Superstars: Irish Courage

Irish Courage - Chapter 28

Ali listened to her surroundings as she kept her eyes closed. She had guessed she had fallen asleep on the trip back from Nashville and that she had been out for a few hours. She could hear movement around the room she was in and let her eyes open slowly as she brushed her hair out of her face before sitting up. She felt exhausted emotionally after the past few weeks and could feel the pull of tiredness on her eyes.

The room she was in was very plain. It was clearly a living room with an armchair in one corner, a television on one wall and the sofa that she had been laid on.

"Hey, I wondered when you'd wake up." Rex's voice greeted softly from behind her.

She turned her head and took in the sight of him. His hair was wet, as if he had just finished a shower and he dressed in a pair of jersey tracksuit bottoms with a tightly fitted t-shirt that showed off his toned arms, just as they had done the last time she had seen him at the club.

"Where am I?" She asked him, as she noticed the blanket that was pooled within her lap.

"My cabin, you fell asleep on the drive back and I didn't wanna wake you." He explained as he handed her a cup of what looked to be tea.

"Thanks." She answered.

"Did you wanna take a shower? My mom brought over some clothes and you probably don't wanna sit in the leotard all night." He asked her as he scrunched his nose slightly.

She must have smelt. She always did after competition, not that she could help it. She sighed and rubbed her eyes before standing up, noticing she was still in her tracksuit bottoms.

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Where is your bathroom?" She asked him as she let her arms hand awkwardly at her sides.

"Just do straight down the hall and it's the room on the right, I've left the clothes in there for you. When you're done come and join me out on the back porch." He told her and then walked out the back door.

She followed his directions and found the bathroom after a few minutes. She closed and locked the door behind her, not that she didn't trust him completely. She didn't. The room was misted with hot dew so she opened one of the windows that was in the bathroom and wiped at the big mirror that hung on the wall so that she could see her reflection. She felt out of her depth in his house, it was unchartered territory for her.

As Ali looked herself over in the mirror she concluded that she looked a mess, her hair was sticking out from its braid all over the place and her eyes were bloodshot from the tears that had fallen from her eyes earlier in the day. She rummaged through her gym bag that she had brought into the bathroom with her and ran her hairbrush through her hair as best as she could before giving up and running the shower.

She stepped in and let her thoughts take over as she thought of all the implications that would occur after today, like a chain reaction. The media would be the worst, they'd be all over her within a day at the most, meaning her life was now going to be invaded again. The even bigger downside though, was her parents, they would see news of her appearance by morning as it was the middle of the night in Ireland but once they knew where she was it was only a matter of time before they decided to try and drag her back.

Ali groaned internally at the mess that was her mind and towelled herself off as she got out of the shower, careful not to throw water all over Rex's impressive bathroom. The waterfall shower she had just experienced was just the beginning of what the room could offer, he had a built in spa bath with twelve jets and twin sinks that rested on a huge slate countertop. It was luxurious.

Ignoring the luxury that surrounded her Ali made quick work of getting dressed into a pair of tracksuit trousers and a fitted t-shirt that let her arms pick up a slight chill that was in the air.