Oh, Is It Love?
Chapter 1
"Are you sure it's okay for me to go?" Leila asked her longtime childhood friend Rebecca Soni.
"I already told you, people want to meet the world record holder's best friend. They are really excited to do so. Besides, it's a retirement party for the golden boy of swimming so everybody will be there." Rebecca replied.
"It was so bittersweet watching his last race. I mean the guy cried during the National Anthem, but boy that Nathan Adrian sure looks delicious." Leila laughed.
"Well are you coming or not?"
"I suppose it would be okay, what's the attire?"
"Casual, you know, t-shirt and jeans. I'll pick you up in twenty."
"Sweet. See you then." They both hung up the phone.
Leila went over to her suitcase and pulled out a pair of boot cut skinny jeans along with a white Team USA t-shirt. To finish off her outfit she chose a pair of navy chuck taylor's along with a white sport's jacket. Quickly, she went over to the bathroom to wash her face and put on moisturizer while french braiding her hair starting from the side to end up on the other. When she finished fixing her hair she put on her vanilla perfume and went over, got undressed out of her pajamas and put on her clothes that she picked out.
Her phone rang, "I'm sorry, I just finished putting on my jacket, I'll be down right now."
"You better, just got here." Rebecca hung up.
Leila got her credit cards, hotel key, passport and phone as she put them all in her pockets; she didn't believe in purses. Once she was out the door she decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator since that would take forever.
"Rebecca Soni, breaking two world records of her own, how does it feel?" Leila asked as she saw her best friend standing in the lobby.
"Freaky how you show up out of nowhere. It feels pretty intense." She laughed.
Leila extended her arm out while Rebecca took it and they headed out into the night, "I'm ninja. You look like such an athlete, with your sweats and your hoodie. Where is this gathering taking place?"
They walked down the street as the wind was picking up a little bit, "and you don't? I mean you got the whole Team USA thing going on. It's taking place at the hotel where all the swimmers currently reside. I think we're doing it at Elizabeth Beisel's and Allison Schmitt's room. Michael has no idea so it should be interesting. He's out with his girlfriend right now; to keep him distracted while everybody gets there and such. Good thing these hotels are close to each other because if they weren't I would have made you take a cab," Rebecca laughed.
"That's exciting, man, I should have just worn sweats like you. Way to make me feel overdressed dawg." They reached the hotel and making their way inside.
"No problem" Leila and Rebecca reached the elevator and went inside.
The thing that Leila loved the most about Rebecca was the fact that she was so easy going and laid back. She understood her like nobody else could.
"You know I still can't believe that I'm at the London Olympics, now I can officially mark it off my bucket list." Leila exclaimed towards her friend.
"Why not? You deserved a little vacation, besides if it wasn't for my parents begging your mom, you wouldn't be here. Thank them. You're like a daughter to them."
"You're like the sister I never had Reb. I mean I've known you since what we were ten years old? That is a long time." Leila concluded.
"One glistening tear is rolling down on my cheek," Rebecca said as she drew an imaginary tear rolling down with her finger.
Leila laughed as their floor came up and the doors opened. They both stepped out and Rebecca led her out to Elizabeth and Allison' room and once they reached it, Rebecca knocked and Leila did not expect to see Ryan Lochte to answer the door.
"Hey Rebs, whose the hottie?" He asked as Leila stood behind Rebecca.
"Watch it Lochte, she's shy. This is Leila, my best friend." Rebecca said as she pointed a finger at him.
"The Leila? The one you talk about everyday, but never bothered to invite?"
"That same one. I didn't invite her because she was busy doing other stuff." Rebecca replied sternly.
Ryan stepped aside to let the girls in while Leila's cheek had crept up a blush as she timidly smiled at Ryan," I'm Leila, nice to meet you." She extended her hand out and he shook it while smiling at her, "nice to meet you."
Leila went in the room and saw that it was a tiny room jam packed with people. They were all crammed up on the beds, on the ground while chattering away. Leila couldn't even take a step forward because if she did she would run into someone so she stood there awkwardly between the entrance and the room.
"Rebecca Soni! Breaststroke world record holder!" Ricky yelled as he got up to greet his girlfriend. He kissed her cheek as she hugged him. Ricky dragged his girlfriend down on the floor while she sat in front of him.
"What's up everybody? Oh. Everybody say hi to Leila."
"Hi Leila!" Everybody said.
Leila smiled shyly at everybody and said a hello. Everybody was here, and nobody seemed to care that they were all on top of each other.
The bathroom door opened and Allison Schmitt came out and yelling, "what's that Michael? You're on your way with Megan? Okay, sounds good. Then we can go out or something." Everybody was silent as soon as she started speaking. She hung up and then, "they're on the elevator so everybody needs to be quiet and huddle. Where's the sign?"
"I got it," Nathan Adrian said as he took it out, Matt Grevers helping him, they were standing in the very back with a huge sign that said, "WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL, YOU'LL ALWAYS BE OUR FAVORITE BALTIMORE SHARK." Leila smiled at such a nice gesture. There was a knock on the door. Leila was standing awkwardly in the crowd when she felt someone pull her towards them, "don't want you to feel like an outsider," Ryan whispered. Leila was grateful as she stood next to him.
"Yes, we are ready," Rebecca replied. Allison turned the lights off. Leila noticed that Ryan's arm was still on her arm, she didn't mind. All of the sudden there was a knock at the door.
"Coming." Allison said as she was standing next to the door. Leila heard Allison open the door, "Michael! Megan! Come in, I'll just be a minute."
Michael and Megan followed Allison, "you should turn the lights on, it's dark in here," Michael spoke up.
As soon as he flipped on the light switch, everybody in the room yelled, "surprise!"
Michael was speechless as Morgan smiled at him while Allison laughed, "I got ya!"
