Tennis in Heels

by Sophie Kaye

  “It doesn't matter.”

  Jessica's chest crumpled. Her stomach turned to ice. Of course, it mattered. It mattered a lot.

  She tried to think of words to say.

  “We need to work together.” Her voice was so hoarse. “To save the bank.”

  He took a deep breath, still not looking at her.

  “Fine.”

  The word was court and final.

  Jessica turned around. She wouldn't cry in front of him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jessica dropped her bags at the front door. She was exhausted. Not only from the work, but from trying to keep a straight face while Michael was around. All she wanted was a hot bath and an evening watching movies in bed. Maybe with some ice cream.

  “There you are.” Priscilla peeked out from the living room.

  Jessica sighed.

  “You look tired, come sit down for a bit.” Priscilla furrowed her brow at her daughter.

  “It's been a long day.” Jessica joined her parents and sank into one of the large, comfortable sofas.

  “Do you know why Cory left so suddenly?” Frederick asked. “And when were you going to tell us you're engaged?”

  “Yes. Do you think it's fair that the parents of the bride have to find out about the wedding from a newspaper?”

  Jessica rubbed her temples. “I'm not engaged.”

  “Told you,” Frederick smirked at his wife and held out a hand.

  Priscilla grumbled. Jessica watched ten dollars change hands.

  “You had a bet on whether I was engaged?” She looked from one to the other.

  “We had an argument,” Priscilla said. “Now, it's settled.”

  “I feel like you have some things to tell us,” Frederick said.

  “Cory thought I was in love with him. When I denied it, he assumed I was playing hard to get.”

  “Oh, his dad was the same from time to time.” Priscilla turned to Frederick. “Remember the Norway-deal? He refused to think I wasn't interested.”

  “Oh, yeah. Led to a bit of an awkward situation, didn't it?”

  “It did.” She turned to Jessica. “We had a whole room full of Norwegians and you don't care. Go on.”

  “He told the paper we were engaged and wanted me to join him on stage to announce it. I refused, and he got mad.”

  “Oh, honey.” Priscilla squeezed her hand. “But don't you worry about that. I'm sure he'll come around, eventually.”

  Tears rose in Jessica's eyes. “There's more. He said he won't vote to keep the bank open.”

  Priscilla and Frederick looked at each other.

  “I didn't know the bank meant so much to you.” Priscilla moved closer and stroked her hair.

  “It's not just that.” Jessica leaned against her mom's shoulder. “It's Michael.” She sniveled.

  “Who's Michael?”

  “He works at the bank,” Jessica said and sat up.

  “Did he do something?” Frederick leaned in.

  “No.” Jessica wiped her eyes. “I did.”

  Priscilla and Frederick looked at each other. Priscilla shrugged.

  “Honey,” she said and put a hand on Jessica's shoulder. “Maybe you should tell us what happened.”

  Jessica closed her eyes. She shook her head. “I just messed up. I made a mistake and now he hates me.”

  “And you like him?” Priscilla said hesitantly.

  Jessica nodded.

  “Well, now we're getting somewhere.” Frederick leaned back. “If you like him, I'm sure you'll find a way to make him see that.” He picked up a magazine. “I can't imagine anyone not liking you.”

  “Will you put that down.” Priscilla yanked the magazine out of his hands. “Our daughter is going through something.”

  “What can I do?” Frederick raised his palms to the sides. “I can't very well go over there and threaten him until he likes her.”

  Priscilla sighed. “Don't be a... You're supposed to listen and sympathize. Honestly, sometimes it feels like you have more understanding for the characters in your books than for the people around you.”

  Frederick took a breath. “Listen and sympathize. I can do that. Can we do it over dinner? I smell something amazing, and here's Rosa now, telling us it's done.”

  Rosa raised an eyebrow in the doorway.

  “Jessica?” Priscilla met her gaze.

  Jessica nodded. “Let's eat.”

