Disclaimer: I do not own MIOBI.
Just a Number
Summary: What if Sasha never came to The Rock? He was never her coach, and she was never his gymnast. Now all that stands between them is the age gap . . . and the Atlantic Ocean. Not to mention his reputation, the competition, and the fact that everyone seems to have an opinion on how she should feel about him and nobody thinks he's right for her. Nothing between them but age, and well . . . it's just a number anyway, right?
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Just a Number - Send My Love to St. Louis
Chaifetz Arena – St Louis University, MO
June 7 2012
"Hello, this is Alexandru Belov. Sorry I missed your call. If you leave a message I'll get back to you when I can . . . promise, Pay."
Payson sighed heavily as the recording finished with an obnoxious beep, indicating that she could do as the voice recording said. "Hey, I was just returning your call," she said, not letting the annoyance she felt slip into her tone.
It wasn't Sasha's fault, after all, that she'd missed his phone call earlier because some wanna-be-game-show-host had been riffling through her gym bag. That, if she had to blame anyone, was all on MJ who thought it rude for her to answer her cellphone in the middle of an interview. After several monotonous hours of said interviews, it was only now that she had the chance to call him back.
Admittedly, MJ was probably right, but she hardly regarded 'What's In Your Gym Bag?' as an interview. And the host person hadn't been particularly polite, going through her possessions in the hopes of finding some piece of juicy gossip. He had actually flicked through her diary (well, I say diary, I really mean organizer) and displayed it to the cameras.
"Got your message earlier," she continued, letting herself sound as disappointed as she felt about missing his call. "Thank you. I'm glad I got to hear from you, even if it's not in real time.
"I miss you," she said shyly, a hue of red gracing her cheeks. "Te iubesc, Alexandru. La revedere."
She put her phone away when she was done, glancing around to make sure that nobody had seen her in the uncharacteristically sentimental display. It would be just like Kelly Parker to see it as a chink in her armour and try to use it to throw her off her game.
Not that it ever would. As disappointed as she was not to be able to talk to Sasha before the competition, he'd left her a very sweet and supportive message that kept her spirits high.
"Did you manage to get through to Sasha?" Kaylie asked gently as she returned to the packed locker room. They'd all been done getting ready a half hour ago, and now they all sat around the benches practically vibrating with nervous energy and just waiting for the organizers to call them in.
Payson shook her head. "No but it's alright," she shrugged. "I'll talk to him later." Emily and Kaylie just nodded, satisfied by her response, while Lauren seemed to take a personal offence to her lack of conversation.
"But what about the tradition?" Lauren asked with a horrified look.
"The tradition?" Payson questioned, looking confused in return. Lauren had always been very superstitious and spiritual about her gymnastics – she was, after all, the one who demanded they swear their friendship on the Great Goddess of Gymnastics – and held the others to her same beliefs.
"Your Sasha tradition," Lauren explained to her, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you don't talk to him then you'll throw off your pre-competition rituals and jinx the whole thing."
"That's not a tradition," Payson told her plainly. "That's just a coincidence. I don't think it's going to throw off anything."
"But what about my rituals?" Lauren asked with a putout huff. "If I don't tease you about being on the phone to Sasha, I might not medal. Do you really want to have that hanging over your head?" she warned.
Payson continued to look unaffected by Lauren's threat, and the other blonde eventually gave up her challenge and just huffed an annoyed accusation of selfishness in her friend's direction. Then they all lapsed into silence, the whole room of gymnasts too tense with coiled energy to waste anything on conversation. They all just withdrew into themselves, preparing themselves mentally for what would be the first step on the road to the Olympics.
Women's All-Around Standings Day 1 – 2012 Women's U.S. Visa Championship
1. Payson Keeler – 63.195
Rocky Mountain Training Centre
2. Kaylie Cruz – 60.675
Rocky Mountain Training Centre
3. Kelly Parker – 60.400
Denver Elite
4. Sabrina Banks – 59.800
WOGA
5. Elizabeth Nelson – 57.900
WOGA
6. Andrea Conway – 57.800
Boston Elite
7. Lauren Tanner – 57.250
Rocky Mountain Training Centre
8T. Kelsey Hamilton – 56.950
All Olympia
8T. Tessa Grande – 56.950
Denver Elite
10. Emily Kmetko – 56.900
Rocky Mountain Training Centre
11. Jessica Williams – 54.700
Texas East
12. Hayley Greene – 54.600
UCLA
Chase Park Plaza – St Louis, MO
The first round of competition itself was just two hours from start to finish, if that, and over by about 4:30pm that afternoon. The press conference afterwards went on for an hour and a half after that, so by the time they finally got back to their rooms it was nearly half-past six and they were more mentally fatigued than physically exhausted.
