Losing at Love

by Jennifer Iacopelli

  “Dom’s gonna kill me for letting you work out without him.”

  “Dom’s a big boy. He’ll get over it.”

  “You promise me you’ll take it easy.”

  “Promise.”

  “You want me to hit with you?”

  “Nah, you need to put in a tough workout. I know exactly who to call.”

  As soon as she walked out onto the Queens practice courts, it was pretty obvious that word had spread about her taking up part of Alex’s hitting session. Reporters were lining the edge of the court, kept back by the fences and security. Photographers had their cameras poised, looking for any sign of weakness, a limp, a grimace of pain, anything to write about and call into question her chances of winning Wimbledon.

  “Penny,” Natalie Grogan said, jogging up to her as she stepped onto the court.

  “Hey, glad you could make it.”

  “Oh my God, of course! I was so excited when my dad told me you called.”

  “You ready to get started?”

  She had stretched out fully in the trainer’s room after getting her ankle wrapped up tight, so she was pretty much ready to go and didn’t want to waste any more of Alex’s practice time than necessary.

  “Let’s do it. Just moving around the court a little bit, get some serves in, baseline and then net work.”

  “Sounds good to me!”

  The grass was a little slick after a few days of the tournament players using it far more than the usual club members, but it felt good under her feet, solid and a little cushioning. Natalie was a good player, a little rough around the edges still, but they gave each other a decent workout. She tried to put her ankle out of her mind, but as they crept close to the hour and a half they’d agreed on, she began to feel it twinge as she worked through her serving arsenal, growing a little worse with each impact. It was only the first day, so Penny felt pretty good about how long it held up. She waved Natalie to the net.

  “That’s good for now.”

  Natalie’s face fell a little bit, but then she brightened again, racing to her racket bag and pulling out her phone. “Can we do another selfie?”

  “As long as you don’t mind us looking like a sweaty mess,” Penny said with a laugh.

  “Please, I’m always a sweaty mess.”

  “Me too, up until recently. It’s actually nice to feel like this again.”

  “Are you kidding? You always look fabulous. Seventeen had this whole thing about your off-court style. Flawless.”

  Penny grabbed her phone and held it out, tilting her head toward the other girl. “Okay, stupidest face you can imagine,” she said, twisting her mouth into a snarl and crossing her eyes. Natalie blew her cheeks up like a balloon and they snapped the pic. “Okay and now duck face.” They pursed their lips and took another selfie.

  “Awesome.” Natalie took her phone back. “How’s your ankle feeling?”

  Glancing down at it, Penny shrugged. “Wrapped so tight I don’t even know. I’ll ice it and see how it feels later tonight.”

  “If you need another hitting partner, just give me a call. I mean, I know you’ll probably want to hit with Indiana Gaffney when she gets here tomorrow. She’s like your best friend, right? But I thought she might be busy because she’s playing doubles qualifying with Jasmine Randazzo and then the juniors too, so if you need anyone, I’d love to help out.”

  “You’ll be my first call, Nat. Promise.”

  “Great! Oh, and is your brother coming tomorrow too? The blogs were saying that the OBX girls were, but they didn’t say anything about Jack and my dad wanted to talk to him about some business stuff, I think.”

  Penny brightened. She knew Jack had had his eye on Natalie for a little while as a possible client, but up until this week, she hadn’t given any indication that she planned on signing with an agent. He’d be thrilled. She made a mental note to text him from the trainer’s room. “He’ll be here tomorrow too. Hopefully, they can get together.”

  “Yeah, that’d be awesome. I’ll see you later.”

  Penny showered quickly and pulled on her favorite white eyelet dress, letting her hair air dry, the dark brown curls falling down her back, completing the look with brown leather flip flops, gold metal fixtures near the toes that wouldn’t interfere with her ankle wrap.

  ~

  “Well done,” Anna Russell said as Penny took the seat next to her at the edge of the practice court.

  “Thanks. It’s nice to get back out on the court.”

  “How does your ankle feel?”

  Penny glanced down at the large ice pack wrapped securely around her foot, numbing the joint. “I can’t feel it right now, but it’ll be sore tonight. Shouldn’t be too bad though. Not like it was in France.”

  “It was extraordinary, what you did there. I was on the edge of my seat for that last game. I haven’t felt that way during a tennis match in a long time. Not even when Alex was playing.”

  “Thank you.”

  She didn’t know what else to say and the silence hung in the air like a dead man at the end of a noose. Death a foregone conclusion, just the agony of waiting for it to happen remained.

  Thankfully, Anna knew how to make small talk. She pushed through the awkwardness like one of her son’s serves. “How do you like London so far?”

  “Haven’t really seen much of it. Just the airport, the courts and Alex’s house.”

  “You’ve been here before though, haven’t you?”

  “Last year for juniors.”

