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The Sweet Life	By : jai Category: Individual Celebrities > Athlete/Sports Misc Views: 8241 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the people written about in this fanfiction. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 45
- 46
(all these months later, I realized that a significant portion of chapter 1 was missing. This was added 12/11/05).

Michael and Ian were back on the road two hours later after signing what seemed like every piece of paper in Philadelphia.

“I hope they accept the offer.” Michael commented as he got onto the southbound lane of I-95.

“I do too. It’s a fair offer, just under the asking price; I only hope the inspection doesn’t turn up anything odd. It’s an old house.”

“True. Is it just me or is it kind of weird how many houses here have pools?”

“It’s not just you. I’m glad that Tracy finally figured out we weren’t kidding when we said we didn’t want one.”

“I know. Just because we swim doesn’t mean we want a blue kidney bean in the back yard. You can’t do laps in those things.”

Ian laughed and pulled off his coat as the car warmed up. “There are other uses for swimming pools, you know that, right?”

“Not any that matter.” Michael said as he changed lanes. “Go on and get out the list.”

Ian considered asking ‘what list?’ but Michael knew him too well. He pulled out his planner from the back seat and flipped it open, turning on the small light that illuminated the pages. Ian ran his hand over the leather binder, enjoying the grain and smell. “Have I mentioned how much I love my planner?”

“Once, maybe twice but certainly no more than forty times since I gave it to you for Christmas.”

“I’m going to keep saying it.” Ian warned as he flipped to the right page. “Okay, let’s say they accept our offer on Monday. That would bring our closing date to the middle of March at the earliest. We’re leaving for Sydney on the eighth and closing on the Caringbah house on the fifteenth; which would hopefully give us time to pack the rest of my stuff up.

“If Chris has the baby on time, we’ll be back in Ann Arbor by February twenty-sixth. We can stretch it to the first of March if needed. We can put the house there on the market when we get back and pack everything before coming back there for the closing.” Ian underlined a note.

“And then begins the fun of moving in. What if the house in Ann Arbor sells quickly?” Michael asked.

“All the better, we don’t have to be there for that and Brenda’s moving on the first or second week of February. This will give her a couple of extra weeks in case her condo isn’t ready. Now, are we painting or replacing any carpet? Did you see anything you couldn’t live with?”

“I’d like to paint our bedroom and maybe the bath. The bead board is okay but that wallpaper is too girly.”

“Okay. I’m putting my vote in for dark green or dark blue paint. And we’re hiring someone to do it.”

“No argument from me and I’ll vote green.”

“Good. That’ll take a week so we’ll be in before the end of March which will give us just about a month and a half to get settled before you start the summer term at Arcadia. I’ve got the pre-term seminar June fifteenth and you’ve got the science semester in July. The fall semester begins September eighth for both of us.”

“Ian! You forgot the best parts!”

“I did? Oh right. We’ll drive to New York on the August twenty-fourth and arrive in Montreal the evening of the thirty-first. In between we’ll manage to squeeze in a wedding or something of that nature.” Ian said with convincing nonchalance.

“You know I’m not afraid to pull over and spank you.” Michael jokingly warned. “What happens if we don’t get that house?”

“Then we rent an apartment, put most of our stuff in storage and keep looking. It’s not the only house for sale and we could even look in neighboring towns if we had to but we both liked Chestnut Hill the best.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with buying it?”

“I wouldn’t have signed the contract if I wasn’t. It was starting to grow on me by the end and we’ll finally be able to get a dog.”

“I’d kiss you but I’m a little busy right now. Will you give me a rain check?”

“Absolutely.”

&&
April 3, 2009 Philadelphia, PA

Michael looked down at his clipboard, thoughtfully provided to him by Ian, and directed the moving guy to the proper room by matching the color codes, also provided by Ian. He wiped his forehead and checked the water supply in the cooler next to him. The day was unexpectedly warm and he didn’t want one of the crew to keel over from dehydration.

He hadn’t realized how much stuff they’d accumulated until two moving vans arrived. Of course one was from Michigan and the other from Australia and neither was close to full but still. How much stuff did two men need?

