by Shawn Keys
“Like the sound of that,” MK answered with a fierce smile. “Have to admit, Cadence. I’d be spitting mad if I were you.”
“Oh, I’m mad. I’m just going to use that to break her in half on the field.”
* * *
Less than two hours later, Julie was glaring across the arena at Cadence with poison in her eyes.
Daniel could feel the hatred emanating off her. So could her new coach. He didn’t recognize the uncomfortable-looking woman standing a little way back from Julie’s shoulder, her arms folded and looking like she wanted to support and guide her athlete. But Julie was radiating deadly vibes, promising a tongue-lashing and potential physical injury to anyone who ventured near her.
It wasn’t only that Julie had been eliminated. She hadn’t even attained the same mark she had reached to earn her bronze medal at the CACGs. She’d gone down trying at the 4.2 meter height, well out of contention with the remaining eight jumpers.
But that wasn’t what had her so angry. As if to drive the dagger home, Cadence had stalled her first jump until the mark was placed at 4.4 meters. It had been a risk. Daniel had counselled her as such. But he hadn’t pushed her too hard. He knew her decision was as much about vengeance as anything. Not the best reason to push yourself, but it wasn’t like Cadence was going after Julie with a meat cleaver. Embarrassment was her chosen weapon. Not public embarrassment. Most of the people gathered there wouldn’t know there was a statement being made. After all, reaching 4.2 in any competition should have been a point of pride.
But inside the circle of this feud, Julie was facing the undeniable reality that she had been fearing since nationals; the fact that she wasn’t going to actually compete against Cadence because she had been eliminated before Cadence even started to jump. Daniel knew the humiliation she’d be suffering. He felt pity for a brief moment. It faded almost immediately as he realized that if she could focus on her own performance and the praise she deserved, the humiliation would fade. She was only feeling it because of her hatred of Cadence that she refused to let go.
Despite the risk, Cadence had been ready. He knew she was suffering fatigue from spending much of the previous two days on a plane. The unfortunate reality was that she wasn’t able to properly prepare for this event. He found himself wishing she had a chance to showcase her full talent under the pressure of open competition without any added stress. But Cadence was strong and ready to face off against the other best of the best in the French speaking world.
It was heart-warming to see Carla getting over the 4.4 meter height by a hairsbreadth on her third attempt. Pushing past the bar that had blocked her from the podium and besting Julie did a lot for Carla’s emotional health. Carla withdrew at that height, telling the others that she wanted to leave on a high note this time around. After the strength shown by the others still in the competition, she knew she wasn’t going to make the next height increase. Five others had made it over in fewer attempts than she had. Even if they failed at the next height, she wasn’t going to catch them in the standings, and she wasn’t going to make the podium. She had left the stadium shortly after making the decision to end on a high to go celebrate her accomplishment with Gordon and her teammates.
Julie hadn’t moved. She had stayed, glaring death at Cadence as the remaining athletes faced down the 4.6 meter mark. As Cadence went over the bar, she looked ready to chew molten steel.
Two more were eliminated, leaving three left in the competition: Charlotte Benoit of France, Haley Abreo of Monaco and Cadence herself.
Of those, all of them had scratched at least once at the 4.6 height. Charlotte had gone to her third attempt, while Haley and Cadence had both made it on their second. Daniel had conferred with her quickly, weighing the risks of what came next. Pushing right to 4.8 meters might cause all of them to fail. Charlotte would end up with bronze given her three jumps at the last height. But then it would come down to other factors between Haley and Cadence. They had both nailed 4.4 on their first attempt. Haley had started at 4.0 meters, but she had hit each one on her first run. They were equal in the number of misses: one.
Which meant they would end up in a jump-off. The height would fluctuate up and down until they found one where one athlete failed and the other didn’t. One jump at each height. Winner take all.
On any other day, Daniel would gladly match Cadence against anyone in a competition like that. But she was already showing signs of her fatigue. Beyond pissing off Julie, there had been a damn good reason to start as late as possible. Fewer jumps meant less energy wasted. Haley looked strong, well-rested and committed.
If they agreed to a 4.7 height, that would give Cadence a better chance to get over it. But it also gave the others a better chance and would wear Cadence down if they had to keep going, jump after jump.
“What do you think, Coach?” Cadence asked him in a low voice, as low as she could and still have him hear her over the crowd noise.
He didn’t miss how she used the title instead of his name. She tended to do so when they were in public; a reminder to both of them that they had to keep their desire for each other hidden. But this time, she stressed it even more. She was asking him to look past his feelings and consider this with dispassionate logic. To forget the supportive ‘you can do anything if you set your mind to it!’ belief that he always held in her and to give her an honest, no-bullshit assessment of her chances to get over the 4.8 mark.
Problem was, separating those two things was never easy. If she was in prime shape, he would have told her to take a run at the next height and show the whole crowd how it was done. The only reason he was considering saying anything else was the hardship she had endured over the last few months. She was in great shape, but nothing changed the fact that she had recently come back from a potentially career ending injury. She had been cramped in an airline seat after being fooled along with the rest of them. Then seeing Julie here, the one who caused her injury in the first place… it didn’t matter that she had been soundly defeated. The woman who deserved to be punished for a crime was here and competing. That had to sting.