Everybody cheered for the golden boy as he looked at every single one of his teammates. Then his eyes landed on Leila for a split second; she felt the whole world disappear for she only saw him. The feeling came as soon as it went seeing as both Ryan and Allison said,"it's so crammed in here." "Let's go to the village, there is something else waiting for you there."
"You guys did all of this for me?" Michael asked in disbelief.
"Uh. Duh." Allison said like it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
"You guys are so awesome. Everyone get in here. A group hug." He replied.
The swim team got up and now Leila really couldn't move at all, she was in between Ricky and Ryan as everybody wrapped around each other. "I won't forget you guys! I'll make sure to keep in touch with each and everyone of you."
The hug was broken as soon as it was made and everybody was piling out of the door with Michael leading the pack with what Leila guessed to be his girlfriend, Megan. She walked next to Ryan seeing as Rebecca was being all lovey dovey with Ricky.
"So where are you from Leila? That's such a pretty name by the way." Ryan asked Leila.
"Thanks. My dad named me after the Eric Clapton song. I was born in Texas, lived there for nine years, moved to New Jersey, met Rebecca, moved to Baltimore, live in Baltimore, went to John Hopkins studied in education, working on my master's, um. I think that's about it. Oh. My parents are Brazilian, hence I am Brazilian -American, Portuguese is my first language. I go there almost every December to visit family and stuff. Yo. Soni! Lochte and I are taking the stairs, way faster. Meet you at the village yeah?"
"Sure thing Costa!" Rebecca giggled.
Ryan and Leila went over to the door that led to the stairs when they both noticed that people were following them.
"That's a pretty smart idea Leila. We like you." Elizabeth Beisel said.
Leila was really good at names with faces and since she's been in the aquatic center for an entire week because of Rebecca, she got to know the names and faces of Team USA swimming. Now that Rebecca was done, she could actually go to other events. Beach volleyball was her favorite sport to watch at the Olympics so she was planning on going to those games and maybe some other sports as well.
"She actually is Beisel, she went to John Hopkins." Ryan stated.
"That sounds like a smart school Lochte, should have gone there." Beisel replied.
Leila loved listening to people chatter and banter about unimportant things. It was a great past time hearing people converse about random stuff because you might not know what they might say; turns out that it's pretty hilarious what people say from time to time.
"You're just jealous of the gators." Ryan said smirking.
"Please. Florida is for people who don't want to study."
"I got out fine," Ryan said.
"Sorry for butting in your convo Leila, I just had to tell you that we have heard a lot about you from Rebecca and it's such a pleasure to finally meet you."
Leila's cheeks were always rosy from the constant blush so at this point it didn't matter if anybody saw her.
"Thanks, Soni has also said some wonderful things about you; all of you." She smiled as they all reached the lobby much faster than the people who got on the elevator.
"So. Lochte, what's your story?" Leila asked as they waited, she noticed that Nathan Adrian, Beisel, Missy Franklin, Larson, Matt Grevers, Tyler Clary, Jason Lezak and Dana Vollmer were all just chatting while waiting.
"Born in New York, lived there for a little bit, then moved to Florida, went to the University of Florida, graduated sport's management, you know. Whatever. Swimming is my life right now."
"Well aren't you having the time of your life?" Leila asked.
"I really am. Last time I came to the Olympics I had a girlfriend..not fun. Now I'm single and ready to mingle."
"Such a stud that you are," Leila smiled.
The elevator doors opened and Michael along with Megan walked out, with Rebecca and Ricky behind them and a couple of other swimmers as well.
"Way to take forever Mike." Ryan said as he gave him a high five.
"You know how elevators are," Michael replied still holding the hand of his girlfriend.
Leila noticed how tall he was and he easily towered over her what with her being a good two inches shorter than Rebecca, and Rebecca was only 5'8". everybody followed suit as Leila began to walk away from the lobby since they were heading to the village. Someone tapped her on her shoulder, Leila's face turned and saw that it was Nathan Adrian. Leila's shyness started to act up; like most typical girls, she usually got shy around boys that she thought were undeniably good looking.
"Leila right?" He asked as they both followed the pack.
"Right," she managed to squeak out.
"I'm Nathan," he showed off his pearly whites.
Leila melted a little inside,"nice to meet you. Congratulations on your medals."
"Oh thank you so much." He smiled again.
"It was pretty intense watching you swim, not gonna lie."
"The most intense less than two minutes of your life?"
"Oh you know it!" Leila laughed as a few droplets hit her head, "I hope it doesn't start raining a lot..."
"Don't want to get your hair messed up?"
"I don't care about my hair, it's just that it will get colder." She replied.
"I know what you mean, it's suppose to be summer!"
"Exactly! If it wasn't for Soni, I'd be in Texas soaking in the hot summer sun."
Leila saw that this group of people was very much like a family since they were all laughing and talking while arms went around waists and people snuggled together for some body heat.
"I thought you lived in Baltimore?" Nathan asked.
Her cheeks tingled from the water droplets but she seemed it was something more, how nice of someone to pay attention.
"Sounds like someone was eavesdropping." She nudged his side. Nathan easily towered over her as well, he was taller than most swimmers here.
"Hey, I can't help it when <i>the</i> Leila was talking. Seriously, Rebecca doesn't stop talking about you, even Ricky gets a little jello sometimes because she talks about you so much."
"She needs to stop doing that, I'm boring." Leila smiled.
They had reached the Olympic village and it was filled with athletes that Leila recognized but didn't dare approach since all the swimmers were walking towards the USA part of the village, guessing there was room there for them to party. Leila was in awe of such an amazing place, thankful that it wasn't that full. She though tit was going to be so packed that she wouldn't be able to follow anybody, but that's not how it turned out. Everyone was saying quick hellos and waves as they passed athletes that they met and knew. Leila was so awestruck and nobody payed attention to her anyway since she wasn't an athlete.