The next mover walked in backwards carrying one end of Ian’s leather sofa and Michael heaved a sigh of relief. If they were starting on furniture, they only had an hour or so to go.

Ian arrived ten minutes later and took over the clipboard while Michael went upstairs to unpack the bare necessities they’d need to spend the night in the house. At one, the moving vans pulled out and Michael found Ian in the kitchen after he’d walked through the first floor.

“God, is this place a disaster or what?”

“It’s not so bad. We’ve got all the furniture in the right rooms and it looks worse than it is because nothing’s in the right place. You want to help me wipe out the cabinets?”

“Sure. Is the guy still coming to give us an estimate on finishing the attic and the basement?”

“He’ll be here around three.”

Michael took the sponge from Ian’s hand and set it down. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we walk over to Osaka before we get all grungy and pick up some lunch?”

“I’m always ready for sushi.”

&&

They didn’t hold hands as they walked down the street; the area was known as gay friendly but how friendly they weren’t sure.

“You’re going to have to help me put the bed together, you know.”

Ian gave Michael a look. “You need my help?”

“It’s too big for one person to handle. I have it all laid out, you just have to pick up one end and put the bolts in the slots. And don’t give me that line about brains versus brawn.”

“I was going to say that I’m retired and can’t be expected to do those physically demanding tasks anymore but I suspect you’d make me sleep on the floor.”

“You suspect right. How long do you expect us to take getting the house in order?”

“I don’t know. How long are we going to live there?”

“You mean you don’t have a list for this?”

“I haven’t married you yet, you can still be replaced.”

A few minutes later, Michael opened the door of the restaurant for Ian and they walked up to the counter. Ian spent a little time talking to the hostess in Japanese before their order was ready and they were on their way back to the house after a short wait.

“Ian, can I ask you a question?”

“They’re cheap today, ask two.”

Michael nudged him with a grin. “Settle down, Uncle Miltie. Do you realize we picked out our house because you wanted to live close enough to walk to a good sushi place?”

Ian clutched the bag of takeout protectively. “What’s your point? Chestnut Hill is a lovely neighborhood; just because there’s a sushi place here means absolutely nothing. Do you even know who Uncle Miltie was?”

“Sure, Milton Berle. I’m not a complete neophyte.”

Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk Ian stared at Michael. “My god, give the man a college degree and he’s suddenly throwing words like ‘neophyte’ around.”

“Heh. I’m just surprised you understood it.” Michael smirked and then stepped away to avoid Ian’s hand. “Watch it; you’ll drop your sushi.”

^^
Friday, April 10, 2009

Dusting off the final picture frame Ian set it in place on a shelf of his new study. He was quite happy with how the desk from Ann Arbor worked with the chairs from Australia and how all of his books and knick knacks looked in the floor to ceiling units.

“Hey baby?” Michael yelled from upstairs.

“Use the intercom!” Ian yelled back.

“That’s why I’m yelling. The buttons aren’t labeled.”

Ian went out into hall to see Michael standing at the top of the stairs. “What do you mean they aren’t labeled?”

“The intercom in our bedroom isn’t labeled. What about the one in the study?”

Ducking back into the room to look, Ian returned to the hall a moment later. “The buttons are labeled down here. Do you want me to make some labels for upstairs?”

Michael came down the stairs. “I guess that will work. I thought this place just looked big without any furniture in it but it’s still pretty big.”

“We’ll fill it up eventually and then we’ll have to haul all that stuff around with us too.” Ian pulled out his label maker and started pushing the buttons oblivious to Michael’s look of amusement.

Michael dropped into one of the chairs. “So we’ve managed to unpack just about everything. Are you ready to talk about cars?”

Ian smirked. “You’re just dying to spend more of your Speedo money, aren’t you?”

“I’ll confess that I’m sort of boggled by all that money sitting there now. I thought we’d need it most of it for the wedding and the house. I never expected Speedo to offer to pay for the charter.”

“I didn’t either. I know they’re probably going to get some kind of tax write off since we are doing that seminar on board the first two days and they’d have to pay for the entire week anyway.”

“It was still way more than I expected. What kind of thank you note do you write for that?”

