The Fated Match

Twenty

As I stare at him. I don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing my dad in action. He speaks with such confidence and he calls the attention of everyone in the room when talking to them.

We were sitting before the board many of the staff were here as well as an audience which included Ryan, Tina, Michelle and Theo. The team wanted to come and watch but I didn’t need them worrying abiut it they needed to train before their meet tomorrow.

“I don’t have to pull up any evidence to show you that Elle has made nothing but progress since starting. She is not to blame for the event that happened” he said after addressing all the technical talk.

“we never blamed her we just took necessary action to limit the damage” what ever you do Elle, don’t roll your eyes.

Limit the damage, what does that even mean.

“we will admit that removing Elle from the team was not the right decision” my dad held up his hand stopping them from going on.

Dad, what the hell, they are literally just about to let me back in.

“Before you go any further, I would like to share something with everyone here. The swimming team put together a short video that they would like me to share with everyone here today” he walked over to the screen plugging in a memory stick.

The video started with a video clip of us at training. I was shouting at Scott as he swam down the pool. It was followed by a bunch of clips that I wasn’t aware of.

The next clip was taken in my office. Scott walked into the room lounging in my chair. The nerve of this kid.

“Coach Elle is known for targeting me. She always happens to be standing right behind me every time I say something idiotic or when I’m messing about. She lectures me practically every session. But I kind of like it. She sees potential in me in spite of every idiotic thing I do, and I respect that. Coach Elle and Tina are a great team and we love having them”

“kiss ass” Tina whispered to me as she smiled at the screen.

He was a softie at heart I knew that.

Next was Jenny and Melissa.

Jenny smiled at the screen “coach Elle is like an older sister to me. she motivates us to dream big, but she also keeps us in check. She is the reason as to why we are doing so well. Even with being banned from coaching us she risked further punishment by helping us train when she can because she cares about us and our success”

I could feel my fathers eyes burning into me.

Thanks jenny. I be penalised for that later I’m sure.

“I’m not the best swimmer on the team but coach makes it really fun and she has created a fun culture in the team where we all enjoy our time together” I smiled as Melissa spoke.

Modest as always.

The video skipped to the next one where Bryony sat in the office chair.

“The trip that coach took us on was amazing… “she smiled into the camera. We were able to see a real professional team swim and got some really good advice. From a USA Olympic coach. Throughout the trip she continued to check up on us to the point where we just wanted her to relax and enjoy herself being back home. What happened to me wasn’t at a cost for anything she did. She shouldn’t be to blame for anything and plus I am completely fine”

The video ended with us all sitting around laughing. Whoever made that video was good at their craft, I kind of want to keep it.

After minutes of them deliberating.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

It was a done deal. The board granted me full access to the team and admitted their failure in handling the situation properly and not understanding the events better.

I stood up and hugged dad thanking him for helping me out. He has much more important cases to concentrate on, so I owe him one.

“Where are you going Elle, we need to celebrate” Ryan said running after me once I had said goodbye to my dad.

I spun on my heel “I’ll celebrate after tomorrow” I said walking off again. I turned “I need to go to training” I called to him as I headed for the pool.

Tina was right behind me. Their meet was tomorrow. If Ryan thinks I’m going to waste my time having drinks he is crazy.

I walked through to the pool.

“YOU WON!” Bryony shouted as she climbed out the pool. I grinned at her. Even though she was wet from the pool I let her hug me.

The others spotted me and looked at me with a giant grin on their faces.

I clapped my hands together gathering their attention again. “We have our biggest competition yet tomorrow. Let’s do one hour of training and then we will hit the saunas” I gave Tina a nod letting her go off and switch on the saunas so its ready for us.

Through the next hour I spend individual time with each of them. Leila was the only one not competing due to her simply not being ready.

After a tough final hour of training we all moved to the sauna. Everyone was relaxing. Now it was up to them, they only needed to try their hardest I wouldn’t ask for anything more.

“I know that you want to know what happened today” I spoke up above the silence. Scott opened one eye.

“It went really well, I’m officially back. I want to say thank you for that video you guys made. I think we already won before the video was played but I appreciated it. It was really sweet”

Bryony who was next to me grinned “I’m glad you liked it coach. Did you like the quality of the video was it good?” I noticed that she fidgeted as she said this. I simply stared at her.

