54. Olivia
DAY THIRTEEN OF THE 2024 OLYMPICS
When she got to the stadium, Olivia became Arlo and Aditi’s designated photographer. The two of them had clicked immediately, and so Olivia spent the whole afternoon laughing. They bought overpriced shirts and merch, which Olivia justified by reminding herself she would have a full-time job by October. Arlo sourced a bunch of whistles and foam fingers from one of the audience management volunteers, so they were fully embracing the spirit of the Games. And then an usher guided them up the stairs, out into the stadium, and over to the VIP section to sit next to all of the Team GB family, friends, and officials there to support the athletics team.
Olivia was looking around in awe, taking photos of the stadium from every angle and promising herself she’d paint a few of them into postcards. But then she saw an incoming call. Oh no, she thought as she saw the caller ID. It was her mum. Olivia had been blaming her lack of video calls on time zones and how busy she was. But the truth was, besides a few reassuring texts and photos, she hadn’t spoken to her parents on the phone since her first day in the Village. She hadn’t wanted to tell them about her internship falling through. That she’d only once worn the suit they’d bought her. Or that the self-belief they’d done their best to instill in her had taken so many hits in the past two weeks that she’d started to question every aspect of who she was. But she knew it wasn’t fair to hide from them just because she felt like she’d fallen short of her own goals. So, this time, she picked up.
“Olivia!” her mum shouted, her face breaking out into a joyful grin as she popped up on the screen. Olivia felt a sharp sense of relief as she heard the warm lilt of her mother’s voice and saw the cozy, familiar background of the house she’d grown up in.
“My superstar!” said her dad, bringing his face into the frame. Well, half of his face. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, so he was holding the phone up so close that she could only really see his gray but surprisingly full head of hair. Olivia hadn’t even realized how much she’d missed them.
“Look! I’m in the stadium,” Olivia said, feeling her childlike excitement rise up the way it always did when she was with the people who’d known her for her whole life.
“I’m so proud of you, baby,” her mum said.
Olivia needed to tell her the truth. About the internship, about Lars and Noah. To ask her to stop telling their family and friends that she’d made it big, because she hadn’t—at least, not yet. Olivia didn’t want them to get their hopes up. She didn’t know if she could fulfill the dreams they hadn’t been able to. And she was no longer sure that she wanted to let her life be guided by the pressure to do so. But before she could explain and manage their expectations, her mum put her hand up.
“We’re always so proud of you,” she said. “Especially when you’re happy,” she added with a warm smile. “Of course, you’re ambitious and brilliant, you’re my daughter, after all”—Olivia’s dad chuckled beside her—“but sometimes I think, wow, Olivia is doing all these great things, but is she happy? Is she enjoying it? Is she truly living for herself? But now I can see that you really are.”
“That’s all a parent could want,” her dad said, nodding along.
Olivia could feel herself softening. She blinked back the happy tears in her eyes and beamed at them. She wasn’t entirely there, but she was well on her way. She knew there was a part of her that was always going to work to make them proud—she wanted to give them something to tell their students and colleagues about. To make them believe all the obstacles they’d endured had been worth it. Even though she knew she didn’t need to, she still wanted to be her mum and dad’s success story. But as she showed them the rest of the stadium and told them about everything she’d got up to since she’d arrived in Athens, she realized there was so much more to her, and the future she was stepping into, than the goals she’d made all those years ago.
Nothing about this summer had gone the way Olivia had expected it to. She hadn’t done the internship she’d come here for or visited a single landmark in Athens. But things had turned out so much better than she ever could have planned. And while it was too early to claim a complete transformation, she could feel herself coming home to herself. Returning to the unashamed excitement and ambition that had propelled her through her girlhood. She didn’t want to forge a path in silence or to spend her energy trying to make all the things she’d spent years planning seem effortless. Nothing about her or her life was effortless. And finally allowing herself to admit that gave her more freedom than she’d ever felt before.
She looked around the stadium and took in how many people were in the audience. It made her feel like just another dot in the ocean. She felt unbelievably at peace.
“Olivia?” came a voice she recognized.
“Haruki!” she said, excited to see him again. She congratulated him on the medal he’d won the night before and then watched in amusement as Arlo and Aditi swept him away to pepper him with questions about his race. Then Valentina came running down the steps.
“I am so glad Zeke finally got it together enough to just tell you he liked you,” she said with a big grin. “He’ll hate me for telling you this,” she went on, “but it usually takes him at least six months to get out of his head enough to even admit to himself that he likes someone.” She laughed as she pulled Olivia into a hug.
Then Olivia saw three other people she recognized coming toward them. Two tall men wearing Team GB shirts with Zimbabwean flags painted on their cheeks and a majestic-looking older woman. She was descending the stairs in a bright multicolored dress and a shirt with Zeke’s face on it. The woman looked over at Olivia, and her whole face lit up.
Olivia knew those eyes, she knew that smile. She’d spent the last week seeing them on the boy who had occupied every inch of her mind. Zeke’s mother came over and pulled Olivia into a warm embrace, as if they’d known each other for years.
“My son has told me so much about you,” the woman said, nodding her head in delight. “Well, no, he hasn’t. He and his brothers don’t tell me anything because they think I interfere too much and scare girls away. But my son’s face has been telling me everything I need to know.” She laughed, and Olivia grinned.
“Mama, don’t embarrass him,” said one of Zeke’s brothers in amusement.
“No, we should,” said Zeke’s other brother. “Do you want to see photos of Zeke when he was a baby? He was not a cute baby, trust me,” he said, laughing, as the whole Moyo family came down the stairs. But before Olivia could get a glimpse of those photos, the stadium filled up with music and light.
“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, Olympians of the world, welcome to the 2024 Olympic Games Men’s One Hundred Meters Sprint Final!”