This choice: Option 4: Olympic dreams dashed • Go Back... Jessica swam the butterfly for her university team and had become world famous for her record setting performances. She also had gained a reputation for being a bit of a showboater. She was gifted with natural talents and she didn’t see the harm in hamming it up to the media when they interviewed her. She knew she was great and so did the rest of the world. Her performance out of the pool could be a moment for some ‘levity’ in her life. Otherwise, Jessica was a fastidious athlete working extra hours every chance she could to get just that little extra edge.
While Jessica was undeniably gifted, all athletes had recently benefited from the release of YourEssence. It was only young adult athletes, not high schoolers or younger, but this was a prime segment to target with YourEssence as world records in practically every sport were broken. Jessica had benefited as well, but she maintained a substantial edge over her competition nonetheless. Jessica was just that good on her own, it came naturally but she stayed humble about her skill.
That humility was put to the test when she was involved in a minor accident. Everyone was fine, but her lower leg had been pinned down by the front tire of the vehicle she was riding in. It was probably her adrenaline, but she didn’t feel the pain in the moment. When the firefighters were finally able to extract her leg from the wreckage, that was the first that Jessica had seen the angle her lower leg was now in. It shouldn’t have been at an angle at all. It was clearly broken and along with it her chances of competing in the upcoming summer Olympics.
Sixteen hours later, three visits from orthopedic surgeons, and a plaster cast put in place, Jessica was finally back in her apartment. She hadn’t slept since the prior night, and was now exhausted as the clock was approaching 10 am. Before she could lie down, she wanted to let her Olympic trainer know she would have to drop out. It wasn’t fair to the other girls who could compete in her place to let this wait. So a quick dial internationally and she was on the phone with Devlin.
“Hey Devlin, I needed to talk to you. Sorry for calling you out of the blue,”
“Sure, Jess, what’s up?”
Jessica was just about to start into her explanation of what had happened the night before when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. It was her college flatmate, Victor. Jessica had met Victor her freshman year and had become fast friends. Victor was bi-sexual, but clearly more interested in men than in women. Victor said preferred to be called pansexual, but Jessica wasn’t up to speed on the meaning behind that and hadn’t had time to look it up. A thought entered Jessica’s mind as she heard Devlin chime in, “Jess, you still with me? What’s so important that you needed to talk right away?”
“I want to compete in the freestyle 400 too. Can you add my name to the list of competitors please?”
“You’ve never swam the freestyle before. You sure you want to add something else? Your schedule is already pretty full as it is.”
“Yes, I’m sure. I think it will be a great way to solidify my status as the best swimmer of the era.”
“Damn girl. Bold, I like it. If you are up for it, then who am I to say no. You’ll have to qualify obviously, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. You’ve conquered everything else you’ve set your mind to.”
“Yes, I have,” Jessica said as her mind constructed her plan for how she would get Victor to take her place in the Olympics. All it would take is to get Victor to agree to take her place and like Devlin said, Jessica had a way of getting what she wanted.
Victor was non-descript to look at, but his personality was as big as hers. It was part of why they had gotten along so well. The two were experts at talking about the latest goings on across campus. Who was dating who. The new outfit that the school tramp had worn to class. The cutest boys on each of the school’s sports teams, which was Daniel by the way. They had both discussed their willingness to be in a throuple with Daniel if he would have them. Jessica’s confidence that Victor would agree to her scheme was increasing by the minute. They were BFFs in everything but name as neither had ever deigned to name their relationship.
Jessica hobbled into Victor’s room on her crutches and recounted the events of the night prior.
“Damn! I can’t believe this happened to you girl! What are you going to do? The Olympics are in a few months right?”
“Yeah, it sucks but I’ve got a plan.”
“Well, you must be glad the cast is coming off in time. You’re going to have to hit the gym and pool hard once it’s off.”
“The cast doesn’t come off until August. It’s a compound break. I’ve got pins in my leg and everything. They will have to do like three surgeries over the next few months to make sure my bone heals properly.”
“How would you compete in a cast then? I must be missing something. You going to get them to postpone the games or something? That would be just like you. They’d probably do it too. You are women’s swimming now.”
“No, nothing so extreme Victor. It is something you can help me with though.”
“Well, you know I’d do anything. I don’t think I can make your leg heal any faster though.”
“That’s not it, it’s a little more complicated.”
“Well dish girl. What can I do?”   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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