Should Have Said No

I knew I should have said no when my boss had asked me for a favor. But, of course I had to say yes. I couldn’t say no. I could never say no. And, because of that inability to say no, I was now on a direct flight to Vancouver about to interview a person who hated interviews. A person who hated any person dealing with the media. A person named Bode Miller.

I wasn’t supposed to be interviewing anyone. I was just supposed to be taking photographs for a local newspaper, trying to work my way up to a bigger position. I wasn’t even supposed to be going to the Olympics. I was supposed to stay in New Hampshire, photographing little things around our small town. But, then our main reporter, Dan Smallsy, who was supposed to be travelling to Vancouver to interview Bode, had fallen ill with appendicitis, and suddenly there was no one to do the interview.

Why my boss had asked me to do the interview I will never know. I wasn’t a reporter. In fact, the last thing I remember ever writing was a research paper in college about bipolar disorder for a psychology class I had taken. Something told me that wasn’t going to help me out very much for this interview.

I leaned back against the headrest of my seat on the plane, sighing loudly. I thought about what everyone had told me about Bode, how he hated interviews and how I had better have luck on my side when I interviewed him. I prayed to myself that I would catch him when he was in a good mood, but I knew that wasn’t very likely. He never seemed to be in a good mood whenever he was around a reporter.

I heard the pilot come across the intercom saying that we were about to land, and I inhaled deeply, gripping the armrests of the seat. I hated when the plane landed. While most people disliked when planes took off, I was terrified when the plane landed. I wasn’t really sure why, but I had always been like that.

I shut my eyes tightly, waiting on the plane to finally reach the ground. As the pilot once again came on the intercom, I slowly opened one eye, wondering if the plane was on the ground. I looked out the window next to me to see pavement all around the plane, and I let out the breath I had been holding this entire time.

I unbuckled my seatbelt but stayed in my seat, letting everyone else file off of the plane. I wasn’t in a hurry to get off the plane. I was trying everything in my power to prolong this meeting with Bode.

•••

I looked at the alarm clock that sat on the small table next to the bed in my hotel room to see that it was ten minutes until eleven. I had to meet Bode in the Olympic Village for the interview at noon, and I knew I needed to leave soon if I wanted to make sure that I was going to make it on time. I never knew how long it would take me to get there and find the correct building. I grabbed my cell phone and hotel room key, along with my bag that I had packed with a note pad, a pen, and a tape recorder the previous night, and I headed out the door, on my way to meet Bode.

As I arrived at the Olympic Village, I found myself fighting through large crowds of people, trying to find the correct building I was searching for. It was at this moment that I realized just how large the Village was, and I really had no idea where this building was located. I glanced down at my watch to see I had about twenty minutes left before the interview was to begin, and I decided to just walk around randomly, hoping that I would just happen to stumble upon the building.

As time passed and I still was unable to locate the building, I could feel my breathing become shallow and tears springing to my eyes as I realized there was a good possibility that I was going to miss the interview completely.

I looked up at the building in front of me, trying to figure out if I could determine where I was even at. A smile spread across my face as I realized this was the building I had been looking for this whole time. I sprinted up the stairs, nearly tripping on the last one before I quickly opened the door and practically ran into the building.

I looked around and quickly located Bode in the corner, sitting by himself, with headphones in his ears, looking down at his Ipod, seemingly switching songs. I glanced at my watch to see I was only one minute late, and I let out a sigh of relief as I quickly made my way over to him.

I stood behind the chair across from Bode, setting my bag down on the floor next to it. “Hi, I’m Addie—“ I began as Bode interrupted me before I could even get out my last name.

“I don’t care,” he spoke rudely. “Can we just get this interview started?”

I slowly nodded my head, not knowing how to respond to that, and I bent down and picked up my bag from next to me, grabbing the note pad, pen, and recorder out of it. I opened up my note pad to the page where my boss had written down a list of sample questions that I could ask Bode. I uncapped my pen and hit record on the recorder before I looked up at him.

Bode’s bright blue eyes bore into mine, and I found myself at a loss for words. “Are you going to say anything or are you just going to sit there for the next twenty minutes?” he questioned, snapping me out of my trance.

“Yes,” I began, glancing down at the note pad and reciting the first question on the list. I continued doing this, easily writing down all of Bode’s responses, as they were never more than five words each. Fifteen minutes later, I had finished writing down the answer to the last question, and I set my pen down and hit stop on the recorder.

“Is this interview finally over?” Bode asked, and I began to nod my head before I suddenly stopped.

“No,” I said, and he looked over at me, wondering what I was going to say next. “Why do you do this?” I asked.

“What?” he asked, clearly confused by my question.

“Why do you do this?” I repeated. “Why are you even here at the Olympics? You should be the happiest, most excited guy on this planet right now. You’re one of the best skiers ever, and you’re here at the Olympics. And yet, you almost make it seem like this is a chore for you. I have never seen you smile or even show the slightest sign of being happy in any way whatsoever. So, why do you even put yourself through all of this? If you don’t want to do this, then why do you?” I wondered.

He scooted his chair back from the table and stood up without a word. I watched him walk away, only to have him stop a few feet away from me and look back. I waited on him to say something, but he continued walking away without a single word. Who knew I could render Bode Miller speechless?