"I'm so tired," Lauren complained falling upon one of the beds in an ungainly heap. Payson fell upon the other, echoing the sentiment with a tired groan – she didn't even have the strength to say the words.
"You can't sleep," protested Becca, the third guest in the triple suite the three girls were sharing. She went to Lauren, the closer of the two, and tried to drag her into a sitting position. She half-succeed, only to have Lauren flop back down the second Becca's grip failed.
"Payson, tell your sister to leave me alone and let me sleep," Lauren groaned, rolling over so she could bury her face in the covers.
Payson groaned from her own prone position, one arm draped across her face while the other waved in their direction. "Becca, as your older sister and team captain, I command you to just let us die in peace," she said tiredly, feeling more exhausted than she ever had in her life. She must have gone through at least four hours of interviews that day, and it still wasn't over. They still had some NGO mandated party where they had to schmooze people and smile pretty at the camera, and it was honestly the last thing that Payson felt like doing at the moment. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep.
"Don't you guys have to get ready for the party?" Becca asked, ignoring Payson's unequivocal instructions.
Lauren sat up suddenly, glaring at Becca incredulously. "Are you trying to get rid of us, Keeler?"
"Only a little," Becca admitted, smiling meekly. "Avery and Kezia are gonna come over so we can watch movies while you guys have your party."
Lauren eyed her carefully for a minute longer before finally relenting. "You owe me, Keeler," she said stonily as she grabbed everything she needed and headed into the bathroom.
"Pay?" Becca asked in a gentle voice, sitting on the edge of her sister's bed.
"Don't mind me," Payson said, waving around her free hand in meaningless gestures. "I'll just stay here while you watch movies. Probably won't even be able to move for at least two hours."
"You know you have to go, Pay," Becca insisted. "It's practically being thrown in your honour."
Payson groaned loudly and threw both her arms over her face. "It never ends," she proclaimed dramatically. "Just give me ten minutes."
"Do you want me to pick a pair of shoes to match your dress?" Becca offered helpfully, clearly excited at the opportunity to pick her sister's wardrobe.
"Thanks, Becca," Payson replied, just about managing a weak smile. "You – " She was cut off by an abrupt, two-beat knock on the hotel door. "Who is it?" she asked.
"Flowers for Payson Keeler," the knocker replied.
"Flowers," Payson repeated, perking up immediately. She sat up and even smiled, genuinely and completely. "They'll be from Sasha," she said excitedly, eagerly crossing the room. Then she opened the door to find a huge bouquet of purple gerberas filling her entire vision.
"Your favourite, I believe," offered a familiar voice.
She was pretty sure she squealed. And she might have even been embarrassed of that if she wasn't so busy throwing her arms around Sasha and kissing him senseless. "I can't believe you're here," she awed, pulling away from him for a breath and then kissing him once more for good measure.
Sasha smiled warmly and brushed a hand against her cheek. "Of course I'm here," he replied, as though he never had any intention of not coming although he might have let her believe otherwise. He was sure that Payson knew him well enough to expect him anyways, just as he knew that in spite of her assurance that it was for the best and that she didn't mind, there was still a very large part of her that wanted him to be there to see her win her second National title.
"I hoped you would be," she admitted quietly, bowing her head to his chest and settling herself there.
"I wouldn't miss it for all the world, iubita," Sasha assured her. "I love you," he added in a low tone, ducking his head so he could whisper in her ear.
Payson hummed her agreement softly, lifting her chin from his chest so could glance up at him. "Love you too," she said, kissing him once again. A moment or two later, they finally pulled apart, and Payson gave him room to say hello to Becca while she searched the suite for something to hold her huge bouquet of flowers.
"Are you going to go to the party?" Becca asked him as she fell under Sasha's arm and gave him a quick hug – Sasha was, after all, practically family.
"Why'd you have to remind me?" Payson asked with a groan. "I could have honestly said I forgot."
"I can if you'd like me to," Sasha offered.
"You can't," Payson grimaced. "It's for National team members only."
"So no chance of getting out of it?" he guessed.
Payson shook her head, practically sinking into his side as he lifted an arm around her shoulders. "None whatsoever," she replied. "My presence was especially requested for the evening," she added pompously. Sasha threw back his head in a laugh and she found herself smiling in return, despite the anticipated strain of an evening with the NGO.
"Then I suppose it would be wrong of me to try and tempt you away," Sasha said, forcing himself to appear serious. "Especially not with the possibility of a late supper and your choice of movie."
"That would be very wrong," Payson agreed, her smile widening at his proposition. "I probably only have to stay a couple of hours," she suggested eagerly. "I could come meet you at nine?"
"Nine it is," Sasha confirmed. Then he kissed her goodbye, leaving her to get ready so he could start making arrangements for their date later that evening.
"Crap, it's quarter to seven," Payson noted as she saw the time posted on the bedside radio. "I have to get ready." She was suddenly racing around the room, grabbing her dress from the closet and then her shoes and make up bag from her luggage.