  Rosa leaned in close as Jessica passed her. “I'll make you a huge ice cream sundae for dessert,” she whispered.

  Jessica smiled. “I might need that.”

  “But dinner first.” Rosa raised a finger at her and hurried on ahead.

  After some salmon soup and fresh bread rolls, Jessica's parents tried not to look too curious.

  Jessica placed her napkin by her plate and took a breath.

  “Michael is the man from the club, when I broke my leg.”

  “I thought he worked at the bank?” Frederick frowned at her.

  “He does.”

  “And you have feelings for him?” Priscilla asked.

  Jessica nodded.

  “But he doesn't have feelings for you?”

  “I thought he did. He... he kissed me. But then Cory stopped by. And you know Cory. Michael overheard him say something about our date to the gala and then he found the article saying we were engaged.”

  “I see.” Frederick looked serious.

  “I wish I could make things better for you, honey.” Priscilla put down her spoon. “I still feel bad for setting you up with Cory.”

  Jessica shrugged.

  “Here we go,” Rosa said and carried in a big bowl of ice cream. “I put extra sprinkles.”

  “Is this your way of trying to keep me here?”

  “Wouldn't dream of it,” Rosa said and left the room.

  “So.” Frederick cleared his throat. “Is there anything we can do?”

  Jessica shook her head and picked up the spoon to dig into the sundae.

  “Mom, is there any way to keep the bank open?”

  Priscilla hesitated. “If Cory votes against it, then most of the other shareholders need to vote for it. He has one of the biggest shareholders on his side so you will have to convince everyone else.” She looked at Frederick. “But it does mean everyone.”

  “So we need to convince them?” Jessica stared at her sundae.

  “If you can do that, then Cory's vote will be overthrown. It would be a first though. With Grant, even if we didn't agree on everything, we talked until we came up with a compromise that worked for both of us.”

  “How can we convince them?”

  Priscilla shook her head. “I have no idea. The final vote will be on February 13th, though. So you have to do it before then.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “So that's our deadline?” Rita pulled the cardigan tighter.

  Jessica nodded. "They vote on February 13th.”

  “So how do we convince them?” Maggie chewed on her lip.

  “It's never going to work.” Michael turned away from them and took out the tea bags from the cupboard.

  “Well, we have to do something.” Jessica studied his back.

  “Something. But not anything.” He turned and met her eyes.

  Jessica inhaled. The accusation pierced her like a dagger to the heart.

  “Maybe a petition?” Maggie said.

  Rita cleared her throat. “Yes. A petition might be a good place to start.”

  Jessica broke eye contact. Michael sneered and turned back to the tea.

  “Maybe...” Jessica swallowed. “Maybe we could go door to door, tell everyone what's going on and ask them to help us.”

  “Who's going to do that?” Michael turned with his cup of tea.

  “I can do it,” Maggie said. “I don't mind going door to door, and we have a couple of weeks to do it, so there's plenty of time.”

  Rita pulled her cardigan closer and stared at the table.

  “I can help,”
Jessica said. “My leg is getting better and I can walk longer stretches now.”

  “Maybe I could call people?” Rita said. “People that live further away, maybe?”

  Jessica nodded. “That's a great idea.”

  They turned to Michael.

  He sighed. “Fine, I'll help.”

  “What else can we do?”

  EVERY SPARE MOMENT, they planned what they could do. Maggie spoke to every customer and got them to promise the bank their support.

  As soon as word got around that the bank was in trouble, Bellfrey did what Bellfrey does best. They rallied to support their own.

  Maggie and Jessica went door to door in the evenings, asking people to sign the petition to keep the bank open. They spoke to the local reporter and got an article in the paper. Maggie was busier than ever at the bank with all the people who came in. They even got a few new customers.

  “Is it going to be enough?” Hailey asked as they sat sipping hot chocolate at the diner.

  “Who knows?” Jessica moved her mug out of reach from Sage and gave her part of a cookie.

  “So the shareholders are all on the board?”

