Double Bossed

“So?”

“Not good.” I read the expression in his eyes.

He pulled the navy cap with the Aussie logo from his head. He scratched the side of his salt and peppered hair. I was responsible for at least a few of those patches.

“There’s a problem with one of the water pressure valves. The pool is closed for at least another day. That’s all I got out of them.”

I peered through the frosted glass.

“There’s no one inside. It’s dark.”

“The contractors are coming out this afternoon,” he explained.

“That’s not good enough. They can’t tell me I can’t swim. I need a pool.”

“I checked with the diving pools, and they’re booked. We have to wait until the repairs are made.”

“They aren’t even working in there. I want the name of the person responsible for this.”

“Let’s get a work out in while we wait. We can hit the gym. Maybe get a run in until it’s fixed. Forget the pool. We’ll make this your best training day. What do you think?”

I pounded my fist on the doors. “No one is going to bloody keep me from swimming. This is the fucking Olympics, Jim. Not amateur finals. I’m not some sixteen-year-old kid they can kick around like a rookie.”

I paced in front of the doors. “I’m on the buildings here. The billboards. My face is everywhere, Jim. And this is what they do? They use me? They owe me this. Someone is getting me in the pool today.”

The coach slapped my back. “It’s no use. I’ve already made a few calls. We’ll come back tomorrow and you can get your laps in.”

The adrenaline pumped through my veins. It rushed to my temples, fueling the anger that was already there.

I kicked the door. “Fuck.”

“Come on. We’ll head back to the village. We can still train. Let’s do some rowing if you don’t want to run. I’ll race you.” He raised his eyebrows.

Jim always knew when to push me. When I thought I didn’t have enough air in my lungs to make another lap, he got down at the edge of the lane and screamed my name. When I thought my shoulders would smolder from the butterfly and couldn’t take another stroke, he made me do it again. I cussed. I yelled back. But he knew how to make me a better athlete. The harder he shoved, the better I got. That was why I was the best in the world. I was going into the Olympics as the world record holder. I was Australia’s poster child for the games. I was Jim’s star.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “We can get a work out in, but I’m coming straight here tonight. And I will call.”

He slapped me on the back as he led me toward the door. “I know you will.”

“Who’s that bloke?” I nodded toward a guy with a maintenance cap on. “Should we wait?”

Jim kept walking. “It’s going to take hours. I spoke to the arena manager. We’ll come back later.”

I watched as an array of equipment was unloaded from a utility van. Shit. It looked like they had an entire new pump in there. I was suspicious Jim didn’t get all the information. From all the tools and parts, it looked like there was more than a valve problem.

How the hell did something like this happen? How could the pool for the world’s greatest competitors not be ready? This was a fucking disaster.

Reluctantly I followed, but someone was going to pay for this. No one kept Blaine Crews out of the water. No one.

2

Ava

I nervously chewed the end of my pen. These meetings weren’t getting any easier. I listened to the catalog of things I was responsible for reporting. It was an extremely long list, and none of it interested me.

I tried to tie my auburn hair away from my face. They told us the air conditioning was broken, but looking around, I wasn’t sure it had been installed yet. Rio was hot. Always hot, even though it was winter. The city was trying to cope with an unexpected heat wave. Add weather problems to the growing items of concern.

It was the kind of hot that made your clothes stick to you and made you wish you could take another shower as soon as you stepped outside.