White Satin by Iris Johansen

though.” He paused. “Anthony wants you to go over your long routine for him this afternoon. Are you up to it?”
    “Of course, I’m up to it,” she said, her tone brittle. Oh, what was the use? Dany told herself. Sheabruptly dropped the facade. “Will you please stop looking at me as if you expected me to fall into a Victorian swoon? So what if Anthony’s brought Luisa with him today? It’s happened before, and it will probably happen again. I’m not about to let it affect my work.” She turned and took the saucepan from the burner. “After all, nothing’s really changed.” God, she wished that were true. She’d give anything if she could have turned back time and never known that night in Anthony’s apartment.
    “If you say so,” Beau said slowly.
    “I say so,” she answered firmly. “Now sit down and I’ll dish up the soup. It may not be the gourmet delight Luisa and Anthony are probably enjoying, but it’s hot. That’s enough for me after five hours on the ice.”
    The afternoon proved easier than she’d expected, largely due to the fact that Anthony exhibited a cool professionalism that she could respond to with equal composure. He didn’t bother to put on his skates, but sat on one of the spectator chairs in the two tiers that surrounded the rink and quietly watched while Beau put her through herpaces. Occasionally he’d have her do something over or call out to Beau to keep an eye out for a slight flaw in style or technique. For the most part, however, he merely sat and watched, his eyes narrowed and thoughtful as he had her go over the freestyle program repeatedly until she was so tired, she could feel her muscles ache, then go numb with weariness. Once or twice she noticed a worried frown darken Beau’s face near the end of the grueling session, and she knew he would have protested if she hadn’t given him a fierce glance and shaken her head at him.
    There was nothing vindictive in Anthony’s drive for perfection. He simply didn’t understand half-way measures and would have driven himself just as relentlessly to the point of exhaustion. In an odd way she was proud she had the stamina to keep up with his demands and that he had the confidence she could meet any test he set for her.
    The last long rays of late afternoon were streaming through the skylight when he finally terminated the session and called Beau and Dany over to give them the rest of the notes he’d made on the afternoon’s workout. He hadn’t missed a thing;his criticism was incisive and all-encompassing. But for every criticism, he offered a suggestion on its correction. At the end of the list he sat back in his chair. “But those are all little things,” he said, his expression suddenly grave. “What we’ve got to work on is the real reason you lost the championship, Dany. I think I’ve got a handle on that now. You’re not getting into the ice. There’s no affinity there. It’s an ephemeral element, but the judges will notice it every time. An ice skater has got to look as if she belongs out there, as if she belongs to the ice itself. If she doesn’t, it plays hell with her style.”
    “I know that,” Dany said, brushing a loose tendril of hair away from her face. “You’ve told me often enough.” She tried to smile. “I’ll work on it.”
    He shook his head. “I think that may be the problem.” His eyes were thoughtful. “It may be that you’re overtraining. You’re working so hard, you’re losing that fine edge. Perhaps it would be better to ease up a little.”
    “Ease up?” He couldn’t be serious! With the Olympics less than a month away? “For heaven’s sake, you’ve just given me a list a mile long of allthe things I’m doing wrong and then tell me to take it easy?” She shook her head incredulously. “You know I can’t do that.”
    His lips tightened. “I also know that your figures in the compulsories will probably leave a lot to be desired. You always get a little impatient