Losing at Love (12 page)

“Have you seen his opponent before?” Anna asked as they settled into their seats, the rest of the crowd still milling around, waiting for the players to appear. There was still a week before the Championships at Wimbledon, but tennis season was in full swing in England and the buzz was beginning to feel electric leading up to this final.

“Makhassè Vargas,” Penny said, “from Bolivia. Ranked twenty-sixth in the world. Mostly tries to hit from the baseline, but his game isn’t quite up to that level. Alex shouldn’t have a problem.”

Anna laughed softly. “Do you scout the men’s side too?”

“I may have eavesdropped on his Skype call with Dom this morning.”

“So what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t have a problem keeping our nine o’clock reservation?”

Penny checked her watch. It was nearly seven, the early summer sun still shining brightly, no thought of setting for a while yet. “I’m saying we might be a little early.”

“Good. I haven’t been able to sit down with Alex for a meal in far too long. And now, since you and Dom both seem to think this match won’t be worthy of our attention, tell me about you, my dear. Start from the beginning.”

“The beginning?” Penny said, shrugging. “Well, I was born in Chicago…”

June 19th

Heathrow Airport was an utter mad house, living up to its reputation as one of Europe’s busiest airports. Indy had been there as a child, but she didn’t have any clear memories of it other than holding tight to her mother’s hand as they wove their way through the sea of people.

“I hate this airport,” Dom grumbled as he led them all through the bustling crowds of travelers between the hellish customs lines and where drivers would be waiting to pick them up. The people in the airport seemed to sense the same authority in Dom that the athletes at OBX did, the vast majority of them giving way to his long strides and laser-like focus on getting them where they needed to be.

The click-clack of Caroline’s heels followed him close behind, a similar stride, shoulders back and head held high like she owned the world or at least thought she did. Indy had barely been able to look either of them in the eye after the office incident and she wasn’t sure she ever would be able to get the image of them screwing on Dom’s desk out of her head. She trailed a few feet behind Caroline, feeling Jasmine at her side and Jack hovering just behind her. She always knew where he was and glancing over her shoulder, she saw Teddy bringing up the rear, practiced indifference across his face, gigantic headphones drowning out the buzz of the packed airport terminal.

There were two drivers standing with a slew of others, both holding signs that said,
Outerbanks Tennis Academy
in big bold letters.

“Mr. Kingston?” the first driver, tall, thin and balding, with wisps of red hair on the sides, asked Dom. “Is this the whole party?”

“We’re all here.”

“Excellent. I’ll be driving Ms. Morneau and yourself to the Dorchester. Geoffrey will take the others to Mr. Russell’s home.”

He led them out to the curb where two sleek black Mercedes were waiting. The drivers began to load their bags into the trunks when Dom’s phone started to bleep almost simultaneously with Caroline’s. Indy narrowed her eyes as her coach and her agent looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them before Dom turned to his driver. “Change of plans. Indiana will be riding with us. We’ll drop her off at Alex’s and then continue on to the hotel.”

“What? No, it’s fine,” Indy said, stepping toward the other car.

“Indiana, you should come with us,” Caroline said softly, then looked over her shoulder at Jack. Indy turned toward him and watched as his eyes narrowed, but he nodded slowly.

“Go with them, Indy,” he whispered. “We’ll all fit in the cars easier and you won’t have to watch Teddy mope for another half hour.”

Jasmine was already in the car and she stuck her head back out the door. “Are we going or not?”

Indy locked eyes with Dom, who held her gaze steadily, but then he looked away, a flush creeping up over his neck. How was he going to coach her when he could barely look at her? May as well try and make things a little less awkward. “Alright. See you guys in a little bit.”

She slid into the back seat with Caroline while Dom sat up front with the driver and they pulled away from the curb and set off toward the M4 that would take them into London.

“Look, if this is about what happened yesterday.”

Dom turned in the seat, looking back at her, “Indy, that’s not something you should have had to see and we are so sorry. It’s not…”

Indy just shook her head, cutting him off like he’d just done to her. “No, it’s fine. I didn’t tell my dad and I’m not going to, so you can both relax.”