  Jessica nodded. “I think so.”

  “And they'll vote in a couple of weeks?”

  “Yes, and Cory already said he'll vote against the bank, and Mom will vote for.”

  “So to win, everybody else needs to vote to keep the bank open?”

  Jessica nodded.

  Hailey sighed. “I'm so glad I don't have a board at the bakery. It sounds tedious to have to vote on everything.”

  “I agree.”

  “However.” Hailey leaned in. “Speaking of voting. I came up with an idea for the Valentines' festival.”

  “Oh?” Jessica watched Sage run to the next table to offer Gunther a bite of her cookie.

  “I thought I could do a vote-for-the-best-Valentine's-cookie-thing.”

  Jessica laughed. “So your board is the town?”

  “More like a contest. I'll make some mock-cookies and keep at the bakery and people can vote for the one they want me to make for the festival.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “Right.” Hailey sprinted up and caught Sage before she went behind the counter. “You want some more chocolate milk?”

  “Loclate.” Sage stretched her arms out towards Jessica.

  “You want Jessica to give you chocolate milk?”

  Sage nodded.

  Jessica stretched out her arms and Sage crawled up into her lap.

  “What was I saying?” Hailey sat back down.

  “Contest.” Jessica gave Sage her glass.

  “Right, people could vote on the most romantic cookie flavor and I'd have options like peanut butter-banana and vanilla-butterscotch.”

  “Chocolate,” Jessica said.

  “Yes, I was thinking ruby chocolate with raspberries could be one option.”

  “Sounds like a great idea.”

  “Good, because I already started.” Hailey winked. “How are things with you? I haven't heard any more about Michael.”

  “Oh. Well. Things went better for a while and then took a turn for the not so good.”

  “What happened?”

  “We had a great time at the pizza party. He drove me home, and we kissed.”

  Hailey got a big smile on her face.

  “But,” Jessica said seriously.

  “Oh no.” Hailey's smile faded.

  “Oh no,” Sage said.

  “Then Cory, did I tell you about Cory? He came by the bank, acting like we were a couple. And Michael overheard.”

  “That's not good.”

  “No good,” Sage said.

  “No. No good. And it got worse.”

  “Oh-oh.” Sage offered Jessica a bite of her cookie.

  Jessica pretended to eat some.

  “Cory had asked me to a cancer benefit gala. And I didn't feel like I could cancel since it was in honor of his dad who passed away recently.”

  “Understandable.”

  “Able.” Sage took a bite of her cookie.

  “What I didn't know was that he had spoken to a reporter saying we were engaged.”

  “He did that?” Hailey stopped with her mug halfway to her mouth. “Who does that? I'm sorry but he seems like a...” she glanced at Sage, “not a catch.”

  “Anyway, he got mad when I refused him, and said he won't vote for the bank. But the worst part was that Michael saw the article. Now he feels he can't trust me and things are very tense between us.”

  “Have you explained the situation?”

  “I tried.” Jessica stirred her chocolate. “I think he's just too mad to listen.”

  “Well, that's good.”

  “What?” Jessica looked up. “How is that good?”

  “It means he cares.” Hailey winked.

  “No sad.” Sage put her arms around Jessica's neck. “Cookie.” She shoved the cookie against Jessica's lips.

  “Thank you,” Jessica said.

  “Sam,” Sage said and struggled to get down.

  “How're my favorite girls?” Sam came up to their table and bent down to hug Sage.

  “I guess I should be going?” Jessica glanced at her watch. “The Valentine's meeting is about to start.”

  Sam picked up Sage and bent down to give Hailey a kiss.

  Jessica sighed at the way he looked at her.

  “Do you need a ride?” Sam asked.

  “No, I'll walk.” Jessica gathered her coat and put it on.

  “Do you want Sam to talk to Michael?” Hailey asked.

  “Why?” Sam sat down. “What's he done now?”

  “No. No, everything's fine. I need to sort this out myself.”