“Is it bothering you that we accepted?” Ian asked as he sat down in the other seat. “You know they would have been spending a lot more money if you’d taken that option on your contract.”

“I know and Tim was really shocked when I didn’t but they’ve been really good to me since the beginning and it didn’t feel right. They already gave me the bonus. Then Pamela told Joe I was asking about the cruise for the wedding and the next thing I know, Joe’s offering to pay for the whole thing. ”

“We can still change our plans and just do the seminar.”

“Then I’d feel bad that they went to all this trouble over it. And it’s not like they expect us to invite everyone in Speedo to the wedding, just the people I know.”

Ian kicked back and put his feet up. “You know, the folks at Adidas were a bit peeved that no one there thought of it first.”

“I know. It was bad enough that Speedo arranged for suites for my family after they heard what Adidas was doing for your family in Beijing.”

“It’s all part of doing business. Is that part of the problem? That it makes our wedding into a business deal?”

Michael squirmed for a minute. “I suppose.”

“Then we can always reimburse them. We do have the money and the cruise line was going to give us a great deal.”

“It’s a lot of money to spend on a wedding.”

“True but the guest list has expanded to almost four hundred and fifty people and we’ve both got security concerns.”

“Argh! We haven’t even looked at invitations or tuxes or flowers or cakes and I’m already stressed. Why are we inviting all these people again?”

“Because we want all our friends and family to come and we know a lot of people who’d be upset if they weren’t invited. We both agreed asking people to travel to the wedding would be too expensive for some of our friends; we’d either have to pay for hotel rooms or do the cruise.”

“Okay. You’re right. I’m going to stop complaining about it. I don’t want to insult Joe by going back on our agreement and I’m just going to consider myself really lucky he’s doing this for us.”

“Good. Now back to the car thing which ought to cheer you up. Are you going to trade-in the SUV?”

Michael sighed and gave Ian a look. “Well that thought doesn’t cheer me up but I suppose so. Its nine years old and it sucks on gas mileage.”

“Since we’ve already sold the DeVille in Ann Arbor that leaves us with two vehicles to purchase. I could probably get along on the bus most days but I’d like a car for the weekends. How about a hybrid SUV for you and something small that gets good mileage for me?”

&&

Three hours later, Ian pulled up the drive in his new Ford Surge SUV-HEV

Ian climbed out of the vehicle and went to open the garage door only to find an almost identical vehicle already inside. Michael looked up from organizing his tool kit and other things he kept in his vehicle with a smile.

“Hi, what did you end up getting?”

Ian gestured behind him without a word and Michael walked over only to drop the box he was holding. “How did this happen?”

“I was looking at sedans at the Honda dealer; saw this on the next lot and walked on over. No wonder the woman at the payment counter kept giving me strange looks. Did you buy yours at West Motors?”

“Yep and I almost bought that one but I liked the blue finish better.”

“And I liked the green. I must have been there only a few minutes after you left.”

“Probably. I was really expecting you to call and ask me to pick you up but this works. At least we didn’t do this on purpose.”

“Like anyone’s going to believe that.”

Michael’s rejoinder was cut off when the doorbell sounded. They both stood for a moment before realizing it was the doorbell.

“Hey, we’ve got our first visitor!” Michael exclaimed as he headed for the kitchen and front door.

“It’s probably a salesperson of some sort.” Ian remarked as he followed behind.

“It’s still our first visitor.”

Michael started to open the door and Ian reached out for his wrist. “Use the video, love.”

“Oh. Right.” Michael hit the button on the panel next to the door and saw a woman holding a floral arrangement standing at the door, two children were standing next to her and looked to be arguing. “Well I don’t recognize her, do you?”

“No but that’s the little boy who was playing next door the other day.”

“Must be a neighbor.” Michael opened the door with a friendly smile. “Hi.”

“Hello. I’m Bettina Kline, I live in the white house next door and these flowers were delivered while you were out.” She said as she handed over the arrangement.

“Hi, Mrs. Kline. Thanks for taking the delivery for us.” Michael took the bowl. “I’m Michael Phelps and this is Ian Thorpe, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. This is my son Michael and my daughter Linette.” She prodded the children who both said hello but were clearly uninterested in any delays if their goggles and swim fins were any indication.