  “Which you won. Rather spectacularly, if I recall.”

  “I did.” She didn’t know Alex’s mom had seen her play before.

  “I can’t wait to see you play in the main draw this year. Even taking away my new bias in your direction, you’ve been one of my favorite players to watch for some time now. Truly.”

  “Thank you.”

  The conversation stalled again. Penny never felt like this before, there were no words, nothing to say that wouldn’t be completely mortifying. They watched Alex continue his warm-ups, he and Paolo trading groundstrokes and keeping up a verbal sparring match at the same time. Their usual routine, half in English, half in Italian and mostly aspersions on everything about the other, none of which were taken the least bit seriously.

  “Penny, you don’t have to be embarrassed around me, sweetheart.”

  The tension broke and Penny chewed on her lower lip before responding. “Yes, I really do.”

  “You think that’s the first time I’ve walked in on Alex and one of his girlfriends?”

  “That’s the thing, I don’t care what the press thinks or what other people think, but I don’t want to be one of his girlfriends. Not to you.”

  “You’re not.”

  “Feels like it. I mean, not that you made me feel that way, just that… I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

  Anna placed a hand on top of the fingers Penny was twisting together so hard they were beginning to turn purple. “You’re not. He made us dinner reservations for tonight so we could get to know each other. Do you know how many girls my son has asked me to go to dinner with, to even have a conversation with, to meet at all?”

  “No.”

  “One. You. Just you.”

  “Oh.”

  “Oh, indeed. I’ve never been thrilled with the women Alex has been with in the past, but he’s a grown man and he’s been making his own decisions for a long time. Since he was a little boy, really. You, my dear, are one of the best decisions he has ever made. The change in him, I swear.”

  “Change?”

  “You might love my son, Penny, but you don’t know him. Not really, not yet. He is different and it is clearly because of you.”

  “I…”

  “It’s not a bad thing. I haven’t seen him this happy in a very long time. Years.”

  “And you think that’s because of me? He just won the French Open. He’s going to win Wimbledon again. I don’t…”

  “A mother knows.”
<
br />   “Knows what?”

  “When her son’s found the woman he’s supposed to be with for the rest of his life.” Penny let the words sink in and didn’t respond for a moment and then another. Anna reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry, was that too much?”

  “No.” Her voice cracked a little. “No, it wasn’t and I think — I think that’s what’s scary.”

  “Let me guess, this wasn’t part of your plan?”

  “No, I…tennis is — was everything.”

  “For him too, since he was just yea high,” she said, lining her hand up with her thigh. “I enrolled him in anything that would keep him busy enough to tire him out. Football, cricket, basketball. Tennis was the only thing that stuck.”

  “Didn’t play well with others?”

  “Well spotted. He liked boxing too, but I put a stop to that.”

  “I was the same way. I hated relying on other people to help me win.”

  “You two are so different and yet so alike. You have tennis, your family, your friends,” she nodded out toward the court, “and now each other.”

  “I think that’s why it works.”

  “I think so too.”

  “I’m so sorry that was the first impression you got of me. I know you say it’s not a big deal, but it is to me. I don’t…that’s not something I take lightly. I fought it for a long time. Too long, maybe, but you have to know, I do love him, very much.”

  “Sweetheart, I think that’s pretty clear and I’m sorry too.”

  “For what?”

  “For not knocking.”

  Anna laughed lightly and nudged Penny a little and though she fought it for a moment, her laughter was contagious.

  “This can’t be good. I don’t need you two teaming up,” Alex said, tossing himself into the seat beside Penny, pressing a sweaty kiss against her temple. “Everything all right?” he whispered against her hair so his mother couldn’t hear. She squeezed his arm gently in a silent “yes.”

  “You’re doomed,” Anna said, smiling widely at her son. “Outnumbered from here on out, darling.”

  “Your mother was just telling me about when you were little.”

  Alex groaned dramatically, burying his face in her shoulder, his scruff scraping against the skin before he pressed a soft kiss there. “Okay, back to it. Mum don’t give away all my secrets. Penny already knows too much about me, any more and she might bolt.”

  “I don’t know,” Anna said, smiling widely. “I think she might be here to stay. Lord help her.”

  “You both ready to watch me kick some ass?”

  “Absolutely,” Penny said, lacing her fingers through his and letting him pull her up from the seat.

  ~

  Penny and Anna were ushered to front row seats at the Queens center court. It was much more intimate than the center courts at the Grand Slams. The clubhouse lined one side of the court and temporary seating along the club’s famous trellis added a second viewing level. The other side of the court was long, sloped theater seating, providing a great view even from the worst seats. A lottery had been held months earlier to decide who would receive tickets, much like the one held for Wimbledon, club members of course taking priority over the rest of the public.

  “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…”

  Chapter 10

  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.”