Chasing Dreams, Year Two

by Shawn Keys

  Matteo was beside himself. He was watching the first steps down the path this quartet had been destined to walk. Knowing he had helped get them to this event was rewarding in a way he couldn’t explain, even after years of helping others. He had always sent them off, gave people a path and then wished them well. This is the first time he had followed and seen it all happen.

  It was a beautiful thing.

  * * *

  From out on stage behind his oversized desk, Nolan Duraggo of This Night Tonight beamed out at his audience, “Next, we’ll be interviewing a very special group of young ladies. Hailing from down south, they sparked some huge interest this very afternoon when they participated in their first international competition and ended in a three-way tie for fourth place. We’ll talk to them right after the break. Stay with us.”

  The cameras all went to ‘standby’ and the signs that read ‘On Air’ went dark. The crowd grew a little more restless, talking amongst themselves while a few producer-types ran out to talk to Nolan and get him prepared for the next segment. This Night Tonight was a live show, priding itself on rolling with the punches even when something unexpected happened. The team had been told that there was a ten second delay, allowing them to censor anything deemed inappropriate, but otherwise it would beam right out into the world.

  Matteo turned toward the team, putting on his most supportive smile. “Are you all ready?”

  “Ready?” Melodie looked pale as a ghost. “Ready? How can we be ready? This is live television! Like… network television!”

  That’s not the best start, Matteo sighed to himself. “Nothing to it, ladies. You crushed it in front of a stadium full of people today. The crowd out here is smaller. Don’t worry about who else is watching. Play to this crowd.”

  Daphne let out a laugh that sounded like she was barely holding it together. “How did you even pull this off? I mean, we’re not that important!”

  “Last minute cancellation,” Matteo admitted. “Need to seize these chances when they happen. I know the last thing you need is to be up at all hours when you must be exhausted.” It was already half-past-midnight, the show airing in the third-tier of late shows. It wasn’t the most prestigious way to make their debut, but better than anything he had ever hoped for so quickly. “One of the organizers for the show was at the Tirkaheizer Center. When Kyla Barrington dropped out, they needed a last-minute replacement with a good story. You were the first on her mind.”

  “We’re standing in for Kyla Barrington?” Laura sputtered.

  “You know her?”

  “She’s the star of Living the Life! Of course, I know her!”

  Matteo tried to calm them down, “She couldn’t make it. It isn’t like you bumped her and now have to prove you’re worth it. They called us. Yours is the story they want to hear!”

  Flora jumped in, encouraging them, “This is great exposure.”

  “We know!” Hélène said, exasperated with herself as she tried to calm the shaking in her hands. “But it’s all so fast!”

  Matteo took a long breath, lowering his voice as he offered, “If you can’t go out there, then no one is going to force you. But listen to me. Sports isn’t all about the sports. It’s also about these appearances. This is what you need. Not just because it might drum up a sponsorship or something. If you do this, the commission won’t be able to ignore you. Everyone will be waiting to see what you do at the French Language Games in a couple months. You ladies are going to get your shot. You might have it after that amazing performance, but if you go on this show? Nothing is going to stop you.”

  That seemed to crystalize everything for them. They glanced back and forth between them, using each other to gain strength.

  Finally, they broke out of their shared trance. Laura looked to Flora. “You’ll be out there with us?”

  Their coach nodded, “If you need me, I’m there.”

  Daphne pinned Matteo with her gaze. “You, too.”

  “What?” Matteo laughed, suddenly uncomfortable. “This isn’t my moment! This is about all of you!”

  “You got us here!” Hélène insisted. “That’s part of our story.”

  “You have to go out with us!” Melodie pleaded.

  “You got us into this mess!” Daphne took a different tactic, her tone a little abrasive, scowling peevishly at him. “You’re going out there with us and make sure we don’t look like idiots!”

  “What if I look like one?” Matteo protested.

  “Then we get to look stupid together,” Laura smirked.

  They were out of time. Out on the stage, Nolan was working himself back into his on-screen personality, getting the audience laughing again. He was signaled by someone, leading him to announce, “Everyone, give a hand to the amazing Artistic Swimming Team from Portesara!”

  They filtered out on stage. Flora led the way in her trademark track suit. This time, the others were also wearing the same attire, linking them as a team and back to Portesara, showing off the national colors for the first time. None of the events at the CACGs had received this type of coverage. Matteo couldn’t resist seeing the irony. The team who had been considered unviable for the national team was going to be the one who set the stage for everything that happened afterward.

  Which means… this has to go well.

  With that in mind, he followed Hélène out onto the stage. Out of pure habit, the team went out in the same order as they approached a routine in a pool. As they took their seats, Laura took the front row seat closest to the host. Then Daphne, staggered behind her shoulder in the second row. Melodie in the second seat of the front row, then Hélène behind her shoulder in the second. Rather than take a spot in the front row, Flora took the last one in the back row. That left Matteo having to take the one furthest from the host in the front row.

  Nolan waited patiently for them to take their waves to the audience who were cheering politely. The applause was similar to what they had heard at the stadium; the kind where you knew someone had done something amazing, but you really had no personal connection with them.