"So tell me something Nathan," she asks him.
"Like what?" He chuckled as he waved to some people he knew.
"How do you like London so far?"
"It's slowly becoming one of my favorite cities."
"That's nice, I haven't really gone out much yet with Rebecca swimming so much." Leila replied.
"Would you like to go out sometime and see some sites?" He immediately asked her.
"That would be great!"
"It's a date then," Nathan replied flashing his famous smile towards her.
"Only if you let me buy dessert." She gave him a soft smile.
"Deal." He laughed.
They were the last ones to enter the room and Leila smiled at the sight before her. There were balloons red, white and blue along with a bunch of signs saying "we'll miss you!" and "you're the greatest!" A bunch of pizza boxes were displayed along with different types of desserts and at the back they had the cut out of Michael Phelps with his arms extended out. People were standing next to it in front of it and taking pictures to see how much taller he was than them.
"How neat!" Leila exclaimed.
"It is. Want to come mingle with me?"
"Sure."
Leila and Nathan went over to where Rebecca and Ricky where. Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Beisel were in the huddle as well, "what are we talking about over here?" Nathan asked as Leila stood next to him and paying attention to the conversation.
"That is a very interesting question, what are we talking about Rebecca?" Ricky asked as he gave Leila a hug, "how are you? It's been a while." Leila nodded and then Rebecca responded, "we're trying to figure out what sort of music to play right now because everybody is just sort of standing around talking, but this is supposed to be a party!"
Rebecca looked at Leila and Leila knew that look, "oh. Definitely not. No. Not ever." Leila shook her head.
"Oh come on! You know it would be cool if you did that."
"Did what?" Missy Franklin asked.
"See? Now you got them asking questions!" Leila laughed.
"Leila is part of this hip hop club back in Baltimore. She's actually pretty good." Rebecca smiled mischievously.
"Well, my parents are both South American, it's kind of in my blood." Leila smiled smugly.
"Oh yeah. You must be such an amazing dancer then. Exotic and all." Missy said while smiling.
"You can say whatever you want, I will not dance for these people." Leila said while putting her arms in the air.
"You dance for strangers all the time." Rebecca implied.
"Yeah. People I've never seen in my life. These people here, I've seen at least once or twice.."
"They haven't seen you." Ricky chimed.
"So? I'm not dancing by myself in front of all these people..besides. Isn't this Michael Phelps' party anyway? I wouldn't want to steal his thunder.." Leila said.
"I'm sure he would appreciate it. Anyways. All of us swimmers have to go and talk to the coaches for a bit. Will you be okay by yourself?" Rebecca asked.
Leila nodded, "score one for me, zero for you Soni."
"We'll see about that." Rebecca Soni said as she walked away followed by all of the swimmers. Nathan gave her an apologetic smile.
Her green orbs scanned the room to see if anybody was standing awkwardly like her but alas no avail. She then looked to her right and saw that Michael was talking to a plump woman and two other girls along with Megan. Leila noticed for the first time what Michael was wearing that night, a simple gray v neck sweater and jeans that were low on his hips along with some black sneakers. His hair was combed to the side making him look younger than he was. Leila thought he looked handsome until he caught her staring at him. Her cheeks in full color now she noticed that Megan was snuggling up next to him. Her face turned away even though she had been caught so she decided to go stand outside for a couple of minutes...maybe he would forget that some random girl was staring at him...yeah right.
"You." She heard making her break out of her train of thought.
She looked up to see a pair of muddy brown eyes and then the world appeared blurry again; she wished that would stop happening.
Both of her hands started fidgeting in her pockets as she managed to say, "hello."
"Don't you think it's a bit weird if you catch someone staring at you and they don't say hi or wave?" Michael Phelps asked her.
"Do you think it's weird?" It's as if the world had gone quiet just for them.
"I do when the person is about twenty feet away." He said sounding annoyed.
"You looked occupied...I'm sorry, you just happened to be in the view of my thought process...so technically I wasn't staring." She huffed, Leila tried to play it off cool. Did that ever work? Absolutely not.
"What's your name?" Michael asked as he changed the subject.
Random much? "Leila."
"Rebecca's Leila?"
"That same one. Please don't tell me that she's told you all about me too?" Leila groaned.
"Nothing but good things I promise..maybe some embarrassing things too.." He smiled at her.
"Nice to meet you," she sounded annoyed as she extended her hand out.
"Likewise." He shook her hand.
His skin was rough and soft at the same time and the way his hand shaped around hers as if to protect her from any harm made her get a bubbling feeling inside. Leila didn't think much of it since any person's hand that was bigger than hers and warm she always felt that feeling.
"So did you come out here to tell me off?" Leila implied.
"Not necessarily; needed a little room to breathe. Everybody wants to all of the sudden talk to me." Michael replied.
"I think it has something to do with the whole retirement thing. You pretty much changed the sport and stayed down to Earth with both feet on the ground." The Brazilian pointed out.
He shrugged,"I guess."
Leila crossed her arms not believing what she was hearing and seeing, "what do you mean you guess?"
"I did swimming because I love the sport. It's all fun for me and I just happened to win medals because of it. Competition is something that I've always had within me...I just don't get what the big deal about winning so many medals is.."
Leila was more than annoyed now, she was getting a little upset, "well. Excuse the world for getting a little inspiration from you."
Michael was going to say something, but then her phone started ringing. "Sorry. I have to take this call," she told him.
He didn't even look back at her as he was walking away, "don't worry about it. I should get back in there anyway."
"Good luck," Leila said. Her finger slid on her phone and she put it against her ear, "hey little guy!"
"I miss you Auntie Lala." Jamie said from across the ocean.
Leila smiled at her nephew, "I miss you too little guy, but I'll be back in the states soon."
