Post by britchick on Feb 8, 2008 19:57:42 GMT -5
Author - Britchick1980
Rating - PG
Disclaimer - This story is a complete and utter figment of my imagination. I have never met either Apolo Anton Ohno, Julianne Hough or any other celebrity that features and the occurrences in this story have been completely fabricated.
Note - Please note that this is my first attempt at writing fiction so please be kind! Any constructive criticism is most welcome because it is the only way in which I will be able to develop my writing skills. Also, please remember that I am British and therefore there will be some disparity in spelling etc.
Apolo and Julianne - What Happened Next ? (Part 8)
I woke up the next morning to the sun streaming in through my bedroom window announcing the glorious day that was waiting to be enjoyed. Squinting against the light, I sighed and pulled the covers up over my head, I was not ready to face the day just yet.
I remembered reading once that the great classical authors often used the weather as a reflection of how their main character was feeling. It was therefore quite common that it would be raining heavily if the heroine in the novel was feeling desolate, there would be strong whipping winds outside if the hero’s emotions were in turmoil or the sun would be shining when the unlikely couple at the centre of the story suddenly exposed their feelings and realised their destiny together. It seemed quite ironic to me then that the sun poured into my bedroom, hit the crystal glass on my desk sending a flurry of rainbows across my room whilst my mood could be described as thunderous at best.
Settling down into my bed I concentrated hard on getting back to sleep. I just wanted to loose myself in the softness of the sheets and postpone the inevitable flurry of questions that would arise from those around me in response to my meeting with Julianne yesterday. I had just dozed off when I was abruptly woken by a loud, sharp, rapping on my front door.
Eurgh! Who the hell is that? Why can’t people just leave me alone? Perhaps if I ignore them then they will think I’m out and leave.
Putting my hands over my ears I waited for the noise to subside but it didn’t. If anything, the rapping got louder and louder until it turned into full-on hammering. After a while the hammering was accompanied by shouting:
“Apolo, I know that you are in there and I am not going anywhere until you open this door”.
Crap! I’d recognise that voice anywhere. He was using his stern “don’t mess with me boy” tone that I had become so very familiar with during my teenage years. He meant business.
“OK dad, give me a second” I called as I threw back the bedcovers, peeled myself up off the mattress and put on a pair of sweat pants. Running my hand through my hair to try and tame it a little I opened the door to my father who was looking distinctly red-faced from all the hammering.
“Morning dad. What are you doing here so early? I thought we were meeting up later after my press engagements?”
“Apolo, I need to talk to you about something – urgently.”
Noticing the apprehension in his eyes a tight knot formed in my stomach. Oh God! Something’s happened! Various scenarios flashed through my head in quick succession – is dad about to tell me that he is sick? Has Shani had an accident? Has Julianne dropped out of the show?
I shook my head. Focus Apolo and stop being a drama queen!
“What’s up dad? Let me guess? The Olympic Committee have decided to revoke a couple of my gold medals at the request of the Korean’s who insist that I cheated because I was breathing too loudly!” I joked, trying to calm myself.
“Funny Apolo! Very funny! Now sit and listen!”
Obediently I lowered myself into a chair and waited.
My father’s voice softened as he began, what appeared to me, to be a well rehearsed speech, whilst he walked back and forth in front of me fidgeting nervously.
“Apolo san, I have something to tell you and I am just going to come straight out with it because you need to know and there really is no way to sugar coat this!”
The tight knot in my stomach grew to the size of a soccer ball, taking my breath away. Oh God! This is bad, whatever he is about to tell me is bad! He only ever gets like this when he knows that he is going to hurt me in some way or other. Sitting back in the chair, I folded my arms and waited for what he was about to say, my heart thudding in my chest.
“Ok Apolo, here we go ....... Julianne is divorced! It is all over the entertainments news! It was finalised the day before yesterday and a source from the court leaked the news late last night along with a copy of the certificate. Apparently her and her husband have been separated for a while”.
As he finished his last sentence he let out a loud sigh and I saw him straighten slightly as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He had obviously been nervous about telling me this news and now that it was out in the open it was as though the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
As I jumped up from the chair I ran my right hand across the back of my neck to release the tension that had suddenly built up. Striding over to the window I peered out at the snow covered Olympic village which was bathed in sunlight and glistening magnificently. It really was beautiful.
Julianne! Divorced! Well that explains the lack of ring! I chuckled to myself.
“What are you chuckling about Apolo? I thought this would send you into a tail-spin”
I turned and met my dad’s eyes which possessed a worried glaze.
“You have to admit, it is pretty funny dad in an ironic sort of way!” I blurted out, “I have spent three years trying to get over her and when I finally decide to actually sort it out once and for all, take the bull by the horns and get over this whole thing, she suddenly becomes available again and opens up a whole new potential can of worms”.
