Dreaming /#FebruaryJamFestival/

4. You'll Have Trophies to Show

"GO, GO, GO!" Jin screamed as Lacy shot out of her blocks. The other sprinters slowly faded behind the outstanding young runner. Lacy had the gift, the one all the coaches had seen in Jin when she was younger. But Lacy had something that Jin had never had, a reluctant family. It had taken Jin a long time to convince them to let Lacy enter this event. It was a qualifying event for the US team, and her family was worried that joining the team would affect Lacy's studies. In the end, it had been Lacy's determination that won over her parents; they just wanted what was best for their daughter. Jin had never thought she would be jealous of the 18-year-old because of her parents, maybe her youth, skill, and speed, but never her family. But Jin had felt envy that day talking to her family but was happy for her protege at the same time.

This was the 100-meter sprint, and it ended before most could even really process its beginning. But Jin had watched it as if it were in slow motion, every movement of Lacy's arms and legs recorded for critique later. Someday, Lacy would beat her world record, and Jin would be proud.

"Damn, she did it again!" Lisa squealed and patted Jin on the back. "She's come so far since you started coaching her. They all have." Lisa's head nodded towards the other two runners Jin had chosen to coach. Neither of the other two was as promising as Lacy, but the three fed off each other's energy. When they ran together, each became faster. It reminded Jin of when she and Lisa had run together.

"Excellent, she's going to make it to the next round," Jin agreed happily. Even better than that news was the look on Lacy's face when she ran to her coach. It was a look of pure joy. She had a runner's high and wasn't worried about anything else. This innocence was the gift Lisa had given these runners, the ability to succeed without worrying about failure. Their joy was pure because they weren't concerned with the next race. Lisa let them live in the moment. Jin tried hard to follow her lead, but it was different from how Beverly had trained both of them.

"Coach, I won!" Lacy hugged Jin.

"You did! Congratulations!" Jin hugged the girl back then let her go. "I'm proud of you! I wish I could stay for your next race."

"Coach, you promised your dad! You can't back out on that now," The teenager insisted with her hands on her hips. "Family is important!"

"Indeed," Jin wished her family could be as vital to her as Lacy's was to Lacy. But she couldn't imagine anyone being that important to her now. Since Robert's betrayal, Jin realized that no one would mean as much to her as her mother once had. No one was on her side, rooting for her to succeed just because they loved her. Everyone around Jin had their incentive, even her father, for Jin's success. Only Jin's mother had ever asked her what she wanted. And when Jin had said she wanted to run, her mother supported her all the way.

Would her mother be proud of her now?

Showered and changed into the casual, formal wear any dinner at her father's house required, Jin stepped into her small sports car and sped away from her condo building. She didn't get the opportunity to drive often, living so close to the office, but she loved the sensation of barely restrained power this car gave her. Each time she turned the engine over, she wanted to push it towards the edge of its abilities. But Jin was not that reckless, so she just took the curves a bit sharper than she should have.

The front of the house was already littered with perfectly valeted cars when she arrived. Jin's father had invited everyone who was anyone to celebrate the completion of this merger. It was going to be one of those dinner parties. Jin felt celebratory as well. Tomorrow she could break her engagement.

Her father was waffling. Robert's dad had another merger to discuss. But Lisa had forwarded the pictures she had taken of Robert to a local gossip columnist, who happened to be an old college friend. Her website was discretely shopping the photos around to the various interested parties for hush money. Michael Lancaster had been the first stop. He had refused to pay anything to save his daughter's reputation but was angered at being used by the Evans family. So, the morning after the party, the paper would run a lovely story about Richard and Jin's mutual decision to break their engagement. However, Jin was relatively confident that Richard had no idea yet.