Post by snmphotography on May 22, 2007 19:35:32 GMT -5
A NOTE/REQUEST
This one is a little bit longer, sorry. I hope it's entertaining. I found it a little boring to write - I was struggling.
My request is: tell me if you could do without any of it or if you wish there were more description. Anything at all. I love input and constructive criticism.
:::4:::
THE DATE The next few weeks were busy for everyone on the center. People were involved in competitions, there were interviews to give, practices to attend, family and friends to visit off the compound, and sleep to be had. Thalia was no exception. She flew back to California, meeting up with family in L.A. for a week of fun while she competed and practiced. Paparazzi occasionally followed her around, but it was nothing insane. Certainly not up to the level of a movie star.
Over the week, she got a few opportunities to sit down and watch the gossip new shows. Apolo was featured on all of them because his victory on Dancing With the Stars was still going strong in the public world.
"Uelo," [[short for "abuelo" meaning "grandfather" in Spanish; pronounced: way-low]] she said, looking at the elderly man in the reclining chair beside her.
"Si, mi'ja," he responded from behind the newspaper.
"What do you think of that guy?"
He peered over the obituaries long enough to get a good glimpse of Apolo on the screen. He shrugged and replied, "Seems ok. Why you askin'?"
"No razón," [[no reason; pronounced: rah-sone, roll the R and emphasize the O]]
Now he set down the paper completely and leaned forward, taking off his glasses.
"Thalia, mi'ja, listen to me." he said. She turned to look at him, but she was doing it with a hint of sarcasm. He had his "wise" voice on and she knew he was going to try to talk sense into her for whatever reason he felt was necessary.
"Boys like him," he said. "They're busy people, mi'ja. You know this, you've been around them your whole life. Building friendships, that's a good thing. Muy bueno. But ... do not let your heart want something that cannot be had completely. Athletes, musicians, actors, scientists, bookworms. All these types you have dated, and all these types are really the same at their cores. This one will be no different."
"If they're no different, then why should I ever find a man and get married like you say. Are you like them, Uelo?"
The old rooster puffed his chest and cleared his throat, standing up.
"Awww, Uelo, I didn't mean it." she said, laughing.
"Debbie, you've got to do something about this girl of yours!" Uelo said storming off into the kitchen. Thalia continued laughing until her cell phone buzzed on the table in front of her. It buzzed twice and then stopped, the message on the screen displayed: 1 new text message. She opened the message from an unknown number.
"Hows l.a.? - apolo"
She looked back in the direction of the kitchen, biting her lip. Her mouth slowly formed a smile and she answered, "A little boring rite now. Watching sum speedsk8r on tv. What r u doing?"
A couple minutes later and, "Getting ready 2 go eat @ real food daily. You know it?"
"Yeah. I didnt know u were vegan."
"Im not. But its healthy and one of the few places i can eat and stay on my diet in l.a."
"I understand. Have fun."
"Would u like to join me?"
"Im @ my familys. Cant."
"Bummer."
She paused for awhile and then decided she really wanted to go.
"On second thought...we dont have anything planned for tonight." she wrote. A couple of minutes later, "Awesome. Meet there?"
"Pick me up? I dont have a car here anymore."
"No problem."
She texted him the address and got ready while he MapQuested it and drove over.
"Where are you going?" Uelo asked as she came down the stairs.
"As a matter of fact," she replied. "I'm going out with my friend. That guy from the TV."
"Uh-huh,"
"What do you mean by that?"
They looked each other in the eye; Thalia defying him to speak his mind, Uelo taking his time.
"Nothing," he finally said. "Is he...is he picking you up?"
"Yes, he'll be here soon."
"That's nice. I want to meet him."
"Uelo, not tonight."
"Why not tonight? A boy coming over to pick up my grandchild and I can't have a minute to find out what his character is?"
Thalia's lips were purse together making them so thin they almost disappeared. She knew she had no choice. Uelo was the patriarch of the whole family and what he wanted, he got. If for no other reason than the fact he had immigrated from Mexico dirt poor and acquired not only his legal citizenship, but his own business which had made him very financially comfortable over the years.
