Chapter 28 -- The contest finally ends -- Part 1
Author's note -- Thanks for reading The Cherry Poppers story and being patient as I finished the book. I tried hard to get the end to you quickly. Part 2 is done as well and will be posted right after this. I appreciate all the kind words about this story. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.
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In the morning, Jason woke first. Initially, he wasn't sure where he was but quickly realize. He looked for Beth and found her sleeping with Haden. The realization that he had probably missed a hot scene of the two women together bothered him. He cursed himself for falling asleep and missing their sensual girl on girl lovemaking.
He didn't bother disturbing them. He wrote Beth a short note to come to the swim meet and then dressed. He headed straight for the pool. He planned to shower there before getting into his swimsuit. He didn't have long before the meet started. Fortunately, it was a home meet or he would have needed to be at the pool much earlier for the bus.
Jason ran into Brad in the locker room. He was already in his suit and headed to the pool. Jason joined him after a quick shower. The team warmed up a little as did the competing teams. The meet would be against two other teams not from their conference but both excellent programs. How Jason's team fared would be an indicator of their strength in the east.
Each team convened before the meet in the locker rooms to discuss strategy. Jason's coach laid out the strategy and the swimmers for each of the medleys and relays. The order for most of the other races had been set by mid-week. Jason was seated first in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and butterfly with Brad third. Both would swim legs in the medleys too. Jason would even do the 400 meter individual medley.
One of the other teams was especially strong in freestylers and they jumped out to an early lead in the meet. Jason won the 100 meter breaststroke with Brad two seconds behind him. Those points moved Jason's team in second temporarily.
When Jason got out of the water, he could hear some yelling louder than most. He had spotted and waved to Beth earlier. Haden had come with her. Jason looked to the stands and saw them clapping and yelling loudly. He smiled and waved to them.
What Jason didn't notice was a gray haired man in a suit sitting off alone not far away. He eyed Jason and noticed Beth and Haden clapping for him. When Jason rejoined his other teammates, the man discreetly moved over behind Beth and Haden. They didn't even notice despite the fact that the stands were only half full.
It was a close meet until Jason excelled in the end. He won the 200 meter breaststroke in record time, breaking the school record and conference too. Brad came in second, just below Jason's best time from the prior year. Jason won the 100 meter butterfly too and Brad came in second again. In the 200, he won with a school record time. Each time he won, Beth and Haden could be heard cheering above all others.
This time when Jason waved to them, he did notice the black suited man sitting directly behind them clapping too. It looked odd that he was seated so close to them since there were plenty of open seats to either side of Beth and Haden. They were kinda sitting alone, higher up in the bleachers.
Jason's team won the meet, but it was close. His four wins had carried the team. Brad's individual three seconds and one third helped too. Jason and Brad were congratulated after the meet by their coaches and teammates alike. Even some of the competitors came over to congratulate Jason. Some were guys he knew from high schools near his home town that he had competed against. A reporter for the local paper stopped Jason on the way to the locker room. He asked Jason several questions while a cameraman filmed it.
After showering and dressing, Brad and Jason walked out of the jovial locker room to find the waiting Beth and Haden. They were all smiles and Beth ran to give Jason a huge kiss. Haden was standing there when they broke the kiss and she kissed him too. Jason introduced Brad to Haden and Brad got hugs from both girls as well. Jason offered to buy everyone an early dinner and they all agreed. However, as they were leaving the black suited man stepped forward from the shadows and asked to speak with Jason. He wanted to speak alone.
Jason was a little skeptical but agreed. The other three said they would wait for him outside. The gray haired man led Jason further down the hall, away from most of the activity around the locker room. The rest of the pool was quiet for a Saturday with the meet going on.
Outside, Beth was curious about the gray haired man and asked Brad.
"Who do you think that guy is?"
"Maybe a scout for a bigger school," Brad suggested. "Or maybe he's a US Olympic Committee guy."
"Could be," Haden said. "He asked Beth all sorts of questions."
"He did? When?" Brad queried.
"Yeah, in the stands," Beth said. "He was friendly enough but he asked a lot of questions about Jason."
"What kind of questions?" Brad asked.
"Things like how did I know him and was I his girlfriend."
"Why didn't you ask him why he wanted to know?"
"He was smart the way he asked us questions," Haden said. "Something like you'd expect from a lawyer or someone. Simple questions at first, that got more specific as Beth answered."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he started casually at first, by asking if we knew that boy that just won the race when Jason won the 100 meter breaststroke. He asked like anyone curious and just making conversation would. He talked about how good he was and really acted friendly. He talked to us a lot throughout the meet," Beth stated.
"Hmm," Brad wondered aloud.
"We didn't think anything of it at the time, just a swimming fan or something. We asked if he had a son swimming but he didn't," Haden explained.
"Curious," Brad admitted.
"Yeah, what's with the secrecy and pulling Jason aside to talk? And what's taking him so long? What could this guy be saying to him?" Beth questioned.
"I don't know," Brad agreed.
Jason came out a few minutes later. Beth immediately asked who that guy was. Jason just smiled and waved them off. He kept walking towards the frat encouraging them to follow. Haden, Beth, and Brad all looked at each other curious that he seemed not to want to talk about it or to dismiss it. They wanted more information but Jason was already twenty steps ahead and calling for them to hurry as he was hungry.
Jason led them to his room first so he could put on better clothes. He still had on the clothes from the day before. He had them wait outside the room while he changed but Beth insisted on coming in. They were in the room for several minutes which gave Haden and Brad time to get to know each other.
When they came out of the room and they all started walking out the back of the frat to Jason's car, Haden and Brad whispered to Beth.
"What did he say?"
"He claims the guy is a reporter for another paper," Beth said.
"Yeah?" Brad replied.
"But, you don't believe him?" Haden asked reading her roommate's face.
"Course I do," Beth said, but again Haden knew better.
The gray haired man forgotten for a while, they had a fun dinner. Haden and Brad seemed to get along great. They went to an Italian restaurant and afterwards, Jason proposed they go bowling. Everyone agreed, argued when he offered to pay again, and settled for paying for their own shoes. It was eleven when they dropped Brad at his dorm. When Jason drove the women to their dorm, Beth invited him up. Jason jumped at the idea, remembering the night before.
In the room, the women wanted to get more comfortable. Jason thought he was in for another tremendous show until they grabbed their pajamas and both went to the bathroom. Alone, Jason thought about the day's events and the contest.
'God, how can I do this?' Jason fretted. 'Caulfield's lawyer wants the log book back tomorrow. I've only got one more chance and tonight is it. He says they have the cards from the clinic. How do they have the cards? I personally helped Dr. Clark pack them up for storage. How is it they have access to them?'
Jason was deep in thought as the two beauties returned in their pajamas. Even in PJs they looked hot. He tried not to smile despite the fact that they both had hard nipples poking out their tops, probably a result of the cool bathroom and hallways in these dorms. Jason was shoeless, had the TV on again, and lay across the middle of Beth's bed with his back to the wall. His plan worked as the two women took spots on either side of him to watch the TV. Having accomplished that, Jason wondered, 'how can I make this work? Time is short.'
He thought they were just going to settle back and watch TV but Beth had other ideas again. She leaned into him and kissed his cheek.
"My hero," she said.
