good time talking together and getting to know one another. I hadn't realized that Katy was a huge skating fan, and she didn't know that I knew Katt and Mikael.

"Steve, why didn't you tell me that you know Katt Sundström and Mikael Westberg?" Katy asked.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a skating fan?" I replied.

"Katy, did you know that Steve and I dated for five months or so while he was living in Sweden and then got together a few times here in the States?" Katt asked.

"No! Wait, you two? Dated? Like as in boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Of course, like boyfriend and girlfriend! He used to spend the weekends with me at our house in Sweden."

Katy groaned, "I don't believe it!"

"Believe it, Katy," Mikael said. "They were lovers when he told Katt she should be dating me. I owe him big time!"

Katy just shook her head while Elyse laughed and Bethany did something I would never have expected.

"Katy? That cute blonde he was talking to in the stands?"

"Laura Thornton, the figure skater," Katy said.

"He had her, too!" Bethany smirked.

"Bethany!" I said sharply. "Dial it back, please."

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I should know better."

That little exchange was probably going to make the night uncomfortable, but there wasn't much that could be done about it once it had happened. I was beginning to think that it had been a bad idea to invite Katy to live with us. She just wasn't comfortable with my past, and was struggling with her attraction to me as well. It was a potentially volatile set of circumstances that didn't seem to have a resolution other than her moving out.

Fortunately, the revelations about Katt and Laura didn't put a damper on the rest of the evening. Katt and Mikael needed to be in bed at a reasonable hour, so the dinner broke up about 10:30pm. The four of us decided to walk back to the hotel, so we said good night to the Sundströms, the Westbergs, and Johana and left the restaurant. About fifteen minutes later, we were at the hotel.

Once in the room, we took turns using the bathroom to brush our teeth and change into our sleeping clothes. For me, that was my silk pyjama bottoms, and for the three girls, it was long sleep shirts. Bethany and I got into one bed and Katy and Elyse got into the other. I reached over and turned off the light on our side end Elyse did the same on theirs. Bethany snuggled close, and we quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, we each took a shower and dressed in the bathroom. Once all four of us were dressed, we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we checked out and stashed our overnight bags in my car, then walked around downtown Milwaukee. Compared to Chicago, this was a much smaller city and the downtown area wasn't that big. We ended up spending most of the morning sitting in a coffee shop not far from the arena. Lunch was at a small deli from where we headed to the MECCA Arena.

Katt and Mikael were skating last, so we had a good idea what they were up against. The team that was in third place skated 'lights out' according to Katy and their scores reflected it. Katt and Mikael would need to turn in a near perfect performance to win, and could even drop to fourth if they had problems. I held my breath when they came out onto the ice and started their Free Dance.

I shouldn't have worried. My friends skated one of their best performances ever and they easily won the competition. I was about to head to the competitors' area when I turned to Katy, handed her my pass and told her to go. The look of shock on her face was priceless, but she quickly recovered with a huge smile and, to my shock, kissed me on the cheek. She hurried down the steps and walked quickly towards the competitors' area. Katt wouldn't be happy with me, but I had just made Katy's day.

"That was really nice of you, Steve," Elyse said. "Katy was so jealous when you went yesterday, but she'd never tell you that. I hope Katt doesn't kill you!"

"She'll be fine! I have my ways of dealing with Katt Sundström! She and Mikael have the two empty seats at the center of our row. They'll be along once all the pictures and stuff are done. They'll go back for the awards ceremony. I'm going to go say 'Hi' to Laura."

I got up and walked over to where Laura was sitting. When she got up, Laurel followed her. Laura had been right — Laurel was cute, had a fantastic, muscular body with small breasts and a killer smile.

"He looks yummy, Laura! You were right!" Laurel said.

Laura rolled her eyes and Laurel stepped up and gave me a hug. There was more than a suggestion in that hug — this girl simply oozed sex from every pore. She reminded me of Cindi in that way, though she was a LOT younger. Even back when I was fifteen and sixteen, I'd thought that thirteen was too young, so now at twenty, it most definitely was. This girl was certainly going to be a firecracker, but I was not the one to light her fuse.

