Chapter 88: Not Again

They were on the ice at the University of Wisconsin, in their first practice with Kathy Sleighter, their new coach there. She had met them over a cup of coffee, chatted a bit, and then asked them to do their programs from last year, so she could see them run through a couple of completed programs from close-up. "I wasn't at Nationals the last two years--I took a break from coaching to have a kid--so I've only seen you two on TV."

They ran through last year's original dance and free dance, then skated up to Kathy. "Oh my God, I can't believe your speed! You guys can get speed from the smallest movements, it's incredible."

"That's always been one of our strengths," Sophia said.

"That's a good question. What do you consider your strengths?"

"The speed thing, an ability to skate close together that's almost innate, a romantic style of presentation that appeals to an audience," Sophia said.

"Musical awareness, good choreographic sense, and we're a couple on the ice, not just two people skating together. We also match well physically." Warren added.

"What about weaknesses?' Kathy asked.

"Sometimes we get too into the music," Sophia said. "We go with our first musical instinct, and not necessarily our first technical or difficulty-enhancing instinct. We can be sloppy, especially on compulsories. Oh, and we can't act worth beans," Sophia added with a smile.

"Our musical choices can be anachronistic or unusual, which I consider a strength but others don't. Our line, the pointing of toes, that kind of stuff, needs work. Plus, we're mismatched in ability to some degree," Warren said.

"Oh, here we go again," Sophia said with a chuckle.

"What do you mean?" Kathy asked.

"One member of this team is a better skater than the other member of this team," Warren said. "Hint: I'm not the better one."

Kathy just laughed. "Warren, I did not see much disparity. Honestly. She's better on turns than you are, by a bit, and that's all."

"This is a very old conversation," Sophia told her. "When we started skating together, I was a lot better, because I had the dance background. He's caught up, but I can't convince him of that."

"Well, I hear it, actually. On the internet, and from commentators," Warren pointed out. "I don't know if that's just because she grabs more attention than I do, that might be it."

"What do you mean?" Kathy asked.

"Everybody watches her no matter what I'm doing," Warren said with a laugh.

"He's got a complex about this," Sophia said.

"Not really. I just know what is. Hey, if I were in the audience, I wouldn't be watching me, either."

"Maybe we can accentuate you, Warren, more than you have been," Kathy pointed out.

"Why? Heck, we're third in the world. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?" Warren said.

"Actually, our new OD does accentuate him, because there's so much fast footwork, which is his strength," Sophia pointed out.

"Let's see it," Kathy told them.

They ran through "If You Can't Rock Me" as Kathy watched, taking mental notes.

"Great. Let's see the new free dance." They did "Romeo and Juliet."

"OK," Kathy said. "Go get changed. We'll have a cup of coffee and talk."

They did, and met her in the snack bar a few minutes later.

"OK, here's my thoughts, and my plan. The OD is great, and it's on its way to being stupendous. No worries, we just need to touch it up."

"Agreed," said Sophia.

"OK. Romeo and Juliet needs work, but it's got the beginnings and potential to be fantastic. I love the concept, I love how you guys carry it out, but it needs work. Right now, that's the program that highlights two of your weaknesses--it's too reliant on the music, and it's too Sophia-centric. We need to add more difficulty, and especially more difficulty for Warren."

"OK," said Warren.

"Here's my plan. We nail the OD down now, because we need that right away. You can't do another OD at Skate Canada; you need to do a swing, so we need it ready for then. When you guys can skate it in your sleep, then we go to work on Romeo and Juliet. If it's not ready, and you have to do the Sinatra program for Skate Canada--heck, for the whole Grand Prix--who cares? Just as long as Romeo and Juliet is ready--and I mean really ready--for Nationals and the Olympics."

"Hmmmm. Never thought of it that way," Warren said.

"It's a good plan, though," Sophia said.

"Agreed," said Warren.

"Great!"

Classes had started, and Sophia had a problem. He was in her American History class, and his name was Michael Bjornsen.

He was a transfer, from Wisconsin-Green Bay, and was a sophomore Computer Science major. And he was seriously infatuated with Sophia.

She thought to herself, here we go again, but she knew that wasn't entirely accurate. He was not Eduardo, he was sweet and kind. And she didn't feel any sparks. But, boy, was he persistent.

"So, what are you doing this Saturday?" Michael asked her about a month into the semester, not for the first time.

"Mike, I'm busy," she said with a smile.

"Jeez, you're always busy."

"Mike, I've been trying to let you down easy, but that's not working," Sophia sighed. "I have a boyfriend. A very serious boyfriend."

"You do?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "I do like you, you know, and if I weren't attached, I'd think about it. But I am attached."

"No chance?" he asked her.

"Sorry. I've been with him for more than four years."

"Jeez, you should want some variety by now," Mike joked.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Nice try."

Sophia never mentioned Warren's name to Mike. If she had, Mike would have discovered that his dream girl's boyfriend lived on his floor.

In fact, that evening, Mike was in Warren's room, bemoaning his plight. Papa Bear was also there.

"She's perfect. Beautiful, smart, sexy, funny, sweet. I've been asking her out since the first week of class, and she kept putting me off. She figured I'd get the hint and give up. No, not me--so she finally gets tired of my unceasing attention and spills the beans--she's got a boyfriend."

"Damn, that's rough," said Warren.

"Yup," agreed Paul.

"Ah, how would you guys know? You both have girlfriends. And Caitlin is a peach. I've never met yours, Warren."

"Yeah, she rooms with Cait, so it just seems I end up up there and Cait comes down here. You'll get to meet her today, though."

"Cool! Hey, be right back, got to use the can."

He walked back in about three minutes later.

"Damn! Guess what? My dream girl is walking down the hall. She just turned the corner--didn't see me. I ducked in here. Damn, what's she doing on this floor?"

"Maybe her boyfriend lives here," Paul pointed out.

"I know everybody's girlfriend on this floor, I think," Warren said. "Mike, what's her name?"

"Sophia. Sophia Daniels."

Warren tried to stifle his chuckle. It didn't work. "Well, Mike, I hate to tell you this, but she's about to knock on this door."

"Huh?"

"And another thing," Warren said, grinning, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't hit on my girlfriend, OK?"