"Auntie Lala, I just want to see you!" He replied.
The sweetest ten year old boy you'll ever meet. Leila loved this kid as if it were her own. He was one of the main reasons why she loved her life. Jamie was the light of her life, the sunshine in her rain. He always knew how to cheer her up when she needed to be cheered up and always had such a good attitude about life that she admired him for it.
"Soon sweetie, I promise. How does Friday sound to you?"
"That's four days away but I'll take it."
"That's what I like to hear. I'm busy right now, but hug grandma and grandpa when you see them okay?" Leila asked.
"Yes ma'am. Eu te amo." Jamie said.
"Eu te amo." Leila responded as she hung up the phone.
Might as well go inside again and she saw that everybody was chatting and having a good time. Her eyes scanned for Rebecca Soni, but she could not find her,"there you are." Leila's face turned to see who had spoken to her, "Nathan Adrian, to what do I owe this pleasure?" She shot him a smile.
"Please, the pleasure is all mine." Nathan said.
"Not in a million years." Leila responded.
"You really are as stubborn as Soni said."
"Speaking of her, where is she?" Leila asked as she scanned the room again to see if she could find her best friend.
"She left with Richard, those sneaky people." Nathan wiggled his eyebrows.
"Awesome," sarcasm dripping from her words. The little slut left her by herself! Her eyes looked to see if anybody was looking at them and she saw Michael glance at her every few minutes; strange.
"Would you like to leave? I can walk you to your hotel." Nathan offered.
"Hmm. Turn down an offer from a gold medalist who looks like my own personal body guard? Never." She laughed; he did too.
"Want to come with me so I can make my rounds and say goodbye?"
Before she could respond he took her wrist and dragged her around the huddles of people Her smile was plastered on her face for a good ten minutes until they reached Michael's huddle as he was still talking to the plump woman and the two other girls. His arm candy still on his arm.
"Michael, you have achieved something amazing and you are such a great guy. I hope we keep in touch because you are awesome and way to achieve all your goals that you have been working so hard for. I'm heading out but maybe we can hang for a bit before you leave?"
Michael smiled at his friend, "sure thing Nate." He looked at Leila and she focused on something else, she didn't really know what to tell him since they just had an awkward but quick conversation out of everyone's ear shot. What do you say to a guy who changed the face of the Olympics? He was about to tell her something, but then the plump woman interfered.
"Nathan sweetie, you know you can always comes and visit us in Baltimore, I'm sure my son would enjoy that."
Leila figured out that that was Michael's mom and the two girls were his sisters. Standing behind Nathan so they wouldn't ask her questions; that seemed to fail instantly as Michael's mom asked her, "oh I'm sorry dear, I didn't see you there. Who are you?"
Her cheeks flushed yet again as she timidly said, "I'm Leila, nice to meet you Mrs. Phelps."
"Nice to meet you sweetie, are you with Nate?" She asked eye-ing the two as they stood next to each other.
Leila stuttered, "um, n-n-no." Michael was trying very hard not to laugh out loud as he looked at the girl being put in a most awkward spot.
"We're going to go now though. Thank you Mrs. Phelps. I'll see you around. Bye Hilary, Whitney and Megan. Later Michael."
Why would Michael's mom think that? Was it because she was standing close? Close friends stand next to each other, don't they? As soon as they were out of earshot Nathan spoke up, "sorry about that...I didn't know she was going to say anything like that." A red tint crept up his cheeks and Leila found it extremely adorable.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Leila said.
The rain had picked up but not by much as they made their way to Leila's hotel; she put her hands in her pocket thinking that would help. It didn't.
"It was pretty hilarious watching you squirm like you were under a microscope though," Nathan laughed.
"I'm glad I can amuse you," her eyes narrowed.
"Oh come on, you know it was funny."
"I guess," she smiled. "Speaking of that, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Not that I know of," he did his trademark smile. It was so perfect.
"That's a shame." She replied.
They were halfway to her hotel as she noticed that Nathan moved closer to her closing the space a little bit more. "Do you have a significant other?" He asked her.
Leila began to laugh and Nathan eyed her with confusion on his face, "sorry that was just funny. No I don't have a boyfriend or anything." She giggled.
"Why is that funny?" He asked in all seriousness.
"I'm too busy doing other things to have a relationship. Come to think of it, I've never actually had one. Boys feel intimidated by my lifestyle I guess you could say."
"Well, I'm not intimidated by you yet.."
"You'd be a first. It wouldn't be so bad having you stick around."
He smiled again, "my life is pretty intense too, at least we share something in common."
"I'm sure we share more than that," Leila laughed again.
They had reached the hotel now and were standing in front of the double doors looking at each other,"so..." Nathan said.
"Thanks for walking me to my hotel."
"Oh, it's no problem at all. It was lovely meeting you." He was turning to walk away but then, "hey! Aren't you forgetting something?" Leila asked.
Nathan turned around; his brown eyes looked at her green ones, "what?"
"My number so we can go on said date that we both agreed to." She smiled sheepishly.
"So you weren't joking. Sweet!" He chuckled as he got his cellphone out and gave it to Leila to punch in her number.
"Ew. You're an apple person. The only apple thing I own is my Ipod."
"Apple is slowly taking over the world."
"Probably. There you go. May I get a hug?" She asked while giving him his phone back.
"Sure thing." Nathan said while smiling.
Leila forgot she was short for a second so she stood on her tippy toes and Nathan squatted down a little so she could wrap her arms around his neck his arms circled around her waist as he stood up, both of her feet were off the ground. Leila gasped as she said, "man you are tall."
"So they tell me." He whispered in her ear. He put her down and she waved goodbye at him and went inside the hotel.
The last thing that Leila thought about when she went to sleep that night were a pair of chocolate brown eyes.
They were not Nathan Adrian's.
