Hope you enjoy this one!
Reviews are always welcome! :)
Chapter 4 – December 2010-February 2011
Sasha brushed his hand through his hair, wondering when his self-control had gone out of the window.
Two days ago was Christmas, and as was now usual for him, he had spent the day on his own, fishing, only taking the time to send a couple of reply messages to the few friends he had stayed in contact with. Until he received Nicolai's massage, that was.
"Check your email my ass" He groaned, bumping his head against the notebook he had been writing in.
Nicolai, the bastard, had probably predicted this. He would have known that Sasha wouldn't be able to resist. He was too curious about Nicolai's mysterious American gymnasts. So, he had double clicked and been presented with someone he had believed to be out of the sport for good.
Payson Keeler.
Rising from the ashes like a bloody phoenix.
He found himself watching the video of her training again and again. She didn't have complete routines yet, but he could see where elements would come together. Her floor music was good, and her interpretation was the best he had ever seen her do. But he felt like there was still something missing. Like she could do more.
Even though he had basically exiled himself from the world, he had never stopped watching his favorite sport. It was too much a part of him, too in his blood, for him to just stop altogether.
He had seen her fall during the US nationals, had been heartbroken to see such an amazing athlete be cut out of the gymnastics world like that. To see her now, after what must have been a grueling recovery, was truly inspiring.
He sighed, looking back at the notebook in front of him. His fingers had itched to put his ideas into paper before he forgot them, and the five full pages had been the result. It wasn't all about Payson. Oh, no. Two of those pages were dedicated to young Becca. Such a promising young girl. At fourteen the girl was shaping up to a possible Olympic team contender.
He bit the top of his pen, looking back at the rest of Nicolai's present on his open email.
Should he...
"Happy New Year Grandma!" Payson and Becca chorused as the Big Ben sounded the twelve strokes of midnight, and the fireworks started to light up the sky.
"Happy new year girls!" The older woman said, smiling. "I still can't believe you two convinced me to come out here in this cold!
Becca laughed. "Come on, we can't spend New Year's Eve at home when there is a show like this right here!" She snapped a photo with her camera, before turning it around in her hand. "Let's take a picture of ourselves!"
The three smiled at the camera, making sure to take multiple shots in case some of them were bad.
"I can't wait until they figure out how to put good cameras on the back and front of phones. This would be so much easier!" Becca complained, checking out the pictures she had just taken.
"Hey guys!" Becca greeted the camera.
"We hope you enjoyed our New Year's pictures on our last video!" Payson said, saluting the camera with a smile.
"We have awesome news!" Becca said excitedly. "Two days ago, was January eight, and that means that Payson here is officially an adult in the UK!" She whooped for the camera, and patted Payson on the back.
"Thanks" Payson said, smiling.
Becca beamed. "So here is a special video about Payson's birthday!"
"So first of all, happy birthday Payson!" Becca whispered excitedly, being followed by the other girls circling the two sisters around the camera.
"Right now, we are in the lobby of our gym, so we can't make a lot of noise. This are our friends from the Gym. Jess, Ella and Kate!" Becca introduced, while the three girls waved and said hello.
A figure passed behind them and Becca took no time in grabbing him and directing the camera accordingly. Payson sighed, pitying the man now caught by Hurricane Rebecca.
"And this is our fantastic, amazing coach, Nicolai! Say hi to our viewers, coach!"
Nicolai, bless his soul, decided to play along and dipped his head in way of greeting.
"You girls get out of here! I've already kicked you out for the day!" He said, in a good mood.
The girls said they goodbyes and proceeded to make their way to the bowling place they wanted to meet at, Becca's camera recording everything to prosperity.
6,780 views; 1146 likes; 1 dislikes
[laracroft] uau! Who knew Payson Keeler could bowl?
[gymnastics_geek] laracroft gymnasts are awesome like that! ;)
[crazy_for_gold] of course she can bowl! She is our golden girl!
"Oh. My. God. Is that Sasha Belov?" Jess whispered to Payson from her right, as they were both doing cool down stretches on the mat. In a gym where Nicolai was King, you did not carelessly announce you were distracted.
Payson raised her head, and felt her mouth hang open at the handsome man standing next to Nicolai near the vault runway.
"It is!" she whispered back excitedly. "You think he is here to coach?"