Scott coughed loudly “spit it out blondie” bryony glared at Scott, but he simply winked at her, clearly not phased.

“My brother made that video coach” Melissa said speaking for bryony. I connected the dots.

“your boyfriend?” I turned to bryony who just nodded.

What is she getting at.

“Josh is a video creator on Instagram, and he’s been looking for some work” Bryony spoke clearly this time.

Makes more sense now. I can’t deny that he has some talent. I have been meaning to work on the teams social media presence. I would love to get some footage out and hopefully get some more attention.

“is he free tomorrow?”

Bryony and Melissa whipped their heads to me, almost like they couldn’t believe it.

“yeah I think so” she mumbled.

“well tell him to come to the competition and create some videos and then we will talk more” I laughed as bryony jumped up and hugged me. lately she has warmed up to me, a few weeks ago she would never have hugged me that’s for sure.

“thank you, thank you coach, I’ll go tell him now” she left the sauna with a giant smile. “Get some rest!” I shouted after her.

I leant back closing my eyes. They started to leave one by one leaving me and Tina.

“c’mon let’s go and have that drink” I said grabbing her and walking out.

We showered and got ready to leave. I made sure to lock up everything after since the pool closes early on Wednesdays.

I grabbed a bottle of water on the way out.

I passed by some students who kindly smiled at me as I met their eyes. My eyes were on my phone as we came to the gym to leave the centre.

I wasn’t really looking where I was going so when Tina randomly decided to stop walking, I bumped right into her chest.

“You okay” I asked her peering around her to see what the hold was up.

I looked forward and my next words just died in my throat. Not only was it shocking to see Michelle crying in public where people could see her.

It was even more shocking that the person she was crying to was none other than Theo. He stood with her, his arms around her hugging her as she cried.

Theo was such a nice guy but sometimes that leads him to be weak with people who are going through stuff. I cannot say that I know Michelle at all. Maybe if things worked out differently I couldce given her the support she needed but things just didn’t work out.

“Go over there and find out, I’m heading home” I said turning in the opposite direction and leaving this place.

Throughout my drive I was constantly thinking about the scene I just saw. It could be absolutely anything. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions I wanted to give her the chance.

Right now, I can’t be worried about her or Theo I need to have my head in the game for tomorrow.

I decided to cook myself some pasta and have a relaxing night in with Netflix. As I waited for the pasta to come to boil, I scrolled through many pictures on my phone. I landed on one special picture. My young self at 19 years old standing proudly on the podium as I accepted my medal.

Flashback my first win

As soon as my hand reached the end of the pool, I lifted my head above the water immediately looking for the screen to see if I had one. I knew it was going to be close and that there is a possibility I might have lost.

Cheers erupted around the room as the names spilled down the screen.

I won

“you won

“Elle, oh my god”

Shit shit shit. Did I actually do it.

I looked up at my coach astonished, all these months I have been training so hard and I finally am able to show off all my hard work with a medal. I leapt over to ruby who was more than happy to finish in second place.

“you were amazing” we shouted at the same time wrapping our arms around each other. We laughed it off looking up at coach who stood with his arms crossed over his chest a rather proud smile on his face.

We rushed to get out of the pool. I thanked the girls that handed me a towel and bottle of water.

My dad who was trying to blend in with the crowd screamed a bunch of words, he looked proud just like any father watching his little girl.

Billy was bouncing on his feet when he saw me approaching. Molly who was his girlfriend playfully pushed him releasing him to me.

Billy didn’t wait as he lifted me up “My girl is a gold medallist what the actual fuck “he screamed into my ear. I laughed at him begging for him to let me go.

Molly walked over and hugged me. Molly was never jealous of how close me and her boyfriend were. Mainly because I was the one that set them up in the first place.

An hour later when interviews and pictures were done my dad was treating us all to drinks to celebrate our success.

We raised out glasses “To success” Ruby shouted clashing her glass with mine.

Winning isn’t everything I know that but when you have put in so much effort and hard work winning brings a totally different feeling.

If any of them win tomorrow I will be over the moon. As long as they succeed in any of their races, I will be so happy. Seeing hard work paid off is so rewarding.