One single thread of Gold

Chapter 2 [Then]

"All I know is that we said 'hello' and your eyes look like coming home. All I know is a simple name. Everything has changed"

Then, Paris 2012

Maya hadn't planned this.

She didn't know how she ended up in Paris out of all places. She just knew that she couldn't stay there any longer.

There was in London with her dad, there was also in Seattle with her mom and Mason.

Mason who had been hospitalized the day of her big race, the day she had won Gold at the Olympics.

Most of it had still felt unreal to her, it was as if that whole day had been a blur. One minute she'd been crossing the finish line, and the next her dad had taken her in his arms and held on to her tight, and Maya had felt the pride radiating off the man, the pride months ago she would've done anything for, but then he'd set her down and a mask of annoyance had taken over his face.

The words that came out of his mouth were a blur, but Maya would never forget the two words that haunted her dreams, Mason overdosed.

Of course she felt guilty, she knew it was the neglect from their father that had led Mason to this point, she knew because she'd seen it on Masons face, and in his actions, everytime Lane would take Maya training and accompany her to races, but belittle Mason on his art.

Maya saw it in the way her brother's shoulders had started sinking more and more each day, as he'd started to close in on himself, becoming the shell of a person she'd once known, but Maya felt hopeless. All she could think about in the aftermath was maybe i should've done more

She knew she'd reached her limit with trying to impress her father, especially after she'd found out how he'd known about Mason the whole day but had only told Maya once she'd crossed the finish line, after she'd earned the medal for him.

Maya couldn't stay with her father and do interviews and photoshoots any longer, the thought of her dad ignoring Mason's needs for hers once again was too sickening, but she knew she couldn't go back to Seattle either, the guilt was too overwhelming, she couldn't face her brother, she wouldn't.

So Maya Bishop, Olympic Gold Medalist, found herself in Paris, where she had been for the past 3 months, ignoring her problems, drinking them away in local bars. In her mind she knew she had to deal with them at some point, she knew she had to go back to Seattle, she had to look into her brother's eyes, but today would not be that day.

The streets were bustling with crowds of people, walking to their destination, on a tuesday night, the air cold and damp as it approached winter. It reminded Maya of the countless nights and mornings her father would make her run around their block, until her knees gave out and she couldn't run anymore.

She felt a shiver go up her spine as she shook her head, trying to put thoughts of her dad away and letting Paris distract her. She shoved both her hands inside the pockets of her jacket and wrapped it a little tighter around herself, making her way to her daily destination, the path all too familiar to her now.

As she approached the brick building and walked towards the stairs on its side leading underground, she watched people come out and rush past her, the warmth from inside hitting her face. She held onto the door before it closed and stepped inside, walking straight towards what even the bartenders had come to know as her spot.

In the past 3 months, she'd been here countless times, always around the same time, always walking up to the same spot, and always sitting in the same chair. Maya loved routines. She loved when things were a certain way. There was no particular reason she'd chosen this spot aside from the fact that it had been the only open spot the night she had first found this place, and it had always been empty in the day's after and so she'd stuck with it.

Today although, as she approached it she could see a woman already sitting there, her side to Maya, and her face covered by long brunette waves. Maya had gone there with half the mind to leave and come back tomorrow, but the seat next to the brunette was empty and it was close enough right? If the past year had taught her anything, it was that sometimes things don't go according to plan.

She just had to ask the woman if the seat next to her was empty, and then she could just sit down and drink her problems away like every other night, she just hoped the answer was yes, but as she went to open her mouth, the brunette turned towards her at the same time and the words got stuck in Maya's throat.

The woman's eyes were brown, like chocolate Maya thought, warm and inviting, her lips turned up in a polite smile, but it was the sound of her voice that pulled Maya back in as she furrowed, the voice familiar, Maya thought she must have heard it somewhere before, the lilt of her accent unique enough as to where Maya knew it couldn't have been a coincidence.

She realized she'd been staring as the woman was still trying to get her attention, but Maya interrupted her, "I'm sorry, you just look familiar, I feel like I've seen you somewhere? Is that weird? I definitely sound creepy, I swear I'm not trying to be creepy" she realized she'd been rambling and stopped

But the woman just smiled up at her not saying a single word

"I'm sorry, I'll go somewhere else" she said pointing towards the door

"Wait" she heard behind her, turning around "This seat's not taken, did you want to sit down?"

Maya just nodded and decided not to make a comment about how that was exactly what she'd been planning on asking the woman

"And about your question, i don't know about you but i certainly remember a certain blonde winning a gold at the olympics this year. Has anyone recently told you that you look like her?" the woman said in a joking tone making Maya blush furiously.

"Hmm I don't know, you might be the first one to say that actually" she replied back with a smug grin on her face

"Oh really?" she paused as if in thought "I don't know you certainly have the build of an olympian" her lower lip was now pulled in between her teeth as she eyed Maya's forearms.

Maya cursed herself for blushing once more, she knew she was probably red all over and looked like she was having trouble breathing but the brunette just smiled at her as if it was the most normal thing, and Maya thought for someone that beautiful it probably was.

"How about this?" The woman said, rolling the stem of her glass, which was halfway full with white wine, between her fingers, "If I buy you a drink, will you tell me what an American olympic Gold medalist is doing next to me in a bar in Paris of all places?"

Maya froze for a moment not expecting the question, did she really want to be the person who unburdened all her problems to a beautiful stranger she met in a bar? She quickly decided that even if she did, this woman probably didn't want to hear them, "I'm sorry- I- I think it's just better if I drink alone tonight"

She went to stand up but the brunette slightly placed a hand over hers "How about just your name then? I'm Carina DeLuca" she said lifting the same hand toward Maya

Maya felt confused, most people wouldn't have tried to prod again after she'd shut them down once, but apparently, Carina wasn't most people.

There was still that nagging feeling eating her from the inside, that she had seen this woman somewhere and the sheer curiosity of it wouldn't let Maya walk away from her.

And so Maya found herself sitting back down next to a beautiful stranger, in a random bar in Paris, shaking her hand and just giving her a name "Maya Bishop, nice to meet you"