Although Daniel was fairly new to coaching, he knew from his competing days that at this level, half of anything you accomplished was because you had the psychological will to see it through. Hell… more than half! She had the will. Could he kill the spirit inside her if he shared his concern over her health? Would that be the permission she needed to accept that it was over?
Should he give her that permission? She was on the podium. That was for sure. The odds were good that she would get a silver. A damned fine achievement no matter how you sliced it.
He cupped her cheek in his palm and met her eyes as he radiated all the strength he had, willing for her to take it. “You can make it over 4.8 meters.”
Her smile rivaled the dawn. “If you say I can.”
“You said you could,” Daniel reminded her, his lips curling up in a wry grin. “Remember what you told me when I told you that you had another meter in you.”
“I said, ‘maybe another one beyond that’,” Cadence replied with a groan. “I might have been a tad overconfident back then.”
“Then again…” He shrugged, then reached down to squeeze her leg supportively, not giving a damn that might be seen as a little too intimate. Fuck them if they can’t handle it. “… maybe you weren’t.”
Taking a deep breath, she gave him an affirmative nod.
With one final squeeze of her leg… damn, what a sexy leg it is… he crushed that thought back down and turned toward the official. “She’s going for 4.8 meters.”
Charlotte’s face fell instantly, though she tried to conceal it. Her coach stepped up to speak to her in rapid French, probably reminding her that she wasn’t out of the running yet.
Haley gave a grim look of determination and settled in for a battle.
That was exactly what it became.
Cadence had drawn low in the starting order, which meant she was the first up at this late stage
. Her run wasn’t lacking. Daniel couldn’t pick out any one specific flaw in her technique. Her jump would have made it over the 4.6 mark, but it wasn’t enough to clear the 4.8 bar. The others missed as well, putting them back into a dead heat.
Daniel wasn’t thrilled with the way Cadence was still breathing heavily a couple minutes after making her first attempt. She was close to being called to the line again before she was calmed to a soft pant. She lifted the pole she intended to use off the rack and began to chalk her hands.
Eyeing the bar as the officials reset it, Cadence looked up at the height she had never cleared in competition before. “Well, this might not have been the best idea.”
Daniel permitted himself a small laugh, rolling with her lightly sarcastic humor that always percolated right below the surface. “Want a little added incentive?”
“Unfortunately, Haley seems pretty cool and Charlotte’s a sweetheart. Met them both last night hanging out in the hotel. Sorry. Can’t hate either of them unless you happen to know they like to strangle puppies in their spare time.”
Brushing past her dark humor, Daniel wanted to push her into a different frame of mind. She needs real motivation. Nothing more powerful than the truth, right? He gazed into her eyes and said, “You are already in the top 50 women vaulters in the world. Hit this mark, and you will be in the top 25 of all time! No-one will ever be able to take that away from you.”
Her eyes brightened. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “How much do you want that?”
He had never seen so fierce a smile on her face. It was practically a snarl.
“Thought so,” Daniel said, mirroring her excitement. “Stop trying to get over it and get over it!”
He swore he heard the pole she was clutching creak as she clamped down on it hard. Determination filled her aura as she lined up for her run. She stared down the towering bar, took a final breath, and launched herself forward.
Daniel’s breath caught as he watched her body explode off the line. Poetry. He loved seeing her in motion. Do it, Cadence. Fly!
Her steps were perfect. The tilt of her pole came at exactly the right time. Her sharp knee snap carried her into her flight and then she was whipping upward toward the suspended bar. After watching her perform thousands of vaults, he could track the arc she would follow as soon as she was airborne. She’s going over. She’s got the height. Come on Cadence, fly!
Her arms turned into powerful springs, feeding off the loaded energy in the pole. He was ready to cry out in victory as her feet kipped up and over the bar. She rolled perfectly, pushing off the pole and sailed over… but her fingers got hung up on the pole for just milliseconds too long. It was a tiny error. An insignificant one by most measures. One she could have recovered from at 4.0 meters.
Here, at the limits of her skill, it made all the difference.
She reeled her arm in, but she couldn’t manage it fast enough. It bounced against the cross-bar and sent it rattling off the posts. She plunged down into the mat and hammered her balled-up fists into the padding.
Daniel was there to help pull her from the cushion. He could see her cursing herself. He couldn’t let her confidence waver.
“Urrghh! I was there! I had it!”
Easing her away from the landing zone to allow the next vaulter to go, Daniel immediately reinforced that thought. “You did! A small error. That’s all that was. Brief bobble that can’t faze you.” He tossed his head toward where Haley was getting ready for her jump. She risked a quick peek over toward Cadence, then wrestled her attention back to what she was doing. Daniel felt the tension in the air. “You were over. You have them worried. They know you’re going to get over.”
Cycling her breathing, Cadence visibly blazed with the need to prove that what he was saying was true. “They know it because I am!”
