Dream, Dive, Daley?

Chapter 3(b)

‘What were you thinking? Is this some kind of stunt I wasn’t part of?’ My agent Andre Wagner, a man in his forties, was furious with me because of what had happened at the nationals diving competition on Saturday. It was Sunday morning and the rain seemed endless. I had known Andre my entire life, and not once have I seen him without his suit on. The TV showed a rerun of last night’s X-Factor.

‘Sutton, darling, you need to be more careful with what you’re doing at those events! Do you know what the media are saying?!’ He noticed how he raised his voice too loud as I flinched at every word that came out of his mouth.

‘Andre, the girl didn’t knew better. And don’t shout at her! She’s a teenager, and there’s nothing you can do about that” My Dad sat down and held me in his arms. He had said some comforting words to me earlier today before Andre came. I really needed that indeed. Last night I couldn’t really sleep because of the rain. Why did I kiss him? I only met him on Monday! Argh, why is life so complicated right now?

I used to live in the sunny state of Texas, and now I live in a town where it would rain six days a week and maybe all day too. I haven’t seen the sun since last month. The television was on. An episode of SpongeBob Square. How did it change from X-factor to SpongeBob so fast? The rain tapped on my living room window, and my father and agent were both arguing about how to raise me properly for the media. It was too much noise and too much to focus on. Mentally, I pushed it all aside and did some meditation. Inhale, exhale.

‘I’ve talked to Mr. Daley’s agent, and we’ve agreed on that you should not date each other. End of discussion” He finally sat down and drank his cup of coffee. Andre, Dad and I were never the people who drank tea. Surprisingly, I’d never thought of that. If we keep our relationship in a friendly status, we will eventually get boring and media will probably go away. I looked down and sipped from my coffee mug. It said ‘Dream, dive and do not drown’. My older cousins gave it to me for before I left Texas.

‘I agree. Let’s keep this in the friend zone’ I spilled out in between some sips. My dad removed his arm from my shoulders and agreed. The man had some grey hairs in his copper, which he was dying every now and then. His eyes were hazel brown, just like mine. He did moisturize with a good night and eye cream. This made him look at least five to six years younger.

I took a glance at my wrist watch from Michael Kors. Ten past twelve.

‘We had to speed up if we don’t want to be late. Sutton, it’s a deal, right?’ Andre placed his mug on the table and looked at me. His rested his elbows on his knees. It brought him a couple of feet too close to me and made me feel slightly uncomfortable. His green eyes tried to make contact with mine. Deal, Mr. Wagner.