Текст книги "Perfection Is Just An Illusion"
Автор книги: Rebecca Barber
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 17 страниц)
Chapter 13
Anna
The old wooden doors groaned as they forced them open and stepped through. Inside the church, Anna saw a minister standing in the centre of the aisle dressed in his white robes. A tall man stood just off to his right, while a woman was standing in the second row of pews. It only took a brief moment for Anna to recognise them. James and Diana were here. As they headed down the aisle, Michael took Anna’s arm in his own and walked her slowly down as the bridal march began.
James saw Anna and Michael walking down the aisle arm in arm and simply smiled widely. Ian appeared beside him and Joel lingered further back. When Anna reached James, Michael leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “This is your official welcome to the family.” He grinned before taking his place next to Diana.
The minister performed a very brief ceremony in front of the intimate few. Anna knew in that precious moment all her dreams had come true. She was marrying the man of her dreams in a romantic little chapel. Life couldn’t get any better. The only thing missing was her family and friends, but in that moment, Anna couldn’t summon the energy to care. Her dream had come true. She would make it up to them when she got home.
After a short ceremony the minister announced, “You may kiss the bride.” Without missing a beat, James bent down and clasped her face in his hands. He kissed her gently before looking up to see smiling faces surrounding them. Anna reluctantly climbed out of his arms and darted over to Diana and Michael.
She wrapped one arm around each of them and hugged them tightly. “I can’t thank you enough. For everything. Thank you for making this possible,” Anna cried on Diana’s shoulder.
Michael smiled and kissed her forehead. “Now we officially are family,” he whispered into Anna’s ear. Despite Anna’s joy and relief, Michael saw through her act. He saw just how much she wished that her own family had been here with her. “We’ll do it all again properly once we’re home. I promise,” he reassured her, sensing tears. “Family and friends. The whole shebang.”
***
James
Anna and James strolled out of the church hand in hand. Neither of them wanted to let go, but James’s time was nearly up. He had to be at the pool within half an hour, preparing himself for his finals campaign. Tickets were sold out and James himself knew just how big the night would be. Not only did he have his individual swim in the four hundred but also, less than an hour later he had to back up and anchor the men’s relay team against the much-fancied American outfit.
What felt like minutes later, James was changed and walking out on the pool deck to be greeted by a deafening roar. People were screaming out words of encouragement and distraction. Some waved banners while others held up photographs of him. James was a very popular personality on the pool deck. The rest of the Australian swimming team started up their war cry led by the female squad. Anna watched James as he walked out and was introduced to the crowd.
The race started and Anna sat in silence. She couldn’t cheer, she couldn’t clap. She was frozen in her seat as she watched intently as James raced up and down the pool. Halfway through the race and he was already ahead by more than three body lengths. His nearest rival was his friend and training partner, Ian. But James was determined that this race was not going to become the one that got away. At the final turn James was more than three seconds clear and still almost half a second under his world record. He seemed to be cruising down the final fifty but when he touched the wall, he glanced up at the time and was honestly surprised by his own time. He’d been pushing hard, and as a result James had broken his own world record by one-point two seconds.
As he climbed from the pool he stuck his arms up in the air, saluting the crowd. The English crowd was on their feet, cheering and clapping the Australian hero and New World Champion. Ian had managed to hold on to take second place, with the British swimmer Charles Clancy finishing to take the bronze. James looked over to where his parents and Anna sat. They all had wide smiles plastered across their faces. Diana and Michael were beaming with pride. James had faced hell but he had won. It hadn’t stopped him from achieving his goal. It just happened to be that on this day, James’s best was better than everyone else’s. Better by over three seconds.
Anna’s beaming smile showed James how truly happy she was for him. She stood beside him earlier in the year when he had considered giving it all up, but thankfully she had managed to talk him out of it. James just flashed a perfect smile directly at Anna. After a quick press conference, he dived straight down into the warm pool. He had to swim the lactic acid out of his body before his next race otherwise he would cramp and be completely useless. He swam two and a half kilometres before joining his team-mates to swim the relay. It was the best team Australia could enter. James, Ian, Justin, and another swimmer from Western Australia, Tyrone. When you combined their personal best times they were only point five outside the world record and more importantly only point two three behind the arrogant Americans.
