A/N: I do not own Make it Or Break it. I do not know Romanian, so please forgive bad grammar on that front. I am not a Gymnast, so the Gymnastics will be minimal. I do have an outline, so hopefully this will be under the "complete" category soon...
Chapter one.
Payson and Sasha were having an intimate conversation about the embarrassing kiss that they had accidentally shared the night before. Payson didn't really want to talk about it, but Sasha insisted that the needed to get it behind them, especially after he flinched.
A pretty ashen-blonde woman about twenty-seven was rounding the corner just in time to hear, "…if his name was Nicolette, I probably would have tried to kiss him too." The girl bit her lip, not knowing how to react or what to do. Does she spirit away because they had not yet seen her, or does she make her presence known. It was only a millisecond before her foot made the decision for her as a branch snapped.
"What is this talk about kissing my father?" She laughed awkwardly. She did not think that sneaking up on Sasha and one of his gymnasts would entitle accidentally hearing a private conversation.
Payson's face drained as she whipped her head around and gazed at the woman wide-eyed. The woman just stood there, again not sure what to do. Sasha let out a long, dark sigh before he turned and smiled, "What brings you to Boulder, Ana?"
She paused, searching for the words in English while monitoring the young girl's reactions. The young girl before her was gorgeous in every way. She was a bit curvier than normal for a gymnast, with bright blue-grey eyes and long golden-blonde hair. She was beautiful. Sasha must have noticed the puzzled look on Ana's face and the fear on Payson's. He gently took Payson by the hand, preventing her from running.
"I…Uh...am on sabbatical." Ana stated dumbly, knowing that that explained nothing. Then she whispered, "I am so sorry I intruded on such a deeply private conversation. I didn't know. I was just excited to see you." Payson flinched as Ana spoke, not yet registering who was talking to them. Sasha cleared his throat, knowing that he would have some damage control with both girls later.
When Payson finally spoke, it was barely a confused whisper, "But aren't you Ana Kreanga? Why did you say Nicholai is your father?" Ana stifled a giggle as Payson questioned her.
Ana was about to answer when Sasha broke in, "Yes, she is. I think we need to have a long discussion about this tonight. I'm going to ask your mom if I can take you to dinner with Ana. In the meantime, I am sorry I flinched; I will not let it happen again. Now, let's go back to practice." Then he turned on Ana, "You will be eating with us tonight, cerb mici." It was not a question, nor a request. It was a demand. Ana nodded quickly before turning on her heel.
"I'll be around. You have my number?" She called over her shoulder. Sasha replied that he did while Payson burst into tears. Part of Payson wondered what Sasha had called the woman, but she was more concerned with the embarrassment she felt.
"Now someone else knows how stupid I am!" She cried. Ana heard it, but chose to keep on walking. She got the gist of what happened. The girl kissed Sasha. Sasha was doing damage control. She ruined it. A tear fell down her cheek; she decided to find an ice cream parlor. She was supposed to be looking for an apartment, but ice cream was a better plan.
Sasha got up, racking his hand through his locks of blonde hair. Then he sat back down, taking Payson's hand again, "I promise you, she won't breathe a word of this to a soul. Ana is a good person and she's European. Kissing is a normal greeting. She…it…everything is going to work out, Payson. I promise."
Payson nodded, feeling stupid but knowing that if she didn't get into the gym, the foreign beauty would be the least of her worries. They got up together, walking toward the gym. Payson cleaned her face as much as possible before getting close. Sasha assured her she looked fine before abandoning her to find Kim.
As he walked, he watched Payson carefully. She was acting very cold now, but her friends did not seem to care. He sighed as he stood next to Kim, who was in the office watching her daughter anxiously. "You were gone for a long time."
Sasha checked his watch, "Just ten minutes. We weren't done talking though. I was wondering if I could take Payson to dinner this evening. It is a long story, but we wouldn't be going alone. A friend accidentally walked into a very bad part of the conversation Payson and I were having and I am afraid I have a lot of explaining to do." Sasha spoke slowly, but urgently. Kim smiled and agreed.
"I'll pick her up at seven then. I will introduce you to the other person when we get there. So, you should expect me at six-thirty." Sasha sighed before returning to the floor, taking time to text Ana her instructions.