Yuki smiled softly and studied his son. “You are not fooling me Apolo! You have always used humour to cover your real feelings but it has never worked with me”.
I sighed softly, sat down and buried my head in my hands. “I can’t do this dad! I can’t!”
“Can’t do what Apolo?” he said as he lowered himself onto the arm of the chair and lightly began rubbing my left shoulder.
“I can’t go through all that again! It has messed me up enough already and now I’m afraid history is about to repeat itself.” I choked, the pain I had suppressed for so long welling up in my throat.
“So are you finally admitting that you still love her Apolo?” he asked gently. “As they say – admission is the first step on the road to recovery”.
“Yes dad, yes! I do still love her, but you knew that anyway”.
“ Yes I did son, but you acknowledging it is far more important than me being right. Now that you truly understand your position you can work out what it is you want and how to go about getting it.” He reassured me.
I stood up to go and get myself a drink of water to clear my throat and calm myself. As I returned from the kitchen I tried to install some form of order in to my brain.
Sitting again I decided to be frank with my father for the first time in three years. “I have never stopped loving her dad. Even though I despised her at times after what she did ... I never stopped loving her”.
“I know son, I know, I know” Yuki murmured gently not wanting to interrupt his sons flow.
“And, I can’t pretend that this announcement is some sort of monumental shock to me dad, I suspected something yesterday when I saw her but it doesn’t make this any easier. I just don’t know what to do. I feel like running away from it all! Pulling out of the show and moving to that little cabin in Colorado that we used to visit when I was younger” I was gathering momentum now, years of oppressed feelings were pouring out of me and I was helpless to stem the tide.
“That way I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this. I wouldn’t have to see her again, I could ignore the press speculation that is bound to start up again and I could just take my life back down to the basics – collecting wood, shovelling snow and fishing.”
“But what will that achieve Apolo?” Yuki enquired gently, “other than blissful ignorance, which doesn’t last for a lifetime, because you may be able to run away from the world ... but you will never be able to hide from yourself. Sooner or later you would have to face the truth, and since you have already made a good start here today, why postpone it any longer? I know it hurts like hell, but if you let this simmer further it will hurt even more ... trust me, I have been there”.
I looked at him enquiringly before realising what he was talking about ... “mom”.
“Yes, your mom! It took me along time to work through Apolo, but I got through it and so will you!”
I walked over to the window again and leant my head against the cold glass. My warm breath on the cold window began to cloud my view and I had to restrain myself from drawing a shattered heart in the condensation.
“I’m scared dad! I’m scared that if I spend time with her again then I will fall even further in love with her than I am now. I’m scared that she will hurt me again and I’m scared that my heart will not just get broken this time but completely obliterated.” There, I had said it! Let the core of my fear and pain out into the open! Acknowledged that I still loved Julianne and that I was as scared as hell about the upcoming show and its potential consequences. There was no going back now!
“Apolo san, you are a strong young man. Not just physically but mentally too. There is nothing that has happened thus far that we have not been able to resolve together, this time will be no different. I will help you and we will get through this together.”
“But dad, it is not a simple as that”, I responded somewhat frustrated by the whole conversation. “Some things are beyond our control. We can control our minds – our education, our stress levels, how we conduct ourselves but we cannot control our hearts. You read about it all the time in the news – people falling in love with people they really shouldn’t – students with lecturers, civilians with prison inmates, and single people with those that are married. We can’t control how we feel dad and that scares me.”
“It scares everyone Apolo and you are right – we can’t control who we love but we can control how we respond to those feelings, we can control how we manage those feelings and we can also control what we get out of each relationship whether it be a greater level of compassion, a greater understanding of ourselves or the ability to trust someone in the face of adversity. Life doesn’t always end in ‘happy ever after’ Apolo, sometimes we have to settle for less than perfect but that doesn’t mean to say that things can’t still be pretty great and ..........”.
“OK dad, I get the gist” I interrupted embarrassed by the increasingly deep conversation we were having. Dad and I we close but discussing my love-life with him was on a whole new level of closeness.
“What you are saying is that we might not be able to control what we feel but we can control how we let those feelings affect us and that positive experiences can be gained from the most difficult situations ... I get it, I get it ..... you are saying that I shouldn’t let this news ... nor my fear put me off doing the show and dealing with the whole Julianne situation. The only thing is – I don’t even know how to begin with climbing this mountain.”
He smiled, picked up my Blackberry and threw it towards me. “It’s simple Apolo ... just talked to her. You don’t need to get all deep and meaningful just keep the lines of communication open, that way, when the time is right to begin resolving things, approaching her won’t be so scary”.
Great! I’ve go to phone Julianne again! Well Apolo, it can’t be any more strained that your last phone call can it? Just keep it casual, you are phoning to thank her for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit you to discuss the competition – that’s all! And, if she brings up the divorce then you simple tell her that you were sorry to hear that things hadn’t worked out between her a Zack and leave it at that! No big shakes man! You can do this!
