The Winter Rivals

Chapter 8| A House In Zurich

27th September 2008
Hours passed, and thick fog had crept up the windows of the car like a ghostly hand, slowly shattering any view I could see in between the cracks of the darkness outside. The mist danced and swirled, making everything beyond the glass appear distant and out of reach. The only thing I was certain of was that we were not at the chalet. Speckles of light began to peek through the windows, and as we got closer to the glow, I could just barely make out the shape of a small house. It reminded me of where they took me. The place that took away what little childhood I had.

Jess's jaw was no longer clenched. His temper had dropped, and I finally felt as though it was safe to speak without the risk of him speeding. "Jess, where are we?" My voice came out raspy with tiredness. His hand reached to pull the key out of the car as we came to a stop, his eyes not bothering to meet mine. "My house in Zurich. My coach Daniel Locke lives in the area, and I refuse to do two-hour trips in the morning. I have a meeting with him tomorrow, and Rowen's taken Mariam and Tora here, obviously thinking that it was an invite for you and your friends to come along and pester information out of both him and me." The temper that had dropped, rose once again.

"So what you're saying is that Rowen took us to where we need to be in order to do our job," I stated, a hint of aggression clinging to my words.

"Find someone else to do a project on. I'm sick of telling you that you're not getting anything from me. Even if it means I have to completely ignore you while you and the other two pine behind me like a bunch of stray dogs."

My blood was boiling, tipping over the edge and suffocating me. With my fists clenched and nails seeping into the palms of my hands, I swallowed down the 'fuck off' that I so badly wanted to scream out till my lungs burst open.
"Ive gathered interview footage on the publics opinion of you which will be used in the documentary as well as written facts from various articles. Unless you plan to ruin your career any further, tomorrow at eleven o'clock you will sit down, answer my questions, and co-operate for as long as necessary."

Jess swung the car door open, his fury lingering in the now silent car as I cautiously exited and followed behind.

Thud. Thud. Pounding had taken over my head; the beats echoed in my mind like a marching band in full force. I pushed through the darkness, racing past him and through the front door of the house. Uncertain of my whereabouts, I dashed up the stairs and glimpsed an open door to my left, swaying gently in the dimly lit hallway from the breeze of the unlatched window.

Mariam and Tora were perched on the king-size bed in their pajamas, taken aback by my sudden appearance. Bursting into the room, I felt every suppressed word surge up my throat and out of my lips, erupting like a storm. "I can't handle this. I can't. He's a complete asshole with no intentions of working with us whatsoever! Referring to me as some kind of animal trailing behind him? Who the fuck does he think he is?"

Tora's eyes widened, her lips parting hastily to get a word in, "Slow down, Elora! Slow down. Breathe. What's going on?"

I recounted every detail, even down to the precise words I'd spoken when I made it clear that he had no choice but to work with us.

Mariam's lips tightened with anger, yet her voice remained composed, "You did the right thing. You made it clear to him that tomorrow we would officially start documenting his story, and that's exactly what will happen. So, no more 'I can't do this.' It will happen, whether he makes it easy or not."

I exhaled deeply, my legs heavy yet unsteady as they guided me down on to the edge of the bed.
"Right. You're right. I did. I laid out the plan for him, and I'm determined to make it happen. I'm not going to quit now after having flown all the way from goddamn London just to be here." The exhaustion, previously unnoticed, crept over me, forcing my eyes to flutter open and closed amidst long pauses.

"Hey," Tora's voice came softly, "come on, let's get you to bed, okay? Tomorrow, things will be different, I promise." She took hold of my hand and led me down the dimly lit hallway. We halted as we reached a door on the right hand side, Tora moving aside to let me in.

"Come on girl, get your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and in the morning, I'll make you a hot cup of coffee with breakfast so you can relax and think things through." Her gentleness enveloped me, making me feel more at ease than I had the entire time we'd been there.

"Thank you, Tora."

"We're friends, it's what we do" Her smile came warmly as she made her way to the door, whispering goodnight as she left.

On the bed sat an overnight bag. She and Mariam must have stopped off back in Spiez with Rowen to grab our things before they came. I fumbled through my bags, pulling out a little brown set of pajamas and my toothbrush. Sleepily, I pulled open the bathroom door, brushed my teeth, and then climbed into the bed.

With my head sinking deep into the pillows and the duvet swallowing me up to my chin, the peaceful darkness pulled me under, leaving me to rest.