A little while later, the doorbell rang and when Thalia stood to answer it, Uelo called for everyone to come in. She looked petrified.
"What are you doing?" she whispered through gritted teeth behind the front door so Apolo wouldn't hear.
"The family wants to meet him." Uelo said.
"I thought it was just going to be you."
"I never said I wasn't inviting everyone."
"Aye aye aye,"
Uelo opened the door and Thalia threw on the best smile she could muster. It wasn't that great. Apolo smiled charmingly and said hi to her.
"Come on in," Uelo said in his scruffiest voice. Thalia opened the screen door and Apolo entered. He held his hand out to Uelo to shake it, saying, "I'm Apolo. Nice to meet you."
Uelo looked down at his hand for a minute and said, "I'm amused. Come in. We want to meet you."
He turned and walked away. Thalia's jaw was hanging open as she watched him and when she turned to Apolo she just shrugged and apologized softly.
In the living room, there was no more room. The entire family (Uelo, uncles, aunts, step-aunts, cousins, second cousins, brothers, and Thalia's mother) stared and smiled. No one spoke until after Uelo did.
"Where are you going tonight?" he asked.
"Um, Real Food Daily." Apolo said. "Um, sir."
Uelo nodded his head approvingly.
"That's ok because of her diet, right?" Aunt Delores asked. She thought she was whispering to her husband (or rather, her fourth husband), but being hard of hearing now she really spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Pete, her husband, just nodded and patted her hand.
"Apolo, this is my mom, Debbie." Thalia said. Apolo shook her hand and said hello. She was very nice to him and said, "I loved you on Dancing With the Stars."
"Thank you,"
"I told you you he was on that show," Mercedes (one of Thalia's cousins) said to her sister, Lorianna. Lorianna pulled out a ten dollar bill from her bra and handed it over to her sister who stuffed it into her own bra.
"I can't help it if he's shorter than what he looks like on TV," Lorianna said.
"Okay," Thalia exclaimed. "We're going now. Thank you guys for making everything uncomfortable. Bye."
She and Apolo rushed out, trying to appear as if they were not rushing at all, and once outside she said, "Keep walking, they're watching out the window by now."
He opened the door for her and from behind the screen that was open they heard Delores say, "He opened the door. What a gentleman."
She was promptly hushed by everyone else. Apolo raced around the front and got into the driver's seat. He burst out into laughter and although she wanted to be steaming over it, Thalia saw the obvious hilarity and began laughing along with him.
"I have to say," said Apolo. "I've never felt more awkward in my whole life."
"Uelo likes putting the fear into people. He calls it getting to know their character."
Apolo laughed and sped off around a corner. Thalia was beyond embarrassed, but as Apolo laughed it off she was able to settle into the comfotable niche they had together.
At the restaurant they sat amongst "normal folk" and at one point Alicia Silverstone stopped in. Thalia knew her well from all of their animal rights contributions and speaking out for veganism together. Alicia stopped to say hello, she was just stopping in to pick up some dinner for her husband and herself.
"So when are you free to hang out?" Alica asked.
"After today I'm booked. There's a photo shoot for Vogue tomorrow." Thalia answered.
"Vogue? My, my, my we are moving on up aren't we?"
They giggled. "It helps when you're voted hottest female athlete a few times, I guess." Thalia replied.
"What was it? 1500 magazines voted you for that title."
"Ha ha, very funny. It was 1501, I'll have you know."
"Shut up!"
A quick glance at the counter and Alici's to go order was ready.
"That's me. It was very nice meeting you Apolo. Lia and I watched you on Dancing all the time. We would be on the phone talking to each other about how awesome you did."
Thalia cleared her throat and shook her head. Her night was jus not going well. Alicia turned to walk away saying, "Oops. Sorry."
"Yeah," Thalia growled. "Bye."
She shrugged to Apolo and said, "I can't win tonight."
"It's alright," he replied. "You bowl?"
"Do I bowl? Are you joking me?"
"Well, here's to your losing streak. May it last just a little while longer while we go bowling."
