Page 146 of Chasing Gold, Catching Her

Hermann: And congratulations on your engagement??? They literally showed it on TV here. Can you imagine the scandal when you come back?

Alisa pressed her lips together, then slowly typed back:

Alisa: I’m not coming back.

There was a pause.

Hermann: …oh.

Alisa: I’ll call you later and explain everything.

Hermann: Okay. I’ll wait but also! I’ll be waiting for your wedding invitation!

Alisa stared at the screen with a smile for a few quiet seconds before locking the phone again.

Then Tora wrapped her arms around her from behind, grounding her gently back into reality. Into this new life waiting beyond the arena.

“Well,” Tora murmured softly against her temple, “should we go celebrate our victory?”

Alisa rolled her eyes automatically. She still didn’t consider any of this a victory.

Today her entire old life had collapsed in front of her.

Her country, her family, her dream of Olympic gold.

Everything she thought her future would look like. It had all shattered in a single evening beneath cold arena lights and camera flashes.

And yet…

Beyond that destruction stood something unfamiliar. A future she couldn’t predict anymore and a totally different life beside the woman she loved.

The unknown was terrifying.

But maybe that was what freedom always felt like at first.

Alisa looked down at the ring on her finger, then at Tora standing beside her, smiling softly despite everything that had happened between them.

And for the first time that day, Alisa allowed herself to believe that perhaps endings were not always tragedies.

Sometimes they were simply the painful beginning of something new.

Chapter 27

The girls put on their best dresses, and of course both of them were covered in sequins… yes, sequins were absolutely mandatory. Sequins forever.

Alisa twirled in front of the mirror, admiring herself for a moment before her eyes dropped to the ring now decorating her finger.

Was it real?

Was she really engaged?

To a woman?

God… what was even happening to her life anymore?

Nervously, she twisted the ring around her finger before her gaze shifted toward the silver medal lying on the bed. She picked it up slowly, staring at the cold shine of the metal in silence.

Silver.