Justin led off with a fantastic swim. He had an arm’s length lead when he touched the wall and sent Tyrone into the water. Tyrone was the slowest of the four, but he was by no means a slouch. He touched the wall barely an arm’s length behind the American. By now it was a two horse race. The Netherlands were sitting comfortably in third but trailed the Americans and the Australians by more than two seconds. Ian hit the water and went as fast as he could. Forty-seven seconds later he touched the wall on exact terms with the Yank. Now it was James’s turn to do something magical and bring it home. The crowd rose to their feet, chanting and clapping like people possessed. James came to the fifty-metre wall and was only half a length behind Jason, his American nemesis.
The chants grew louder. The commentator was standing on his tip-toes in his booth on the pool deck. Anna gasped. She had seen James do some amazing things but even she didn’t know if James could come back from this far down. He was just too far behind. America had a strangle hold on first, but someone forgot to tell James. It was almost as if he could hear their doubts and that was enough. All of a sudden he lifted. As he pushed himself harder he passed under the fifteen-metre rope. He had clawed his way back until they were shoulder to shoulder with the feisty young American. At this point they were going stroke for stroke towards the wall. The crowd fell silent as the screen went blank. No one knew who won. Then a roar went up. Australia had done it. They had just broken America’s grip on the one race that they’d never lost. It was a race that the Americans had dominated since its inclusion many, many years ago. Now, not only were the Australians World Champions, but they’d also taken the world record off the cocky American team.
They were ecstatic. The coaches were doing cartwheels in the stands. They embraced in a hug before turning and bowing to the crowd.
One young lady sitting next to Anna was screaming at the top of her lungs, “James, you’re my hero. Marry me!”
It was strange, ever since Anna and James had been together Anna had listened and laughed away comments just like this one, but now she was filled with something she’d never felt before. Jealousy. Anna felt her fist clench and for the first time Anna found herself wanting to punch someone. That had never happened before, and she didn’t like the feeling.
The boys went over to do their press conference. As they were introduced the crowd fell silent. It was as if someone had just cut off their voices and now they were unable to speak. Justin spoke first. He told of how he wanted to get the team a good lead so he could set it up. Tyrone spoke of how his main focus was to hold his own and hope the boys could finish it off. Ian admitted that he just wanted to make sure that James hit the water on equal terms. He knew what he could do. As long as James went in at the same time as the American, he had every confidence James could pull off the miracle. He knew what James would do. Then it was James’s turn to speak.
“I needed to finish it off for the boys. They set it up for me and I couldn’t let them down. It was a great win. I would also just like to thank the crowd for their support. We could definitely hear you out there. Especially in the final fifty, and we just hope that you will be back tomorrow night to support us again. Cheers.”
As soon as James had finished speaking, the cheer went up. “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!”
By the end of the night James was exhausted. He’d barely slept at all last night, tonight he had swum two races and in both races he had broken world records. Then he had to wait around for almost an hour for drug testing before he could get to Anna, who was waiting patiently in the stands.
“You should have gone home,” he said, slumping down in the chair next to her.
“Why is that? I didn’t mind waiting. Your parents left a while ago. They said congratulations and they will talk to you tomorrow.” James laid his weary head down in Anna’s lap. “You were amazing tonight. Congratulations,” she said, kissing his forehead lightly.
James smiled up at her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being my friend. For putting up with all my shit for the past few years and for knowing me better than anyone else. I love you.” James sat up. He was staring deep into Anna’s eyes. “Let’s go home. I could use a shower.”
Anna just laughed. “Yeah, you smell like chlorine.”
James threw her over his shoulder. “Really? You love it.” He smirked, smacking her bum playfully as he carried her down out of the stands and out the front door.
It was after eleven o’clock when James and Anna found their way out of the aquatic centre, and more than an hour since the competition had finished. James stupidly had thought that everyone would have already gone home, but he was wrong. The car park was still filled with television crews, newspaper reporters, and a flock of screaming girls waiting for him to appear.