Jess sighed. "A girl can dream. Have you seen that ass?" She said winking.
Payson chuckled, and return the wink. Sasha Belov was an incredibly attractive man.
"What did you think?" Nicolai asked, after a tight hug and vigorous back slaps in greeting. "Don't think I didn't see you lurking behind the office window since after lunch. Uh. Where you got those thug like tendencies I will never know."
Sasha shrugged unapologetically. He had arrived that afternoon and had gone straight to the gym. He had decided to be as discreet as possible in order to get a real feel on the athletes. It had been a good choice, considering the looks he was getting from both the men and woman.
He had been suitably impressed with the caliber found in Nicolai's gym. Not that he had ever even contemplated the thought that Nicolai would ever run an inefficient or subpar program, but most often than not, no matter how good a coach was, it was up to the athletes to lift themselves into greatness.
This cycle Nicolai had a good group. He had already spied two males that looked like shoe ins to the British team. One on the all-around and as a floor specialist, and another as a horse specialist – doing some incredible, crazy shit. There were also a couple of other young men that seemed to be on the verge of something.
The girls were another thing. Payson and Becca stood above everyone else. The strength of the American programmed showed in them. Other than them, a couple of other girls might make it into the British team. He was a realist after all, and he had no problem admitting that compared to the US, it was relatively easy to get into the British team.
"There is a desk with your name on it, in that office you seem to like" Nicolai said, bringing his attention back to the conversation.
He snorted. "And do what?"
Nicolai smirked, like a cat that had gotten the canary. "What you came here to do of course!" He said jovially, patting him on the back when Sasha choked on air at the announcement. "You take the girls, I'll keep the boys. I was never good at making choreography and music choices anyway, and you have experience. We can divide the profit according to the number of athletes on either side."
Sasha cleared his throat. "What? This is your gym!" He said incredulous. Nicolai had been bugging him to join him in London for a while – or, well, since he left Romania after 2004 really – but to offer him basically half of his profit?
Nicolai snorted. "Uh. Does it look like I'm getting younger here?" He shook his head. "Who do you think is getting this old place when I finally kick it? Better get used to it now."
Sasha could only blink, before he found himself back in the office, a contract in front of him waiting to be signed.
"I didn't come here for this." He almost winced at the lame excuse.
"Yes, you did. You came because of Payson. Becca too, but mostly Payson."
Sasha sighed. Damn the old man, but he was right. Just two hours ago his eyes ah followed the blond young woman from one apparatus to the next, watching her execute her routines, taking note of improvements needed in certain moves and appreciating the sheer perfection in others. Payson was inspiring. Not only had she surpassed her injuries, something he had never managed to do, but she possessed this aura around her that pulled him in like a magnet.
He rubbed his hand through his hair, before turning to Nicolai. "You still ow me a dinner, if I recall."
Nicolai smirked. "We can go celebrate your new job then."
"Can you believe it, Becca? It's Sasha Belov!" Payson was so excited she felt like she could almost burst.
The last few months had been extremely difficult, filled with tragedy and heartbreak, but lately new opportunities had started to appear, and things had been looking up.
She'd had surgery, Becca had started to live again and she felt like they were closer than ever. Then they had started training with a living legend, who was helping make so many of their dreams come true, and for the first time in many years she actually felt like she belonged. They were making new friends that shared their passion, focus and ambition.
For more that Payson cherished the friends she had in Boulder, she and Emily had never really gotten very close, and Lauren and Kaylie had never truly understood her drive. Oh sure, they understood that she wanted to make it to the Olympics, but they didn't get why she needed to focus and always work extra hours. In some aspect they were too naïve, believing they could make it with regular effort and work-out hours. She hoped they had learnt something from the last World Championships.
In Nicolai's gym it was different. The next Olympics were in London, and that meant that every athlete in the country was pumping up for a spot and a medal. Every single girl in the gym was arriving as early as possible, and staying until Nicolai kicked them out. The number of girls vying for a spot on the National team was smaller than in the USA, but that didn't mean the fight was any easier. Both Jess and Ella were usual National team members, and were working incredibly hard to help qualify the British team to the Olympics at the next world championships. They always spoke animatedly about how proud they would be if they could qualify cleanly, without having to go to the Olympic test event, and most importantly, without having to use the organizer's spot.
