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Seventeen Days of Gold Chapter Three - Continued OK, so the salon thing wasn’t so bad. Since it was now a “company expense” I went for the full treatment: wash, dye, set, manicure, pedicure. I felt so refreshed I even went shopping for a few Olympic souvenirs for the people back home. The store had a lovely gold snowflake pendant that I was dying to get for myself, but it seemed a bit extravagant right now. Maybe I’ll catch a sale on it before I leave town. So with a few t-shirts and other trinkets, I hummed my way back to my room to “move”. I should pamper myself more often. I’m actually beginning to think this whole reassignment thing won’t be so bad. I opened the door to my suite and nearly crunched my foot down on something plastic. So much for that good mood. It was my borrowed, and now broken, Journey CD that I lent to Elvis the night before. He had snapped the CD right in half and slid it back under my door. The nerve of that dick! I thought to call him, but when I looked at my cell phone, I realized that it was quite past the time I should have been at my new post. Apolo and company should already be back from practice. I swore under my breath and did about 90 m.p.h. stuffing all my crap back into my suitcase, tossing the broken CD on top. I dashed to the elevator and headed down to the lobby to exchange my key card, then back up to my new floor. I made it into my room without being caught, but my concealment didn’t last long. Apolo had heard me crashing around in the suite and knocked on the door separating our two rooms. “Yes?” I asked, opening the door to Apolo, freshly showered, hair still wet and dripping slightly onto his gray t-shirt. He looked a little more together than he did this morning, but this time had a pout on his face. He actually looked kind of cute. The hair dye must have done something to my brain. I tried not to smile. “Where have you been? They told me to wait for you here and I’m starving!” He whined. I rolled my eyes and walked away, leaving the door open. “The lieutenant asked me to take care of a few things before I got here.” I said, flipping open my suitcase and starting to sort thru the contents. Apolo eyed the shopping bags next to my feet as he sat on my bed. “Yeah, I’ll bet.” He grouched. He picked up the broken CD I had tossed aside. “Did this happen just now?” “Somewhere between last night and now.” I shrugged. “I gotta stop loaning my shit to people. Especially when they piss me off.” I snatched the CD out of his hands and stuffed it into the suitcase pocket. Apolo just sat and watched me unpack. It took me several minutes before I realized he was still sitting there. Geeze, he’s quiet! I looked down at him and placed my hands on my hips. “What are you doing?” “Watching you unpack.” “Why?” “’Cause I’m waiting for you.” “Can’t you do that in your room?” “I suppose.” He stood up. “I mean, it’s not like we’re supposed to be handcuffed together.” I said, making a shooing gesture. Apolo looked at me over his shoulder and smiled slyly. “Don’t even….” I said, pointing at him threateningly. "I could make arrangements to have you handcuffed to a 350 pound woman with a little mustache problem." He laughed as I closed the door behind him. I started to head back to my unpacking, when my stomach growled loudly. "What the hell." I thought out loud. "I suppose I could use some lunch too." We made our way to the dining table containing the rest of the short track team. Most appeared to have finished their lunch, and some made comments about Apolo's tardiness. "Hey Chunks, what's up? It's not like you to be late for something like food." Kidded Shani. Apolo shot him an annoyed look. "Well, I think I can see why he was delayed." Smiled Rusty, looking at me. "What occasion brings you here?" I sat down next to Apolo and smiled at Rusty. I had almost forgotten about this particular member of the team. "I could tell you. But then I'd have to kill you." I winked. He looked royally confused. Apolo started an explanation, but I placed my hand on his arm and cut him off quietly. "Not right now. We'll explain it to them later." That's right, if I'm supposed to be passing off as Apolo's girlfriend, then any extra curricular activity would be impossible. Oh, fuck it. I'm starting hate men again anyway. They're all nothing but a pain in the ass. I ate quietly as the boys began talking amongst themselves. Peeling the foil lid off my yogurt dessert, I licked it before stirring the spoon in and then licking that as well. I noticed that they had gotten suddenly quiet. I looked around and then at Apolo before slowly pulling the spoon out of my mouth. Apparently, this was similar to the effect of a woman-licking-an-ice-cream-cone. I could feel the corner of my mouth curling up into a sly grin as I focused my eyes straight at Apolo and leaned ever-so-slightly closer to him. "Would you like some?" I asked. "Umm...maybe later." He gulped and returned to his lunch. I chuckled to myself. Yep, men are nothing but a pain in the ass, but you can at least have some fun tormenting them. ******************** It seemed the heater in the room had only two adjustments, off and hot-as-hell. It was after dinner and I just finished unpacking. Since it was about time that I relaxed and had some time to myself, I slipped into some shorts and my Powerpuff Girls tank top. It was too cutesy, but at least it kept me cool. I plopped down on the bed and put on my headphones, one ear on and one ear off, so I could still hear any potential danger next door. Apolo and friends were laughing it up in his suite. At least they didn't decide they wanted to go out tonight or anything, I didn't have this act quite down yet. Not sure if I would, period. I could hear girls voices next door as well. Probably Blondie. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to ever listen to him banging any bimbos in the next room. I made a face. Now that wouldn't be fair, would it? I laid on my back, playing a set of air drums. I could hear it growing quieter and quieter in Apolo's room. Then a knock at the door. I sighed and got up slowly. I think we both got a little surprised when I opened the door. He stood there, barefoot, wearing only a pair of blue lightweight sweatpants and a white tank top that showed off his toned arms and broad shoulders. He took in his first glimpse of my bare legs, and followed them up to my summertime ensemble. Obviously the heater in his room suffered from the same problems mine did. "Buttercup, eh?" He said, eyeing green-eyed mini superhero on my tank top and smiling. "Yeah." I replied nonchalantly. "She kicks ass. What can I do for you?" "Well, everyone else has gone off to bed, but I'm not tired yet." He replied. "I saw you were still awake, so I thought we could maybe talk a bit." "I guess." I shrugged, and walked back to my bed, flopping down on it. "But I don't have much to talk about." "Don't you think we should get to know each other before we start doing this thing?" He said, sitting on the bed near my knees. "This 'thing' is not like being college roomies for a year. We aren't required to 'get to know each other'; we just need to tolerate each other for the next couple weeks. Besides..." I said, picking up the file the lieutenant gave me. "I have everything I need to know right here." "But I don't know anything about you." He stated. "And I'd like to keep it that way." I replied, staring at the ceiling again. Apolo was quiet for a moment. "You don't like me much, do you?" He inquired. "Let's just say, I didn't exactly jump up and down when I got this assignment." I said after a pause. "Are you going to be like this for the next two weeks?" "Probably." I replied flatly. "Well, to hell with ya, then!" Apolo said, suddenly angry. "I'm going to bed." "Well, good night then." I said, rather surprised, as I watched him storm back to his room, slamming the door. "What a short temper!" I said to myself, as I got up and locked the door. "But I suppose I deserved that." What the hell is my problem anyway? I thought to myself. What did he ever do to me? I just couldn't handle his egotism. Look, he even got pissed just now because I wasn't paying attention to him. At least tomorrow I would get to see if he really knew how to skate or if it was all just a show. "Don't believe everything you hear about him." Chuck's words echoed in my head as I looked at the file lying on my bed. I sat down and spent the better part of the night leafing through it. Scene Music: "Don't Care Anymore" by Phil Collins Copyright Material TMS2002 Chapter 4 Back to Chapter 3, pt. 1 Return to Home   page created with Webpage Designer (NS)