"Awww,"
They toasted with their triple berry non-alcoholic martinis and took a sip. The rest of dinner continued wuth laughter and friendly banter as usual.
At night's end they were having so much fun neither wanted to go home. Thalia said at this point it was senseless to sleep. She'd look better for the photo shoot if she stayed awake. Her suggestion was going to the beach to watch the sunrise.
"An incredibly cheesy thing to do," she said. "But I love it. It's one reason I love California so much."
"Not cheesy at all." Apolo replied, and he turned a corner to head for the beach.
They slipped out of their shoes and walked barefoot in the cold sand, making their way to a spot that was dry and had a fantastic view of the dark blue waves breaking into white lines with each rush of the tide. The sky was only just starting to fade from black to a dark navy.
"Your family is really fun," Apolo said bringing up the night's opening events.
"Yeah," Thalia said as she watched her fingers run through the sand. It almost appeared she didn't recognize the long fingers as her own.
"No, really. They have a lot of energy and character and they just seem like they're fun. It's good that they're interested in your life."
"What about your family?" she asked.
"Well, my dad moved here from Japan. Everyone's back there. But, you know, it's distanced. I love them, but I don't know them well. Not personably that is."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm too close to my family. There are days when I just want to disappear for awhile. Not hear from them, not see them, not have to wonder about them."
"Yeah, I can understand that."
"What about your dad? Everyone knows you two are close, but what can you say about him?"
"So many things, and nothing at all."
"Ah. Very philosophical."
"I'm Japanese, it just sort of happens."
They laughed together and playfully pushed each other around. At one point, Thalia jumped at him to push him a little harder and he easily wrapped both hands around her slender arms. He lost balance and they tumbled to the soft sand, Thalia slumping over him. Their faces were a couple inches apart and Thalia swallowed the lump in her throat before pushing herself up. Apolo sat up slowly.
"We always seem to have tension," he said.
She looked straight ahead at the waves and thought about all the times she was told never to swim in dark water. The undercurrents were strong, it was easy to get swept away. In the dark, no one was around to save you. There wasn't even anyone to be swept away with. She'd always feared the dark water when it came to relationships with people. She had a tendency to not trust, she'd been hurt so many times before by men she had cared for most. She didn't want to get attached to someone else. She knew the rationalities of everything: both of them had incredibly busy schedules for at least the next three and a half years, but really did either of them ever plan to slow down? Would they even be able to? Then she figured she was being out of line trying to imagine years from then.
Her face contorted as she thought hard, she bit her bottom lip on the right side like she always did and Apolo just watched her. He wondered what she thought about and if it was what he was thinking about. He wondered where any of these emotions could lead. How long would it last? Would it even begin? Did she feel awkward because she felt for him as he did for her? Or because she sensed how he felt for her and the feeling wasn't mutual on her part? He wished he had had more, if not better, experience with dating. He wanted to know how to read her, if it were possible to read someone so well you knew exactly what to do in any situation. The only thing he knew as the gospel truth was he felt for her more strongly in the short time they'd known each other than he'd felt for anyone else. Maybe because she was an over-achiever or because of how she looked. He knew he liked the way she looked. She took care of herself, she took the time to be healthy, took pains to put on makeup. Even when she skated for practice she wore at least eye liner and lipstick. She had natural beauty, though. She didn't need much more than lipstick to look absolutely stunning. Maybe that was it, he thought. Maybe the combination of her mind, her humor, her healthy living and her natural beauty was everything he admired in her.
She was still thinking over something very hard. Apolo couldn't stand it.
"Thalia, look at me." he said. She turned her faceto his and he lunged forward, wrapping arms around her waist to hold her tight and he planted his lips on hers. To him they felt like two pillows, freshly plumped for a resting head to find it's nightly solace. She was stiff for a long moment, but while hiis hands massaged her back and his lips kissed her softly but passionately. She relaxed only a little bit, enough to rest her hands on his shoulders and kiss back. She watched his face, trying to figure out if this was for real or if he just wanted a good make out session. His eyes were closed, going from tightly shut to softly closed. She couldn't trust the arguing going on between her head and her emotions, so she just ignored it and kissed back for as long as he kissed her. Her eyes were open the entire time.
