Dayo was seated in the front of a boat with his family scattered around him—Jeffery scrolling through his phone, Janet half-lying across a couch with snacks, Abisola speaking quietly with Jason, while Alice and Valerie argued softly about where to eat dinner and Wayne sleeping. It was one of those rare calm monts that ca after chaos, after dals, after caras.
Dayo had rented a boat for them after all it was not everyday you get to go to paris.
plus he was a billionaire and it caused nothing and seeing all of them happy made him smile.
Then his phone buzzed.
Dayo glanced at the screen.
Richard.
He frowned slightly and stood up, moving a few steps away.
"Coach," he said, answering.
"Where are you right now?" Richard asked, his voice steady.
"On a boat we rented. With my family."
"Good. I won’t take long."
Dayo leaned against the railing overlooking the lobby. "What’s up?"
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"I heard you were planning to leave Paris soon."
Dayo nodded instinctively, even though Richard couldn’t see him. "Yeah. A few days more, then back to the States. We’ve done what we ca here to do."
Richard humd. "I think you should stay."
That made Dayo straighten. "Stay? Till when?"
"Till the end of the Olympics."
Dayo let out a small laugh. "Coach, that’s another week. There’s no reason for to still be around. My events are done."
"I know."
"Then why?"
Another pause. Longer this ti.
"Just... stay," Richard said. "Trust ."
Dayo exhaled slowly. "Is this about sothing specific?"
"No. Not directly."
"That’s not an answer coach."
Richard chuckled faintly. "It’s the only one I’m giving."
Dayo glanced back at his family. Janet was laughing now, probably teasing Jeffery about sothing. His parents looked relaxed. Safe.
"I don’t like vague," Dayo said.
"I know," Richard replied. "But sotis vague is necessary."
Silence settled between them.
Finally, Dayo said, "Alright. We’ll stay."
"Good."
"But if this turns out to be nothing—"
"It won’t."
Richard hung up before Dayo could say anything else.
Dayo stared at the phone for a mont, then slipped it back into his pocket.
He looked around and said. "Cannon ball."
And dive into the water making his whole family laugh.
Then jeffery dived inside to.
***
Olympic Committee Headquarters – Paris
The room was quiet, but tense.
A long glass table sat at the center, surrounded by n and won who carried influence without needing to announce it. Screens lined the walls, displaying nas, statistics, dal counts, and archived footage.
"This is getting circular," one man said, rubbing his temple. "We need direction."
"We need logic," another countered. "Not emotion."
Diana leaned forward, folding her hands. "Logic is exactly why we’re here."
On the screen behind her, a na was highlighted.
JASON DAYO
Three gold dals blinked beside it.
50m Freestyle – Gold
100m Freestyle – Gold
200m Freestyle – Gold
"Three sprint events," Diana continued. "All won by the sa athlete. Back to back. No rest window. No precedent. We all saw it happen sothing that has never been achieved before not to talk about the amount of stress he was in."
A woman across the table scoffed lightly. "Others have won more dals."
"Yes," Diana replied calmly. "But not these three."
A man beside her tapped his tablet. "Historically, no swimr has swept the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle in a single Olympic Gas. Ever."
"Still," another voice cut in, "this award isn’t about records alone. It’s about overall contribution."
Diana nodded. "Then let’s talk about contribution."
She gestured to the screen. It changed.
Clips played—Coach Richard speaking at a press conference, footage from earlier in the year.
’After the drug scandal, we were short-handed. We had to rebuild fast. Dayo helped identify athletes with clean records and untapped potential. Without him, half of this roster wouldn’t be here and as you can see we achieved a record never done before by the swimming team we broke every record.’
Murmurs spread across the table.
One of the older committee mbers frowned. "You’re telling an athlete helped assemble the team?"
"Yes," Diana said. "And because of that, the U.S. swimming team exceeded its projected dal count."
A chart appeared.
Previous Olympic Average:
Gold – 8
Silver – 6
Bronze – 5
Current Projection:
Gold – 13
Silver – 9
Bronze – 7
"That’s not coincidence," Diana said.
Another man leaned back in his chair. "But isn’t this award ant to recognize performance within competition, not behind-the-scenes influence?"
"And why can’t it be both?" Diana shot back.
A woman on the far end spoke up. "There’s also the issue of ti. Dayo only started competitive swimming two months ago."
"That’s exactly why this matters," Diana replied. "It challenges everything we think we know about limits."
The room fell quiet again.
Finally, the chairman raised a hand. "Enough."
Everyone looked at him.
"We are not deciding today," he said firmly. "This discussion remains internal. We revisit after the closing events."
Diana didn’t argue. She only nodded.
But as the screen dimd, Dayo’s na lingered in the air.
***
Later That Evening – Athlete Village
After Dayo and his family ca back from the boat Dayo got a call from soone and decided to see the person.
Dayo walked through the quieter section of the village when he spotted her.
Suyin
She was sitting on a low wall, legs crossed, hair pulled back loosely, watching people pass like she had nowhere urgent to be. When she saw him, she smiled.
"You survived," she said.
"Barely," Dayo replied, stopping in front of her. "You’re done competing, right?"
She nodded. "Finished yesterday. No more nerves."
"Must feel strange."
"It does," she admitted. "You?"
"I don’t know how to stop moving yet."
She laughed softly. "Figures."
They talked as they walked—nothing heavy. Teasing. Casual. Easy.
At one point she glanced at him sideways. "You know, for soone who just rewrote Olympic history, you’re surprisingly normal."
"That’s the nicest insult I’ve heard today."
"Haha yeah yeah." She said with a cute smile.
Dayo smiled at this he looked ahead and saw he was already arriving at his hotel.
She stopped walking. "Co over?"
Dayo hesitated only a second. "Alright."
Dayo’s Room
The door closed behind them.
The room was quiet, warm, dimly lit. She kicked off her shoes, turning to face him.
"You’re tense," she said.
"Long day."
She stepped closer. "Then relax."
Their faces were inches apart.
And then—
Knock. Knock.
Dayo froze.
He frowned. "Who’s there?"
A voice answered from the other side.
"Dayo... it’s ."
His breath caught.
He knew that voice.
The mont shattered into stillness.
And the door remained closed.
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