PART ONE
*Jess' POV*
Many Weeks Earlier
"Jess you were almost two seconds too slow on that one!" my Trainer yelled at me as I crossed the finish line of the track and reached out for the bottle of water he was holding.
"Fine, I'll make the next one two seconds too fast," I replied between huffs of out-of-breatheness.
"You are so stubborn," my Trainer, Joe, laughed.
"Well if I start running slow then these are empty miles and I might as well just start over," I shrugged, shaking my legs out.
"Ready for the next one?"
"Yup," I smirked.
"Ok... Go!" Joe said, hitting the start button on his stopwatch. I took off around the track on my eighth 400m out of fifteen. As an athletics star, I found myself at the track for hours everyday, doing different workouts to get me in shape for my dream, the London 2012 Olympics. This workout was a speed one, I had to do fifteen 400m runs all at the same time. And that time had to be fast. If I started to slow down then the workout was sort of not worth it, especially since it was the later laps that mattered the most for my conditioning.
"You're unbelievable," my Trainer laughed as I pulled up to a stop after my lap, holding the stopwatch up for me to see.
"Ha!" I said, stretching my back gently and getting my breath back.
"I didn't think you were serious when you said you do the next one two seconds fast, but you were spot on."
"I'm the queen of pace," I smirked.
"You're also a cocky shit," my Trainer laughed, "Now let's go. You've got seven more still and we need to get you across town for that Sport Relief thing."
"Ugh, I feel bad complaining about it since it's for charity, but I really don't want to do all of that, it's too much attention."
"You're just a lazy arse," Joe replied, "Now get going."
I rolled my eyes at him before lining up to take off on another lap. When I ran I let my mind go blank, I didn't have to think about anything or anyone, just getting to the finish line as fast as possible. It's why I loved it so much. That and I couldn't help but be super competitive.
Forty-five minutes later and I was in the showers, having finished my workout, done a cool down, and stretched out. I was taking the day off from weights, which gave me a bit more time to get ready for my meeting with the Sport Relief team. I was supposed to be meeting up with a few of the organizers and some of the other "celebrity" supporters. I used celebrity in loose terms because I didn't consider myself famous at all. I was just a runner that happened to be kinda fast. Like former world champion fast. But it was no big deal, at least in my eyes.
"Jessica you ready?" Joe shouted into the locker room.
"Five minutes!" I shouted back, hurrying about to get some jeans and a jumper on. I threw my somewhat wet hair back into a ponytail and pulled some boots on, locking my training things up and grabbing my purse as I headed out.
"Your car is waiting," Joe said as I came skipping out of the locker room.
"Cheers, see you tonight!"
"Behave!" he replied, "Don't make them regret choosing you for this."
"I won't!" I replied, laughing to myself as I did.
I played on my phone for the entire ride to the Sport Relief offices, and then sat idly in reception for a few minutes waiting to be called into my meeting.
"Coffee? Tea?" the receptionist asked me.
"Do you have water?" I asked, sticking strictly to my diet.
"Sure," she replied, wandering off.
"Hi Jessica," a middle-aged man said, coming up to me after pushing through the office doors.
"Hi how are you?" I asked, shaking his hand politely.
"Great," he replied, "My name is Dirk by the way, I'll be your contact for all of your Sport Relief relations."
"Oh excellent," I smiled.
"How is training going for this summer?"
"As good as it can I guess," I replied, "Haven't raced in a few months so its hard to tell until I can get myself on the start line."
"Any racing plans soon?"
"Yeah got a couple invitationals lined up over the next few months before Olympic Qualifiers late this spring," I replied, "Get to go to Japan for the first time at the end of next month!"
"That sounds great!" Dirk replied as the receptionist passed me a bottle of water. I opened it and took a quick sip as Dirk continued on, "We can go sit in the conference room if you'd prefer, the JLS boys are running late but they should be here soon."
"They're coming?" I asked. Honestly I had no idea who all was going to be involved with Sport Relief, I'd only heard what Joe had told me about it, which wasn't much.
"Yeah, it's going to be you and JLS taking on the brunt of the promotion, and then we've lined up a few actors to do some work here and there. It's just you guys today though."
"Wow," I replied, actually surprised. I had assumed that they'd asked a whole ton of people to do the promo work and that I'd just be in the back corner or something. I had no idea that I was going to be so involved, right at the forefront.
"We thought it would be perfect to bring Britain's number one Olympic athletics hopeful on to promote the Mile this year!" he grinned. I could feel my cheeks flush red as he called me 'Britain's number one Olympic athletics hopeful.' In my mind I was just another runner with big dreams, nothing more.
"Dirk the boys are here," the receptionist said after a moment of awkward silence. Slowly the door opened wider and four boys in low trousers came laughing into the conference room with someone I expected was their manager.