"I thought you didn't really want to go," Becca laughed, surprised to see her sister so eager to spend time at an NGO gathering.
"I don't," Payson replied simply, "but the sooner we get there, the sooner I can leave."
Zodiac Terrace – Chase Park Plaza
"Can we leave yet?" Payson asked, looking first at her watch, then her cellphone, and then back to her watch as though there might be some deviance that allowed her to escape this torture.
Her three friends frowned at her incredulously. "We've only been here for an hour," Kaylie pointed out.
"Feels like three," Payson groused, laying her head against the cool glass of the high table.
"At least the food's good," Emily offered, trying to see the best of things. She picked up one of the hors d'oeuvres from the plate in the centre of their table and popped it in her mouth. Her features immediately creased with disgust and she picked up a napkin, discreetly spitting out the morsel. "Except for that one," she declared disdainfully.
Lauren scoffed haughtily, her nose in the air. "You're so unrefined, Kmetko," she said, picking up a hors d'oeuvre similar to the one that Emily jus spat out. "Caviar is a delicacy," she said snootily, take a small, delicate bite at the morsel. Her expression mirrored Emily's, and it was only her pride that allowed her to swallow. "That is bad caviar," she said, quickly washing down the taste with a nearby glass of water.
"I can't believe they would serve us something of such poor quality," she continued belligerently, rather than simply admitting that caviar wasn't her cup of tea either. "I'm going to have a word with the servers," she said as she spotted some unfortunate waiter who was about to feel the full wrath of Steve Tanner's daughter.
"Do you think we should go after her?" Emily asked as they watched her stalk across the room and the waiters quaking at her approach. Kaylie considered it for a moment, but shook her head emphatically – no way did she want to get caught up in the crossfire when Lauren had her heart set on complaining.
"How long has it been?" Payson asked, her head still down on the table, the little scene between Emily and Lauren only providing a fleeting distraction to how badly she wanted to be somewhere else.
"Only five minutes," Emily said, looking sympathetic. "You better look lively," she said, her expression suddenly strained. She prodded lightly at Payson's shoulder, urging her to stand up proper. "The new National Team Co-ordinator is heading this way."
At the warning Payson stood up straight like she was told, plastering a bright smile on her face. The oily National Team Co-ordinator was still some way away, giving her a bit more time to prepare herself for what would undoubtedly make this evening more unpleasant.
Marcus McGowan, Beals' replacement, had been a part of the NGO prior to his promotion in a minor public relations role. After the scandal created by Ellen Beals' behaviour in Florida, he was exactly what they needed to get the public back on side and to assure their investors that everything was going to plan. The later was, after all, the purpose of this little get together – to keep the NGO's sponsors happy.
Dressed in a fine Italian suit, Mr McGowan had the sort of oily charm that could sell snow to an Eskimo and charm the pants off a cloistered nun. He had the sort of smile that made Payson shudder reflexively and made her wonder if they were somehow better off with Ellen Beals. At least they knew what Beals was up to and what her grand plan had been. Marcus McGowan represented a new type of evil. They knew he had ulterior motives and his own plans for them, but at the moment they had no idea what those were supposed to be.
He greeted each of them in turn with that superficial smile of his, but dismissed Emily almost immediately. "Kaylie, Payson, I have someone I'd like you to meet," he said, lifting a hand to indicate he wanted them to come with him. They smiled apologetically at Emily, who waved them away and said she'd go find Lauren and save the other girl from herself.
"Though I'm sure I have no need to remind you," Mr McGowan said as he led them across the party, "the NGO is very invested in your futures. We all share the same goals, and we are working together to help you reach that potential."
Payson smiled politely, letting Kaylie reply on her behalf. "That means so much to us, Mr McGowan," Kaylie told him. They both understood what he was really saying – you owe us, so play nice – and that they were being called upon to work the NGO's big name investors.
With his words said, and their assurances given, Mr McGowan stepped away from them, offering his hand to a slightly frail looking smaller man in a grey three-piece suit. Kelly Parker and her mother were already with him, Shiela Baboyan looking none to pleased to see the other girls involved. "Andrew, these are the girls I spoke to you about," he said, waving a gesture in Payson and Kaylie's direction before offering their names. "Girls, this is Andrew Jennings from Kellogg's.
"Kaylie Cruz is a two-time National Champion and favoured to medal on floor at the Olympics," Mr McGowan explained, heavily impressing their importance on Mr Jennings. "And Payson Keeler here is the current World Champion."
"I admit I'm not a big follower of gymnastics," Mr Jennings admitted unashamedly as he shook their hands. "Marcus has been telling me how well you both did today."
"Thank you, Mr Jennings," Payson said politely, smiling slightly. "We've all worked incredibly hard to get here."