As he stepped through the door, he was still laughing and looking at Anna. They were caught up in their own exclusive bubble. “There he is!” someone screeched. James stopped dead in his tracks. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was surrounded. Questions were being fired at him from all directions. Reluctantly he put Anna down and she instinctively stepped behind him, still clinging to his hand. Despite the gold medals and world records, most of the questions weren’t about his swims earlier but instead they focused on the woman he had just carried out of the arena.
James wasn’t in the mood to deal with questions about his personal life. All he wanted to do was to go home, shower, and spend some quality time with his new wife.
“James! Who’s that woman with you?”
“Excuse me, Miss, are you from England?”
“What’s her name? What is the status of your relationship?” One fan was even proposing to James. He was used to being interrogated about his performances in the pool, but these questions were blunt and straight to the point and some were downright rude. But worst of all they were about his personal life. James quickly became infuriated, as he wished that everyone would just leave them in peace.
James stood his ground, determined not to answer anything that would compromise their privacy. “If you don’t mind, I have a big day tomorrow and right now I would just like to go home and get some sleep. Thank you.” Once again James groped behind him for Anna’s hand. As soon as he found it he began pushing his way through the sea of journalists towards the awaiting taxi. James clambered into the back seat, dragging Anna in beside him.
“Where to, sir?” the driver asked politely.
“Chesterfield Castle, thanks,” James instructed, wrapping his arms around Anna. They were sitting so close that she was almost in his lap. James just sat there in silence, staring out the window at the snow covered surroundings, stroking Anna’s hair tenderly.
When the taxi arrived at the castle, James asked the driver for his discretion. With the driver’s quick agreement, James handed him a very generous tip. Forgetting his exhaustion, James carried Anna through the doors and up the stairs. He was hoping that they could simply disappear into Anna’s room and not see or hear from anybody until morning. But James knew that was way too much to wish for as his mother walked into the hallway.
“Hi Mum. It’s so nice to see you,” he said sarcastically.
“Very funny, son. Actually, I would like to talk to you for a moment if you don’t mind.” James rolled his eyes at his mother’s request. Usually James didn’t mind talking to his mother, but tonight it was different. Tonight was his wedding night and his mother wasn’t the woman that he wanted to spend time with.
“I’ll leave you to it. You know where I am when you’re finished.” Anna smiled seductively. James put her down and kissed her hand before she disappeared through her door.
James followed his mother into her room and plopped himself down in the centre of her bed with a heavy sigh. He was anxious to get this conversation over and done with as quickly as possible so he could get back to his wife. “Yes, Mother. What can I do for you?”
“Nothing, actually. It’s what I can do for you.” James shot his mother a puzzled look. “When we return to Australia, as you know you will be marrying Anna. Again. Your father and I have been talking and as our gift to you we would like to send you and Anna on a proper honeymoon. We’ll send you anywhere you want to go.”
James was elated that his parents would do this for them; however he was more than annoyed that they had decided that now was the perfect time to bring this up. They weren’t returning to Australia for almost three weeks yet they were already planning what the next step was. All James wanted to concentrate on was what he was going to be doing for the next few hours. “Thanks. That would be great,” the sarcasm dripped off his tongue.
“Before you get too excited. There’s one condition,” Michael interrupted.
“What would that be? Win more gold medals? Break more world records? Be nicer to Joel? What is it? Come on. Spit it out. What’s the condition?” James questioned impatiently.
“You have to leave right now. Go back to the team hotel and stay with them until the meet is over. We don’t want you to risk losing something you have worked so hard for just for a perfect night with your new wife.” James was sent spinning in a state of shock. Were his parents blackmailing him into not walking directly across the hall and climbing into bed with his wife? That was the one thing that he had most been looking forward to all day. Sure the gold medals and world records were great, but he would never again get another wedding night. It was something he had waited for, for years. It was something that he wanted more than anything else. Anna was what he wanted more than anything else.
“Are you really trying to tell me that I can’t get laid by my hot, new wife on my wedding night? You know that Anna and I have put this off until we were married and now that we are married, you still expect me to restrain myself? As much as I don’t want to have this conversation with you, there is something that you need to understand. I don’t think I have the will power to do that. And I don’t want to either,” James snapped bluntly.
