Altered Happiness
Prologue
Prologue:
He lazily swam down the lane, his thoughts away from the pool that had become his second home. The past ten years had been a blur of practices, meets, publicity, and even more practices. His life was swimming and he couldn’t remember the last time he had socialized with someone other than his teammates. “Michael!” His coach Bob yelled at him. “Finish it up! I need to see you in my office after you warm down.” Michael swam to the wall and pushed his body up out of the water on to the pool deck. Water streamed down his perfectly toned body, he laughed to himself thinking of when people didn’t believe him when he told them all he did was swim to get this perfectly proportioned body. He slipped his board shorts over his jammer and grabbed his sandals and walked over to Bob’s office door.
Bob Bowman’s office looked out into the indoor pool at the University of Michigan’s sports complex. It was covered with pictures of Michael in all stages of his career: Beijing, Athens, USS Meets; they were all there. Bob, with no real children of his own, saw Michael not only as a pupil but as a surrogate son. He loved watching Michael turn into the amazing swimmer that he was. Bob wanted Michael to be happy and he had a plan in which he thought would keep Michael happy for a very long time.
Michael slid the door to Bob’s office open and saw Bob on the phone. Bob waved him in and gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. Michael walked over and lowered his long lanky body into the orange plastic chair. “Michael, how are you doing?” Bob asked in his quiet but powerful voice. “Are you ready for the move back to Baltimore?”
Michael nodded. “I guess so, I mean I’m excited to be closer to my family, but I feel like my mom always has a new girl lined up for me when I visit so I can only imagine living in the same zip-code with her again.” There was pain behind the expression Michael gave Bob; Bob knew it had to do with Michael’s last girlfriend, Kara. Kara had been an attention seeker; she used Michael to get into the spotlight and left him once the spotlight died down after press for Michael’s spectacular swim in Beijing.
“Well I just wanted to check in and see how everything was, seeing that you are moving in three days.” Bob started. “Just do me a favor and try and have some fun this year.” Michael cocked to his head to the side and looked at Bob like he had three heads.
“Are you feeling alright Bob? Don’t get all Dr. Phil on me right now,” Michael laughed. Bob just shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. Michael just shook his head as he stood up and walked out of the office.
He lazily swam down the lane, his thoughts away from the pool that had become his second home. The past ten years had been a blur of practices, meets, publicity, and even more practices. His life was swimming and he couldn’t remember the last time he had socialized with someone other than his teammates. “Michael!” His coach Bob yelled at him. “Finish it up! I need to see you in my office after you warm down.” Michael swam to the wall and pushed his body up out of the water on to the pool deck. Water streamed down his perfectly toned body, he laughed to himself thinking of when people didn’t believe him when he told them all he did was swim to get this perfectly proportioned body. He slipped his board shorts over his jammer and grabbed his sandals and walked over to Bob’s office door.
Bob Bowman’s office looked out into the indoor pool at the University of Michigan’s sports complex. It was covered with pictures of Michael in all stages of his career: Beijing, Athens, USS Meets; they were all there. Bob, with no real children of his own, saw Michael not only as a pupil but as a surrogate son. He loved watching Michael turn into the amazing swimmer that he was. Bob wanted Michael to be happy and he had a plan in which he thought would keep Michael happy for a very long time.
Michael slid the door to Bob’s office open and saw Bob on the phone. Bob waved him in and gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. Michael walked over and lowered his long lanky body into the orange plastic chair. “Michael, how are you doing?” Bob asked in his quiet but powerful voice. “Are you ready for the move back to Baltimore?”
Michael nodded. “I guess so, I mean I’m excited to be closer to my family, but I feel like my mom always has a new girl lined up for me when I visit so I can only imagine living in the same zip-code with her again.” There was pain behind the expression Michael gave Bob; Bob knew it had to do with Michael’s last girlfriend, Kara. Kara had been an attention seeker; she used Michael to get into the spotlight and left him once the spotlight died down after press for Michael’s spectacular swim in Beijing.
“Well I just wanted to check in and see how everything was, seeing that you are moving in three days.” Bob started. “Just do me a favor and try and have some fun this year.” Michael cocked to his head to the side and looked at Bob like he had three heads.
“Are you feeling alright Bob? Don’t get all Dr. Phil on me right now,” Michael laughed. Bob just shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. Michael just shook his head as he stood up and walked out of the office.
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