Dad, noticing my nerves. decided to give me some space and told me that he was off to explore the village.
“Just be careful, it may be icey out there. The sun is out but it won’t be hot enough to thaw the ground”, I warned him.
Dad looked at me and winked – “Apolo san, you forget, I taught you everything you know. My son flies on ice, I think I can mange to walk on it without breaking my hip.”
“Ok dad”, I smiled, “I’ll catch you later”.
With that, he was gone and all was quiet.
After pacing for a couple of minutes to focus, I plopped myself down in the armchair and dialled Julianne’s cell. As the line connected I cupped my Blackberry between my shoulder and my ear to free up my hands which were now moist with sweat. Reaching for a towel I dried them and retrieved the phone just as it was being answered at the other end.
“Hello! Julianne?” I enquired, “It’s Apolo”.
“Ah Ohno”, a masculine voice sneered. “I should have known that you would be sniffing around my daughter as soon as the news broke that she was divorced”.
“Wh Wh What?” I stuttered, somewhat thrown by this twist in the tale. Why is her dad answering her cell? Is she OK? My confusion was soon replaced with anger. Who the hell does this guy think he is talking to me this way? What had I ever done to him to deserve such a reception?
“Mr Hough, is Julianne there?” I cut to the chase, not wanting the guy to know that I was fuming. Why give him the satisfaction of knowing that he has got under my skin!
“No she isn’t Ohno; she has just gone to get some milk. I won’t bother telling her that you called”.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!!” My proverbial cup of anger now floweth over. “Mr Hough, I don’t know exactly why you are talking to me like something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe but I am pretty d**n sure that I don’t deserve it”. I retorted, mimicking the petulant tone he had used earlier.
“Just stay away from my daughter Ohno, that’s all I want.”
“Well I’m afraid that that is not possible sir”, I fired back rubbing my temple in frustration , “you seen, I have just signed a contract with ABC to appear on the finale of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ with your daughter, so I am afraid I won’t be going anywhere”.
“If you know what is good for you Ohno then you will get out of this Contract. You have money. Hire yourself a good lawyer and get them to find a loop hole in it ... I do not want you anywhere near my daughter”.
I was really beginning to tire of this. “Look, Mr Hough, even more important than the contract, I gave my word that I would dance. I don’t give a d**n about a signed piece of paper, but I do care about letting people down when I promised them I would participate. When I promised Julianne that we would try and win this thing. I will absolutely not pull out just to suit you!”
I heard another sneer erupt from the other end of the line. “Well you leave me no choice then Ohno! I didn’t want it to come to this, but unless you pull out of the Finale I will reveal what I know about the little holiday you and your friends took to Mexico when you were teenager”.
His last words hung in the air like a lead balloon. Reveal! Reveal! What the hell does he mean by reveal?
“How do you know about that” I asked cautiously.
“I hired a private detective to check out your past sonny, and I must say it is very ‘colourful’ to say the least”.
“Julianne knows all about my past Mr Hough and if you did indeed hire a private detective then you will already know that the incident in Mexico was widely considered to be a case of crossed wires and all charges were dropped by the police.”
“Yes Ohno, I am well aware that the charges were dropped, that you were considered to be innocent and that my daughter knows all about your history but what do you think the press will make of this new glimpse into the history of Apolo Anton Ohno? Currently the all American golden boy – somehow I don’t think reports of debauched parties with hookers and cocaine will go down well with the general public do you, despite how unfounded the claims are?”
The press! He is going to take this information to the media? crap!
“Let me get this straight” I snarled, “you are prepared to ruin any future I may have in the public eye by spreading vicious lies and all just to keep me away from your daughter?”
“That’s correct Ohno! Now take it or leave it ... the choice is yours”.
His ultimatum took several seconds to filter through into my brain. Why was he doing this to me? He was right of course. The majority of the public generally believed what they read in the papers or saw on the entertainments news. This not just could, but would, ruin my career. As quickly as it had arisen, the fear was replaced with pure, unadulterated anger. Suddenly my blood was boiling, my head was pounding and my muscles were twitching. I was, as Julianne would have said, frikkin furious. I could feel bile raise up and burn the back of my throat as I spat “Do your worst Mr Hough, bring it on”. With that I slammed down the phone, cursed profusely and punched the wall in a fit of rage.
Just when I thought things could get any more complicated.... they just had. A whole lot more complicated!
Author note - I haven't written in a while so I maybe a little rusty - let me know your thoughts. Thanks Guys
Very cute. I also liked the "dirt" Mr. Hough found -- Apolo is innocent but it could look really bad. Can't wait to read more!
I liked the interaction between father and son. 
I want to read more, so please please please write another chapter. 
