"How was that?" Payson asked, after she dismounted the uneven bars, steadily on her feet, taking just a small hop to keep her balance. Sasha opened his mouth to speak, but she turned towards him and immediately cut him off. "I know my extensions aren't what they should be. I thought they were pretty good for the first half, but I never realized how exhausting it would be to extend like that through a whole routine." Sasha opened his mouth again, but Payson shook her head. "I know, I know, the extension on the Stalder backwards to the high bar still wasn't there either."

"Payson," he said, and she stopped her ramble to look at him. "It was excellent; you've made major progress these last couple of weeks. You're hitting this routine with consistency and its DOD is just as high as Genghi Cho's. Truly, it's remarkable."

She shook her head, "But there were so many flaws, so many things I can improve."

Sasha laughed, "Payson, that routine, exactly the way you just executed it, flaws and all, would be good enough for a 16.9, a 17, if you didn't shuffle your feet on the dismount." It was rare a gymnast didn't immediately know the degree of difficulty in their routine, but there were so many artistic elements Payson wasn't used to performing that she had no idea of her routine's start value.

Payson looked at him, "You're serious? That's – that's higher than anything I've ever heard of, that's incredible, Sasha."

She took a step towards him, obviously about to give him a hug, but then she pulled back, biting her lip, unsure of what to do with herself. Sasha sighed, hating this awkwardness, this invisible wall they'd built between them over the last few weeks. "Excellent work, Payson, take a few minutes and we'll work on the floor." She nodded and headed towards the water cooler where Emily was standing.

He looked down at the mat. "Damn it," he murmured under his breath. He looked up and saw Summer standing on the platform just outside the gym office looking at him expectantly. And the day just keeps getting better and better, Beloff. She's going to want to know why you didn't answer the phone last night or the night before that or the night before that. He grimaced. He'd been avoiding Summer like the plague. He knew he was acting like a complete ass and that she deserved better, but it was difficult. It had little to do with what happened with Payson. He'd jumped head long into something that was not going to work out and he had no right to lead her on like this.

Suddenly, he felt his feet begin to move towards the gym office, as if he'd decided something, when really he had no idea what he was going to say. He entered the office and thankfully Kim wasn't there. The last thing he needed was an audience right now, besides he was having problems even looking Kim Keeler in the eye these days. Smooth, Beloff, very smooth.

"Hey," he said. "Can I speak to you about something?"

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me?" she asked, giving him a pointed look that clearly said she knew he'd been avoiding her.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Yes, look, I know I just sort of dropped out on you and I know it wasn't right."

Summer slammed the binder she was sorting through on the desk, "What am I supposed to think Sasha? Somehow, you've avoided me completely for almost two weeks and you wouldn't return my phone calls…"

"I'm sorry," he cut her off; "I did a lot of thinking, about the two of us and I just don't think it's a good idea." That's it, Beloff; just rip that bandage right off.

She shook her head and smiled in disbelief. "You don't think this," she motioned between them, "is a good idea after you talked me into it in the first place?" He opened his mouth again, to explain more clearly. "Save it," she said.

He shook his head, "No, I owe you an explanation, you were right, at the beginning. We're just too different. I told you I was willing to respect your values, but the more I go over it in my head, the more I just don't understand you and I doubt you understand me, either. This relationship is a recipe for disaster."

She snorted, in what would have been an adorable way, had her wrath not been focused on him, "Oh, I understand you perfectly. You respect my values, but you're not willing to live by them." Summer wasn't shocked. It wasn't the first time a guy had entered into a relationship with her knowing that she didn't believe in pre-marital sex, but then reneged when he thought about it a little more or his buddies gave him a hard time, or when he realized that she had no intentions of giving it up after playing a little hard to get.

He looked at her and smiled; almost amused that she'd nailed it right on the head. "That's exactly it." She probably thought that he was reconsidering because he couldn't handle not having sex with her, when really, beyond their physical attraction, they didn't have anything else in common and relationships like that don't last even when you throw sex into the mix. However, he wasn't about to prolong the conversation to simply correct her. Let her believe what she'd like, you know different, Beloff. "I'm sorry."

Summer shook her head, "No, I'm sorry. I should have just stuck to my guns in the first place, no matter how attracted to you I was." A smirk appeared on his face, but her glare made it disappear almost immediately. "Mixing business and personal relationships is never a good idea and we're just not…" she trailed off.

"We're not meant to be," he said, his thoughts no longer focused on the blonde in front of him, but on the small sliver of hope that burned within him for someone else entirely, but he quashed those thoughts quickly. "Look, you're not going to resign or anything are you? We need you here. The girls love you and the office has never run more efficiently. You and Kim make a great team."

She smiled and he remembered for a moment what drew him to her in the first place, she was beautiful, especially when she smiled, "Don't flatter yourself, Sasha. I like what I do and I want to be here for the girls. They need positive female role models who aren't their mothers."

He nodded. "Good then. I should get back out there," he said and stopped at the door, "Summer, I am sorry."

He turned and left, without a backwards glance. He saw Kim Keeler approaching the stairs and smiled widely at her, "Good morning, Kim," he said and strode past her towards the training floor. Well, that may have been laying it on a little thick, Beloff. You haven't actually violated her trust in any way. Except for the unbridled lust that surges through you every time you look at her sixteen year old daughter, whom she trusts you with implicitly. Stop it! Focus, Beloff, time to train.

