Crushed and Created- Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Time to get serious

“Every day, you girls train for five hours a day. Three hours in the morning, two in the late afternoon or vice versa. I’m giving you the luxury to decide what you want. Yes, only five hours of training, and trust me- they’re gonna be intense.”

“That way we’ll never be able to compete with the other elites.” I supported Roo on that one. Elites trained for seven hours a day, and they didn’t kid around either. With two hours less per day, we would lose the ability to kick butts.

“You will be. It’s not the quantity of time, but the quality that matters. I know what long training can do to gymnasts; talented gymnasts and I will not let that happen to you. There are other ways to train in elite gymnastics, and that’s what we are gonna do.”

I didn’t believe him, I was pretty skeptical about the entire idea. The USA gymnastics was on its peak, and the Chinese were determined to beat us. With two strong rivals, less practice meant losing the battle, right?

“Alisha, on the beam.” Dimitri pointed and I got on it.

“Close your eyes.” He said and I followed him. Where the hell was he going?

“Do you trust me?” his voice was low, almost hypnotizing. There was no other sound except the mild music playing around the gym.

“Yes.”

“Then let go.” He stated in his Russian accent and I just gripped the beam tighter with the sole of my legs.

“Let. Go.” He emphasized on every word, and I felt myself in the air falling head first towards the mats.

“There.” He placed me on my feet. He had caught me mid air, and saved me from falling.

“Just like that, trust me again. I promise I won’t let you fall till you reach your destination.” He said after repeating the same exercise with Roo. Both of us exchanged glances and I saw nothing but confidence in hers. And I was almost sure mine reflected the same emotion too. We nodded in unison and he cracked a smile. It was rare of him showing any emotion at all, he always had a mask on. And when he removed the mask occasionally, it meant a lot to everyone.

“We still have an hour to go today, so Lauren hit the uneven bars. And I want the release done ASAP. Remember, keep your shoulders firm.” Roo nodded and went to get chalk.

“As for you, hit the ropes and condition. We’ll have to wait for tomorrow for you to start off.”

“Huh?” I asked not so smartly- again.

“New routine, new choreographer.” He stated and I stared at him dumbfounded. New routine? Seriously?

“But…”

“Don’t. Trust me, we need a new routine for you. And a better vault. Which we’ll look at in the afternoon.” He went off towards his chair and I scowled. Ropes, I hated them with a passion.

“Yeah so, he’s gonna get me a new routine.” I whined at Salman and he chuckled. We were having some much needed breakfast before everyone went off to work or just back to hanging out around the house.

“That’s cool.”

“No, it’s not. I mean I have to find new music so soon, and then learn it all over again. With such less time.” I hit my head on the table and growled. This could end disastrously.

“Hey, it’s never gonna be alright if you start with doubts and negativity. Just give your all into it, and you’ll stick it just right.” Arbaaz side hugged me and I sighed. I’d call him a philosopher and roll my eyes at him if it was any other day, but today those words meant a lot to me. He was correct- I couldn’t start with negativity.