Losing at Love

by Jennifer Iacopelli

  Just a meeting with Dom this morning and a doubles training session with Jasmine and then she had the afternoon off before their early flight the next day. Throwing on some clothes for training, she pocketed her phone and then plugged her earbuds into her ears, letting The Clash’s London Calling blare through the tiny speakers. Cliché, maybe, but London was calling and it was going to be amazing.

  She stepped out into the dorm hallway, lowering the volume just a little, only to hear the door across the hall click shut. Looking up, she met Teddy Harrison’s wide eyes head on. Some things never changed. “You’re up awfully early,” she quipped.

  Teddy just rolled his eyes and Indy laughed, but then her eyes caught the sign on the door that hadn’t been there the day before. Bright pink bubble letters made out of construction paper that spelled out, Welcome Back Amy!

  “You didn’t,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  He shrugged, but rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  Indy huffed and shook her head. “If you don’t know why that was a friggin’ stupid idea…” She glared at him for another second, before turning to leave.

  “Look, just don’t say anything to…” he began, but she cut him off, whirling around to face him.

  “Jasmine’s my friend, Teddy, and if you didn’t do anything wrong, then why shouldn’t I say anything?” He shifted back and forth on his feet, biting his lip. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  She jogged down the hallway and out the door before he could respond. She had to talk to Jasmine. Should she do it before or after? Definitely after. If she did it before, then it would screw with practice and Dom would be pissed. There were barely any people around yet, just a few of the grounds crew staff prepping the courts for a day’s worth of training. The air was warm and light, a soft breeze coming in off the ocean.

  “Hey Roy,” she called as she entered the atrium, lowering the volume of the music so she could hear him. It was so early, he hadn’t even started his paper yet.

  “Mornin’ Indy,” he called, taking a sip of his morning coffee. “You got a meeting with the boss man?”

  “Yeah, I’m a little early.”

  “No worries. That agent of yours went up there a few minutes ago.”

  “Urg. Great. See you in a bit,” she said, raising the volume again, wanting to drown out whatever shouting match Caroline and Dom would inevitably be having when she got up to his office.

  She took the stairs two at a time, keeping her eyes on the steps, not wanting to twist her ankle doing something as stupid as going to a meeting with her coach. The papers on the floor of Dom’s office should have been the first clue. Brightly colored folders, normally stacked neatly on the desk were scattered on the shiny wood floor, their contents strewn around them, except her eyes were drawn to the glare of the sun rising in the distance through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office, blinding her as she reached the top of the stairway. That and the music blaring from her earphones probably drowned out the sounds that would have alerted her to what was happening just past the top of the stairs, so apparently, it was her destiny to jog into her coach's office for their weekly progress meeting only to find him with his pants around his ankles. At first, her brain didn't quite understand what she was seeing, so she just kept looking, past the horror of Dom's naked ass to the blonde hair, usually so perfectly coiffed into a twist or a knot in complete disarray, long, pale legs wrapped around his waist.

  "Holy shit." Her voice was a lot louder than she meant for it to be, the music pounding through her earbuds forcing her voice up in volume.

  The couple on the desk froze and she locked eyes with Caroline over Dom’s shoulder, seeing her agent’s lips form the word, Indiana. Dom started to fumble to pull his pants up and turn around, but Indy spun on her toes and raced down the stairs. She hit a full sprint two steps into the atrium, flying past Roy at the security desk. He actually dropped his paper in concern, but she was through the doors and out into the open air before he could even shout her name. She felt her phone buzzing in her pocket, probably Dom or Caroline, maybe both, but her stride didn’t break as she flew down the street toward the Harrison house.

  ~

  Pounding on the door, probably harder than necessary, she yanked the earbuds out of her ears, the sound of guitar and screechy vocals fading to a buzz before reaching up to knock again, just catching herself before she wacked Teddy in the face with her fist.

  “Hey,” he began, but she flew past him, her long legs taking the stairs two at a time, skidding down the hallway and storming straight into Jack’s bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

  “Indy?” he rasped, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands.

  “I just…I just saw,” she tried to breathe in through her nose and back out through her mouth to catch her breath and finally it worked. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, she continued to breathe slowly; the feel of his legs behind her, even through the layers of covers, was a comfort.

  “What did you see?” he asked, sitting up fully, the sheet pooling at his waist, but even the sight of him shirtless wasn’t enough to erase the horrible image from her mind.

  “Dom and Caroline. They were, oh God, they were on his desk and I think I’m going to throw up.” She covered her face with her hands as her stomach twisted in revulsion.

  Jack pulled his legs from beneath the covers and twisted around to sit beside her, his thigh lining up with hers. “Breathe, baby, breathe. You walked in on them?”

  “Having sex on his desk. Dom’s ass hanging out. I’m never going to get that image out of my head.”

  “Indiana,” Jack started but she cut him off.

