Frankie Jones
Six Months Later
I hate change.
Jenny has been with me since I was seventeen, not only as my coach, but as one of my best friends. She became family to me, somebody I know I can rely on and run to with any problem I may have. Unfortunately, the day I've been praying would never come has approached, Jenny is stepping down.
Her sister took ill and she's originally from Scotland, she's moving back there and that means she can no longer be my coach. I tried to plan around it, I tried everything to make it work but it was inevitable, I have to find somebody new.
Jenny won't be gone from my life, she'll still be one of my greatest friends and I'll still call her with every minor inconvenience. I'll still have Alice too, so it isn't the end of the world. The thought of finding someone new though, feels impossible.
Alice, Jenny and I sat there in Alice's office reading through different CV's and resumes. I was being picky apparently, too harsh on people who would probably end up doing a good job. It's hard to pick a replacement for somebody irreplaceable.
I could train with a coach from the GB team, however I like to do my training separately. We have scheduled training days where the whole team meet and train together, and then days dedicated for the relay races but apart from that, if you want to do the bulk of the training yourself, we're free to do so. They like to make sure we're still on track, they work closely with us even though we have our own coaches.
'Frankie, we've gone through almost every option here,' Alice sighed. 'You gotta say yes to somebody.'
'I'm trying! I'm being open minded I swear.' I said, sitting back in the chair looking at my manager who I was clearly stressing out.
Alice is a good friend of mine, somehow. I drive her up the wall, she definitely never has a dull day of work and yet somehow when she isn't working she likes to be my friend too. I'm lucky, because if I was my manager, I'd get as far away from myself as possible the second the working day was over.
'You know most of these people are probably better than me.' Jenny chuckled. 'They know their shit.'
'I don't like the sound of some of them though.' I explained, to which they both shook their heads. 'What!? I'm gonna be spending all my hours of all my days with this person, I gotta like them!'
Training is intense, especially when you've qualified for the Olympic team and you're expected to bring back three gold medals, and then another gold for the relay. It's an everyday thing, stupidly early mornings and extremely repetitive routines. It's all worth it, and it's my life so I'm used to it all by now.
Training with someone new will be hard. I'll have to spend a lot of time with whoever this person may be and it's important that we get along well because when times are hard, and tensions are high, it's good to have someone you trust to help you through it.
'I have one more suggestion, but you're not gonna like it.' Alice said, sliding my forward a piece of paper.
The second I laid my eyes on the name at the top of the page, I let out a sarcastic laugh. There was no way in hell that it would ever be a good idea, it was an easy no, the easiest decision I've ever made in my life.
'Hear us out-'
'Harry Styles?' I raised an eyebrow. 'Seriously?'
'Okay, listen...' Alice tried to explain.
'It's a no.'
'Listen to me first-'
'It's a no.' I repeated.