“It looks like you’ve got your hands full. Thanks for taking care of the flowers.”

“Yes, we’re going over to the YMCA for their lesson. Welcome to the neighborhood.” She waved good bye and followed the kids as they ran off.

Michael and Ian waved and Ian shut the door. “Who sent us flowers?”

“Here, take the card.” Michael handed it over and walked to the kitchen.

“It’s from Tracy. ‘Congratulations on your new home, may you be happy for many years to come.’ There’s also a gift certificate for Bredenbeck’s Bakery; they have wedding cakes. That was nice of him.”

“Yes it was.”

&&

Monday, April 20, 2009

Michael pulled the last towel from the dryer and folded it neatly. He was finally done with the laundry and it was only ten am. Then again, he’d been up since six so it wasn’t surprising.

So he was a little bored. It was harder than he thought, trying to fill the hours previously taken up by training. He couldn’t even go find Ian and bug him because he was off meeting with his advisor.

The next few hours stretched out before him and he was at a loss. He put the towels and sheets away and looked in the closet. He’d been hitting the pool at Arcadia University for an hour or two almost day so his gear was tidily stowed in his bag; maybe it was time to get back to training. He grabbed the bag, wrote a note for Ian and went out the door.

He was halfway to campus when it occurred to him that Bob was several states and hundreds of miles away. He checked his watch and pulled out his cell phone after he found parking.

“Bob Bowman’s office.”

“Hi Jennifer, its Michael Phelps.”

“Michael! How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine. Is Bob around?”

“Hang on a minute and I’ll get him.”

Michael waited while the hold music played.

“Hi Michael.”

“Hi Bob, how have you been?”

“Good. How’s Philadelphia?”

“Great. We’ve got the house sorted out.”

“Why am I not surprised? Have you sent the invitations out yet?”

“We’re going to look at samples next week; don’t worry you’re definitely invited.”

“I hope so; I’m looking forward to it. Now, why did you call?”

“I can’t just call to see how you are?”

“You could but you wouldn’t call me in the middle of the day.”

“Oh right. Listen, I think I overlooked something regarding this big move I’ve made.”

“Oh really?” Bob said semi sarcastically. “Would that be your coach perhaps?”

“Don’t give me a hard time. I was too excited about getting accepted into grad school and graduating and all that. There, are you happy?”

Bob laughed and Michael heard the creak of his chair. He could clearly see his coach leaning back and putting his feet on his desk as he had so many times before.

“Michael, you’re ready to start training again aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I feel like I’m just sitting around doing nothing.”

“Well hell. I thought you’d last until June. Now I owe Ian fifty bucks.”

“You and Ian had a bet?”

“Just a small one. He said you’d be ready before the end of April and here we are. Just shows which one of us knows you best and that brings me to your dilemma. You know you have a perfectly good coach right under your nose.”

“Ian? You think Ian should coach me? Have you two talked about this?”

“No we haven’t discussed it and I meant you, you knucklehead.”

“Me? Coach myself?”

Bob exhaled. “Michael, you’ve been coaching yourself your whole life. Sure I’ve been there to help with the details and refining but you’re the one pushed yourself, especially these last couple of years. Having Ian around to check how you’re doing is a good idea but you’re capable of doing most of the work yourself.”

Michael thought that over for a minute. “Not that I don’t believe you but how would that work? I don’t know the first thing about how to enter competitions or any of that stuff.”

“I’ll send you the packets with copies of your past entries. You can call if you have any questions. Talk it over with Ian.”

“So you’re cutting me loose?”

“Pretty much. There’s eight months until the US Open in Dallas. Were you planning on competing there?”

“I have no idea.” Michael said as he chewed a fingernail.

“I know you’re shocked Michael but you can do this. You have everything you need right inside yourself.”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Well you’re starting school there in a month so I’d say no. I’m always going to be here, just a phone call away. Don’t think if it as me cutting you loose, think of it as the biggest leash in existence and if you screw up, I’ll be sure to give you a couple of yanks.”

“Woof! Okay Bob, I’ll give it a try.”