  “What do I do? Do I tell my Dad? I have to tell him, don’t I? I mean, this is huge. She’s cheating on him. My agent and my coach. My dad’s girlfriend and my coach. This is, this is just way too much. What do I do?” she asked again. “Should I fire her? I mean, this is something you fire an agent over right? Like, a huge conflict of interest.”

  “You want my advice?” He took her hand in his. “First, you need to calm down a little. Making decisions right now, it’s a bad idea. Let’s just sit here for a second and breathe.”

  He leaned back against his pillows, pulling her with him and she curled up into his chest. One of his arms snaked around her waist, holding her close, the other stroked her hair, twisting the ends around his fingers before letting the curls untwine themselves. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said, breathing in his scent. Letting the warmth of his skin ease the tension in her body. “I just. What do I do? What would you do?”

  “We’re not talking about me. What do you want to do?”

  “I want to fire her ass and then tell my dad his girlfriend is cheating scum. And I’m so pissed off at Dom.”

  “You have a right to be pissed, baby, but look, I’ve learned something over the last couple of years in this business. It’s a small world and everyone’s got a lot of baggage, everyone knows everyone, everyone is connected. The best way to navigate it is to keep business and personal separate. So Caroline is sleeping with your coach and cheating on your dad. She makes bad personal decisions. Does any of that mean she’s not a great agent?”

  “No.”

  “And Dom, does this mean he’s not still the best coach in the world?”

  “No.”

  “Would you want to train with anyone else?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Then okay. You still have one of the best agents in the world, present company excluded, of course, and the best coach in the world. Even if you want to throttle them, is staying with both of them what’s best for your career?”

  “Probably,” she grumbled, annoyed at how reasonable he was about this. “You could be my agent though.”

  “Baby, I can’t even tell you how bad an idea that is.”

  “Yeah?” She turned her head, her lips brushing the skin of his shoulder, goosebumps r
ising as her mouth curved into a smile.

  “Oh yeah. What’s happening between us, it’s special and I don’t want it to get messy. Messier than it already is anyway. Let’s keep this,” he squeezed her hip firmly, “and everything else separate.”

  “But what about my dad?”

  “That’s the tough one. Do you want to tell him?”

  She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  “Then call him. Tell him and your conscience is clear.”

  She pulled her phone from her pocket, the missed calls and voicemails from her coach and her agent lined up on her screen, but she flicked past them and brought up her Dad’s number.

  Jack slipped from beneath her. “I’ll be right outside,” he whispered and shut the door behind him.

  ~

  She dialed the number and she could barely catch her breath, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest cavity, her throat tight and her stomach spinning circles in her gut, all the serenity from those moments with Jack completely gone. The phone rang and rang, over and over again. He was abroad, in China, and she knew it would head to voicemail, knew she’d hear her father’s voice saying his own name and then the computerized woman telling her to leave a message, but then there was a click and it connected.

  “Indiana?” Charles Gaffney’s voice echoed loud and clear through the strong cell service.

  Indy blinked. She didn’t know he had her number in his phone. “Hi Dad,” she managed to croak out.

  “Indiana, is anything wrong?”

  “Um, why, why would you ask that?” she asked, her voice cracking a little.

  “You never call me,” he said, “I can’t imagine why…is there something wrong? Are you okay?” The words were completely foreign to her.

  Your girlfriend, my agent, is sleeping with my coach. She’s cheating on you. The words were easy in her head, but she couldn’t force them past the lump in her throat. She didn’t even know why it was so tough. It should have been simple. Just tell him and hang up. Get it over with, except the words were just friggin’ stuck and wouldn’t budge, not for anything.

  “Indiana?”

  “No, um, nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. I just thought I’d call. You know, to um, catch up.”

  “Catch up?” he repeated. Apparently it had sounded just as stupid to him as it had to her.

  “Yeah, we just…we don’t really talk, like you said, ever, and I…if you’re busy, I understand, it’s fine. I’m sure you’re busy.”

  He cleared his throat sharply. “I am, but I can—“

  “No, it’s okay,” she said, seeing her escape and taking it. “We’ll…we can talk later. No big deal. Bye.”

  She ended the call and clenched her fist around the phone. Hauling back her arm, she nearly threw it across the room, but stopped herself as the phone began to buzz in her hand. Without even looking at the screen, she answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “You didn’t let me finish. I was just about to go into a meeting, but I cancelled it. Now, I can tell something’s wrong, India—Indy. You wouldn’t call me unless you had no other option, I know that much. Now let me know what it is and maybe I can help.”

  She hadn’t expected him to call back, let alone for him to talk to her like that, like what happened to her mattered or that his concern wasn’t simply because he had to be concerned. Indy tried to get the words to form on her lips again, but still, they wouldn’t come. How do you tell someone something like that, especially your dad, especially Charles Gaffney? “It’s nothing. I just…does Caroline have to be my agent? I know you and her are a thing, but…”

  A heavy sigh echoed through the speaker. She couldn’t tell if it was in relief or exasperation. “Caroline is the best at what she does. Even if she and I weren’t a thing, as you say, I’d still want her to represent your interests.”