“James, you have to swim three heats and possibly two finals tomorrow. Do you really think you can afford to ‘get laid,’ as you so delicately put it? Or do you think you would be better off getting some sleep?” James saw that his mother had a point, but he still couldn’t hide his frustration.
“Okay. Fine. You win. Can I at least go and say goodnight before you banish me?” James was clearly unimpressed with his parents, but he reluctantly agreed.
“I think that would be wise,” Diana agreed. She gave James a kiss on the head, leaving a bright red blaze behind. “Goodnight, son. See you tomorrow.”
James trudged out of the room, closing the door behind him. Standing alone in the corridor, James took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. It was going to take every ounce of strength and will power that he could muster to walk away from Anna tonight. With another deep breath he entered her room.
Entering the room, James called out to her but got no response. He checked the bathroom and the living room, before wandering into the bedroom. Sucking in another deep breath, James saw her. Anna was lying beneath pure white sheets, sleeping soundly. She was completely naked. Her hair was spread out covering one of the pillows and all her curls were sitting perfectly. She looked like an angel from a magazine shoot. Her breathing was steady and constant. She lay facing James, her lips slightly parted. My Princess. She looks like a dream, James thought.
He was desperate to wake her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was. He wanted to touch her. He wanted her to touch him. He knew it was cruel to wake her but that didn’t stop him from wanting to. Something cramped his stomach and made him feel alive. It was the same overwhelming feeling that had consumed him a handful of nights ago. Yet this time it was different. It was more intense. More consuming. More desperate.
He sat down gently on the bed beside her. Carefully he trailed his fingers across her bare shoulders. Her skin was so soft to touch it was almost silky. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the tip of her nose. Her eyes fluttered at his touch but remained closed. He stood up and moved towards the door. With one final look back, the image of what he was giving up burned in his mind forever, he vanished out the door and into the night.
Half an hour later he stumbled into his own hotel room. Tripping over the wet towels thrown haphazardly on the floor, he fell with a thump. Ian woke up instantly. “Sorry, mate,” James apologised, scrambling to his feet.
Ian was half-asleep but that was all he needed to give James a hard time. “What? Did your missus kick you out already? I thought you would have spent the night at her place,” he niggled, giving James a sly smile.
“I don’t do things like that,” James joined in the friendly banter, trying desperately to hide the truth.
“Well, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. If my wife looked half as hot as yours I would never let her out of my sight. She’s sex on legs.” Ian had completely woken and was now firing at top speed.
“Hey! Watch what you’re saying about my wife.” James laughed. Bloody bastard’s right, though, James muttered to himself. Why the hell did I leave her just to follow a black line? Spending the night with Anna would be much more enjoyable.
“It’s cool. I’m just saying if it was me, or half the guys in the competition, well, I wouldn’t let that little bag of tricks out of my sight. You’re a very game man,” Ian taunted with a sneaky smile. “Anyway, I need my beauty sleep. See you bright and early.” And with that Ian rolled over and began snoring again.
James spent what little was left of the night tossing and turning. When Ian jumped on him just after six the next morning, he was ready to kill. “Fuck off!” James grumbled. He knew he had to get out of bed but knowing that didn’t make it any easier. Reluctantly he forced himself out of bed and made his way down to the pool and joined the group of men sitting in the stands.
One cocky swimmer from the Netherlands saw him coming. “Looks like someone’s had a big night. Or should I say busy?” All the other swimmers broke out in fits of laughter. James had no idea what they were going on about, but he didn’t have the energy to care. Instead he just dropped his bag at his feet and slumped in his chair.
Chapter 14
Someone thrust the newspaper into his lap. James felt sick. The front page was plastered with a tacky photo of him carrying Anna over his shoulder out of the pool and throwing her in the back of a taxi. But it wasn’t the photo that wasn’t making him queasy, it got worse. The bold headline read, “Champion Swimmer, but who is the girl?” The small print asked more questions than it answered. It was a barrage of intrusive unwelcome questions. They wanted to know who she was, where she was from and what exactly her connection was to James.
