STILL WELCOME TO TOUR (Chapter 135)
Warren and Sophia joined the tour in New York City. All of their friends were happy to see them.
They met with Ted Kantor, who ran the tour. "Two slots, one before and one after intermission. That OK?"
"That's fine," Sophie told him. "I must admit, I'm a bit surprised. Sixth place at Worlds and we get two slots?" she laughed.
"Oh, to hell with that," Ted said. "You're former world champions, you're three-time national champions, and we all know that that sixth place was a rip-off. I don't have to worry about corrupt judging decisions-just which skaters my audience is coming to see. You guys are near the top of that list."
There was no show the first night they got in to New York-that'd be the next night-so they went around that evening to gather some friends for dinner. They went to the room that Evan was sharing with Tom Bellamy. Evan opened the door and let them in. Tom was on the phone.
"Your sister," Evan laughed, pointing at Tom on the phone. "They're planning the big reunion when we get to Boston next week. It's disgustingly lovey-dovey around here."
"Yeah, and now we're here," Warren laughed. "The lovey-dovey-ness just quadrupled."
"Yep," Evan snorted.
"Ev. You need a man," Sophie teased him.
"I just had a relationship end."
"Oh. Damn, Evan, I'm sorry," Sophia said. 
"Yeah. And there's too many fucking straight guys in the world," Evan said in disgust, making Warren and Sophie crack up. "Anyhow. Where's Betsy?"
"Liz has her. She's coming with us for supper, but she insisted on playing Auntie Liz all afternoon since we got into town."
"Oh, yeah? And how did you guys occupy your afternoon?' Evan teased.
"You don't want to know," Warren laughed.
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They got to Boston a week later. That would be Tom's last gig on the tour for a week-he was staying in Boston for Kristin's prom. Kristin came to the show, of course, deliriously happy to see Tom.
"I'm even happy to see you guys," she teased Warren and Sophie. "This one, too," she picked up Betsy.
"Aunny Kris!" Betsy gurgled.
"Boy. She's getting better with the talking," Kris marveled.
The show went well-Warren and Sophie loved it when the tour stopped in Boston, so they could skate for family and friends. Tom seemed to like it, too.
They held an after-show get-together in the hotel ballroom, as they often did. One of the things that often happened at these is that, if there was a piano in the room, the rest of the cast prevailed upon Tom to play for a bit. He gladly did so, enjoying playing for his friends. He did so on this night, too, favoring his friends with some ragtime.
Then he waggled a 'come here' finger at Kristin. She tried to shake it off, but he was persistent.
"Oh, wow, this ought to be interesting," Warren said, seeing what was going on.
"What?" Evan asked.
"Tom's trying to get Kristin to play."
"Your sister?"
"Yeah. She's very good, but terrified to play in front of people."
"Well, he got her over to the piano," Evan pointed out.
"Hey, guys," Tom told the cast, "This is Kristin. She's my girlfriend, and Warren's sister. I want her to play because she blows me away."
"I do not!" Kristin hissed, blushing. "Tom, please....."
"Kris," he said softly, "trust me. If you play for these people you will not regret it."
"OK," she sighed.
"Play the Pathetique," he suggested. She blew out a breath, nodded, and sat down at the piano. She brought her hands to the keys, and began playing.
Kristin didn't notice that the room completely hushed when she started playing. She didn't notice Shawna, sitting at Warren's table, hiss out a "My GOD!" answered by Liz saying, "Yeah, she can really play." She blocked all of that out, concentrating on the notes. She did hear, however, the absolutely thunderous applause that was unleashed when she finished. She heard that just fine. She blushed the color of cranberry juice-and couldn't stop grinning.
"More!" Evan shouted, a demand that was quickly echoed from others in the room. Still blushing, Kris leaned back over the piano and played some Chopin. When she finished that-to more applause-she changed pace and launched into Fleetwood Mac's "Sara", singing along to her playing. She wasn't as good a singer as she was a pianist, but she was good. She ended with Mozart's Sonata Facile. 
When she got back to the table that Warren was at, Warren's friends were looking at her in complete astonishment. "You need to play in front of people more often," Evan told her.
"I'm completely stunned," Christine Arsenault added.
"Thanks," Kris mumbled, still blushing.
