Chapter 4: Olympic swimmer

                                    

                                          
Alicia Siegfried POV
                          
"So, Mr. Jackson," I asked the famous athlete who had just winned all of the gold medals of the swimming Olympic game, "how do you feel after winning such an important title? May I ask what or who you thought of during the competition?"
                          
You see, I'm a journalist, but I don't usually interview people, I usually only write about political situations all around the world. Yet, this time, my boss had asked me to get to the Olympic games. I accepted because it made me travel and anyway, I didn't really have a choice.
                          
"I—." he started before he was cut by another journalist. 
                          
The man, may I add he was very rude, was pushing his way through the bunch of broadcasters. "Mr. Jackson! How long do you train a day?"
                          
"How long have you been swimming?" added another girl, who was obviously flirting with the sportsman, who seemed very uncomfortable and tried to back off.
                          
"Well, I—" he was interrupted again by an interviewer who was practically glued to the poor swimmer. 
                          
"Mr. Jackson! How did you break so many records?" This time, Percy Jackson didn't even try to answer before another question was asked. The press inquired after his family, his friends, his motivations, his goals, his hopes, everything.
                          
Soon, he just stood there listening to the journalist almost attack each other to talk to him first, his sea-green eyes gleaming in amusement. 
                          
Perseus 'Percy' Jackson was what most people called handsome. Tall, muscular and lean, perfect abs, strong arms, perfectly symmetrical face, tanned skin, and beautiful eyes. 
                          
Soon, all the journalists started insulting and screaming at each other. Percy watched in silence and after a few minutes, left without anyone noticing. It was only about ten minutes later that a journalist screamed above everyone's shout: "Where is Percy Jackson?" 
                          
The poor man, who stood a few meters away with a gorgeous blonde, grey-eyed woman, carrying an approximately one-year-old girl with black hair and grey eyes and three-year-old boy with blond hair and green eyes, was soon assaulted by a crowd of reporters. 
                          
The women, as well as I, found it very funning and started laughing while Mr. Jackson tried to slip through the mob. Soon enough, he found himself near me. I couldn't help it.
                          
I walked towards him and asked in a flirting way: "So Mr. Jackson, please tell me what your hopes are now that you won the Olympic games?" He gave me a pure terror look that made me laugh. The lady and two children of earlier came towards us as well. 
                          
"Percy?" the girl asked. 
                          
"Yes, Annabeth?" he answered.
                          
'Annabeth' asked: "Can you please watch Bianca while I go see Sally with Charlie." Percy nodded and took the little girl in his arms. The young man still looked at me with a look of confusion, apparently not sure if I was an annoying journalist or not.
                          
"Please, tell me if I'm intruding, but may I ask who your friend was?" He smiled brightly. "That was my wife, Annabeth," he pointed the little girl with his chin, "that's our daughter, Bianca. She's one and a half and Charlie, my three-year-old son left to see my mother."
                          
"They're so cute." I squealed. Now let me get this clear, I'm not usually that excited about a couple, but they just looked perfect for one another. He looked at me weirdly, probably not expecting such a reaction from me, and then laughed.
                          
Shortly, Annabeth came back with a very nice-looking middle-aged woman with brown hairs and blue eyes and a good-looking man with longish salt-and-pepper hair. 
                          
"Let me present my mom, Sally Blofis, and my step-dad, Paul." he smiled. He gave his daughter to Sally, who asked if she could carry her and leaned over to kiss Annabeth. At that moment, photographers came, taking a picture. 
                          
Percy sighed, took his wife's hand, and after excusing himself and saying goodbye, left as quickly as possible to his lodge. I laughed as I saw him flee the crowd and practically run to the change room. A few minutes later, I saw him, a few meters in front of me, circled with interviewers, he had just gotten changed. I winked at him, sending him a silent encouragement, and, highly amused, I saw him sigh in hopelessness and answering the questions, looking very, very bored. 
                          
When I saw him, four years later, at the same event, where he had also won, I noticed the exact same situation that happened to him. However, that time, as he was quite a celebrity, all the women in the room seemed to follow him wherever he went: when he stopped, they stopped, when he advanced, they advanced and when he tried to hide, they followed him, begging for autographs as Annabeth, the kids and I waited patiently in a corner of the room, laughing as his faces, who all showed how much he hated to be the center of attention. 
                          
He finished by running to the change room for hours, waiting for the crowd to leave when she got bored and left, half-hidden in a big baggy sweater, his hood safely secured on his head. 
                          
Annabeth told me it was like that everywhere he went, even before he was famous, because of his extremely good looks. All women fell at his feet, worshiping the floor he walked on. We met several times in those kinds of events, after Percy won something or sometimes in more cultural events because Annabeth was very interested in everything that was cultural and was also a very successful architect. 
                          
A few years later, I asked her to do the plan of my house and we soon became friends. Sure, we weren't very close, but we both appreciated each other's company.