Caroline flushed a color somewhere between purple and red, exhaling through her nose, but shook her head. “This is not about us, Indiana. Do you wish to tell her, Dominic?”

“Those texts we just got, it was from the tournament director. You’ve been granted a wild card, Indy.”

“To Eastbourne? Next week?”

“To the Championships, Indiana. To Wimbledon,” Caroline said, patting her hand lightly.

“Congratulations,” the driver cut in over the deafening silence.

“Thank you. Wait, are you sure?” she asked Caroline and then turned to Dom again.

“We’re sure,” Dom said.

“Oh my God, did you guys like call in a favor to keep me quiet? I already told you I didn’t say anything to my dad. If you two want to screw each other, that’s…”

Dom coughed, pounding on his own chest and Caroline’s eyes widened, “Indiana!”

“What? Like it didn’t cross your mind,” Indy said, rolling her eyes and leaning back against the seat. “You didn’t, did you?”

“No, of course not. They saw you play in Paris and they want the French Open Girls’ champion in the main draw.”

“This is amazing. I can’t wait to tell everyone. Penny’s going to freak and Jasmine, she’s going to…” Indy trailed off. Jasmine probably wouldn’t be all that excited about it.

“Indy, that’s why we wanted you to ride with us,” Dom said slowly. “Remember what we talked about in Paris, about your endurance level, about how, if you had advanced in the doubles tournament and the juniors singles that you would have a choice to make.”

“Oh shit. I…I can’t do both?”

“If you had a wildcard for the doubles, then maybe, but you two have to go through qualifying. You can’t exhaust yourself for three days trying to get into the doubles tournament and go into your first singles match, where you’ll most certainly be playing against one of the top players in the world, completely exhausted. It’s counterproductive,” Dom explained. “Jasmine has been around this game for a long time, Indy. She’ll understand.”

“She’ll understand,” Indy repeated, running a hand through her hair. “She’ll understand that I’m dropping her and she’ll hate me. I told her in Paris that I wouldn’t do that.”

“I can do it, if you want. Explain the situation to her, try to soften the blow a little bit.”

Indy glanced out the car window just as the scenery started to change from nondescript buildings into London’s outskirts, small groupings of houses and then more stately architecture. Her stomach rolled a little from being on the left side of the road, feeling like she was seconds from a head-on collision on the wrong side.

“No. I’ll do it.”

She could see flashes of the Thames as they edged into the city, then a sign that they were entering the Royal Borough of Kensington, the streets lined with expensive shops and elegant townhouses. There were some places in the US that tried to mimic the look that London had created over the centuries, but none of them quite measured up. Another sign declared that they’d left Kensington and had moved into the posh neighborhood of Chelsea. Then the car slowed and they turned onto a street called Egerton Crescent, white houses with black wrought iron faux balconies lined the street. A half hour before, Indy couldn’t wait to arrive, to see Penny and Alex, stretch out and maybe grab something to eat with her friends in London and now she didn’t even want to get out of the car, even when trapped with the two people she’d walked in on boning just the day before.

The driver didn’t give her a choice. He opened the door and waited expectantly for her to get out, the others from the car ahead of them already on the sidewalk, up at Alex’s home. The door flew open wide and Penny was standing there with a huge smile on her face. She practically skipped down the steps toward them, no sign of her walking boot, but no sign of her limp either.

~

“Hey girl,” Penny said, pulling Indy in for a hug. Her arms smaller than her brother’s but comforting in their own way. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed her friend.

“I missed you,” Indy whispered and tightened her arms around her.

Penny pulled back a little. “You okay?”

Indy sniffed and nodded. “Yeah, can we talk in a little bit though?” she said under her breath. She needed to run all this by Penny. She was the only person who’d understand this feeling, stuck between what a normal person would do for a friend and what they had to do as professionals, that the sport had to come first, even over a promise.

“Of course,” she said, barely getting the words out before Jack came barreling across the sidewalk and lifted Penny up into a bear hug.

“Heard you were practicing,” he said, setting her down gently.

“Save the lecture for later, bro,” Teddy said, pushing Jack out of the way and hugging his twin sister.