"I already told you, people want to meet the world record holder's best friend. They are really excited to do so. Besides, it's a retirement party for the golden boy of swimming so everybody will be there." Rebecca replied.
"It was so bittersweet watching his last race. I mean the guy cried during the National Anthem, but boy that Nathan Adrian sure looks delicious." Leila laughed.
"Well are you coming or not?"
"I suppose it would be okay, what's the attire?"
"Casual, you know, t-shirt and jeans. I'll pick you up in twenty."
"Sweet. See you then." They both hung up the phone.
Leila went over to her suitcase and pulled out a pair of boot cut skinny jeans along with a white Team USA t-shirt. To finish off her outfit she chose a pair of navy chuck taylor's along with a white sport's jacket. Quickly, she went over to the bathroom to wash her face and put on moisturizer while french braiding her hair starting from the side to end up on the other. When she finished fixing her hair she put on her vanilla perfume and went over, got undressed out of her pajamas and put on her clothes that she picked out.
Her phone rang, "I'm sorry, I just finished putting on my jacket, I'll be down right now."
"You better, just got here." Rebecca hung up.
Leila got her credit cards, hotel key, passport and phone as she put them all in her pockets; she didn't believe in purses. Once she was out the door she decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator since that would take forever.
"Rebecca Soni, breaking two world records of her own, how does it feel?" Leila asked as she saw her best friend standing in the lobby.
"Freaky how you show up out of nowhere. It feels pretty intense." She laughed.
Leila extended her arm out while Rebecca took it and they headed out into the night, "I'm ninja. You look like such an athlete, with your sweats and your hoodie. Where is this gathering taking place?"
They walked down the street as the wind was picking up a little bit, "and you don't? I mean you got the whole Team USA thing going on. It's taking place at the hotel where all the swimmers currently reside. I think we're doing it at Elizabeth Beisel's and Allison Schmitt's room. Michael has no idea so it should be interesting. He's out with his girlfriend right now; to keep him distracted while everybody gets there and such. Good thing these hotels are close to each other because if they weren't I would have made you take a cab," Rebecca laughed.
"That's exciting, man, I should have just worn sweats like you. Way to make me feel overdressed dawg." They reached the hotel and making their way inside.
"No problem" Leila and Rebecca reached the elevator and went inside.
The thing that Leila loved the most about Rebecca was the fact that she was so easy going and laid back. She understood her like nobody else could.
"You know I still can't believe that I'm at the London Olympics, now I can officially mark it off my bucket list." Leila exclaimed towards her friend.
"Why not? You deserved a little vacation, besides if it wasn't for my parents begging your mom, you wouldn't be here. Thank them. You're like a daughter to them."
"You're like the sister I never had Reb. I mean I've known you since what we were ten years old? That is a long time." Leila concluded.
"One glistening tear is rolling down on my cheek," Rebecca said as she drew an imaginary tear rolling down with her finger.
Leila laughed as their floor came up and the doors opened. They both stepped out and Rebecca led her out to Elizabeth and Allison' room and once they reached it, Rebecca knocked and Leila did not expect to see Ryan Lochte to answer the door.
"Hey Rebs, whose the hottie?" He asked as Leila stood behind Rebecca.
"Watch it Lochte, she's shy. This is Leila, my best friend." Rebecca said as she pointed a finger at him.
"The Leila? The one you talk about everyday, but never bothered to invite?"
"That same one. I didn't invite her because she was busy doing other stuff." Rebecca replied sternly.
Ryan stepped aside to let the girls in while Leila's cheek had crept up a blush as she timidly smiled at Ryan," I'm Leila, nice to meet you." She extended her hand out and he shook it while smiling at her, "nice to meet you."
Leila went in the room and saw that it was a tiny room jam packed with people. They were all crammed up on the beds, on the ground while chattering away. Leila couldn't even take a step forward because if she did she would run into someone so she stood there awkwardly between the entrance and the room.
"Rebecca Soni! Breaststroke world record holder!" Ricky yelled as he got up to greet his girlfriend. He kissed her cheek as she hugged him. Ricky dragged his girlfriend down on the floor while she sat in front of him.
"What's up everybody? Oh. Everybody say hi to Leila."
"Hi Leila!" Everybody said.
Leila smiled shyly at everybody and said a hello. Everybody was here, and nobody seemed to care that they were all on top of each other.
The bathroom door opened and Allison Schmitt came out and yelling, "what's that Michael? You're on your way with Megan? Okay, sounds good. Then we can go out or something." Everybody was silent as soon as she started speaking. She hung up and then, "they're on the elevator so everybody needs to be quiet and huddle. Where's the sign?"
"I got it," Nathan Adrian said as he took it out, Matt Grevers helping him, they were standing in the very back with a huge sign that said, "WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL, YOU'LL ALWAYS BE OUR FAVORITE BALTIMORE SHARK." Leila smiled at such a nice gesture. There was a knock on the door. Leila was standing awkwardly in the crowd when she felt someone pull her towards them, "don't want you to feel like an outsider," Ryan whispered. Leila was grateful as she stood next to him.
"Yes, we are ready," Rebecca replied. Allison turned the lights off. Leila noticed that Ryan's arm was still on her arm, she didn't mind. All of the sudden there was a knock at the door.
"Coming." Allison said as she was standing next to the door. Leila heard Allison open the door, "Michael! Megan! Come in, I'll just be a minute."
Michael and Megan followed Allison, "you should turn the lights on, it's dark in here," Michael spoke up.
As soon as he flipped on the light switch, everybody in the room yelled, "surprise!"
Michael was speechless as Morgan smiled at him while Allison laughed, "I got ya!"
Everybody cheered for the golden boy as he looked at every single one of his teammates. Then his eyes landed on Leila for a split second; she felt the whole world disappear for she only saw him. The feeling came as soon as it went seeing as both Ryan and Allison said,"it's so crammed in here." "Let's go to the village, there is something else waiting for you there."