This one is a little bit longer, sorry. I hope it's entertaining. I found it a little boring to write - I was struggling.
My request is: tell me if you could do without any of it or if you wish there were more description. Anything at all. I love input and constructive criticism.
:::4:::
THE DATE The next few weeks were busy for everyone on the center. People were involved in competitions, there were interviews to give, practices to attend, family and friends to visit off the compound, and sleep to be had. Thalia was no exception. She flew back to California, meeting up with family in L.A. for a week of fun while she competed and practiced. Paparazzi occasionally followed her around, but it was nothing insane. Certainly not up to the level of a movie star.
Over the week, she got a few opportunities to sit down and watch the gossip new shows. Apolo was featured on all of them because his victory on Dancing With the Stars was still going strong in the public world.
"Uelo," [[short for "abuelo" meaning "grandfather" in Spanish; pronounced: way-low]] she said, looking at the elderly man in the reclining chair beside her.
"Si, mi'ja," he responded from behind the newspaper.
"What do you think of that guy?"
He peered over the obituaries long enough to get a good glimpse of Apolo on the screen. He shrugged and replied, "Seems ok. Why you askin'?"
"No razón," [[no reason; pronounced: rah-sone, roll the R and emphasize the O]]
Now he set down the paper completely and leaned forward, taking off his glasses.
"Thalia, mi'ja, listen to me." he said. She turned to look at him, but she was doing it with a hint of sarcasm. He had his "wise" voice on and she knew he was going to try to talk sense into her for whatever reason he felt was necessary.
"Boys like him," he said. "They're busy people, mi'ja. You know this, you've been around them your whole life. Building friendships, that's a good thing. Muy bueno. But ... do not let your heart want something that cannot be had completely. Athletes, musicians, actors, scientists, bookworms. All these types you have dated, and all these types are really the same at their cores. This one will be no different."
"If they're no different, then why should I ever find a man and get married like you say. Are you like them, Uelo?"
The old rooster puffed his chest and cleared his throat, standing up.
"Awww, Uelo, I didn't mean it." she said, laughing.
"Debbie, you've got to do something about this girl of yours!" Uelo said storming off into the kitchen. Thalia continued laughing until her cell phone buzzed on the table in front of her. It buzzed twice and then stopped, the message on the screen displayed: 1 new text message. She opened the message from an unknown number.
"Hows l.a.? - apolo"
She looked back in the direction of the kitchen, biting her lip. Her mouth slowly formed a smile and she answered, "A little boring rite now. Watching sum speedsk8r on tv. What r u doing?"
A couple minutes later and, "Getting ready 2 go eat @ real food daily. You know it?"
"Yeah. I didnt know u were vegan."
"Im not. But its healthy and one of the few places i can eat and stay on my diet in l.a."
"I understand. Have fun."
"Would u like to join me?"
"Im @ my familys. Cant."
"Bummer."
She paused for awhile and then decided she really wanted to go.
"On second thought...we dont have anything planned for tonight." she wrote. A couple of minutes later, "Awesome. Meet there?"
"Pick me up? I dont have a car here anymore."
"No problem."
She texted him the address and got ready while he MapQuested it and drove over.
"Where are you going?" Uelo asked as she came down the stairs.
"As a matter of fact," she replied. "I'm going out with my friend. That guy from the TV."
"Uh-huh,"
"What do you mean by that?"
They looked each other in the eye; Thalia defying him to speak his mind, Uelo taking his time.
"Nothing," he finally said. "Is he...is he picking you up?"
"Yes, he'll be here soon."
"That's nice. I want to meet him."
"Uelo, not tonight."
"Why not tonight? A boy coming over to pick up my grandchild and I can't have a minute to find out what his character is?"
Thalia's lips were purse together making them so thin they almost disappeared. She knew she had no choice. Uelo was the patriarch of the whole family and what he wanted, he got. If for no other reason than the fact he had immigrated from Mexico dirt poor and acquired not only his legal citizenship, but his own business which had made him very financially comfortable over the years.