  Not to mention, Matteo chuckled to himself, We’re not Kyla Barrington. They’re probably a little disappointed.

  He barely settled into place when the producers gave the signal for the crowd to be silent. There were undoubtedly times when the crowd would be rowdy and not respond right away. Like when the guests were far more popular… or unpopular. In this case, it didn’t take long for them to become quiet.

  Nolan did his best to keep his energy level up. “Welcome to the show!”

  “Thanks for having us,” Flora said.

  “From what I understand, you four ladies created something of a stir at the swimming competition down in San Diego this afternoon.”

  A little nervous laughter passed between the women. Daphne and Laura both managed small nods.

  Nolan paused… then forced another smile. “I would love to avoid any of the typical questions athletes get asked. At the risk of being a hypocrite, how are you all feeling? Does your success at the games vindicate all your hard work?”

  A few more nods came from the four competitors. Daphne actually managed to say, “Oh, yes!” The joy was real, but she didn’t continue.

  Matteo began to sweat a little. He noticed the four of them taking hidden glances at the cameras and scanning the audience. Despite his efforts to set them at ease, he could practically see them imagining millions of people watching them from the comfort of their homes.

  He gave the audience his own quick glimpse and considered the difference between this audience and the one at the Tirkaheizer Center. At the pool, the team had been in their element. They were the experts and the people in that audience had wanted to watch them perform. Perhaps even excel. This was unchoreographed, unrehearsed. Here… they were on display. Jumping through hoops. Important hoops. Necessary hoops. And they knew it. It was why they were facing their fear. But recognizing it wasn’t making the fear go away.

  That Matteo could under
stand. Hell, even I’m nervous. Flora’s nervous. We’ve both been a few places and seen a few things. But these women… no matter how amazing they are, they are still poor neophytes from the bad side of Portesara.

  While that was all running through his brain, Nolan was doing his best to toss another soft-ball question over the plate, hoping for anything that could reasonably be considered good conversation. “Would you mind walking me through how you ended up in officially sixth place if the scores indicated a tie? I’m afraid I am not familiar with the mechanics of how such ties are resolved. Did you have to draw straws? Whoever gave the judges the worst bribes?” Nolan flashed his most charming smile as he tossed out the ridiculous ideas, getting a chuckle from the audience and doing his level best to break the ice for his young guests.

  This is my doing. I can’t turn it into a nightmare for them. He knew they had to go through this sometime. If their reputations began to build, they would be asked to go on more shows like this. Even if it was only back on the island, they would be on TV. Granted, the island wouldn’t put them on this big of a stage, but… well, have to start somewhere, I guess.

  Matteo leaned forward a little and spoke into the silence that was approaching awkward. “Have to say, Nolan, that I was just as lost as anyone else when I first heard of the sport. I’m such a dinosaur, I still remember when it was called synchronized swimming.” As part of his research, he actually knew it had been called ‘water ballet’ at one point in the past, but he wasn’t going quite that that far back.

  A look of relief showed on Nolan’s face as Matteo made a stab at saving his segment. Rolling with it like a professional, Nolan asked back, “Why isn’t it called that anymore?”

  “For a couple reasons. First off, there is a solo event. Hard to synchronize with yourself, right?” He took a gamble, risking looking like a fool by trying to be funny on a comedy program.

  Fortunately, the producers picked up on the joke and lit up the ‘laugh’ sign for the audience. They rewarded him with a small round of chuckles. Even Nolan flickered a grin his way.

  Matteo went on, “Second, I think it is supposed to align with Artistic Gymnastics. Probably a few other reasons, too.” He shrugged. “As to the scoring, that confused the heck out of me. Laura had to walk me through it like I was in first grade.” He gestured down the line.

  Laura was sitting closest to the desk. Her head snapped back to him, a touch of horror crossing her features.

  Cultivating a deliberate look of confidence, Matteo gave her a nod. He added, “Why don’t you explain it to everyone, Laura? You know, like you explained it to me.” He was trying to make her think of it as just another chat.

  Awareness crept into Laura’s expression as she realized what he was doing. A soft smile awoke on her face, as if to say, ‘Thank you.’

  Then, Laura took a deep breath and turned back Nolan’s way. “The points ended up in a tie, so the judges are forced to look at other factors. They already factor in a lot of things. Difficulty of the program. Number of people on the team. Which one got you the points, artistic versus technical achievement. Whoever did better on the more important elements will break the tie in their favor.” She gave a helpless sort of shrug. “There’s only four of us. That means no matter how difficult our elements are, we will almost always lose those ties since we have fewer people to include in our patterns.”

  Nolan leaned over his desk, showing interest and relief with his body language as one of the athletes opened up. “We have a clip to show in a few seconds. But from what I saw, you pulled off some pretty impressive moves.”

  “Flora here is the coach,” Matteo reminded him and gestured toward Flora, then to the third in the staggered row of teammates, “But Melodie does a lot of creative work with their routine. She’s also the one who will solo in future competitions.”

  It was her turn to give him a nervous look and receive in turn his silent vote of confidence. Flora placed a hand on his shoulder, clasping it in gratitude and adding her own encouraging nod to Melodie.

