CHAPTER THREE

Alexandra sat on the back porch, just staring. She was still in shock. This had definitely not been in her long range plan. She was actually okay with not being able to skate for a while, but she hated it for James. She knew first hand what it felt like to lose a partner. It had briefly ended her career; she did not want the same thing to happen to James. She loved him too much for that. That's why she had gotten on the phone with Jackie; she wanted a solution before she even went to James with the problem. Yes, right now, it hurt him that she would talk to the coach before her partner and boyfriend. Hopefully, in the long run, he would thank her for it. Zach would have never thought to do that for her before walking away from the sport. Things might have ended a little more amicably then. She was no longer bitter about that, though. Things had worked out well for her, and she heard the same was true for Zach. Didn't mean she was going to let him be their agent anytime soon, though, even if his firm was the best. Something about her team using ConSon seemed a little too much like a CW show for her.

James skated onto the rink to meet Jackie and the girl standing beside her. He was still not happy about the way Alexandra handled the situation, but he knew he loved both the sport and her enough to eventually get over it. Didn't mean he was gonna wipe the scowl off his face anytime soon, though.

"James, this is my cousin Hannah. I've asked her if she minded coming by to give this a try. I'm sure neither of us wants to go through the long process of finding someone, and, frankly, I don't think we have the time. Hannah, this is James McKinsey"

The two skaters shook hands and immediately began the routine. After the first half hour or so, Hannah was finally getting into the rhythm of things. Everyone was pleasantly surprised. It looked like the team may just be able to appear at Nationals after all. There was still a lot of work to be done, though. The three were going to have to sleep, eat, and skate around the clock, with very little of the first two getting a lot of time and attention.

Zach was surprised to see James skating with Hannah when he walked in. He and Alex had just done a press conference and photo shoot the day before. They were the only ones at the event that were not ConSon clients, and he knew better than to try and change that anytime soon. Not with his ex on the team and his partners ex coaching. Just a little too incestuous for his liking. He hoped one day everything would smooth out enough for that to change; the best deserved the best. He didn't have high hopes, though. Nevertheless, he did have a slight business proposition to discuss with Jackie. He sat in the stands while she finished coaching what appeared to be her new team.

As surprised as Zach was to see Hannah on the ice, Alexandra was even more surprised to see Zach in the stands. Luckily, no one knew she was there. She was in one of the press boxes that no one could see in to. She wasn't sure how James would feel about her being here to check out her replacement. Jackie and Hannah probably wouldn't like it to much, either.

She wondered how they all felt about Zach being here. She knew he wasn't dumb enough to try and persuade Jackie to bring her team over to his firm. Whatever he was here for had to be a pretty big deal. She was fairly certain he hadn't so much as stepped onto the property since the day he walked out, stating that no matter how much he loved

Alexandra, his heart just wasn't into skating anymore.

Sure, they had tried to make it work after that. Alexandra was so bitter about him leaving her to fend for herself that she took everything out on him and completely shut him out. She was surprised when he said things were just too distant for repair in their relationship. Looking back, she had been a fool not to see it coming. Isn't that what she wanted the whole time anyway? To push him away before he had the chance to make the decision on his own? She knew that once they no longer shared skating, there would be nothing left to them. She hadn't even given him a chance to prove her wrong.

When practice was over, James shook hands and immediately took off. He didn't even notice Zach in the stands. The girls on the ice did, though. Hannah was both intrigued and excited; she really wanted to continue their conversation from earlier. Jackie was baffled and hoping that he wasn't there to get some story about how a competing firm's team had to restructure. Their PR firm didn't even know yet! She knew Zach better than that, though, and shook her head at the thought. She walked over to him as Hannah skated off to change.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Mr. Conroy?"

"Well, Jackie, it seems we are in a bit of a pickle." He noted her look of confusion and continued. "It seems the event that my firm has tried so hard to put together to honor athletes who tend to take a backseat to the majors is pending on the one group of people we can't get." Jackie opened her mouth to object, but Zach just kept going. "Now, I know asking if we can represent your team is out of the question, and that's not what I am trying to do at all. I was actually hoping to meet with your firm to work this out, but I wanted to speak to you first. The last thing I wanted to do was blindside you with this."

"That means a lot Zach, thanks. Most people don't actually give the people firms represent a chance to make any of their own decisions, and I really appreciate it. That being said, I am going to have to talk to my team and the PR firm first before I can give you any decision. As you can see, there have been some slight changes that you have found out before the big boys themselves have. I have a meeting with them this evening and will get back to you after that."

"Thanks Jackie. Get back to me as soon as you can, there's a lot riding on this." For some unknown reason, Zach hugged Jackie and walked out, still confused as to her teams change.

Hannah through her stuff in her bag and ran out of the locker room as fast as she could. She tried not to show her disappointment in Zach's absence. No reason to get her aunt all suspicious. She would just have to figure out another way to see him. Mostly, she needed to find a hole in the crazy schedule her cousin had given her that day!