A little while later, the doorbell rang and when Thalia stood to answer it, Uelo called for everyone to come in. She looked petrified.
"What are you doing?" she whispered through gritted teeth behind the front door so Apolo wouldn't hear.
"The family wants to meet him." Uelo said.
"I thought it was just going to be you."
"I never said I wasn't inviting everyone."
"Aye aye aye,"
Uelo opened the door and Thalia threw on the best smile she could muster. It wasn't that great. Apolo smiled charmingly and said hi to her.
"Come on in," Uelo said in his scruffiest voice. Thalia opened the screen door and Apolo entered. He held his hand out to Uelo to shake it, saying, "I'm Apolo. Nice to meet you."
Uelo looked down at his hand for a minute and said, "I'm amused. Come in. We want to meet you."
He turned and walked away. Thalia's jaw was hanging open as she watched him and when she turned to Apolo she just shrugged and apologized softly.
In the living room, there was no more room. The entire family (Uelo, uncles, aunts, step-aunts, cousins, second cousins, brothers, and Thalia's mother) stared and smiled. No one spoke until after Uelo did.
"Where are you going tonight?" he asked.
"Um, Real Food Daily." Apolo said. "Um, sir."
Uelo nodded his head approvingly.
"That's ok because of her diet, right?" Aunt Delores asked. She thought she was whispering to her husband (or rather, her fourth husband), but being hard of hearing now she really spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Pete, her husband, just nodded and patted her hand.
"Apolo, this is my mom, Debbie." Thalia said. Apolo shook her hand and said hello. She was very nice to him and said, "I loved you on Dancing With the Stars."
"Thank you,"
"I told you you he was on that show," Mercedes (one of Thalia's cousins) said to her sister, Lorianna. Lorianna pulled out a ten dollar bill from her bra and handed it over to her sister who stuffed it into her own bra.
"I can't help it if he's shorter than what he looks like on TV," Lorianna said.
"Okay," Thalia exclaimed. "We're going now. Thank you guys for making everything uncomfortable. Bye."
She and Apolo rushed out, trying to appear as if they were not rushing at all, and once outside she said, "Keep walking, they're watching out the window by now."
He opened the door for her and from behind the screen that was open they heard Delores say, "He opened the door. What a gentleman."
She was promptly hushed by everyone else. Apolo raced around the front and got into the driver's seat. He burst out into laughter and although she wanted to be steaming over it, Thalia saw the obvious hilarity and began laughing along with him.
"I have to say," said Apolo. "I've never felt more awkward in my whole life."
"Uelo likes putting the fear into people. He calls it getting to know their character."
Apolo laughed and sped off around a corner. Thalia was beyond embarrassed, but as Apolo laughed it off she was able to settle into the comfotable niche they had together.
At the restaurant they sat amongst "normal folk" and at one point Alicia Silverstone stopped in. Thalia knew her well from all of their animal rights contributions and speaking out for veganism together. Alicia stopped to say hello, she was just stopping in to pick up some dinner for her husband and herself.
"So when are you free to hang out?" Alica asked.
"After today I'm booked. There's a photo shoot for Vogue tomorrow." Thalia answered.
"Vogue? My, my, my we are moving on up aren't we?"
They giggled. "It helps when you're voted hottest female athlete a few times, I guess." Thalia replied.
"What was it? 1500 magazines voted you for that title."
"Ha ha, very funny. It was 1501, I'll have you know."
"Shut up!"
A quick glance at the counter and Alici's to go order was ready.
"That's me. It was very nice meeting you Apolo. Lia and I watched you on Dancing all the time. We would be on the phone talking to each other about how awesome you did."
Thalia cleared her throat and shook her head. Her night was jus not going well. Alicia turned to walk away saying, "Oops. Sorry."
"Yeah," Thalia growled. "Bye."
She shrugged to Apolo and said, "I can't win tonight."
"It's alright," he replied. "You bowl?"
"Do I bowl? Are you joking me?"
"Well, here's to your losing streak. May it last just a little while longer while we go bowling."
"Awww,"
They toasted with their triple berry non-alcoholic martinis and took a sip. The rest of dinner continued wuth laughter and friendly banter as usual.