  Nolan focused on her, “Where do you get your inspiration?”

  “Ummm… well, sort of wherever I can find it?” Melodie started. That drew a small chuckle from the audience, which in turn brought out her own smile. Despite her creative virtues, she was never one to stand out boldly in a crowd. “My friends work really hard to be able to do stuff in the water. I’ll sit and watch them for a while. When I see them pull off a cool trick, I’ll try and work that into the routine. The rest comes from us chatting or seeing artwork we all like.”

  “And the Supergirl theme this time around?”

  Daphne had been as intimidated as the rest of them. But as her friends came out of their shells, her bolder nature took over. Not waiting for Matteo to lead her in, she jumped on his question, “It’s sort of who we are. I mean, we think we’re really good, and now we’re finally getting our chance to prove it. The other teams at the competition were simply amazing. Everyone knows them. They know what they can do. We’re looking forward to being as well-known as they are.”

  “Well, you certainly made a mark today. What’s the next step for all of you?”

  Hélène was the only one who hadn’t spoken. A wry smile touched her lips as she glanced at Matteo, as if aware that it was her turn to get over her fear. She drew strength from the others and how they hadn’t burst into flames or anything after having spoken. “Part of that is up to our national sports commission. We’ve already petitioned to compete at the French Language Games in Bordeaux. If we aren’t accepted, we’ll be looking for another high-level competition to attend.”

  Matteo settled back into his seat, putting himself ‘out’ of the conversation and letting the athletes take the spotlight. They were on a roll now, and he didn’t think they would stumble again.

  He relaxed and watched them, too, as if he was one with the audience. Seeing them take yet another step from their humble backgrounds was amazing, and he was proud of them. He risked a look up at Flora behind him. The same joy and pride were radiating from her face.

  Yeah, this isn’t the last step. But it’s a good way to keep the ball rolling.

  * * *

  Matteo exited the small elevator onto the fourth floor of the hotel. It wasn’t a modern chain, though also not a typical bed-and-breakfast sort of place. There hadn’t been a lot of options; most of the hotels in the area had been booked up due to a variety of events going on in the San Diego region. The result for the team was for them to be staying in a building that had been something else in the distant past, though Matteo wasn’t sure what. Considering its architecture, it might have been part of an estate or the mansion of a wealthy family.

  This hotel didn’t have some of the usual benefits of the big-chain hotels, but it was stately in its appearance. There were two wings, each with five floors. On each floor, the section had four rooms built around a common bathroom that was shared. The owners had expanded the plumbing that was there in the old building, providing for four sinks in that bathroom area, but there were only two water closets and two bath tubs that needed to be shared. It was a decent arrangement for a family to rent a whole wing of a floor, creating a suite. Each room could also be rented separately for travelers trying to keep their costs down if they didn’t mind sharing facilities as if they were at a hostel, albeit the most upscale hostel imaginable.

  Although the ceilings had crown molding and fancy decorations, the unusual arrangement helped keep the price down, which was good. None of it was much of a bother for the team, since they were all close friends. Matteo had one room, Flora another, and then two teammates shared each of the others. Matteo had to be a little careful when he used the facilities, which hadn’t proved to be an issue. They were only there for a period of three days, after all. A person could endure nearly anything for that long.

  Matteo was on a mission. He aimed himself toward the end of the hall where the rooms for the team were located. He was derailed by the sound of laughter and music
coming from the bathroom. The fact that a couple of them might be in there chatting wasn’t all that weird, but the pop-style music blasting at near-party levels was strange enough to make him investigate. He intended to knock, but he found the door already half-open.

  Nudging it a little wider, he realized that he wasn’t prepared for what he found.

  The quartet of women had dragged a few of the pieces of furniture in from their rooms, arranging a couple well-cushioned sofa-chairs on the tiles. The doors into the bathtub areas were open, allowing anyone in them to easily converse with anyone in the main area.

  Hélène was up on the edge of one porcelain tub, a towel cloaking her torso and falling merciful just right to prevent flashing her sex toward the doorway. Being the tallest among them, she had the longest legs. Those long… incredibly long… and gorgeous limbs were stretched out across the tub, lathered up in what Matteo assumed was shaving cream. The citrus scent of it was thick in the air.

  Daphne was seated on a footstool positioned along the edge of the tub where she could easily reach the running hot water. As Matteo observed, she ran a razor under the water, then slid the implement with artful skill along Hélène’s leg. She did it with a practiced air, implying this wasn’t the first time she had done this for someone else.

  In the main area, Melodie was leaning back in one of the sofa chairs, basking in the luxury of having another woman applying lotion to her legs. Laura was in a chair facing her, running her hands over her teammate’s oiled skin. No doubt the lotion was a balm in its own right, but Laura was working it in, kneading Melodie’s thighs, calves and feet in a heavenly massage session. Her own legs were shining from having the same treatment, an event that Matteo had seemingly missed by merely a few minutes.

  It didn’t take long before he was noticed; he was a difficult person to miss, even in a crowd. Despite being in the bathroom and the furthest away from him, Hélène was the one facing the door directly, so it was she that noticed him standing there in the archway thunderstruck and speechless.