Frau Meyer wasn’t talking about the general audience, of course. She was speaking about a few people in particular, the ones who had the central seats of the stadium and the ones Lina had been cautiously looking over at ever since the event began.
They were seated in an area painted a golden yellow with seats that were somehow still more comfortable than the other ones, even though they were probably the same. That’s what power did to people. Even in uncomfortable situations, somehow they were still relaxed and at ease.
As Frau Meyer gave Lina a gentle push to step onto the ice and the crowd erupted into applause, Lina couldn’t remove her eyes from the group of men—they were always just men, no women.
While doing her customary laps around the rink to warm herself up, Lina fixed her gaze on them, who were watching with a slightly perked interest.
She had seen them all once before. They had been at last’s year event, where Lina took home silver. She didn’t know their names except for the one who sat in the middle—everyone knew his name due to his proximity to the men at the top.
Martin Bruckmann was a senior Staatssicherheit—Stasi—officer. An overweight man with thinning to no hair, eyes devoid of emotion, and an oddly shaped head—“Like a potato,” her brother had sneakily joked after seeing him for the first time—he had a perpetual five o’clock shadow, which did well to mask the few moles he had on the lower part of his jaw. Though Lina had only spent a few minutes speaking to him last year it had been enough to make Lina’s skin crawl whenever she saw him or heard his name muttered, and she was sure she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Don’t focus on that right now, Lina, she told herself as she moved to the middle of the rink and placed her right foot in front of her left, dropping her head and positioning her arms next to her side. This is your moment.
In the split second before the music began, Lina heard someone get up from their seat. Her eyes momentarily darted over, and she saw one of Bruckmann’s companions getting up and scurrying out of the stadium towards the lavatory.
No matter. One less Mielke crony eyeing her up like a piece of meat. Besides, no one could take this moment away from her.
She had been waiting her entire life for this.
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