At night's end they were having so much fun neither wanted to go home. Thalia said at this point it was senseless to sleep. She'd look better for the photo shoot if she stayed awake. Her suggestion was going to the beach to watch the sunrise.
"An incredibly cheesy thing to do," she said. "But I love it. It's one reason I love California so much."
"Not cheesy at all." Apolo replied, and he turned a corner to head for the beach.
They slipped out of their shoes and walked barefoot in the cold sand, making their way to a spot that was dry and had a fantastic view of the dark blue waves breaking into white lines with each rush of the tide. The sky was only just starting to fade from black to a dark navy.
"Your family is really fun," Apolo said bringing up the night's opening events.
"Yeah," Thalia said as she watched her fingers run through the sand. It almost appeared she didn't recognize the long fingers as her own.
"No, really. They have a lot of energy and character and they just seem like they're fun. It's good that they're interested in your life."
"What about your family?" she asked.
"Well, my dad moved here from Japan. Everyone's back there. But, you know, it's distanced. I love them, but I don't know them well. Not personably that is."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm too close to my family. There are days when I just want to disappear for awhile. Not hear from them, not see them, not have to wonder about them."
"Yeah, I can understand that."
"What about your dad? Everyone knows you two are close, but what can you say about him?"
"So many things, and nothing at all."
"Ah. Very philosophical."
"I'm Japanese, it just sort of happens."
They laughed together and playfully pushed each other around. At one point, Thalia jumped at him to push him a little harder and he easily wrapped both hands around her slender arms. He lost balance and they tumbled to the soft sand, Thalia slumping over him. Their faces were a couple inches apart and Thalia swallowed the lump in her throat before pushing herself up. Apolo sat up slowly.
"We always seem to have tension," he said.
She looked straight ahead at the waves and thought about all the times she was told never to swim in dark water. The undercurrents were strong, it was easy to get swept away. In the dark, no one was around to save you. There wasn't even anyone to be swept away with. She'd always feared the dark water when it came to relationships with people. She had a tendency to not trust, she'd been hurt so many times before by men she had cared for most. She didn't want to get attached to someone else. She knew the rationalities of everything: both of them had incredibly busy schedules for at least the next three and a half years, but really did either of them ever plan to slow down? Would they even be able to? Then she figured she was being out of line trying to imagine years from then.
Her face contorted as she thought hard, she bit her bottom lip on the right side like she always did and Apolo just watched her. He wondered what she thought about and if it was what he was thinking about. He wondered where any of these emotions could lead. How long would it last? Would it even begin? Did she feel awkward because she felt for him as he did for her? Or because she sensed how he felt for her and the feeling wasn't mutual on her part? He wished he had had more, if not better, experience with dating. He wanted to know how to read her, if it were possible to read someone so well you knew exactly what to do in any situation. The only thing he knew as the gospel truth was he felt for her more strongly in the short time they'd known each other than he'd felt for anyone else. Maybe because she was an over-achiever or because of how she looked. He knew he liked the way she looked. She took care of herself, she took the time to be healthy, took pains to put on makeup. Even when she skated for practice she wore at least eye liner and lipstick. She had natural beauty, though. She didn't need much more than lipstick to look absolutely stunning. Maybe that was it, he thought. Maybe the combination of her mind, her humor, her healthy living and her natural beauty was everything he admired in her.
She was still thinking over something very hard. Apolo couldn't stand it.
"Thalia, look at me." he said. She turned her faceto his and he lunged forward, wrapping arms around her waist to hold her tight and he planted his lips on hers. To him they felt like two pillows, freshly plumped for a resting head to find it's nightly solace. She was stiff for a long moment, but while hiis hands massaged her back and his lips kissed her softly but passionately. She relaxed only a little bit, enough to rest her hands on his shoulders and kiss back. She watched his face, trying to figure out if this was for real or if he just wanted a good make out session. His eyes were closed, going from tightly shut to softly closed. She couldn't trust the arguing going on between her head and her emotions, so she just ignored it and kissed back for as long as he kissed her. Her eyes were open the entire time.
