@NicoleFlockton
NicoleFlockton
[email protected]
Coming Soon
Fighting to Love - The Elite Book 3
Brooke King gazed out the window of the plane as it banked over the sparkling blue waters of Sydney harbor. The view reminded her of the beaches of Rio where she’d been just three weeks ago. What were the beaches like in Sydney? Where they just as good as Rio?
Her last day in Rio had been spent at the beautiful Copacabana beach. She’d spent the day laughing and kissing Dane. It had been bittersweet. It had been a day to make beautiful memories, but it had been sad at the same time.
The Olympic Games were over and so was her time with Dane. An Olympic fling, that’s all it was. One of the many that had occurred during the Games. Why she hoped hers would be different, she didn’t know. Maybe it was because one of her good friends got engaged at the Games that had Brooke wishing for more when there was nothing more there.
So why did her heart still ache?
She would get over it. She had to. She had a once in a lifetime opportunity to train with up and coming diving coach, Susie Hamilton. The opportunity had knocked while she’d been in Rio and she’d jumped all over it. Making the switch from synchronized diving to individual shouldn’t be difficult. Being alone on the platform, knowing that she would be diving into the air alone, scared and excited her all at the same time. She’d always trained with a partner. Always had someone standing next to her on the platform. It had been comforting. But that was the past. Lulu had retired and Brooke still wanted to dive. Oh she could’ve teamed up with someone new. There were plenty of young divers looking to team up with a more experienced diver to increase their chances of winning. Only the thought didn’t appeal, so she’d decided to take on the challenge of going alone.
Now she sat on a plane about to land at Sydney Airport.
All by herself.
The start of her new career venture.
Life went on.
Bruised hearts healed and wonderful times spent with a man became wonderful memories.
The pilot announced to the cabin crew to take their seats in preparation for landing. Excitement replaced the melancholy that had taken up residence in her soul. She was in the land down under. The place Dane had talked to her about so much that she hoped he’d ask her to come visit him. He hadn’t though. He’d given her a hug, kissed her until breathing almost became impossible, and walked away that last night in Rio. The next day she’d returned to Colorado and he’d returned to Australia.
The chances of seeing him during her six weeks in Australia was pretty slim. He’d told her he lived in Melbourne and she was going to be staying in Sydney. She guessed she could email him to let him know she was in the same country as him. He hadn’t made any attempts to contact her since her return to Colorado. Then again, neither had she so she couldn’t really use that as an excuse.
No she’d be better off forgetting all about Dane and concentrating on the task at hand—getting in with this new coach so that at the next Olympics she would medal instead of missing out.
***
Brooke walked through the double glass sliding doors that separated the passengers from family and friends waiting to greet her. The letter from Diving Australia had said that a driver would meet her and take her to an apartment where she would be staying for the duration of her stay.
She had no idea if she would be sharing the apartment and if she was, she hoped like heck she liked the people she was sharing with. Nothing would be worse than being stuck around people she disliked and pretending to play nice with them. Whatever happened she’d deal with it. She’d have to.
For once being five feet ten came in handy and she spied a man at the back of the crowd holding a sign with her name blazoned across it.
She pushed the cart with her suitcases on it through the mass of people toward the man.
“Hi, I’m Brooke King,” she said as she stopped next to him.
“G’day, love, I’m Eric Smith, Diving Australia’s official driver. Welcome to Australia. Let me get that trolley for you and we’ll be on our way.”
“Thanks.”
She waited for Eric to maneuver the cart and followed him through the terminal to the exit of the airport. The moment she stepped outside she was bathed in bright sunshine. The bright light a shock after being stuck on a plane for over fifteen hours. Brooke dug into her purse for her sunglasses and popped them on.
Within a few minutes her bags where in the trunk or boot as Eric called it, and they were heading out of the airport. Brooke laid back and let the steady rhythm of the car movement relax her.
God, she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was sleep, but if she did that then her sleeping would be out of rhythm. With her starting to train tomorrow she couldn’t afford to fall asleep during her first practice.
Brooke had no idea how long they’d been in the car but eventually they came to a stop.
“Here we are love. We’re at Homebush. This is where the 2000 Sydney Olympics were held.”
She remembered them well. It was after watching the diving on tv it was then she decided she wanted to try diving. Her parents thought it was a fad and looked around for the place that would provide the cheapest lessons. They’d been shocked and surprised when they found out how much Brooke loved it. And that she was good at it. Since then getting to a Games had been her main focus.
With that achieved her next goal would be to medal at the 2020 games. No matter what sacrifices she had to make she would stand up on that podium.
The door opened and she stepped out. She was in the middle of suburbia. Brooke didn’t know what she’d expected but for some reason it wasn’t this. Maybe she hoped she’d be near the beach. But she wasn’t here for a holiday. She was here to work and perhaps it was just as well there’s was nothing around to tempt her away from concentrating on improving her diving.
Eric efficiently got her cases out of the trunk and moved forward to the building to the left of her. It was a square block, about ten stories high. The gardens at the front looked well cared for, giving her confidence that her apartment was going to be clean and not a dingy number with peeling wallpaper.
The entrance to the complex wasn’t anything fancy. No grand foyer like some of the buildings in Denver where she lived. There was a keypad to the side and Eric punched in a few numbers and she heard the door unlock.
“You’ll find everything you need, like the entrance code and instructions on how to enter the in-house gym and pool, along with your keys, in your apartment. Susie has made sure that you’re every need has been met while you’re here.
“Great, sounds perfect. I might even check out the pool. Take a swim to keep me awake.”
“You do whatever you need to do to settle in, love. I’m sure Susie will be in touch.”
“Okay.”
Five minutes later she found herself standing alone in her living room. The apartment was sparsely furnished with the necessities. A couch, coffee table, television on a generic wooden tv stand. She couldn’t see a cable box but there was what looked like a blu ray player. That was fine, she didn’t tend to watch a lot of television, but being in Australia it might be fun to watch some of their shows. See how different they were to the shows shown in the US.
Moving through the living room she walked into the one and only bedroom in the apartment. Again everything was decorated in neutral colors, the red comforter the only splash of color in the room. Leaving the bedroom she opened an adjacent door and found a small bathroom, she liked the black and white décor of the floor and wall tiles. Over all it was a nice apartment, and she had a feeling she’d be very happy here during her short stay.
She walked back to her room and opened her suitcases and began to rummage for her swimsuit. She had like about ten packed so it wouldn’t be too difficult to find one to slip on. The lure of a swim to wash away the cobwebs was strong. It would be awesome if the pool had a diving
board, even a small springboard would be good. She could almost feel the cool water wash over her as she dived in.
Once dressed she grabbed a towel from the bathroom and perused the instructions Susie left with the access code for the front door and the pool. Luckily both the same so she didn’t have to spend her time trying to memorize different codes.
With her keys in her hand and a bounce in her step, she headed for the pool, wondering if she would meet another diver or someone else she knew. Now that would be cool.
Also by Nicole Flockton
The Elite
Fighting to Win
Fighting to Dream
The Freemasons:
The Victor
The Hunter
Sweet Texas Secrets
Sweet Texas Fire
Sweet Texas Series Boxed Set
Bound Series
Bound by Her Ring
Bound by His Desire
Bound by Their Love
Lovers Unmasked Series
Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series
Masquerade
Rescuing Dawn
Seducing Phoebe
Emerald Springs Legacy Series
Daniel’s Decision
Emerald Springs Legacy Collection
Short Stories
Tangled Vines
Melt My Heart Anthology
Tango Love
A Vacation Affair
Lace Forever
Fighting to Dream (The Elite Book 2) Page 12