"You guys did all of this for me?" Michael asked in disbelief.
"Uh. Duh." Allison said like it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
"You guys are so awesome. Everyone get in here. A group hug." He replied.
The swim team got up and now Leila really couldn't move at all, she was in between Ricky and Ryan as everybody wrapped around each other. "I won't forget you guys! I'll make sure to keep in touch with each and everyone of you."
The hug was broken as soon as it was made and everybody was piling out of the door with Michael leading the pack with what Leila guessed to be his girlfriend, Megan. She walked next to Ryan seeing as Rebecca was being all lovey dovey with Ricky.
"So where are you from Leila? That's such a pretty name by the way." Ryan asked Leila.
"Thanks. My dad named me after the Eric Clapton song. I was born in Texas, lived there for nine years, moved to New Jersey, met Rebecca, moved to Baltimore, live in Baltimore, went to John Hopkins studied in education, working on my master's, um. I think that's about it. Oh. My parents are Brazilian, hence I am Brazilian -American, Portuguese is my first language. I go there almost every December to visit family and stuff. Yo. Soni! Lochte and I are taking the stairs, way faster. Meet you at the village yeah?"
"Sure thing Costa!" Rebecca giggled.
Ryan and Leila went over to the door that led to the stairs when they both noticed that people were following them.
"That's a pretty smart idea Leila. We like you." Elizabeth Beisel said.
Leila was really good at names with faces and since she's been in the aquatic center for an entire week because of Rebecca, she got to know the names and faces of Team USA swimming. Now that Rebecca was done, she could actually go to other events. Beach volleyball was her favorite sport to watch at the Olympics so she was planning on going to those games and maybe some other sports as well.
"She actually is Beisel, she went to John Hopkins." Ryan stated.
"That sounds like a smart school Lochte, should have gone there." Beisel replied.
Leila loved listening to people chatter and banter about unimportant things. It was a great past time hearing people converse about random stuff because you might not know what they might say; turns out that it's pretty hilarious what people say from time to time.
"You're just jealous of the gators." Ryan said smirking.
"Please. Florida is for people who don't want to study."
"I got out fine," Ryan said.
"Sorry for butting in your convo Leila, I just had to tell you that we have heard a lot about you from Rebecca and it's such a pleasure to finally meet you."
Leila's cheeks were always rosy from the constant blush so at this point it didn't matter if anybody saw her.
"Thanks, Soni has also said some wonderful things about you; all of you." She smiled as they all reached the lobby much faster than the people who got on the elevator.
"So. Lochte, what's your story?" Leila asked as they waited, she noticed that Nathan Adrian, Beisel, Missy Franklin, Larson, Matt Grevers, Tyler Clary, Jason Lezak and Dana Vollmer were all just chatting while waiting.
"Born in New York, lived there for a little bit, then moved to Florida, went to the University of Florida, graduated sport's management, you know. Whatever. Swimming is my life right now."
"Well aren't you having the time of your life?" Leila asked.
"I really am. Last time I came to the Olympics I had a girlfriend..not fun. Now I'm single and ready to mingle."
"Such a stud that you are," Leila smiled.
The elevator doors opened and Michael along with Megan walked out, with Rebecca and Ricky behind them and a couple of other swimmers as well.
"Way to take forever Mike." Ryan said as he gave him a high five.
"You know how elevators are," Michael replied still holding the hand of his girlfriend.
Leila noticed how tall he was and he easily towered over her what with her being a good two inches shorter than Rebecca, and Rebecca was only 5'8". everybody followed suit as Leila began to walk away from the lobby since they were heading to the village. Someone tapped her on her shoulder, Leila's face turned and saw that it was Nathan Adrian. Leila's shyness started to act up; like most typical girls, she usually got shy around boys that she thought were undeniably good looking.
"Leila right?" He asked as they both followed the pack.
"Right," she managed to squeak out.
"I'm Nathan," he showed off his pearly whites.
Leila melted a little inside,"nice to meet you. Congratulations on your medals."
"Oh thank you so much." He smiled again.
"It was pretty intense watching you swim, not gonna lie."
"The most intense less than two minutes of your life?"
"Oh you know it!" Leila laughed as a few droplets hit her head, "I hope it doesn't start raining a lot..."
"Don't want to get your hair messed up?"
"I don't care about my hair, it's just that it will get colder." She replied.
"I know what you mean, it's suppose to be summer!"
"Exactly! If it wasn't for Soni, I'd be in Texas soaking in the hot summer sun."
Leila saw that this group of people was very much like a family since they were all laughing and talking while arms went around waists and people snuggled together for some body heat.
"I thought you lived in Baltimore?" Nathan asked.
Her cheeks tingled from the water droplets but she seemed it was something more, how nice of someone to pay attention.
"Sounds like someone was eavesdropping." She nudged his side. Nathan easily towered over her as well, he was taller than most swimmers here.
"Hey, I can't help it when <i>the</i> Leila was talking. Seriously, Rebecca doesn't stop talking about you, even Ricky gets a little jello sometimes because she talks about you so much."
"She needs to stop doing that, I'm boring." Leila smiled.
They had reached the Olympic village and it was filled with athletes that Leila recognized but didn't dare approach since all the swimmers were walking towards the USA part of the village, guessing there was room there for them to party. Leila was in awe of such an amazing place, thankful that it wasn't that full. She though tit was going to be so packed that she wouldn't be able to follow anybody, but that's not how it turned out. Everyone was saying quick hellos and waves as they passed athletes that they met and knew. Leila was so awestruck and nobody payed attention to her anyway since she wasn't an athlete.
"So tell me something Nathan," she asks him.
"Like what?" He chuckled as he waved to some people he knew.
