Episode 13: “Fixated as f*ck.”
I’ll be honest, dehydration severe enough to require IV fluids wasn’t something you bounced back from quickly.
I’d spent the better part of the day prior lounging in bed, watching reruns of Teen Mom with Ollie and snacking on room service. And when he eventually had to leave my room to attend a rescheduled business meeting, I didn’t leave my spot in that fucking bed.
And when July 6th rolled around, I was still tired, still achy, but I felt strong enough to get my ass out on the beach and cover the first day of the Tahiti Pro Waves event.
Muscles and tanned skin and board shorts and colorful surfboards surrounded me.
I know, I know, it was a real tough job I had, huh?
[giggles]
The view was so delectable, I couldn’t stop myself from snapping a few pictures of the male eye candy on display and adding them to the group chat with my sisters.
Willow responded with three tongue emojis and Hot damn. Talk about living your best life, girl.
Even uptight Hazel joined in the commentary. Yeah, even I can’t deny I’m a little jealous of you right now…
But when my dad’s response filled the group chat, I realized I’d really screwed the pooch. He said something along the lines of Uh…You’re quite the photographer, Lucky Charm…
And I, of course, started a slow death of mortification.
[embarrassed giggle]
Yeah. Whoops.
It didn’t take long for me to realize I’d accidentally sent the muscly man photos to the group chat that included our father. Talk about epically awkward. I might’ve been a grown woman, but that still didn’t mean I wanted to send photos of hot guys to my dad.
Hazel and Willow were happy to join in on the fun with crying laughter emojis and never-ending ha-ha-ha’s.
[snorts]
Jesus. I’m still blushing with embarrassment from that awful mistake.
I sent a face palm emoji to the chat, and my dear old dad took it all in good stride with a simple LOL and a smiley face.
Rick Wright might’ve been tough as nails when we were teenagers, but with old age, he’d grown more easygoing and chill as fuck.
Thank everything for that.
After my cheeks had cooled down from the utter humiliation of it all and I’d sent an I’m sorry, Dad to our messages, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and left my embarrassment in the sand as I headed up the beach toward the area where most of the competitors and event personnel were located.
Immediately, I spotted Jordy rubbing wax on his board while he chatted up a familiar journalist from a California newspaper.
When his eyes met mine, he didn’t hesitate to shoot a playful wink in my direction.
[laughs softly]
Typical Jordy.
Always playful. Always teasing. Always a good time.
I responded with a dramatic roll of my eyes, but I followed it up with a friendly grin.
Once I made my way through the tent and stopped just outside of the judge’s area, it didn’t take long for my gaze to spot Ollie out of the bunch.
Okay, so it wasn’t so much an accidental spotting, but that’s just minor details, right?
[snorts]
Bottom line, whether it was by chance or a legitimate seeking out kind of thing, I found him.
He sat in the media section with a crew from an Australian sports channel, and he assisted with giving the play-by-play of the first day of the Tahiti event.
He grinned and laughed and cut up with the two anchors on either side of him, and I imagined all of the viewers back home were giddy over seeing one of their country’s biggest sports heroes.
There was no doubt about it, Ollie was enigmatic. And it kind of goes without saying by this point in the story, but my magnetic pull to watch him was strong.
But surely, I wasn’t the only one, though, right?
I mean, that first day he’d picked me up from the airport, he’d had a damn harem of excited fangirls shouting I love yous and begging him for selfies and autographs.
[sighs]
Yeah, go ahead and laugh at me and my rationalizing. It’s okay, I definitely deserve it.
Before I could settle into a good old-fashioned gawking session of my brain’s current fixation, my phone started to vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out to find Incoming Call Allie flashing on the screen.
Quickly, I stepped out of the tent area toward a quiet spot in the sand and answered by the third ring.
“Well, hello, stranger,” I greeted, and she laughed softly in my ear.
“How are you?”
“I’m good,” I answered. “How are you? How are you feeling?”
“Still pregnant. Still puking. But all is still well.”
“That’s good to hear.”
I mean, the puking and stuff wasn’t good, but the fact that she could say the word well was reassuring.