James was unable to mask his disgust. His face registered every emotion clearly. The change was immediate. Gone was the fatigue and disinterest to be replaced with rage and anger. Without a word they began stacking the papers haphazardly and stashing them out of sight when Ian joined them. “You seen this one?” Ian said, handing James another. The photo was the same as the others but the headline went too far. “Champion Swimmer takes home gold medal and hooker all in the same night.” Ian dropped his hand to James’s shoulder in a sign of support.
James sprung from his seat and raced across the pool deck, his feet barely touching the ground. The media coordinator, Tom Hanson, had just strode in with Joel. “Excuse me, James. I need to speak with you urgently,” Tom butted in. James didn’t give him a second glance as he continued running. He reached the nearest phone booth, still cursing his dead mobile in the bottom of his bag, and put a call straight through to his mother. After explaining everything, he hung up and drifted back to the others in a daze. Ian had already destroyed every copy in sight.
James’s intense hatred of the English press had just been reaffirmed. He’d always considered them to be an invasive, malicious bunch of quivering cowards, but calling his wife a common prostitute had pushed him too far. He was determined to shut them up once and for all. And he knew the only way to do this: Win. Without hesitation James stripped off and dived in. By the time the others joined him in the water he had already pushed past five hundred metres and was showing no signs of slowing.
***
Diana
Diana raced into Anna’s room, determined to get to her before she saw the papers. She was too late. Anna was sitting on the floor in the centre of her suite, the newspapers scattered before her, not a floorboard in sight. Anna glanced up as Diana entered. Her face was stained from the salty tears streaming down her face. Her dressing gown was damp around the collar and Diana could see the pain and hurt was tearing Anna apart.
“Anna.” Diana squatted down beside her, pushing the papers out of the way. “It’s all okay. It’s going to be fine. I promise,” Diana assured her, stroking her hair. Anna’s body hunched over. Within seconds she’d curled herself into a tiny ball, her head resting in Diana’s lap.
“Why would they say all these horrible things?” Anna sobbed.
“Because they can see how much you mean to James. Everyone can. And they know that James will do anything to protect you,” Diana reassured her. “He loves you. And he would move heaven and earth to protect you. He’s on his way. I promise you, he will fix this. You know James.” Anna couldn’t retain the snort and her gut wrenching sobs.
Half an hour later Anna had cried herself to sleep in Diana’s arms. Even a knock at the door could not wake the sleeping beauty. Michael entered, carrying a steaming cup of coffee for Diana. He couldn’t hide the surprise from his eyes. Anna looked exhausted, weak, and broken, lying there in Diana’s lap.
James arrived soon after. His father met him in the corridor as James was running up the stairs. “How is she?” James asked hastily.
“Honestly, I don’t know. She’s asleep in your mother’s lap. I think she was pretty devastated about what they wrote. It was pretty nasty. They really are heartless bastards, aren’t they?” Michael asked rhetorically as he led James towards Anna’s room.
***
James
James walked in and still Anna didn’t stir. Silently he squatted on the floor, and kissed his mother with thanks. Carefully he slid his leg under Anna’s head and helped Diana untangle herself. Still Anna didn’t stir. “Could you just give us a minute?” James smiled, but his eyes begged. Michael helped Diana to her feet before gathering all the papers and abandoning them in the trash on the way out the door.
James was reluctant to wake her. It caused him physical pain to wake her. But James knew that it was up to him to reassure his new wife that he was in no way going to tolerate this shit. He wouldn’t let anyone treat her like that, ever. He shook her shoulder lightly and she began to stir, but still she didn’t wake. Eventually, after some gentle shaking, Anna bumbled to life. As her eyes took in her surroundings and she shook off the blurred vision, Anna’s shock made James smile. James didn’t care. Anna was smiling and even though it looked like it had been painted on it didn’t matter.
“Hey gorgeous. How you holding up?” James asked, running his fingers through her hair distractedly. His big brown eyes were apologetic and his tone was filled with sincerity.
“I’ve had better days,” she answered honestly. Anna started to sit up before dismissing the idea and collapsing back into James’s lap. “I just…I don’t understand why they would say that…that horrible stuff. I mean…it’s bullshit,” Anna’s cried as the tears came on again.