“Do you have one more in you?” Daniel asked, though he didn’t phrase it as a real question. He tossed it like a softball over the plate, waiting for her to smack it out of the park.
She gritted her teeth. Her defiance wasn’t against him. It was against the sapping fatigue trying to leach the strength from her limbs. “Yes!”
“Say it again.”
“Yes!”
They stalked down the length of the vaulting area. He kept her pumped up as the other two took their attempts, distracting her from watching as much as he could. Neither of them made it. Neither even got close. He didn’t know if that would give her confidence or shake it. It doesn’t matter. If she’s going to make it over, it’s going to be because she wants it.
The official pointed his way, letting him know that it was her turn. She had a few minutes grace to setup. Daniel knew that she wasn’t going to keep them waiting. He leaned in and whispered, “Go be a part of history, love.”
More than confidence lit her face. Her love for him was there. Thanks for his belief in her. Certainty in herself. She turned to the rack and took up her chosen instrument like it was a weapon she was taking to war.
Daniel backed off, giving her the space to work her magic. This was her moment. He knew it. He believed it as much as she did.
She flew.
Right… over… the bar.
When she cleared it, he swore her cry of victory outmatched the whole stadium.
Cadence leapt clear off the crash pad and into his arms. He held her around the waist, lifting her up so she could pump her hand up into the air, responding to the cheering crowd. Laughing in half-crazed delight, she waved frantically and wept openly.
Daniel was damn close to tears himself. She had done it! She’d broken into the very highest tier of vaulters in history. There were four women in all of history that were in the 5.0 meter club, and the female world record was only a small fraction of a meter higher. She was within mere inches of being among that group. Many Olympics had ended without a female vaulter getting over 4.8 meters. Pride made his heart surge to near bursting.
The officials gave a little added time for the celebration to die down, but the accomplishment had battered the confidence of the other two. Each of them was on their last attempt and neither had yet to come close. A few minutes later, the matter was decided. Both made valiant efforts. They might have crested 4.7, though even that could have been a stretch. As Charlotte scratched her last attempt, the standings became firm. She had the bronze. Haley would take the silver. Cadence… the gold. For her second regionals in a row, she would be hearing the Portesaran anthem play.
That was special enough, but the height served to make it sweeter. When pole vaulting was talked about on television, the top 25 vaulters were always listed. It was the most common result on search engines. Her name was going to become emblazoned on a thousand different mediums and would last as long as people cared about athletes in the sport.
He couldn’t fathom it. Couldn’t even begin to imagine what this would mean for her. All he could do was allow her to slide down in his arms so he could hug her more properly, then bask in the sensation of her tight, returned hug.
MK and Irène eventually found their way down from the stands, allowed onto the field because of their athlete badges and national attire which declared that they were coming to celebrate with their teammate. Someone had provided them with a Portesaran flag which they wrapped around Cadence’s shoulders as they crushed into an embrace and then danced about in a small frenzy of laughter and joy.
Daniel backed off a little and tried to regain his breath. He realized he had never been so happy. Not even when he had earned his own spot on the podium. This felt… amazing. Incredible. Perfect.
He watched Cadence in her glory, wishing that Evelyn could be there to share the moment with them. The legal turmoil of their flights had caused her to miss the games. That was the one thing he would have changed if he could. He was proud of what they had done to give Cadence her chance, and Evelyn was part of that.
But that didn’t make him any less proud of Cadence. She had made the most of her opportunity. That she was stil
l aimed at the stars and determined to blaze a brilliant path through life.
Words failed him, so he walked back into the jubilant moment and let the emotions sweep him away for a while.
Chapter 19
MK stretched her neck side to side, bouncing lightly as she shook her body to get it loose. “Here we go again.”
Daniel offered her a towel. “You look good. Totally rested and recovered. Ready to rock and roll.”
She accepted the towel, using it to wipe away the droplets of sweat that had formed from her light warm-up. The initial heats weren’t far behind her, so she didn’t need much to work herself into readiness for the semi-final. His confident affirmation bolstered her as a coach’s words were meant to do.
They meant twice as much coming from him. Perhaps more. He was her coach. Her friend and neighbor. Not to mention that he was one of her best friend’s lovers. And he had been instrumental in helping Irène, who had become her lover. Trying to package exactly what Daniel was to her would be impossible.
Added to all that, Daniel was honest with his encouragement. He didn’t cut the team down during training or be overly negative for no reason. He would tell them when something was off, then give them a path to fix it, coaxing them to be as perfect as possible.
Maybe he wouldn’t do that here under the spotlights. But that didn’t matter. When he said she looked ready, MK knew it wasn’t an empty platitude. He meant it. That pushed her confidence higher.
I’m ready.
She believed it.
MK glanced around, catching sight of Irène in the stands reserved for other athletes. Her lover met her eyes and gave an enthusiastic cheer which made MK smile. She’s so cute, I can’t stand it sometimes, she broke the gaze to stop herself from going all mushy at a time when she couldn’t afford to be that way.