"I'm not stunned at her playing-I've heard it," Warren said. "I'm stunned she did it here."
"So am I!" Kris agreed, laughing.
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A week and a half later, the tour was in Pittsburgh. Sophie and Warren were in their hotel room, just hanging out. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Warren opened it, and it was Evan. He looked excited.
"The Speedskater is out!" he said triumphantly.
"Huh?" Warren asked.
"He's out! The ISU board voted to remove him as the head of the ISU."
"This is great news! Who's his replacement?"
"Joan Wilton," Evan said. Warren and Sophie nodded approvingly. Joan Wilton was British, a former pairs skater, a long-time judge, and a woman considered to have integrity and to think about the skaters first. "Oh, and that's not all," Evan went on. "Three members of the ISU has been expelled-including Ivan Zhelkov."
"Wow!" Sophia said. Ivan Zhelkov was the Russian representative to the ISU, the head of the Russian federation, and as corrupt a skating official as you'd ever find.
"There's more," Evan went on. "No Russian or French judges at any ISU event for the next year. And some individual judges have been suspended. Grigoriy Kamenskiy was suspended for life." Kamenskiy was a Russian dance judge, and the worst of the lot.
"My GOD," Warren was shocked. "How the hell did this happen? I'm thrilled, mind you, but I never thought I'd see this day!"
"The ISU has been deluged by complaints. One of those came from the television network, you know. They were threatening to get out. Their contract with the ISU ends after this year. The IOC said something-figure skating's an Olympic sport, after all. Since they got all that proof with the audiotape at Worlds, and all these people complaining, they almost had to clean house. Oh, you will be glad to know that Curtis voted for all of it."
"Good for Curtis," Sophie said.
That was the topic of discussion amongst all the skaters before the show. After the show, too-and it wasn't just skaters. Warren and Sophie were standing there, chatting with some other skaters, when a blonde woman in her thirties came up to them. "You!" she spat out. "You two just ruined this fucking sport!"
"Excuse me?" Warren said, "and who are you?"
"I'm Paula Rogers. My daughter is Courtney Rogers. My baby's going to be a world champion, and you just fucked that up! All your whining and complaining. Hey, most people in skating know the rules. If you aren't willing to play by the rules, get out!"
"The rules? I thought the rules were about great skating?" Sophia asked.
"You silly little thing. It's about whose ass you can kiss. It's about whose palm you can grease. At least it used to be. Until you two made a stink! You got your World Championship, what else do you want?"
"Fair judging," Warren said. "You think it might be more productive if Courtney was working on becoming a better skater."
"She's the best, it's her partner that's bringing her down."
"I tried to teach her a bit of our program," Warren laughed. "She couldn't keep up. She couldn't come close. Don't delude yourself-she's not that good. Sophie blows her away. That's why, in fair judging, they'll never beat us. Ryan's actually good-he's closer to my level than Courtney is to Sophie's." His pleasant look became more of a glare. "And that's what it's all about to people like you. You can't win fairly, so you want to cheat. Those days are over. Thank goodness." He and Sophia then turned and walked away from her.
A few minutes later, Ryan Killen came over and sat with them. "I see you've encountered the Barracuda," he said quietly.
"Yeah," Warren snorted. "How do you stand it?"
"It's getting harder," Ryan admitted. 
"At least now I know where Courtney gets it," Sophie said.
"Yup," Ryan agreed. "Look, Courtney's a great skater, and we're a good team, at least on the ice. That's why I put up with it." He took a breath. "Have you guys figured out that Court and I are lovers?'
"WHAT?" Sophie said. "I thought she was all Christian and that. And how can you sleep with her?"
"The morality play is an act," Ryan said. "As for sleeping with her? The attraction was genuine at first. I was only 16, she was all of 13, and I thought she was beautiful and magical." He sighed. "Now? I don't really have a choice, not if I want to keep my skating partner."
" You need a life," Sophie told him. "Away from Courtney."
"I know," he sighed, "but we're stuck in Madison and I don't know anyone there."
"You know us," Warren smiled. "And we know people. Our social life is limited because of school and Betsy, but, you know, we'll help if we can."
"Thanks. That means a lot," Ryan smiled.
 




