On The Way Down
Chapter Five : Cherry Aarons
“I must admit, I’m a bit surprised Mike arrived back at the party,” Ian commented as he and Adelaide slowly made their way to her hotel. It was several hours later, and the party was just winding down; Michael had arrived back, but had left soon after to catch some much needed sleep.
Adelaide cast him a curious glance. “Why?”
“Well,” he gestured blandly, “I just thought he and Sydney were together, I guess.”
She shook her head, her hair falling out of it’s hasty ponytail; she’d put it up a few hours earlier with one of Ian’s bracelets because it was in her eyes and she couldn’t dance properly. “No, they’re not. At least, they weren’t last time I checked.”
Ian nodded, smiling. “I had a good time tonight.”
“Yeah, me too.” She grinned up at him. “Thanks for, you know, inviting me and everything.”
“No problem.” They stopped walking and he turned to face her. “So I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?”
“Definitely,” she smiled broadly. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” He raised a hand briefly in parting and then jogged at a leisurely pace away; Adelaide watched him go with a ridiculously dorky grin on her face until she couldn’t see him anymore which was her cue to duck inside the quiet hotel.
*
The curtains had not been closed the night before which meant that the sun was slanting through the large picture window and onto Sydney’s face. Being that Sydney was not what you’d call a ‘morning person’ she rolled over, groaning, and put a pillow over her face.
“Adelaide. The sun is up in the middle of the night,” she muttered, her voice muffled due to the down pillow that was covering her mouth.
“It’s not the middle of the night,” Adelaide laughed from across the room, where she was sweeping suntan lotion across her forehead. “Get up. It’s nearly twelve.”
“Midnight?”
“No, noon.” Adelaide kicked out a sandaled foot and hit Sydney’s shin. “Get up, Sydney.”
“OWWWWWW,” Sydney moaned from beneath her pillow.
“If you don’t get up, you won’t have time for lunch before the first race.” Adelaide began rummaging through her purse, trying to find her sunglasses; she was showered and dressed, and had attempted to wake Sydney up about eight times already, to no avail. Luckily, the sun had done her job instead.
“Lunch? I was thinking more along the lines of breakfast.” Sydney’s tussled locks appeared first as she squinted into the room, trying to locate her friend so she could launch the pillow at her. “I’d like some chocolate chip pancakes.”
“You had those yesterday,” Adelaide pointed out, locating her sunglasses with a triumphant, “AH HA!” before slipping them over her eyes. “AND the day before.”
Sydney shrugged, wiping sleep from her eyes. “They’re good.”
Adelaide made a face. “They’re not. Blueberry ones are SO better.”
“Donneven,” Sydney warned, sitting up. “Oh, God. I feel hung over. I didn’t even drink.”
“It’s the sun,” Adelaide replied knowledgably, reaching into their little fridge and passing her a bottled water. “Come on, Syd. Up and at ‘em.”
The water seemed to wake her up slightly, and she’d finished half the bottle before she could speak again. “What happened last night with Ian?”
Adelaide grinned and plopped down on the end of her bed. “Nothing, but he is SO sweet.”
Sydney nodded silently.
“He’s just so great,” Adelaide gushed, sighing happily. She checked her watch, which was a regular type one and not a character-driven type. “It’s nearly ten, Syd.”
“You said it was noon,” Sydney complained, pushing off the bed and staggering towards the shower.
“I lied,” Adelaide replied, shrugging. “I wanna get out of here. I’m starved.”
Sydney nodded and then fell into the bathroom doorway. “Need. Shower.”
Adelaide rolled her eyes dramatically and pushed past her friend, turning on the shower head and pushing Sydney into the room before closing the door behind her. “Ten minutes, Syd! I’m counting!”
There were some muffled swears uttered in response and then the sound of a shampoo bottle falling to the floor, followed by more swearing.
It was obviously going to be a beautiful day.
*
A plate of chocolate chip pancakes (special ordered) were placed in front of Sydney and a bowl of fruit and another of oatmeal was placed in front of Adelaide when a tallish blond man approached their table, sunglasses perched over his eyes and his lips shaped in a smile.
“G’day,” he greeted, grinning down at them. “Mind if I join you?”
Sydney was dumbfounded, but Adelaide was gracious as she nodded and motioned for him to sit between them.
“What are you having?” Ian asked, leaning over to Sydney’s plate. “Are those chocolate chip?” He made a face, and then laughed. “Mike’s favorite.”
“Really?” Sydney asked happily.
“They’re her favorite too,” Adelaide explained, popping a grape into her mouth, and offering her bowl to Ian, who selected a piece of melon. “She eats them practically everyday.”