"Oh yes," Mr Jennings agreed. "A very impressive work ethic. I doubt you get any time to yourselves at all."
"We do occasionally get the day off," Kaylie put in, forcing a laugh. "We usually have to schedule them in advance," she joked. Mr Jennings seemed to take an immediate liking to her humour and gave her his fullest attention. He asked about her gymnastics and what their training was like, and then questions about her home life, which Kaylie only answered in the vaguest sense.
"Parental support is just so important in this," Shiela Baboyan interjected, seemingly in response to some comment made by Kaylie. "I always think of how proud Kelly's father would be if he was still with us," she said sentimentally. Mr Jennings seemed to take the bait, turning to Kelly now who offered some speal about doing gymnastics for her dead father (which was odd, because Payson had always thought that Shiela Baboyan was a divorcee, not a widow). Kaylie was momentarily forgotten.
Payson wasn't oblivious to what was happening here. She'd heard the rumours, just like everyone else, that Kellogg's was shopping for a new face to grace their Frosty Flakes, and USA Gymnastics was in the forefront of the competition. Marcus McGowan was showing Jennings exactly what the NGO had to offer, and trying to play them off against each other for the position of primacy usually reserved for Team Captain. It was a game that Payson had no interest in playing, just as she had no interest in taking the position of Team Captain when Kaylie and Kelly both wanted and needed that external validation more than she ever would.
Which is why what Shiela did next didn't really surprise her. She wasn't sure how she came into the conversation, but obviously Mr Jennings had expressed interest in her – as National and World Champion she was the obvious choice for Team Captain – and Shiela was quick to dissuade him of it.
"Oh, you've probably seen all the coverage of her relationship with Sasha Belov," Shiela said disinterestedly. "He's that rebel gymnast that was almost kicked out of the Olympics for unsportsmanlike conduct."
Mr Jennings suddenly looked wary of her, as though the conduct was her own and the incident happened last week instead of eight years ago. Shiela smiled victoriously.
Surprisingly, it was Marcus McGowan that quickly came to Sasha's defence. "I'm not sure it was as serious as all that," Mr McGowan waved off with a laugh. "Christ, that happened years ago. I'm surprised you even remembered, Shiela," he said, his voice chilling a little as he narrowed his eyes at the woman.
Shiela glared back for a moment, before forcing a lighter expression. "I suppose you're right, Marcus," she said, her address dripping with the same chilling edge. She conceded the apology, but wasn't quite done with whatever damage she intended to reap. "You girls probably don't remember any of it," she said, addressing Kaylie and Payson although the comment was really meant for Mr Jennings' ears. "You were only eleven at the time."
Payson smiled tightly. "Sasha's had a long and successful career in gymnastics," she said plainly. "I think we were about that age when he won his first Olympic title," she added.
"I'm sorry, Mr Jennings," she said, turning her attention to the man from Kellogg's. "You'll have to excuse me. It's been a very strenuous day, and I think it's all getting a bit too much for me.
"I'll leave Kelly and Kaylie to entertain you," she finished, the addendum solely for Mr McGowan's benefit, letting him know that she had no interest entertaining him herself. She shook Mr Jenning's hand before she went, offering a pleasant goodbye to the rest of the group.
She quickly left the party, seeing no reason to stay any longer, and headed back down to the hotel suites below. To a one bedroom suite one floor above her own. Her hand tapped out a four beat rhythm on the wooden façade, and he opened the door immediately, both surprised and delighted to see her.
"Am I too early," she asked coyly, her bottom lip caught between her teeth and her chin dropped towards her chest so she could look at him through her lashes.
Sasha smiled back, his expression warm and inviting. "You're right on time."
~ to be continued ~
As you can see, things are still not well with the NGO. They're a bit like a noxious weed - Ellen Beals was the head and they just chopped off that bit, but the roots are still there. But Sasha's there, and who could possibly be sad with Sasha around?
Notes:
I made a ridiculous detailed table of the scores in each event (broken down into difficulty and execution) so you could get a fuller picture of what happened. Particular details of relevance is that Payson is no.1 on all but beam (3, but quite close to Kaylie). Kelly Parker had a notably low score on beam and Kaylie on bars. Emily tied with KP on bars. Lauren was first on beam. I'm trying work out how to share it, because it gives a great idea of where the strengths and weaknesses lie on the potential team so you can start speculating about who gets spot 6 for the Olympics (the US team already has three potential AAs so the All Around rankings have little bearing on whose going - it's individual strengths that matter, thus the table).
I started writing Payson's 'What's In Your Gym Bag?' interview to start this chapter, but scrapped it after a few paragraphs. Anyways, I could be convinced to add some more to it as a deleted scene if anyone's interested.
Translations:
Te iubesc, Alexandru. La revedere: I love you, Alexandru. Goodbye (for now).