Three hours later Michael poked his head out of the water to see Ian sitting at the side of the pool, his legs dangling in Michael’s lane.

“Bob called you, didn’t he?” Michael swam up and hung on the lane divider.

“Of course he did. He wasn’t expecting to have that conversation with you so soon.”

“I’ve always done things earlier then he expected.”

“This is true. How are you?” Ian said as he leaned down and gently removed Michael’s goggles.

“I’m okay. I wasn’t okay when I got in the pool but I thought it over. I didn’t forget to think about it intentionally but I’m not going to be swimming for the rest of my life. I can’t put everything on hold to stay in Michigan with Bob. I’d like to have an actual career before I’m thirty.”

“And he knows that love. He’s not happy that you had to go but he understands.”

“It’s going to be weird seeing him at meets and not having him nagging me. Well, he’ll still nag but it won’t be the same.”

“Growing up sucks, doesn’t it?”

“This part does. So are you going to coach me? I promise to do everything you say.” Michael fluttered his eyelashes up at Ian.

“I’m not falling for that you obstinate brat. I think we could work well together but I’m not sure how it would affect the rest of our relationship. I’d much rather be your-” Ian paused. “Well. We’re getting married but will we be each other’s husbands?”

“I guess so.” Michael tilted his head and tried it out loud. ‘Have you met my husband, Ian?’ ‘Ian, my husband.’”

“Hm. ‘This is my husband, Michael.’ That sounds weird. Why does that sound weird?”

“I don’t know. ‘my spouse, Ian.’ How’s that?”

“Spouse? ‘My spouse, Michael.’ That’s not bad. But back on the subject; I’d much rather be your spouse than your coach if I only had to chose one.”

“What if I wore a little cheerleading outfit?” Michael asked with a comical leer.

Ian kicked out with his foot and sent a spray of water at Michael who promptly ducked and swam several feet away.

“Hey! No splashing!” A young guy in shorts, an Arcadia Athletes T-shirt and a whistle around his neck said as he walked over with an officious look on his face. “You can lose your swim privileges for that. And get your legs out of the water.” A group of guys in swimsuits followed him over.

Ian shot a look at Michael for getting him in trouble and stood up. “My apologies; we’re new members and I haven’t had a chance to look at your guide.”

One of the swimmers jolted and gave Ian a look of recognition behind the back of the man who had spoken.

“I’m the swim coach here, Justin Collins, and we’re getting ready to start practice so you’ll have to leave the pool.”

“No problem. Michael?”

“I’m coming.” Michael swam back to the edge and hoisted himself out. He pulled off his cap and turned to Justin with his hand extended. “Hi, I’m Michael Phelps. Judy Travers said I should look you up about arranging times to use the pool.”

“Uh. Hi. Judy said? You’re really Michael Phelps?” The poor guy looked flabbergasted and most of his swimmers were also.

Ian snorted. “Please, with those ears? Who else could he be?”

“Ian, you’re standing awfully close to the edge of the pool to be insulting my ears.” Michael let his hand drop when it became obvious Justin wasn’t going to shake it.

Grinning Ian shoved his hands in his pockets and moved one step back. “I’m not worried; I’m still faster than you are.”

“But you’re getting slower every minute, just keep that in mind.” Michael smiled sweetly before turning back to Justin. “I guess you haven’t had a chance to talk to Judy but I’ll be attending grad school here this fall and I’m taking a couple of summer classes too. Since you’re just starting practice, can I stop by your office tomorrow?”

“Uh sure. I’ll be there after one.” Justin looked back and forth between Michael and Ian and seemed to pull himself together and extended his hand. “Nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too.” Michael shook Justin’s hand and then waved to the guys standing a few feet away as he turned away to walk with Ian towards the locker room. “Have a good swim!”

“Michael, I’ll meet you back home?”

“I’ll be out of here in twenty minutes. Do you want me to pick up dinner or are we cooking?”

“Cooking. How about burgers?”

“Okay. See you in a bit.” Michael gave Ian a quick peck as they separated.

&&&

Michael showered and changed; waving again to the swim team as he left. He and Ian would need to talk seriously about the coaching thing but he knew they’d work something out.
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The Sweet Life