golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter forty-one

saturday, august 15th
ben watched her warm up on bars, completely absorbed in the way that she moved. "isn't she amazing?" he said, chin resting on his hands. his dad nodded. "she's so graceful."
"and so cute!" his mom added. "she looks like a little ray of sunshine with that smile."
ben nodded, his eyes still trained on her. "she's so pretty."
his dad snickered at him. "i don't think you've blinked for at least five minutes."
ben rolled his eyes.
eliana looked around at the crowd as she pulled her jacket on.
"you look nervous." cally said. "everything okay?"
"ben's family is here. i'm scared that i'll mess up in front of them."
cally scoffed. "girl, don't sweat it. you're literally the best gymnast in the world."
she laughed. "yeah, i guess."
eliana landed her double double perfectly when she flew off of the bars. she threw her hands up and smiled brightly, then quickly searched the crowd to find ben and his family. she waved to them excitedly and blew ben a kiss. eliana put her jacket on again as the finalists who would be coming back tomorrow were announced.
...in first place by a margin of two points, the princess of the bars, chicago's own eliana dempsey with a score of 62.198!
she beamed and hopped up onto the mats, waving to the crowd.
and that's all for day one of the IGI chicago style elite level meet! come back tomorrow to crown our champions and see who qualifies for this year's team usa!
eliana threw her tape into her backpack and made her way back to the locker room, where she changed back into her jacket and sweatpants. she shrugged her backpack on and walked out into the lobby.
ben waved goodbye to his parents as they made their way back to the hotel. he felt someone small jump onto his back and kiss him on the cheek, and he turned to meet her lips.
"you did great, sweetheart."
"thanks." she smiled and lowered herself off of his back. he grabbed her hand as they walked down the street on the way to the train station.
"what did they think?" she asked. "i tried not to look at you guys until i was done."
"they thought you were amazing. my mom says that you look like a little ray of sunshine."
eliana giggled.
"she's right. you're adorable." ben leaned down and kissed her nose. she stopped at the stairs going down to the L train. "i'll see you in a couple hours."
"i can't wait." he kissed her again, and backed away as she made her way down the stairs.
ben bounced his leg nervously as they waited for eliana to show up.
"ben." his dad said. "relax. you're shaking the table."
"sorry. i'm just really excited for you guys to meet her."
just as he said that, she walked into the dining room and looked around before her eyes landed on ben. she smiled brightly and sat down next to him. "hey!"
ben took her hand and kissed it as she shook his parents' hands.
"it's so nice to finally meet you, mr. and mrs. cook!"
"please, dear, call us jill and glenn. we have heard so much about you!" his mom beamed at her.
"same here." she smiled. they went quiet for a minute, looking at their menus. once they ordered, ben's dad turned eliana. "i have to say, you're one hell of a gymnast, eliana."
she laughed. "thank you. it's hard work."
"ben was telling us about this move on the bars that you do, the," he snapped his fingers, "the shaposhnikova?"
eliana could see how similar ben and his dad were, and it made her smile.
"oh, yeah." she nodded. "i worked that for months before pan-am championships, and i finally got it in competition. i'm really proud of that."
"you do it so effortlessly!" he said, sounding a little amazed. "i can't imagine how many hours you put in a week."
"it's usually thirty, maybe thirty five. since i graduated this year, being in the gym's my full time job."
"oh my." jill said. "that is a lot of time."
eliana nodded. "i love it, though."
ben rested his chin on his hand as he smiled at her, obviously proud of his girlfriend.
"so, glenn, ben said that you're a photographer?" she asked.
"i am." he nodded. "i would love to do a shoot with you sometime, if you're up to it."
"of course. that sounds amazing." she smiled. "jill, you're a teacher, right?"
"yes. what do your parents do?"
"oh, my mom is a child psychologist. she travels around and does conventions and stuff."
"and your dad?" glenn asked. eliana shifted uncomfortably. "my dad passed when i was four."
jill's face immediately softened. "oh, honey, i am so sorry."
"it's okay. i don't really have any memories of him. he was a jazz pianist, though. he played all the nightclubs in chicago."
"wait a minute..." glenn squinted. "was your dad james dempsey?"
she smiled. "yeah."
"i loved his music! i can't even count how many times i saw him play!" he grinned. "i even met him after a gig one time."
"wow, that's kind of full circle."
"if you don't mind, can i tell you what he said to me when i met him?"
eliana cocked her head curiously. "what?"
"i said that my youngest son had just started dance, and he told me that his daughter started gymnastics. he said that he had a feeling she was going to be something great."
a lump formed in her throat. "that's-"
ben put his hand on her leg comfortingly.
"thank you." she smiled. glenn returned her smile. "of course, my dear."
their food came, and the waiter set a salad down in front of eliana. she sighed as she looked at it. ben eyed her and slid his plate of chicken parmesan over. "do you want some?"
she shook her head and started to pick at the leafy greens in front of her. "i'm good."
he nodded. "mmhmm."
they made small talk as they ate their meals, and as she neared the end of her salad, eliana looked over at ben's plate. there were only a few bites of chicken left, and ben caught her looking. he took her plate and switched it with his own. she smiled and happily ate the rest of his dinner. he had a small smile on his face as he watched her. jill and glenn shared a knowing look, and he took her hand, his thumb rubbing circles on hers.
after they finished dinner, glenn paid the check as they walked outside to the setting sun.
"it was wonderful to finally meet you, eliana. we'd love to have you over during the holidays sometime." jill threw ben a pointed look. ben just rolled his eyes. eliana gave his parents hugs, and they said their goodbyes.
"don't get her home too late, ben." glenn said. "she needs to rest up."
ben laughed. "alright. see you guys." he took eliana's hand and they walked to the train station.