  “I don’t trust her.”

  “Has she ever done anything to betray your trust?”

  “She didn’t tell me that you guys were together.”

  “Indy, do you tell her about your boyfriends?”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend, but even if I did, that’s different,” she protested, biting her lip after the words flew out a little too fast and a little too high pitched.

  She could almost hear the laugh in her dad’s voice as he said, “You’re right, it is different. Your personal relationships could have a potential impact on her ability to perform her job. Hers do not. What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to like her. It’s not personal. It’s business and it would be a silly business decision to let the best tennis agent in the world go because of something personal.” It was almost exactly what Jack said. Apparently, the two most important men in her life had a lot more in common than she’d ever imagined.

  “What about the opposite?”

  There was a long pause on the other end. “Letting business get in the way of personal things?”

  “Yes.”

  And with that word, they weren’t talking about Caroline anymore. They were talking about the missed birthdays and Christmases and phone calls never returned and gifts picked out by secretaries. It was about them.

  “Then…then you have to decide what’s more important to you,” he said, finally, but slowly, like it wasn’t really what he wanted to say, even though it was the truth. A truth that hit her hard, right in the chest. He’d always put his business before personal, always put his job before her and her mom, because he’d decided a long time ago that business was more important than them.

  “Right, okay, sure.”

  “Indiana, that doesn’t mean…”

  “I’ve gotta go.”

  She ended the call, hearing the line disconnect, but she kept the phone to her ear. “Caroline is cheating on you with my coach, but whatever, I don’t even care, you and her, you deserve each other. You’re the kind of people who don’t care about who you hurt. You don’t care and now I don’t care either. You both can go to hell.” Then she took a deep breath and chucked the friggin’ phone against the wall as hard as she could.

  Chapter 8

  June 18th

  Jasmine felt her feet sink into the sand, sneakers pushing the grains away as she headed for the shoreline behind her parents’ house. Her racket bag was slung over her back, the strap across her chest and she was dressed for training. She had a doubles session with Indy in about a half hour and a run on the beach always helped to clear her head beforehand. It also had the added bonus of getting her out of the house before her parents woke up. Avoiding them was becoming an art form. She would be gone before they got out of bed, spend the entire day at OBX and then would creep back into the house after the sun set. They were leaving for London tomorrow so she only had to keep it up for one more day.

  The shoreline was damp from high tide, leaving the sand wet with just enough give to make running comfortable. She set a slow pace, not needing to wear herself out before the day really began and let her mind just go blank. None of the crap that went down this week mattered. Not really. They were flying to London tomorrow. She and Indy were going to qualify for doubles and they were going to kick ass. Training was going better than ever. Their physical games had always complemented each other, but now, they were on the same page mentally and there were times when they barely had to speak on the court. Soon enough, that would become the norm and they’d be unstoppable.

  Only a few people were buzzing around the OBX grounds when she got to their practice court, but Dom was one of them, waiting with three junior boys who would be their opponents. Canadian Doubles, the training regimen Dom had instituted a few days before was making practice extreme but would pay off once they got on the court with the best in the world.

  “Hey kiddo,” Dom said, as she rounded the corner of the court and slipped through the gate.

  A quick glance around the empty court had her turning to Dom. “I’m guessing you didn’t just give Indy the day off, right?”

  “Nah, she’s got a conflict thi
s morning.”

  “A conflict?” That made absolutely no sense. Indy wouldn’t miss training for anything. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. She’ll be on the flight with us tomorrow. She just needs a day.”

  Sounded like a bunch of bullshit, but Jasmine let it go. She’d talk to Indy later. “Okay, so then, what are we doing?”

  “I moved up your singles training session and invited Fitz to play a set.”

  She pulled her racket back off her back and laid it against the fence. “She’s late.”

  “No, I’m right on time,” Amy said, slinging an arm around her neck and bumping their hips together. “Dominic.”

  “Morning, Fitz. Okay, both of you, a couple of circuits around the court and then warm up.”

  “How long has it been, Jazzy?” Amy asked as they started their jog, rotating their arms in slow circles to loosen up.

  “Since we played against each other? The OBX semi-final two years ago, I guess.”

  Amy threw her head back and laughed. “That’s right. That was a good match.”

  “If by good match you mean kicking my ass, then yeah, it was a good match.”

  “Aw, it was closer than the score line.”

  “It really wasn’t. Didn’t really matter though. Penny destroyed you in the final.”

  “And then she destroyed you the two years after that.”

  “Ladies, this isn’t social hour. Talk on your own time,” Dom snapped from the edge of the court.

  Jasmine jogged away without another word, grabbing her racket.

  “Volley for serve, Jazzy?” Amy asked, taking the side of the court with her back to the beach, ensuring that Jasmine would have the sun rising in her eyes for at least the first game.

  “Nah, it’s all yours,” Jasmine said, slipping her sunglasses on, the polarized lenses negating the affects of the sun.