After the Olympics, each of us went their distinct separate way. Kaylie went into music. Her current fans hardly know anything about her former athletic career. Lauren went on to become a celebrity. Who would have ever doubted that? I still see them sometimes, but not very often. Life has gotten us into its own tracks and seems to have different things in store for each of us. I do see very little of Lauren though. I guess we never really were friends. Teammates, yes – but there's a big difference between friendship and a temporary alliance. I'm not mad at her for what she did to me. Frankly I really don't care. That part of my life has long since passed, and what Lauren does with her life now is her own problem. I read she broke up with her current boyfriend in last week's magazine.
Yet I have gotten in touch with an old friend of ours. Emily has moved back to Boulder. A sad story, really. First she wanted to rekindle her lost gymnast career, but we both knew it was useless… Her body had changed so much over labors, it couldn't bend in the ways it had to. She had lost that special energy she'd once possessed. Once, she broke in front of me after a glass of good red wine. She told me about Damon, about the good times they'd spent and the bad. But through all her story I could see the strain it had put on her. The uncertainty, the travelling, motherhood. She was too young to carry it all.
But soon she gave up on her dream, and started focusing on her kids. The way her mother had never done. Even though sometimes she pushes them too hard, and sometimes I can feel her trying to relive her youth through her children, Emily has to be the best mother after my own mum. Emma won the regional tournament last year, although she's only five years old. And Roderick does things I never held possible, having inherited his mother's breathtaking intensity. I wish Sasha could see him.
Sasha…Sasha Belov. A man who'd once inspired me to reach great heights, to overcome all the difficulties that lay on my path. I'm grateful I had Sasha in my life. He gave me a reason to believe again, and he showed me the way when I was out of it. And more than that, he has been someone I could have loved. I'm happy I loved Sasha Belov instead of falling for boys of my own age like Lauren or Kaylie. Boys that were only out to use them for a short time. I think it was because I met Sasha that I learned to distinguish the real from the fake. See the difference between the self-centered perverts and the kind, honorable men I would go on to meet later in life. Sasha will always hold a dear place in my heart. And I can only be happy for him that he got the life he wanted. Summer is a great cook. I never knew that. Their kids are so funny, they always call me "Auntie Paysie". I should visit them sometime soon…
As for me, I struggled for a long time what to do with my life after the 2012 Olympics… Being with Rigo back then, I tried to support him in any way I could as he trained for the next Olympic Games. But my life was changing so much that time, I felt like I was torn apart between trips to Minnesota, the Rock and Rigo. I had to make a choice. And it didn't involve him. I felt so guilty that time, but now that I see Emily I know that I couldn't have acted otherwise.
Sasha talked me into coaching the girls with him. I must say that I loved it, and my relative suppleness back then allowed me to demonstrate the things Sasha tried to teach the girls. It was interesting to be on the other side. To watch younger girls idolize me, to feel the lustful stares of the adolescent boys, and see myself back in the girls I trained.
None of them reached Nationals. They got busted at a Denver meet. That was when I decided to quit. This wasn't for me – I couldn't do it, and the girls felt it. Sasha tried to talk me out of leaving, he even proposed me the gym. But I couldn't accept such an offer, no matter how tempting it was.
I went to college instead. Though the time I spent bundled up behind course books seemed to go on forever, I'd say those years have been very rewarding. I've had the time of my life and made a couple of strong friendships. Friendships that will last a lifetime, unlike the seedy relations I got used to at the gym. These people really care about me, and would jump into the water at a moment's notice if I ever drowned. But the best thing about my life now is that I have Jenna. Jenna Russo. Her blonde hair shimmers in the sunlight, and she's got her dad's characteristic brown eyes. But most of all, she brings me more joy than a daughter could ever give her mother.
I met Nicky in my clinic one day. It was funny when a name on the list of patients sounded familiar. He had a tooth inflammation, the card said. When we spoke later, he confessed to me that he'd been searching me for quite a while. And when he read of an ambitious young dentist practicing in Minnesota, he crammed far too many sweets in his mouth and drove over to my clinic. I felt bad, finding out that he'd been thinking of me for so long. I was busy with Rigo when he took part in the 2016 Olympics. He didn't win a medal, but that doesn't matter. Winning a competition isn't everything. The most important thing is that we won in our life.
A/N: Here go some review responses (since I can't PM anonymous reviewers)
To izzy: Thank you for reading and reviewing! ...Sorry there wasn't anything about Jordan in this fic. I thought about adding something about her, but then it didn't seem to me that she'd be a big part of Payson's future life (she even barely keeps contact with her former 'best friends'), and I didn't have much inspiration for it. About the wrestler: judging by Lauren's lifestyle during the series, it's hard for me to imagine that she could stay in one relationship for more than ten years... They broke up - a long time ago. Lauren has been busy working herself to the top of the celebrity world, and that's a pretty hard thing to do if you have a permanent life partner... Austin broke up with Kaylie before the series ended, and we never saw them back together. So draw your own conclusions... Personally, I found that scene where he broke up with her very painfull and heartbreaking. He acted like such a jerk! I'd be more than baffled if she took him back afterwards, but you never know...it's still Kaylie we're talking about - the girl with a heart of gold. Carter seems more like a shady figure from both Lauren and Kaylie's past. He hurt them, he used them. So I don't see why two Olympic athletes, powerfull strong girls, with their whole lifes and more to look out for, would go back to him...