Jasmine stepped up to the group and Indy met her eye. They were both only children, just one of the many things they realized they had in common after they got over hating each other.

“Hey Jas,” Penny said, once Teddy let her go. Jasmine smiled. “Come on in everyone. Alex and Paolo have a practice session, but they’ll be back soon.”

Dom and Caroline hovered in the background for a second and Penny tilted her head. “Are you guys coming in?”

Dom shook his head. “No, we’re going to head over and check into the hotel.”

“Yes, put our bags down, get settled,” Caroline finished for him.

Indy scoffed, and Dom shifted back and forth on his feet. Could they be any more obvious?

The cars pulled away and Penny led them up the stairs into the townhouse. The front hall had a vaulted ceiling, a small iron chandelier hanging down and a wood floor polished to a high sheen, their reflections only blurred a little in the chestnut stain, the walls covered in a white glossy wainscoting. Indy had a strange feeling wash over her seeing Penny in Alex’s house. It almost felt like she belonged there.

Teddy didn’t even look around, he just turned to Penny. “Where can I put my shit?”

Penny snorted. “Nice to see you too, Teddy,” she said. “Come on, your rooms are upstairs.”

She led Jack and Teddy to the first room at the top of the long stairwell and they disappeared into it, letting their suitcases drop by the door and falling into the two full beds in the guest room. She then motioned for Indy and Jasmine to follow her further down the hallway. “This is you guys. I’m sorry you have to share.”

“No problem, this is a lot better than a hotel,” Jasmine said, flopping back onto the first of two beds, covered in white fluffy comforters with large pillows at the head.

Indy stepped over the wood floors and onto the ivory colored area rug at the center of the room then over to the bed on the opposite wall. Would Jasmine still feel that way after she told her what was going to happen in the next two weeks or rather what
wasn’t
going to happen? That their journey toward the main doubles draw at Wimbledon was over before it really began.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Penny warned. “We have reservations in a couple of hours for dinner and if you go to sleep now you’ll screw your sleep pattern up for the entire time you’re here.”

Jasmine groaned and yanked her suitcase upright, unzipping and digging through it, finding a change of clothes and her bath things right at the top. “Alright, I call first shower. Where’s the bathroom?”

Penny pointed out the door. “Second door on the left.”

Indy waited until she heard the bathroom door shut, the sound of the bathroom fan click on and then the water running before she turned to Penny who’d waited patiently, sitting down at a white dressing table chair.

“I got a singles wildcard to Wimbledon,” she said quietly.

“Oh my God, Indy. That’s amazing. I don’t know why it took them so long, but of course, you should be playing. The draw’s not out for a few days still, but…oh.”

“Yeah,
oh
. Jasmine’s going to freak. Dom and Caroline were adamant about it. There’s no way I can do doubles quals and prepare for the singles tournament.”

“You’re going to tell her tonight?”

“I have to. If I wait any longer, it’ll be like lying.” A little voice in the back of her mind started to shout that she was keeping something from Penny as well, something huge, but it didn’t feel like the right moment. Penny always put tennis first, she’d understand. Besides, she and Jack agreed that they’d tell her together and right now he was probably in the shower, getting ready for their night out. Her mind drifted for a second, imagining rivulets of water sluicing over lean, tanned muscle, getting caught in dark curly chest hair but she blinked the fantasy away, focusing on Penny.

“Makes sense,” Penny said. “I know I’d want to be told right away. Just…”

“What?”

“Just don’t let this bring you down completely, okay? I know you guys just got on good terms, but you got a wildcard to
Wimbledon
, Indy. That’s huge. You get the right draw, beat the right people, it could make your career. Forget about winning the junior tournament, you could be on tour almost full time. Some hurt feelings now are totally worth it.”

“Are they?”

Penny shrugged. “For me it would be, but I’m not you.”

“No, you’re not. Ugh. This is gonna suck.”

“What’s gonna suck?” Jasmine asked, walking through the door in white shorts and a bright pink long-sleeved see-through top over a cami, a towel wrapped around her head to keep her wet hair off the pretty shirt.