ALISHA
Just as I was about to defeat the sharks riding on huge caterpillars, some sound went off and I woke up with a start. Damn it, I was so close to victory! Rubbing my eyes, I focused at the figure in my room. Arbaaz was standing besides my bed, with his phone blasting music.
“Shut it off!” I grumbled, covering my ears and trying to go back to sleep.
“Up, up, up. You don’t want to piss Dimitri off, do you?” I ignored him, so he just picked me up and took me straight into my bathroom.
“He’s outside, and Roo will be here soon. So better get ready.” I nodded and looked at my own phone. Just six freaking am, and he was here to make us train?! Ladies and gentlemen, Dimitri had lost the pea sized brain he had.
I took a quick shower and wore crop top, shorts and carried a jacket with myself. Just as I was hopping down the stairs, I heard my phone indicating a site change.
“I hate pulmonary fibrosis.” I mumbled, looking around for someone to help. Great, everyone was still asleep. Now, I envied them to no end. They all were gonna snore till something like 10 am, when I’d be working my butt off.
“Need help?” Dimitri’s voice boomed through the house and I turned around to find him sitting outside in the porch.
“Yeah.” I sighed and rolled up my top. He raised his brows at me and I chuckled.
“I need a pod change.” I stated flatly, and told him how to go about it. The pod was on my tummy now, so I had to get it on my back this time. I made him clean the site first, and then gave a demo of inserting the pod in place.
“Done.” I flinched as it entered my body and I sighed. Quickly, I changed its mode to exercise, and kept my phone inside.
“There you are.” Dimitri spotted Roo first.
“I’m hating this.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“Let’s go.” He got out the front door, and instead of heading towards the gym, he headed outside.
“Huh?” I asked not so smartly and Roo just followed us.
“Figured there’s a beach in front of us, so why waste time on treadmills?” he shrugged and we crossed the road to hit the sand. Really less people were scattered around the place, and all those who were didn’t give a damn about us. It was early morning and no paparazzi were present. Hugging my jacket, we began running as the humid air hit us with full force.
“Let’s time.” Dimitri stood at a corner, and pointed at a coconut tree for us to start from. Growling internally, both of us made our way to the tree.
“Go!” he signalled into the morning air and we sprinted off. I had gotten terribly slow, but I knew I was catching up with my speed and strength.
“Wow, supergirl.” Roo teased me as we both reached the end point with real less margin than before. I never knew I had gained back so much of my ability! Maybe that was the entire motto behind making me jog everyday in LA.
“31.64. Not bad. Not good either.” Dimitri stated, and I punched him in my head. He could just not be satisfied with what we had.
He made us do some more insane workout on the beach itself, before dragging us back to the gym. There again he made us work out, condition, stretch and what not.
“Alright girls, now that I don’t have to deal with the terrible management back at the Sky…here’s what we are gonna do.”
Dimitri was more than happy to be rid of the management. They had so many set rules and guidelines that not many got to train suited best for them. He never liked them, but he had no choice but to abide by them. Until now.
“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.
“You’re right.” I sighed and had the rest of my breakfast.
“Hey, we’ve haven’t been on a date for weeks!” Arbaaz pointed out and I thought about it. Yeah, it had been quite a while since we last went on a date.
“Date tomorrow?”
“Sure, come over to office tomorrow and I’ll take you out.” He grabbed his keys and jacket before getting up.
“Same place?” I turned around to see him leave. Alright, I still wasn’t used to the idea of living in such a huge house. It still expected the door to be visible with a few feet.
“Of course.” He kissed my forehead and left out the door.
“So, my date for tomorrow will be work.” Salman pouted and I giggled. Poor him- lots of work was pending in the office, at shoots and interviews. Lord, he had one heck of a schedule.
“Oh, and someone came up with an offer for you.” He grinned and I raised my brow at him. Were they ok with me getting into the national team again? If not, I wasn’t interested.
“A movie offer.” He cocked his head to the right. He had so much fun when stuff like that happened and I was made to take decisions, possibly life changing decisions.
“Opposite Johnny Depp?” I crossed my fingers and he shook his head.
“But, Tom Cruise is gonna be in the movie. With Jake Austin.” He spat the last name and I had to sniffle a laugh. Any guy my age, possible boyfriend and he hated the guy instantly. I was surprised to see him cool with Adrian, but then again he had said Salman had given him ‘words of wisdom.’
“Ha, I’m not gonna bear his Scientology talks again. Not in a thousand years.” At that Salman burst out laughing. No seriously, I and Hailie were at a movie screening, and this dude wouldn’t stop talking about his religion. I mean, I didn’t give a damn. I was an agnostic back then too, and was hardly interested. The entire time he kept on with his blah blah blah. I wonder how Katie, Suri, Bella and Connor kept up with him.
“But seriously, if you do wanna get into movies this is one hell of an opportunity.”
“I don’t want to. Salman for a change I want to concentrate on my goal and nothing else. I mean I could get into movies or music when I’m eighteen, but I doubt I’d be able to get back to gymnastics then.”