Payson had been humbled. Back in the US everyone took the team qualifying to the Olympics for granted. The girls just focused on their own chances of making said team. Here it was different. Almost none of the girls in the gym expected a team medal, but they wanted to qualify and achieve the best result possible in last few decades, and worked to get there.
She would be lying if she said she didn't admire Sasha Belov. He had a way of making routines that perfectly fitted each athlete, bringing out the very best of their capabilities. With him involved, she felt like her chances of making it were even greater.
"It's amazing!" Becca agreed. "And he is kind of cute" She smiled up at Payson.
"Uh, you heard Jess and I? I might be more relaxed about boy talk than I was before, but I'm not interested in dating, you now that." Payson said, grimacing.
Becca rolled her eyes.
"Come on Pay! Dating is not the end of the world if the guy understands your commitments! You know Ella is dating that James guy in the gym, and she was fifth on bars at worlds! She has no problem balancing her personal life with gym life. Nicolai doesn't mind either. As long as your performance doesn't drop, he doesn't care about what we do outside the gym!"
Payson shook her head. "Either way, Sasha is our coach now, and we shouldn't speak like this about him"
Becca snorted. "Who cares! We're in Europe Pay!" She laughed, hitting her sister lightly on the shoulder. "Lots of athlete-coach relationships around here. Besides, you're an adult, you can date whoever you want!" Becca's face was suddenly filled with surprise. "Wait I just remembered that you can drink alcohol at eighteen here! You should totally try vodka! Or absinth! Wait, no! Try martini like, Bond, James Bond. We're in England after all.
Payson shook her head, but laughed as her sister started naming drinks she should try.
"Hi everyone! We hope you enjoyed those training shots! We have been filming some training sessions inside the gym for a while, but we haven't really introduced everyone yet. So, let's take a small tour!" Payson said, before turning the camera around.
"Let's start with the coaches. This is Mady." Payson winked to the woman who waved and said hi to the camera. "And right here is King Nicolai"
Nicolai huffed. "Cheeky girl! Get out of here!"
Payson laughed. "And this is our new coach Sasha. You've only been coaching here for a month. What do you think. Is it good to be back?"
Sasha shook his head, before giving her a smile. "It's great to be back. I missed London actually." He frowned slightly. "Where will this video go?"
"To the Keeler Sister's YouTube channel! Thanks Sasha!" After Sasha waved his goodbyes, Payson made her way to the next coach. "This is Jack from the outback! Tell us, how does an aussie end up in London?"
6,143 views; 1437 likes; 3 dislikes
[Emma_Shore] OMG! OMG! It's Sacha Belov!
[gymnastics_geek] Emma_Shore His name is actually Sasha Belov
[crazy_for_gold] Who cares! It's Sasha Belov!
[Xena_123] Payson will slay it next Nationals!
[Clara_Mendez] Our girls will be awesome!
"That was great Payson. You're getting hang of your new routine incredibly fast." Sasha said, watching Payson pick up her bottle from beside the bars.
"It's still not good enough. The release could be better and the dismount is rubbish. I would get so many deductions on it I might as well just jump off" She scoffed, brushing her stray hairs out of her face and leaving a chalk line on her forehead.
Sasha smiled softly at the sight. Payson was an amazing athlete. She was any coaches dream, always wanting to go further, train harder, but still knowing her limits and the importance of an outside life.
He had once asked her how she had learned to cultivate such a great balance between her private life and her gym commitment. Her answer had been that her injury had been her teacher, opening her eyes to the importance of everyone and everything in her life.
"What?" Payson asked looking at him confused.
Sasha shook his head. "Nothing. You got chalk on your forehead" He reached down to lightly brush the white powder away from her face, making her blush slightly. "There, done" He said, smiling softly, before catching himself and stepping back.
What was he doing? Was he just flirting with his gymnast? Well, Payson was an incredible person. Extremely mature and motivated, but she was still very young. And his gymnast.
Clearing his throat, he tried to get back to business. "Your dismount will get there in no time. And as for your release, considering the pace you are getting things down, it will be golden by the end of the week. Let's get you on Beam for now. I want to see your mount."
He watched her go and wondered when he had started to notice the contrast between her skin tone and her hair.