"How do you like London so far?"
"It's slowly becoming one of my favorite cities."
"That's nice, I haven't really gone out much yet with Rebecca swimming so much." Leila replied.
"Would you like to go out sometime and see some sites?" He immediately asked her.
"That would be great!"
"It's a date then," Nathan replied flashing his famous smile towards her.
"Only if you let me buy dessert." She gave him a soft smile.
"Deal." He laughed.
They were the last ones to enter the room and Leila smiled at the sight before her. There were balloons red, white and blue along with a bunch of signs saying "we'll miss you!" and "you're the greatest!" A bunch of pizza boxes were displayed along with different types of desserts and at the back they had the cut out of Michael Phelps with his arms extended out. People were standing next to it in front of it and taking pictures to see how much taller he was than them.
"How neat!" Leila exclaimed.
"It is. Want to come mingle with me?"
"Sure."
Leila and Nathan went over to where Rebecca and Ricky where. Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Beisel were in the huddle as well, "what are we talking about over here?" Nathan asked as Leila stood next to him and paying attention to the conversation.
"That is a very interesting question, what are we talking about Rebecca?" Ricky asked as he gave Leila a hug, "how are you? It's been a while." Leila nodded and then Rebecca responded, "we're trying to figure out what sort of music to play right now because everybody is just sort of standing around talking, but this is supposed to be a party!"
Rebecca looked at Leila and Leila knew that look, "oh. Definitely not. No. Not ever." Leila shook her head.
"Oh come on! You know it would be cool if you did that."
"Did what?" Missy Franklin asked.
"See? Now you got them asking questions!" Leila laughed.
"Leila is part of this hip hop club back in Baltimore. She's actually pretty good." Rebecca smiled mischievously.
"Well, my parents are both South American, it's kind of in my blood." Leila smiled smugly.
"Oh yeah. You must be such an amazing dancer then. Exotic and all." Missy said while smiling.
"You can say whatever you want, I will not dance for these people." Leila said while putting her arms in the air.
"You dance for strangers all the time." Rebecca implied.
"Yeah. People I've never seen in my life. These people here, I've seen at least once or twice.."
"They haven't seen you." Ricky chimed.
"So? I'm not dancing by myself in front of all these people..besides. Isn't this Michael Phelps' party anyway? I wouldn't want to steal his thunder.." Leila said.
"I'm sure he would appreciate it. Anyways. All of us swimmers have to go and talk to the coaches for a bit. Will you be okay by yourself?" Rebecca asked.
Leila nodded, "score one for me, zero for you Soni."
"We'll see about that." Rebecca Soni said as she walked away followed by all of the swimmers. Nathan gave her an apologetic smile.
Her green orbs scanned the room to see if anybody was standing awkwardly like her but alas no avail. She then looked to her right and saw that Michael was talking to a plump woman and two other girls along with Megan. Leila noticed for the first time what Michael was wearing that night, a simple gray v neck sweater and jeans that were low on his hips along with some black sneakers. His hair was combed to the side making him look younger than he was. Leila thought he looked handsome until he caught her staring at him. Her cheeks in full color now she noticed that Megan was snuggling up next to him. Her face turned away even though she had been caught so she decided to go stand outside for a couple of minutes...maybe he would forget that some random girl was staring at him...yeah right.
"You." She heard making her break out of her train of thought.
She looked up to see a pair of muddy brown eyes and then the world appeared blurry again; she wished that would stop happening.
Both of her hands started fidgeting in her pockets as she managed to say, "hello."
"Don't you think it's a bit weird if you catch someone staring at you and they don't say hi or wave?" Michael Phelps asked her.
"Do you think it's weird?" It's as if the world had gone quiet just for them.
"I do when the person is about twenty feet away." He said sounding annoyed.
"You looked occupied...I'm sorry, you just happened to be in the view of my thought process...so technically I wasn't staring." She huffed, Leila tried to play it off cool. Did that ever work? Absolutely not.
"What's your name?" Michael asked as he changed the subject.
Random much? "Leila."
"Rebecca's Leila?"
"That same one. Please don't tell me that she's told you all about me too?" Leila groaned.
"Nothing but good things I promise..maybe some embarrassing things too.." He smiled at her.
"Nice to meet you," she sounded annoyed as she extended her hand out.
"Likewise." He shook her hand.
His skin was rough and soft at the same time and the way his hand shaped around hers as if to protect her from any harm made her get a bubbling feeling inside. Leila didn't think much of it since any person's hand that was bigger than hers and warm she always felt that feeling.
"So did you come out here to tell me off?" Leila implied.
"Not necessarily; needed a little room to breathe. Everybody wants to all of the sudden talk to me." Michael replied.
"I think it has something to do with the whole retirement thing. You pretty much changed the sport and stayed down to Earth with both feet on the ground." The Brazilian pointed out.
He shrugged,"I guess."
Leila crossed her arms not believing what she was hearing and seeing, "what do you mean you guess?"
"I did swimming because I love the sport. It's all fun for me and I just happened to win medals because of it. Competition is something that I've always had within me...I just don't get what the big deal about winning so many medals is.."
Leila was more than annoyed now, she was getting a little upset, "well. Excuse the world for getting a little inspiration from you."
Michael was going to say something, but then her phone started ringing. "Sorry. I have to take this call," she told him.
He didn't even look back at her as he was walking away, "don't worry about it. I should get back in there anyway."
"Good luck," Leila said. Her finger slid on her phone and she put it against her ear, "hey little guy!"
"I miss you Auntie Lala." Jamie said from across the ocean.
Leila smiled at her nephew, "I miss you too little guy, but I'll be back in the states soon."
"Auntie Lala, I just want to see you!" He replied.