“I know why they said those things…” James started. Anna sat bolt upright, her eyes were wide as James watched as the wave of ‘what the fuck are you talking about’ washed over her. “They said all that because I refused to talk. I wouldn’t play their game. I wouldn’t give them what they wanted. I thought our private life was exactly that. Our private life. I was not willing to jeopardise us for anyone.” James’s lopsided grin sent goose bumps all over her skin.
“So, what do we do?” Anna squeezed James’s hand as if it was her lifeline. He could hear the desperation in her plea.
“Well, it’s your call. We can confess that we’re married and be at their mercy. We can tell them we’re just friends and lie to ourselves. We can tell them that we’re dating. Or we can tell them that we’re engaged. The other option is we say nothing and let them keep printing whatever rubbish that they want. It’s your call. Whatever you want to do, I’ll do,” James’s honesty was admirable.
“I don’t want to hurt you…” Anna blubbered.
Grabbing her hands in his, James looked Anna straight in the eye. “Nothing you say is going to hurt me, Anna. I can promise you that.”
“But…”
“It’s okay. Just tell me what you want to do. Whatever it is, we’ll be okay.” His long arms wrapped around her scared and crumpled body. James never wanted to let her go and this was the only way he knew how to show her that no matter what she decided, he was there.
“I think,” Anna gulped, “that I would like to say that we’re engaged. And it’s not because I don’t want the whole world to know that we’re married, it’s just…Well, my family doesn’t even know yet. And I don’t want them to find out on the six o’clock news.” Anna’s face was full of panic and her eyes full of worry.
James could sense her fear. It was paralysing her. He felt her tense and stiffen in his arms. “I get it, Anna. I promise, I do. And I think that you’ve made the right decision. That way we aren’t lying to the world or ourselves. They just don’t know the full truth. I’m happy with that. I mean, if you are.” Anna didn’t answer; she just smiled a wide, relieved smile and kissed him.
They sat there, wrapped up in each other for half an hour, ironing out the details. James knew that for this to come off the way he wanted it to, the planning had to be flawless. And when he explained what was going to happen to his parents, he could read the pride in their eyes. James explained how they had taken everything into consideration and come up with what they saw as the only diplomatic answer. James kissed Anna goodbye reluctantly and returned to the pool.
***
Anna
Anna couldn’t sit still. Somehow their hiding place had been revealed and the British media had swarmed and were now blocking the front gate. Luckily, they were kept behind locked gates of the castle grounds, which gave Anna the illusion of freedom, even if it was misplaced. Anna wandered down to the brook in total privacy, or so she thought.
She walked down the cobblestone path, just as she had done every day since her arrival. It was her favourite place in world and she didn’t really mind that she was being held hostage in it. She almost slipped on one of the mossy stepping stones, but managed to keep her balance. Just. Being down at the brook in complete silence gave her time to think; the time and space she craved. Sitting down, with the snow still falling from the sky, Anna realised the full extent of what she was putting James through. Overwhelmed with guilt, Anna ran back to the castle as fast as her legs could carry her. As soon as she reached her room, Anna was dialling James’s number frantically. No answer.
***
James
Later that evening, James walked out with the rest of the contestants for his two hundred final. For the first time in the Championships James had not progressed as the fastest qualifier. The time he had set in the semi-final had placed him third, behind a swimmer from Italy and another from the Netherlands. Anna sat in the stands. She didn’t make a sound. She didn’t move a muscle. James was introduced and a frenzied roar of excitement echoed through the arena.
With the sound of the buzzer, racing was under way. James led from the start. By the hundred-metre mark James’s picture perfect face covered the big screen. Then as Anna held her breath with trepidation, the camera panned around the stands before stopping on her. She froze in disbelief or maybe it was just in shock. When Anna finally took a breath, text scrolled across the bottom of the screen. ‘Who is she?’ flashed for everyone to see. Anna’s head dropped in shame as the cheers intensified. Moments later James touched the wall. Tonight he was going home with not only a gold medal but also a world record. James had beaten the rest of the field by over a second.