"I'm sorry, too," Summer said quietly, watching him go and not two seconds later, Kim Keeler stepped into the office.

"Sasha looks awfully cheerful this morning. You two have another date planned?" she asked, with a glint in her eye.

Summer shook her head, a little hurt that he'd looked so happy about their – well you couldn't really call it a break-up after such a short time, could you? "Actually, we decided that we shouldn't see each other anymore, outside of the gym I mean, in a non-professional capacity," she told Kim, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"Oh, Summer. I'm so sorry. I thought you two were…" Kim trailed off, unsure what to say.

Summer shrugged, "Me too, but I think that maybe we're just too different. Kissing a few times and going out to dinner, it didn't change that." She stood and walked over to the platform that overlooked the training floor. She saw Sasha walking purposefully to the floor, where Payson was stretching out. She quickly grasped the easy change in subject, not really wanting to talk about Sasha. "Payson looks incredible out there. I mean, I'm no gymnastics expert, but I was watching her on bars before, she made it look easy."

Kim nodded, "Yeah, she's been kind of closed lipped about it though. She used to talk through her routines to anyone who would stand still long enough to listen, but now, well, not so much." Kim watched as Payson began to fly across the floor as powerful as ever, but with a grace that she'd rarely seen outside of the ballet.

Summer nodded, "Maybe she's just afraid of getting her expectations for herself up again. Teenage girls tend to go silent when they're afraid of something."

Kim shook her head, "No, I don't think that's it. A year ago, I had a chance to talk to Shawn Johnson's mother at a meet. She actually sought me out. She told me that the closer a gymnast gets to the Olympics, the more focused they get. She saw a lot of Shawn in Payson I suppose. I told her that I wasn't sure Payson could get any more focused, but she shook her head, she said that I had no idea. That suddenly they go quiet, like the only one who can understand them is their coach. She also said it wasn't a bad thing, that it's what they need to get to the next level."

"I suppose so. Sasha once told me that I didn't understand the discipline and control it took to live the life of an elite gymnast. Don't tell him I said this, but I think he's right, at least when it comes to their training," Summer said, watching Sasha who was standing behind Payson, positioning her finger tips just so as she raised her arms out to her sides. "To have to be perfect in every way, to not stumble even a fraction of an inch, I don't think that's something we could ever understand."

Seconds later, Payson was flying across the floor again, this time in the opposite direction in what looked like a perfect tumbling pass. Everyone in the gym, usually so focused on themselves, stopped for a moment to watch. Payson landed on two feet facing the entire gym, arms raised, finishing the tumbling pass with a smile. Sasha walked over to her, but she seemed to read his mind and met him halfway.

"I didn't know you'd been working on a Double Straight," Sasha said, in a disapproving tone as he followed her to the other side of the floor.

Payson turned around, hands on her hips like she was ready to do battle. "My lines were perfect in the round-off back handspring that led into it. The extension was there, but I was working on it before my injury and I've spent some time in the annex working on it again. It was perfect. I know I grew an inch, but I'm still powerful and the focus on artistry has actually helped. The fuller extension allows me to channel more power into the move."

Sasha put his hands up in mock surrender, "I'm actually inclined to agree with you. It was perfect. You don't have to hide things like this from me, Payson. We're a team, remember?"

She smiled at him, "You've put the kibosh on every power move I've suggested in the last month. I needed to show you I could do it and do it perfectly."

They reached the end of the mat. "Ah, well, you did it perfectly, but can you do it perfectly twice?" he challenged her, standing directly in her path.

Her eyes flashed at his, "Move out of my way and I'll show you," she said and he stepped out of the way, flourishing his arm as if to say, be my guest. He saw her eyes glaze over as she focused on the spring loaded mat ahead of her and took off across the floor, throwing herself into the round off back handspring, double straight, and once again, sticking her landing, without even a bend in her knees, full extension and beautiful lines throughout the tumbling pass. She turned back towards him, her body language screaming, "I told you so."

He strode back across the mat towards her again, "Beautiful," he said quietly so only she could hear him.

"I thought you'd like that," she responded in the same tone, neither lifting their heads to make eye contact.

He shook his head, mostly to himself. She was right, he had liked it. It was exactly the kind of thing he'd have done when he was competing. In fact, he could remember several instances when he had done it. His coach had been equal parts infuriated and impressed. What goes around comes around, Beloff. "I'm still angry with you, you know, for attempting a skill that difficult without me."

Payson guffawed lightly and chanced a look up at him before focusing the mat again, "But now that you know I can still do it and moves like that, you'll work with me on them, instead of just saying no. It was so easy for you to say no to me, like second nature, 'Sasha, can I…', 'No!'" she imitated.

He laughed for a moment, but then grew serious. "Believe me, Payson Keeler, it's not easy at all for me to say no to you," he whispered to her. It was a tone of voice she'd only heard him use one before and it made her heart race. Payson looked up at him, her face a combination of shock and amusement, but he'd set his jaw and she knew he meant business. "Now, do it again. Five more with a stuck landing and then break for lunch." Less amused now, she nodded her head and focused again on the floor and started the tumbling pass again.

"I don't suppose we'll ever really understand it," Kim said to Summer as they turned back to the office after watching Payson complete three flawless tumbling passes in a row.

Summer sighed, knowing that she and Sasha keeping things professional was probably for the best in the long run, "No we won't and I'm not sure that I'd want to."