"She's auditioning a new coach while we're here," Laura said, "so we're staying until Tuesday. I assume you're heading back to Chicago today?"

"I am. I have class tomorrow at 10:00am."

"Too bad!" Laurel said.

"Laurel, you're a pretty girl, but you're far too young for me," I said. "Not to mention that I'm here with Bethany, the girl I've been sitting with."

Implying that she was my girlfriend was a little white lie, but one that I felt warranted, given how aggressive Laurel was.

"Laurel, go watch the skating so I can talk to Steve, please."

"Humph! You don't let me have any fun!" she groused, but she also did what Laura asked.

"Wow!" I said, once Laurel was away from us.

"Yeah," Laura laughed. "She's a holy terror! I knew one other girl like that a few years ago. She was way more interested in sex than skating and her career tanked. I'm hoping the coach we meet tomorrow can calm her down. Laurel is really good, but undisciplined."

"How'd you end up with her?"

"Her last coach tried to rein her in and they got into a huge fight. She's her mommy's darling little girl, so the coach got the blame. But enough about her. It was good to see you again. I know you keep in touch with Katt, so if you're ever out in Colorado, look me up. I'll buy you a cup of coffee."

"And if you're ever in Chicago, call me and I'll have you over to the house. Just do NOT bring that little hellion with you!"

"Don't worry!"

We hugged, exchanged a quick peck of a kiss, and she went back to her seat and I went to join Bethany and Elyse. About forty-five minutes after she had left, Katy came back all smiles. A few minutes later, Katt and Mikael joined us.

"Can you stay for the awards?" Katt asked. "The ceremony will probably be about 5:00pm."

"If the others are OK with it, sure. It's only ninety minutes from here to the house, so it's not a big deal to leave here around 6:00pm."

Everyone agreed, so I said that we'd stay.

"Katt?" I asked. "Whatever happened with the Olympic team?"

"We were notified that we didn't make it last week. I'm not really surprised, and besides, Torvill and Dean are going to win, I'm sure. I've skated against the Americans who are going and I really don't think they have a chance, either. We beat them some and they beat us some. I think only the Russians have a chance. Mikael and I are just not there."

She didn't sound upset, it was all matter of fact.

"You don't seem upset."

"When have I ever been upset? Well, OK, with you when you wouldn't sleep with me, but otherwise?" she asked with a silly smile.

"All businesslike. You always were. Even about sex! Well, the rationale for it anyway, I seem to recall you were pretty passionate."

"She still is!" Mikael interjected. "Remember what I said about the honeymoon?"

"Ignore him, Steve! Anyway, I talked to my parents and Mikael's parents. We're going to go back to Sweden as soon as our dads can arrange their transfers home. We'll skate, but Mikael's going to go to university. I'll probably teach skating. And we're going to start a family."

"Say what?!" I said, rocked back in my chair. "Katt Sundström is going to have a baby before she's 30? Now I've heard everything!"

"Things change!" Katt declared. "I would never have predicted this, either. Maybe my daughter will be the next Katarina Witt or my son the next Scott Hamilton."

"Or he could end up playing ice hockey!" I said.

"Do you still skate, Steve?" she asked.

"No. I really should start again. There's a rink that's about twenty minutes from my house. But I have so little time with everything else that's going on. I'm working on my brown belt in karate, and I run. In the Winter, I just exercise, but maybe I'll find a way to do some skating."

"Are you still planning on a trip to Sweden next Summer?" Mikael asked.

"Yes. That was always the plan, to go back every two years or so. I just had that extra trip, thanks to Katt's parents."

"We'll probably be there by then. You're welcome to stay with us or with my parents, if you want."

"Thanks. I'd love to!" I said.

"Did you have a chance to talk to Laura?" Katt asked.

"And her student, well, temporary student."

Katt laughed, "Laurel is just like I was! Did she come on to you?"

"Big time!" I chuckled. "I'm going to keep my distance!"

Katt laughed, "Probably a wise move. Well, we need to go back down. Are you going to stay up here and watch?"