The Athlete (Lady Gaga x Reader)

30

After three hours of goddamn fucking annoying paperwork I am finally finished with it and make some food for myself since I haven't had a proper breakfast and pretty much started with the paperwork straight away.

I put the paperwork in one of those ridiculously large envelopes and throw them on the shelf where the key bowl is so that I remember to take them with me when I am heading out later for groceries. Once I finish eating, I head upstairs to get changed into something that I can be seen with outside of my house, because I am still in my pajamas.

I change into some black jeans and a tank top, add some chains and rings and then head off, taking my keys, wallet, and documents with me.

Unfortunately, Jonah lives on the other side of New York, meaning I have to drive all the way to Staten Island to get to him. Damn it. If I worked on the paperwork earlier I wouldn't have had to drive all the way to Staten Island. It's not like I didn't have enough time on the plane when we came back from the Olympics or when I had time off before I started training again.

Okay, but there's nothing I can do about it now, so yeah, here we go.

If I didn't have to go out for groceries I might have taken my motorbike, but how would I be carrying all the food? Usually, I am faster when I go by my motorbike because you can sneak through the cars and make your way between them if there is enough space, so that would have made the ride at least ten minutes shorter.

Anyways. I get into the car and start the engine, hooking my phone to the sound system and playing my playlist.

I rarely listen to a different playlist these days and just add new songs to the one I normally listen to. What I didn't notice until now is that almost every second song is a love song. Like what the actual fuck?

Though almost every one of those songs makes me think of Stefani. I mean how can you not think about that special someone when Sunday Morning or Angel are playing?

With the music playing in the background and me singing along, the ride to Staten Island doesn't feel as long as it would have without and I find myself in front of Jonah's house. The house is quite big for one man because his wife works in Canada and is only home once or twice a month. And with him having to travel everywhere with me, it's not easy to keep the relationship healthy.

I get out of the car and walk up the stairs to the front door and knock. I am greeted by the face of Jess, Jonah's wife. Seems like she is home right now.

Jess has long, brown hair, a flawless face with a sharp jawline, and grey eyes that make a great contrast to her hair. Her skin is tanned lightly, small tattoos covering her arm.

"Jess, hey. How are you? Is Jonah there? I need to give him those papers." I ask and move the envelope in my hands through the air. "I'm good. A little tired but that's part of my job. Jonah's in the shower right now, but I can give the papers to him." She replies with a smile and I hand over the papers.

"I can imagine," I tell her. Jess is a journalist and works for a magazine in Canada. At least for now, her old employee fired her because the magazine was broke and they couldn't afford her anymore. Luckily they got her another job, asking for a favor at another magazine.

"Didn't know you were back. When did you land?" I ask, curious because Jonah hasn't said anything about Jess coming home for a few days. "It was pretty spontaneous. My boss gave me a week off. I landed this morning around two I think. Jonah picked me up." The brunette explains.

"How's it going for you?" She then asks, the tone of her voice telling me exactly what she wants to hear from me. That's the journalist in her, she's a natural at her job. I trust her completely and she never revealed anything when I told her about something private, which is why I know that I can trust her with literally everything. "Just the usual, y'know. Practice, practice, practice." I answer, teasing her, while I know exactly what she wanted to hear from me, even though she would never admit it.

"Is she gonna be there?" Jess inquires, referring to the competition. "Not sure." I reply, "Haven't asked her yet."

"Well, you better give my man a head's up first because last time you two went out, he had a shit ton of work." She teases me. "Will do, ma'am." I agree easily and playfully salute, before waving goodbye and heading back to my car. "It was really nice to see you again, Jess." I smile before getting into the car.

In no time I am at the grocery store and have my stuff in the cart, and am heading back to my car after paying, when my phone rings. I pick up.

"Hello there, princess," I speak into the phone. "Hey, handsome." Her voice comes from the phone. "You free today?" She asks and I smile like a fool. "Yeah, you can come over if you want and sleep over." I offer, putting the groceries into the trunk. "I'm at practice with Sara at six so let's say around eight?"

"Perfect, see you then, handsome." - "See you at eight, princess."

By the end of the call, I have all the groceries in my car and the cart put back to where I got it from. I'm already looking forward to hanging out with Stefani tonight and her staying over. After that incident with the date that Jonah and Bobby had a shit ton of work with, he sent me a shit ton of messages that we should keep it low on public dates.

Honestly, I wouldn't really give a damn about it if it was only Jonah telling me that but apparently, Bobby told Stefani too so there isn't much room for arguing. So if I'm gonna ask Stefani to come to watch me in a competition, there will probably be a big ass amount of articles coming out.

I mean we will have to deal with coming out to the public at some point but I don't think it would do us good this early on in our relationship.

As soon as I am home, I grab the bags with groceries and take them to the kitchen, where I put them in the fridge and put the rest into the pantry.

Martha, the woman cleaning for me, cleaned the house when I was gone yesterday, so everything looks clean as fuck again. I am really grateful for this woman. Without her, I would be bathing in all of my stuff, having it displayed on almost every piece of furniture. Not to mention how much of a mess the house would be.

Once the groceries are all put in their places, I realize that I still have two hours before I have to head out for practice, so I decide to just chill in the library for a little while, my sketchbook and a pencil keeping me company.

I have a full shelve of finished and unfinished sketchbooks in here and I tend to use this room as more of an atelier, with some unfinished paintings standing in one corner of the room. I haven't painted for quite some time. Not since I moved here from L.A. actually. I don't really know why, but I just never picked up a brush since. I tended to a pencil and sketchbook ever since. Maybe I'll get started on it some time again.

Back then, most of my paintings had something to do with the things I loved. There were a few insects, and flowers. Some of them were inspired by people. Most of them had a piece of Danielle in them. Whether it was the color of her eyes, her favorite flower or sometimes I even redesigned a scene of a movie she was in.

Almost every single one of these paintings is still in L.A. and to be honest, it's better if they stay there. I am moving on and so is she. And that's a good thing.

Before I start to sketch, I flip through the other pages of the sketchbook. Most of the sketches are ones of flowers and people I saw when I was out, sitting in the park, or was on the subway. You can also find a few sad sketches in the middle. They all are marked with dates in the bottom left corner of the sheets and reading the date written under the crying eyes and other dark sketches makes me sad. It's almost as if I am taken back in time. Three years ago when I was not in the best place of mind. Well, that would be an understatement, but that is a story for another time.

Right now, I have found a free page in said sketchbook and start to sketch mindlessly, having no idea about what the finished sketch will look like.

A/N Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Y'all Chromatica Ball opening was AMAZING!!!

love y'all
-L