“Good to see you prioritize.” He patted my shoulder and left the discussion there. Who knew how many insanely to-kill-for opportunities I had let go off for gymnastics, and I knew this wouldn’t be the last one. But one thing was for sure- unlike most times- I had no regrets now.
“Alright, that’s enough of injury prevention conditioning.” Dimitri called and I went over to the vault. Roo was working her ass off on the beam, which was her strength. She was what we called the beam princess, and she just got sexy back on it. She tumbled on it like it was floor, and her artistry was like it was a ballet stage.
Me on the other side sucked at vault. I had hated it all my life, and it was my disadvantage. My vaults had always been simple just to keep my scores safe. And now I had learn it all over again.
One and a half twist. Fuck you.
“Now, it’s simple we all know it. But we also know you have to learn it all over again.”
“I haven’t forgotten my gymnastics.” I defended myself, checking my numbers before getting on the vault.
“You haven’t forgotten, but you have changed. It’s called puberty.” He stated and I cursed mother nature again. I had noticed- I was actually getting a tad bit taller, and a tad bit curvy, and ‘blooming.’ And me being not like most girls was the least bit excited about it. It just made the sport harder, which was all. I had my entire life to grow, but these two years were for me, gymnastics, and Olympics.
“But it’s not the end. If you keep practicing while you’re center of gravity shifts you won’t even notice the transition. Besides I’ve noticed girls just get artistic with getting older.” He smirked, but not in the jerk style. Not replying, I set the vaulting board and went to the end. Focusing on the vault in front of me, I ran and used my memory to carry out the skill. And I ended up crashing my butt on the blue mat.
“Holy shit this hurts.” I mumbled as my back throbbed with pain.
“Watch your shoulders. Your right shoulder doesn’t completely come in front, causing you to fall.” He helped me up and I made my way towards the mat again. Shoulders, right. Watch them, and don’t fall on your butt.
Did it help? Yeah, I didn’t fall on my butt the second time, I fell right off the landing mat. So much for watching my shoulder and getting them right in the front.
“And while watching your legs, don’t lets your legs sway around.” He yelled from the ipad, which captured the videos and played them in slow motion. Seriously, so much technology for us to train. Even the gym had an ipad and I didn’t. And people called me spoiled rotten.
I sighed and checked my numbers again, which I knew were obviously low. Dialing units, I went back to the vault, falling for millions of times for the day. At the end, I wasn’t falling but still stumbling around the mat sometimes. I wasn’t close to perfect, there were still technical things left. Pointed legs, height, poise, posture, everything. Remind me again why did I love the sport?
When we got out it was five am, and I was tired to no end. Pulling myself into the room I stripped and got into the hot bathtub. I let my muscles relax and closed my eyes when I realized this bathtub was also a Jacuzzi. Blasting music and letting water soak in, I just sat there for a while till I was completely relaxed. Showering, I wrapped a towel around me and went into my closet.
My outfit for today’s party was already set neatly and honestly it was to die for. It was a mix of ethnic Indian wear with a touch of global fashion. Cream white with some work, it was most popularly known as chudidaar. The designer was Payal Shingal, and I had fallen in love with her work from the day Bebo introduced me to her.
Slipping it on, I was glad I didn’t drown in it. Brushing my hair, I grabbed random makeup things and barged into Malaika’s room.
“Help?” I dropped all the things in my hand on her bed and she smiled at me. She mostly called a makeup stylist, but even she herself was no less. She kept it light with my entire face, just enhancing the bronze skin tone I had and emphasizing on my almond eyes.
“Somebody looks gorgeous.” Sohail came in with Arbaaz in tow. Salman was gonna be late, so he’d be here when the party started. Late at his own house warming party.
“Somebody looks handsome.” I replied right back. The theme of this party was Indian wear, so everyone was in ethnic clothes. Malaika was in a saree, both the guys in sherwani, but of different makes.
“Looks like the guests have started coming in.” Arbaaz looked down and we went down together. Everyone influential was invited, nobody was left out. And no I wasn’t kidding. From family friends and relatives, to business tycoons, to politicians, to royal families, to other important and close people in the film industry, everyone was here to celebrate with us. A few people had even flown down from LA to attend tonight’s party. Insane, right?
But I was the least interested in them. All I needed were my friends to come. As soon as Aryan, Sara, Sasha, Veer, Niall and Lauren walked in I dragged them outside- away from the boring people and their even boring conversations.
Almost the entire night we stayed awake and hanged around. Around two am, the guests left leaving us with only the close and dear ones. The paparazzi were still standing outside in hopes of a glimpse of our family. So Salman being Salman sympathized for them and pushed us all to the balcony to wave at his fans and media.
Alright, their numbers were much more than I expected. But atleast now it won’t be a curse for everyone else living around. Where we first lived, the fans would come and block the entire road on occasions, which was a pain in the butt of others living there. The immense love my brothers received was overwhelming and I stood behind Sohail to shield myself from the lights. He squeezed my shoulders reassuring me, and we left for our rooms soon.
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Long? I know...I loved writing it!!!
So...think she can make it back to gymnastics?!