[giggles]
I’ll be honest. Ever since I’ve had the pleasure of watching Allie suffer through the early months of her pregnancy, the whole idea of carrying a little baby inside of my belly isn’t as magical as I’d originally thought.
For all you moms and moms-to-be out there, you have my unending supply of sympathy. You are rock stars. You are amazing. You are so damn strong you might as well be a Kelly Clarkson song.
Okay, back to my phone call with Allie…
She dove straight into the conversation, asking me how I was feeling after the little fainting episode I’d had two days prior, and I let her know I was doing just fine.
“Well,” she added, and the relief in her voice was evident, “I’m glad my brother was there to help you.”
“Me too,” I said, and no doubt about it, it was one hundred percent the truth. “He was quite the gentleman.”
“I’m glad you two are getting along and he’s keeping an eye out for you. I think it’s the one time in my life being Ollie Arsen’s sister has come in handy.”
I laughed at that. Obviously, the cons of Ollie’s antics far outweighed the pros of his celebrity status, even with his sister.
“So, what did you end up doing yesterday?” she asked, and I grimaced when I realized I’d never called her back. “I was hoping to hear from you.”
Yesterday, well, it’d been a blur of my hotel bed and Ollie and reruns of Teen Mom.
But for some reason, I didn’t want to tell her that.
“Uh…not much,” I said, skirting around the subject. “Just kind of took it easy. Rested up. Let my body prepare for the long days ahead.”
“Oh, right,” she responded. “I guess you’re at day one of the competition now, yeah?”
“Yep,” I answered with a nod.
“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
All thanks to your brother, I thought to myself, but I didn’t dare bring the conversation back to those dangerous territories.
“Thanks, me too.”
“I guess I’ll let you get back to it. Call me before you head to California?”
“Will do.”
“Love you, Lucky.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my pocket, but as I walked back toward the tent, I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that for the first time in our friendship, I hadn’t been completely honest with my best friend.
Why hadn’t I just told her the truth?
Why had I felt the need to hide the fact that I’d spent the day with her brother yesterday?
In fact, why hadn’t I told her anything about the time I’d been spending with her brother while I was on this assignment?
[deep sigh]
In the moment, I pretty much refused to explore the reasons for my lies.
But, yeah, I think we’re all aware it’s because I, well… I was starting to like Ollie a little too much…
[clears throat]
Was I falling for Allie’s brother?
That day, I would’ve told you no. I would have told a nun, a priest, and a rabbi no.
But right now, if I said that, then I’d just be lying to you too…
So, what did I do that day when Am I falling for Ollie? thoughts started to consume my brain? Well, I shook them off and forced myself to focus on the priorities of the day. I had an event to cover, and most importantly, I needed to figure out my next angle for article number two of the Surf Arsen-sponsored surfing series.
Can you say expert avoider?
[snorts]
Hell, I’m so damn attuned to it, I could probably give a TED Talk on the poor coping skill.
A word of advice? Don’t be an avoider like me.
Don’t hide from your feelings and emotions.
Don’t slide important shit under the rug.
Trust me, it’ll make your life a hell of a lot easier.
[pauses]
Anyway, with my avoiding skills engaged, I only allowed the writer part of my brain to take control.
I thought about the next article. I thought about the various perspective options, and instantly, I knew I wanted the angle to be more of an insider’s view of what it was like for a girl like me to be thrust into the world of surfing.
How I would manage that was still up for debate.
But ideas are fickle little things. They can’t be forced. They just have to come.
So, instead of beating my head against the wall and trying to force something that wasn’t there, I made my way through the tent with the intention of stepping out into the sand to watch the next surfer, Eli Chase, take on Tahiti’s version of big waves.
But by the time Eli paddled his way through the water and prepared to show the judges his wave-riding skills, my eyes were fixated back on the media section of the tent, locked tight on the all-too-familiar man with big brown eyes and one of the sexiest smiles I’d ever seen.
And just like that, an idea was born.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, tapped the screen, and added the title of my next article in my phone.
The Day Five-Time World Surfing Champion Ollie Arsen Taught Me How to Swim
Yep. I was fixated all right.
Fixated as fuck.