  “OK,” Hailey said.

  “I'll stop by the bank tomorrow to open a business account,” Sam said. “Michael's been bugging me about that for years, I figure now is a good time.”

  “Thanks.” Jessica got up. “Every bit helps.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Did you talk to the Stevens?” Jessica looked up from the papers next to her lunch.

  “Not yet,” Maggie yawned and opened a bag of chips. “I was planning on doing that tonight.”

  “Is that your lunch?” Jessica looked at the chips.

  Maggie shrugged. “I don't cook.”

  “Is Michael back yet?” Rita came into the office and headed for the fridge.

  “Haven't seen him,” Maggie said.

  Jessica swallowed. Michael had been gone all morning. She had glanced up at every sound in the hallway, eager to get a glimpse of him.

  “Where is he?” she asked. Was he avoiding her?

  “There's another meeting at headquarters.” Rita took out the coffee filters. “You want coffee? I know it's not our usual coffee time, but I really could use a cup.”

  “Yes.” Maggie stretched an arm over the table and leaned her head on it. “I was out late with the petitions and then my roommate made me watch the alien movies.”

  “I'd love some,” Jessica said. “What's the meeting about?”

  “Huh?” Rita measured the coffee. “Oh, the bank's being or not being, I think. Michael didn't say.”

  “I'm glad there are only a few more days of this,” Maggie said. “It's hard work getting people to sign a list. Especially since most of Bellfrey is very chatty. It just takes so long.”

  “I wish I could do more.” Jessica studied the crutches. “I really thought I could do more.”

  “We all do the best we can,” Rita said quietly.

  “It's fine. I don't mind.”

  Jessica had tried going with Maggie on her rounds, but after an hour her leg was throbbing and she needed to sit down and rest. With the resting and her walking so slowly, it didn't make sense for her to slow Maggie down.

  Maggie sat up. “Michael came with me last night.”

  “He did?”

  Maggie nodded. “He's pretty good at talking to people.”

  Jessica stirred her
pasta salad. She wanted to ask if he had said anything about her. She wanted to know if he still hated her. During the last few days, she had caught him looking at her from time to time. And she could almost imagine he wanted to talk to her.

  “He didn't say anything,” Maggie said softly. “But I got the feeling he wanted to.”

  Jessica stirred her salad again.

  The coffee maker slurped.

  “Finally,” Maggie said when Rita poured coffee into three mugs.

  “I..” Rita cleared her throat. “I called the Fletchers. They said they'd stop by today or tomorrow to sign the petition.”

  The rest of the lunch-break disappeared into a fog for Jessica. Would he talk to her if she approached him again?

  By mid-afternoon, Jessica had convinced herself he would listen. And not only would he listen, but he would understand and maybe... just maybe...

  Her heart flew into her throat when his voice woke her from her daydreams. He was back. She heard the door to the front close after him. She ran her fingers through her hair. His steps were determined. Going away from her office. He must be on his way to talk to Rita first.

  Jessica opened her purse and pulled out a mirror. She reached for her mascara but her hands were shaking so much she put it away unused.

  She took a deep breath. His footsteps were coming down the hallway.

  He stopped in her doorway. “Can I talk to you?”

  Jessica inhaled. “Sure. I was hoping we could talk.”

  Michael came in and closed the door. Without looking at her he sat down opposite her. He cleared his throat.

  “I need you to know, that there was never anything-” Jessica stopped as Michael held up a hand.

  “I just had a meeting with Cory Higgs.”

  Jessica sucked in air. Michael and Cory? Together in the same room?

  “H-How did that go?”

  “Not good.”

  Jessica played with the corner of a paper.

  “He explained some things to me. How we can't win.”

  “What do you mean?” Jessica looked up. Why were his eyes so enticing? She longed to stroke his jawline all the way up behind his ear where she could run her fingers through his hair.

  “It doesn't matter if we convince a few of the shareholders to switch their votes. He has enough influence to overthrow the decision.”