•••

I had packed up everything and put everything back into my small, purple suitcase that was now sitting against the wall next to the door in my hotel room. I scanned the room one last time, making sure that I hadn’t left anything behind. Just as I was about to open the door, I heard my phone start to ring, and I grabbed it out of my pocket, glancing at it to see my boss was calling.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Addie!” he exclaimed, and I started to get nervous as to why he had called me. “I’ve got some good news for you,” he began.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

“You’re staying an extra day in Vancouver,” he replied, and I fell backwards on my bed behind me, just lying there sprawled out with the phone still attached to my ear. “You’re getting another interview with Bode,” he announced, and I pulled the phone away from my ear, staring at it, wondering if I had heard him correctly. I was getting another interview from Bode? How was that even possible? My first one didn’t exactly go well.

“What?” I sputtered out.

“Yeah, I called his people and asked if we could have another one after his competition today. They called me back and said Bode asked if you would be the one interviewing him once again, and when I told them yes, he agreed to it.”

“Wait, he actually wants me to interview him again?” I questioned, not being able to comprehend what was going on.

“Apparently so,” he told me. “So, you have an interview with him at ten tonight. That will be after the medal ceremony, given he actually gets on the podium. Anyways, there’s a pass to go to the event today that will be waiting at the front desk of your hotel. Have fun!” he said excitedly before hanging up on me before I was able to ask him all the questions that were currently circulating in my head. Why me? Why had Bode agreed to be interviewed once again by me? Didn’t he think the first interview was bad enough? Why hadn’t I just said no when first asked to do this interview? Why hadn’t I just said no this time?

I continued lying on the bed, not moving, as I stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out the answers to all of these questions but coming up empty handed. I shook my head, finally getting out of bed and going down to the front desk to see if they had my pass yet so I knew what time I needed to head out.

•••

I was still in shock as I sat in the corner of the room, waiting on Bode to get there. I wasn’t about to be late this time, and I had arrived for the interview forty-five minutes early. I had just witnessed history when Bode had won the men’s super combined event gold medal. And, it was at that moment that I saw something more in Bode. I saw a person that was happy, truly happy. It didn’t look like he was being forced to compete, but he looked like he was enjoying it. And, the smile on his face when he stood on the podium while the United States National Anthem blared behind him, that was a sincere smile.

I tapped my pen against the table, taking a sip of my coffee as I stared at the door, waiting for him to walk inside. I wanted nothing more than to hurry up and finish this interview so that I could get back to New Hampshire and take photographs once again.

I saw a crowd of girls enter, all squealing, and I barely managed to see Bode in the middle of them. I stayed where I was, waiting for him to fend off all the girls before he finally found me sitting at the table. He made his way over to me, and I could already tell that this was going to be a different interview, just from the way he was acting right now. He didn’t seem to be in a bad mood at all, which I guess wasn’t very surprising given the fact that he had just won a gold Olympic medal.

He sat down across from me, giving me a small smile. “Addie,” he said.

“Wow, you remember my name,” I muttered in surprise, but as soon as the words had left my mouth, I prayed that he hadn’t heard them. It didn’t appear he had, and I returned his smile with a small one of my own. “Bode.” He stared at me, and I once again hit record on my recorder before trying to figure out what exactly I should ask this time since I didn’t have any of my boss’s questions for this interview. “So, what does it feel like to win a gold medal?” I asked lamely, not knowing what else to ask. He answered me, and I was surprised to find that I wasn’t able to write down his answer this time, as he was giving me real answers.

I continued interviewing him with whatever questions came to mind. Ten minutes in, and I had already run out of questions. This right here was why I wasn’t a reporter. “I think that’s all,” I said, pushing the stop button on the recorder. “Thanks for your time,” I told him, and I started to stand up when he called my name. “Yeah?” I asked, sitting back down.

“You were right,” he told me, and I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Huh?” I asked.

“You were right,” he repeated. “About me not having fun. I wasn’t. But, today, when I won the medal, I was having fun. I wasn’t thinking about anything else, just doing my own thing. And, it was fun.”

“Uh, okay?” I said, not really knowing why he was telling me this.

“I just…I just wanted to thank you for saying something to me yesterday. You made me realize that I was making this into a chore. It shouldn’t be. It’s the Olympics. It should all be about having fun.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, you’re welcome, then,” I said, still unsure of what to say.

“You don’t like me, do you?” Bode suddenly asked, and I was taken aback by his forwardness.

“I don’t know you,” I replied.

“But, you still don’t like me, do you?” he asked.

“I don’t like the reputation you have,” I answered honestly. “But, as far as you yourself, I don’t know you enough to have an opinion.”

“Maybe we should change that,” he said suddenly.

“Are you flirting with me?” I asked incredulously.

“You’re from New Hampshire, right?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “How did you know that?”

“The newspaper you work for,” he answered. “It’s from a town near mine.”

“Oh.”

“Maybe once things settle down for me, we can go out when I go back to New Hampshire,” he suggested.

“Uh, sure?” I said, still unsure of this. He was Bode Miller after all. Did I really want to go out with him?

“Good,” he smiled. “It’s a date. Sorry,” he suddenly apologized, and I looked up at him. “I’ve got another interview to do. I’ll make sure to get in contact with you as soon as I get home, though.”

“Okay,” I nodded my head, biting my bottom lip as I watched him walk away. And, for the first time in my life, I thought maybe it’s a good think I can’t say no.