"Hello again boys," Dirk said, getting up to shake their hands. I sat back and waited for introductions to come, not wanting to interrupt Dirk's greeting. "And boys, this is Jessica Rego," he said finally, "She'll be joining you for the promo."
"Hi," I said shyly.
"Hey Jessica," the chorused, throwing their names out to me as I shook their hands. I got a few compliments about my racing, and I tried to return them about their music. I didn't know much, just what was on the radio.
As we settled around the table to begin discussing the plan of attack for the Sports Relief campaign, I studied each of the boys in turn. Three of them were enraptured in the conversation, asking questions, and generally paying attention. The fourth, the smallest of the group, appeared to be completely distracted, staring at me.
I gave him a look as he continued with his gaze, receiving a wink in return. Shocked by his arrogance I raised an annoyed eyebrow at him before returning my attention to the meeting.
I couldn't remember which one he was, but if he thought he could use his silly boy band charm on me, he had another thing coming for him.
PART TWO
"So Jessica will be attending most of the TV appearances and photo shoots with you boys," Dirk clarified as the meeting continued. "I'll make sure to get you the full schedule as soon as its finalized, but it shouldn't be more than a few things a week, a couple hours each."
"That's fine," I replied, "I'll make sure to compare them to my racing schedule to make sure we don't have any conflicts."
"I've already got the schedule from your trainer," Dirk replied.
"Oh," I said, surprised that Joe had passed that information along for me.
"There is one conflict in there, but I think the boys will be fine to just cover that appearance on their own."
"Cheers," I replied, sitting back in my seat.
I listened on as he explained all of the commitments we'd signed ourselves up for, and then finally we were told the meeting was over and we could head home.
"We'll see you in two days for our official photo shot," Dirk said as he shook our hands again.
"Thanks," I smiled, grabbing my things and heading out to the car that was hired to take me home.
"Hey Jessica," one of the boys said as I got in the elevator.
I didn't make a move to hold the door up, and much to my chagrin the boy who called my name made it into the elevator before the doors snapped shut.
"So Jessica..." the guy started.
"So..." I replied, not sure what his name was. It was hard to learn four names quickly!
"Aston," he grinned, an annoying bright look on his face. "Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a drink sometime."
"I don't drink," I said flatly, "Athletics and all..."
"Oh right, how about a coffee?" he asked.
"Don't drink that either," I replied, a smug look on my face.
"What do you drink?" he asked, clearly entertained by my apparent lack of interest in all beverages.
"Water?" I shrugged.
"Water!" he laughed, "Ok... do you want to go for a drink of water sometime?"
"Nope," I replied, just as the elevator opened up.
"Come on!" he pleaded, "It'll be fun."
"Why?" I asked, stopping in my tracks and studying him again. He was wearing a baseball cap on his head, set at an awkward sideways angle. His trousers were impossibly low, and his shirt was lower cut than mine was.
"Why not?" he retorted.
I shrugged, turning to head towards the doors and the car waiting for me.
"You seem like a cool girl," Aston said after me.
"You don't even know me," I laughed.
"I know enough," he said.
"Really?"
"Yup," he grinned.
"Well obviously not..." I smirked, "Have a good afternoon."
Without turning back I wandered out of the building and into the waiting car, headed off towards home, shaking my head the entire time. I couldn't believe how presumptuous that boy bander had been! I was almost positive that he was pulling one of his regular moves, and I was absolutely not going to fall for it.
That night, as with many nights, I found myself at Joe's house. He was the same year as me, we'd gone to school together for ages, and not only was he my Trainer but he was also my best friend. And pretty much my brother.
"Do you mind holding Stella for a minute?" Joe asked, passing me an infant.
"Sure," I replied, cradling the baby in my arms.
"I'm just going to help Kat with the dishes, be back in a tick," he replied, referring to his wife.
I had always been envious of Joe. While we were the same age, he seemed so much further along in life, with a loving wife and gorgeous baby daughter. I held her for a while, staring down at her chubby baby features as I swayed her to sleep.
"Stel, stay away from popstars," I told the child as I rocked her back and forth.
"Aye?" asked a voice. I looked up to see Joe looking at me expectantly.
"One of the JLS boys asked me out," I grimaced.
"You've known them a day and you are already breaking hearts?" he asked, holding his arms out for his child.
"Well to be fair, it was a bit presumptuous that he even bothered asking," I replied.
"Which one?" asked Joe.
"God, I've already forgotten," I laughed.
"You're horrible," he said, "Someday you're going to meet some guy and fall head over heels in love, and you'll look back and laugh at your cold ways."
"It's not my fault that I'm more focused on winning a gold medal than on members of the opposite sex!" I argued.
"You haven't been on a date in over two years!"
"So?"
"You're gonna crack one day, that's all."
"Well it's not going to be today!" I smirked.
"Fair enough," Joe replied, studying my face. I couldn't help but feel slightly self-conscious about his scrutinizing glance. He was the only person in the world that could read me like a book. Really, he was all I had.