“So, where’s Michael?” Sydney asked as nonchalantly as possible.
Ian shrugged. “Swimming, I think.”
“He has a swim this morning?”
Ian looked surprised that she didn’t know. “Yeah, a prelim. A half hour ago.”
“Shit,” Sydney muttered, setting her fork down. “I can’t believe I missed it. Why’d I miss it!?”
“You were sleeping,” Adelaide reminded her, giving Ian a ‘this is what I have to deal with’ look.
“I should have set my alarm,” she commented, more to herself than the other two, who were conversing in low voices. She set her napkin down on her half-eaten pancakes. “I’m going to go see him.”
“And do what?” Adelaide asked, surprised.
“Have it out with him,” she replied obviously, pushing her chair back. “I’ll see you later.”
“Have it out with him?” Ian repeated incredulously. “What for?”
“Because he didn’t wake her up, no doubt.” Adelaide sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “She holds grudges like no other.” She stood up. “I should probably go with her.”
“Oh okay,” Ian looked slightly disappointed. “Well, I’ll wait here, shall I?”
Adelaide nodded, looking very relieved. “Yeah, I’ll be RIGHT back. I’m just going to make sure she doesn’t hit him or anything.”
Ian laughed nervously. “I hope that’s not likely. Mikey sort of needs his eyes to see, and all that.”
On her way to the Olympic Aquatic Center, Sydney stopped off at a touristy shop down the street. She was admiring a rack of colored t-shirts (of all shapes and sizes) that had Greek sayings on them. Though she only knew what a few said, one in particular caught her eye as it was a men’s shirt (the minority, as most of the shirts were women’s) and it was a deep blue-green, the color of the water surrounding them. It said
αστέρι βράχου. Sydney (who wasn’t that well-versed in Greek) approached the shop’s proprietor and asked in slow Greek (which was, surprisingly, pronounced properly) what the t-shirt said. The man told her, and then she looked up the words as fast as she could in her Greek to English book (a handy thing to have in Greece).Sydney brought her eyes up to look at Adelaide, who had just arrived behind her; her mouth was open, and her eyes were shining. “It says ‘rock star’.” She began giggling, and had to throw a hand to her mouth to stifle it. Adelaide had no clue what was going on, but she paid for the t-shirt and handed the bag to Sydney as they made their way back out onto the street.
“What’s that all about?” Adelaide asked, indicating the bag clutched in Sydney’s hands. She slid her sunglasses over her eyes and checked to make sure they weren’t in the way of anyone milling about on the streets.
“I called Michael a rock star last night,” Sydney explained, still half laughing. “It’s so perfect for him.”
Adelaide gave her a look as if to say “if you say so.”
“What are you doing, anyway?” Sydney asked, giving her friend an odd look. “You were having breakfast with Ian. Why’d you follow me?”
“To make sure you didn’t kill Michael. He has gold medals to win, you know.”
“Isn’t that Aaron Peirsol?” Sydney asked suddenly, putting a hand out to Adelaide to stop her walking ahead. He was just a foot or so away from them, and he was walking their way alone, examining something on a palm pilot or a cell phone. He looked up when he felt eyes on him.
A grin spread across his lips. “Hello.”
“Oh, my God,” Sydney breathed, still clutching onto Adelaide’s arm. “Aaron Peirsol. Hi. I’m Sydney. That’s Adelaide. I was just thinking about you this morning actually…” Aaron looked intrigued, and yet nervous. “I mean…well…I was having a cherry before breakfast and I was thinking how well an Aaron Peirsol cherry would sell. You could call them Cherry Aarons and you could do chocolate covered ones and…” She stopped talking abruptly, shut her mouth and turned a bright shade of red.
Aaron looked stunned for a moment before he began laughing quite a lot. “That’s a great idea. I think.” He paused, grinning at them. “It sounds a bit like a sex toy, doesn’t it?”
Sydney gulped. “Ohmygod.”
Aaron chuckled. “It was nice to meet you. And thanks for the marketing tip.”
“No problem,” she squeaked, barely able to stand upright for all the embarrassment. “Wait, do you know where Michael is? Michael Phelps?”
There was hesitation in his face before Adelaide quickly assured him that they were friends of Michael, and not crazy stalkers.
“Last I checked he was changing and showering after his swim.” Aaron waved, smiled one last time, and walked on.
Adelaide was stunned silent due to Sydney’s previous display…and Sydney…well Sydney was completely mortified and not even in the mood to yell at Michael for allowing her to miss his swim.