Intertwined - Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Opening Ceremony

Alisha

This was probably one of the most important days in my life. It was early in the morning and unfortunately we were training. Although I could use a little me time at the salon nearby, Dimitri was hell-bent on making sure we knew how to land perfectly, even if that meant we looked tired during the parade.

Well, his priorities were rational, but at this point I was cursing him for making us all sweat it out and jump so we could handle the extra bounce at the arena.

Most athletes who were going to be a part of the parade were also training, and I wasn't surprised. They couldn't miss even a day now, with their dreams so close to being reality. They trained and said hi, giving fist bumps. That's how the running went really, athletes socialising while they were breathless and stinky.

"Girls, gather around." we went to Dimitri, panting. He had been ruthless today morning.

"I know this evening means a lot to you. And it should. You all worked so hard to get here. So, you know what? Enjoy every moment of that walk. Because for those few minutes, you are the star and the entire world is going to be tuned in to watch you. It celebrates you, and it cherishes you. Love the night back."

We smiled and hugged him. It was rare that he told us to go out and have fun, but this time he meant it. He wasn't like all the other coaches - sure, he wanted us to give our best and win, but he didn't want us to be mere zombies in this competition. He kept saying that the Olympics were perhaps they best days of his life, and that nothing could beat those memories. He wanted us to have just the same memories to take back home.

Although the ceremony started in the evening, we were supposed to report to the arena at 3 pm, no later than that. Hence, we had an early lunch. It was time for Caribbean cuisine, and I rather liked it. I liked the species and the homely feel to it, and I promised myself to eat more of this when I got back home.

Today, nobody stayed back talking and wandering around. We knew we had no time for salons, but we had time for facepacks and manicures in our rooms, and hence we rushed back. Lathering my face with one of my favourite facepacks, Lauren and I sat opposite each other, doing our nails to some upbeat music, occasionally dancing around the room. And that was how most of our time passed by.

In the end, we both took showers, and slipped into our outfits. We looked fierce, to say the least. I decided I wanted my hair to be in a classy high pony tail with a humongous puff to add the extra oomph factor. Lauren, on the other hand, curler her hair and made a beautiful bun. She did my eye makeup and made the perfect winged eyeliner. And just at the end, as decided, we wore red lipstick.

Red lips had more or less become USA women's gymnastics' trademark. We'd worn it to all competitions since the world championships, and people identified us with this look. We didn't mind. Nothing screamed confidence like girls who carried off red lipstick with no effort at all. We all had gone to the extent of buying a shade of lipstick that suited most of us, which happened to be a shade in Dior's new collection. They had been gracious enough to send us that - and more products - when they figured out what was up. And hence, our makeup was more or less sponsored by Dior.

We grabbed our bags and left the room, locking it carefully behind us. We weren't allowed to take our bags into the arena, of course, but we were going to keep them in the bus. We met most of our team outside the building, and walked to the guys' apartments, and saw they were ready as well. Most people were getting out by now - we exchanged a lot of hellos and other pleasantries. Dimitri was, surprisingly, not going to join us for the ceremony. I wondered why that was, but I didn't bother asking him via texts. I knew he could be strange and peculiar. Perhaps he didn't like this custom, perhaps he wanted to give us more freedom. Either way, we proceeded towards our bus without him.