The sweetest ten year old boy you'll ever meet. Leila loved this kid as if it were her own. He was one of the main reasons why she loved her life. Jamie was the light of her life, the sunshine in her rain. He always knew how to cheer her up when she needed to be cheered up and always had such a good attitude about life that she admired him for it.
"Soon sweetie, I promise. How does Friday sound to you?"
"That's four days away but I'll take it."
"That's what I like to hear. I'm busy right now, but hug grandma and grandpa when you see them okay?" Leila asked.
"Yes ma'am. Eu te amo." Jamie said.
"Eu te amo." Leila responded as she hung up the phone.
Might as well go inside again and she saw that everybody was chatting and having a good time. Her eyes scanned for Rebecca Soni, but she could not find her,"there you are." Leila's face turned to see who had spoken to her, "Nathan Adrian, to what do I owe this pleasure?" She shot him a smile.
"Please, the pleasure is all mine." Nathan said.
"Not in a million years." Leila responded.
"You really are as stubborn as Soni said."
"Speaking of her, where is she?" Leila asked as she scanned the room again to see if she could find her best friend.
"She left with Richard, those sneaky people." Nathan wiggled his eyebrows.
"Awesome," sarcasm dripping from her words. The little slut left her by herself! Her eyes looked to see if anybody was looking at them and she saw Michael glance at her every few minutes; strange.
"Would you like to leave? I can walk you to your hotel." Nathan offered.
"Hmm. Turn down an offer from a gold medalist who looks like my own personal body guard? Never." She laughed; he did too.
"Want to come with me so I can make my rounds and say goodbye?"
Before she could respond he took her wrist and dragged her around the huddles of people Her smile was plastered on her face for a good ten minutes until they reached Michael's huddle as he was still talking to the plump woman and the two other girls. His arm candy still on his arm.
"Michael, you have achieved something amazing and you are such a great guy. I hope we keep in touch because you are awesome and way to achieve all your goals that you have been working so hard for. I'm heading out but maybe we can hang for a bit before you leave?"
Michael smiled at his friend, "sure thing Nate." He looked at Leila and she focused on something else, she didn't really know what to tell him since they just had an awkward but quick conversation out of everyone's ear shot. What do you say to a guy who changed the face of the Olympics? He was about to tell her something, but then the plump woman interfered.
"Nathan sweetie, you know you can always comes and visit us in Baltimore, I'm sure my son would enjoy that."
Leila figured out that that was Michael's mom and the two girls were his sisters. Standing behind Nathan so they wouldn't ask her questions; that seemed to fail instantly as Michael's mom asked her, "oh I'm sorry dear, I didn't see you there. Who are you?"
Her cheeks flushed yet again as she timidly said, "I'm Leila, nice to meet you Mrs. Phelps."
"Nice to meet you sweetie, are you with Nate?" She asked eye-ing the two as they stood next to each other.
Leila stuttered, "um, n-n-no." Michael was trying very hard not to laugh out loud as he looked at the girl being put in a most awkward spot.
"We're going to go now though. Thank you Mrs. Phelps. I'll see you around. Bye Hilary, Whitney and Megan. Later Michael."
Why would Michael's mom think that? Was it because she was standing close? Close friends stand next to each other, don't they? As soon as they were out of earshot Nathan spoke up, "sorry about that...I didn't know she was going to say anything like that." A red tint crept up his cheeks and Leila found it extremely adorable.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Leila said.
The rain had picked up but not by much as they made their way to Leila's hotel; she put her hands in her pocket thinking that would help. It didn't.
"It was pretty hilarious watching you squirm like you were under a microscope though," Nathan laughed.
"I'm glad I can amuse you," her eyes narrowed.
"Oh come on, you know it was funny."
"I guess," she smiled. "Speaking of that, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Not that I know of," he did his trademark smile. It was so perfect.
"That's a shame." She replied.
They were halfway to her hotel as she noticed that Nathan moved closer to her closing the space a little bit more. "Do you have a significant other?" He asked her.
Leila began to laugh and Nathan eyed her with confusion on his face, "sorry that was just funny. No I don't have a boyfriend or anything." She giggled.
"Why is that funny?" He asked in all seriousness.
"I'm too busy doing other things to have a relationship. Come to think of it, I've never actually had one. Boys feel intimidated by my lifestyle I guess you could say."
"Well, I'm not intimidated by you yet.."
"You'd be a first. It wouldn't be so bad having you stick around."
He smiled again, "my life is pretty intense too, at least we share something in common."
"I'm sure we share more than that," Leila laughed again.
They had reached the hotel now and were standing in front of the double doors looking at each other,"so..." Nathan said.
"Thanks for walking me to my hotel."
"Oh, it's no problem at all. It was lovely meeting you." He was turning to walk away but then, "hey! Aren't you forgetting something?" Leila asked.
Nathan turned around; his brown eyes looked at her green ones, "what?"
"My number so we can go on said date that we both agreed to." She smiled sheepishly.
"So you weren't joking. Sweet!" He chuckled as he got his cellphone out and gave it to Leila to punch in her number.
"Ew. You're an apple person. The only apple thing I own is my Ipod."
"Apple is slowly taking over the world."
"Probably. There you go. May I get a hug?" She asked while giving him his phone back.
"Sure thing." Nathan said while smiling.
Leila forgot she was short for a second so she stood on her tippy toes and Nathan squatted down a little so she could wrap her arms around his neck his arms circled around her waist as he stood up, both of her feet were off the ground. Leila gasped as she said, "man you are tall."
"So they tell me." He whispered in her ear. He put her down and she waved goodbye at him and went inside the hotel.
The last thing that Leila thought about when she went to sleep that night were a pair of chocolate brown eyes.
They were not Nathan Adrian's.
♠ ♠ ♠
So there you go. I'm in a Michael Phelp's frenzy and Chris Evans Frenzy. Let me know if you guys want the Chris Evans story posted on here. ^_^