She gave serious thought to the fact that becoming the number one tennis player in the world, and most likely winning all four grand slams, would keep Dante at number one for quite some time, and with that achievement came the publicity seekers.
Taking a look at Faith who seemed occupied reading a book, Mercedes sighed. The one thing she remained certain about was her love for Dante. Even if she wanted to maintain her lifestyle in her private world, she’d be an idiot to risk losing the love of her life.
When she watched the tennis matches on TV, she took notice of how often the cameras focused on the wives and girlfriends of the male players. Not many of them were married, only a few. And, to her surprise, the girlfriends remained composed, smiled when their boyfriend won a game, set or match, but weren’t overly conspicuous, nor did they make fretful faces when things weren’t going well. She wasn’t certain she’d be able to control her emotions.
She assured herself that she could overcome her complexes and follow her heart that ached during their separations. Phone calls and bouquets of flowers didn’t quite satisfy her longing for him. She smiled and decided that she’d no longer live in the shadows. She closed her eyes and sighed. Soon. Soon they’d be together and she felt wonderful since she put him on her radar screen. All she had to do was to be there to help him through Wimbledon, now that she understood his love.
****
When they landed in London, Faith’s dad made arrangements for them to be met at the baggage claim by one of the British employees. Another limo—Mercedes shut her eyes and shook her head. Who couldn’t get used to this treatment?
The older, yet distinguished hotel located near Wimbledon, from the outside didn’t look large, but the remodeled spacious lobby, furnished in eighteenth century décor with twentieth century replica pieces and huge flower arrangements, soft lighting and two small elevators with mirrored doors looked classic and inviting.
The concierge handed them a large envelope when they checked in containing British currency, room keys and passes for the tennis tournament and Dante’s player box, along with a note from Max.
When the door of the suite opened, Mercedes gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me about this lovely place, Faith?”
“I wanted you to be surprised. I kept begging you to accompany me on my London trips.”
“I’ll have to rethink my answer next time.”
The large living area, decorated with overstuffed sofas covered with white slipcovers and bright print colored pillows strewn everywhere invited one to sit and relax. Ornamental large brass lamps sat on the end tables and the coffee table held neatly arranged current magazines with colorful eye-catching covers that Townsend published.
A round dining table and six chairs filled one corner of the room with a bar and a copper sink against one wall—wine and liquor bottles sat on glass shelves above a small refrigerator that Mercedes opened and found full of sodas and juices and bottled water. One cabinet was stocked with snacks.
Faith opened the drapes and shouted, “Ta, da!”
“Oh, what a lovely view.”
“There are two bedrooms and two baths. Choose—door number one or door number two,” she joked, hurrying to open the door for the bellman delivering their luggage.
Mercedes opened one bedroom door and said, “I’ll keep this one, even if the other one is more beautiful. This is heaven. Guess we need to eat and get ready to meet with Max, but this large down comforter awaits my body.”
“Here,” Faith said, wheeling her luggage to her. “There’s a nice restaurant connected to the hotel. We should order room service and shower while we’re waiting for the food to arrive. We need to be ready the minute Max calls. His message said he wouldn’t have a lot time to finalize our plans. He’d be able to have brunch with us while Dante and his coach have a practice session.”
****
An hour later, when someone knocked on the door to the suite, Mercedes called hesitantly, “Max?”
“You were expecting Kate Middleton?”
“Maybe,” she teased, opening the door. “Wasn’t sure if it was you or room service.”
They hugged, and he asked, “How was your trip? Did everything go well?”
“Seems between Faith and Dante, I’ve been given a bird’s eye peek into the world of luxury and convenience. She’ll be out in a minute. We were tired and wanted to shower and freshen up when we arrived.”
“I offered you a job. I keep telling you this is the life, not to mention the traveling, phone calls, press conferences, meals on the run,” he kidded, “packing and unpacking are included among the benefits.”
“Right. I get the message! How is Dante?”
“Hyper. You’re all he talks about and this is not good for his career. However, he has vowed to do his best during the finals tomorrow, and said he will resign from the tour at the end of the year, maybe sooner, depending on you—whatever that means.”
“What do you think I should do now that I’m here?”
“Well, Dante will already be inside the tennis club when you arrive tomorrow. He’s giving a short press conference earlier in the day. He looks great and sounds confident, but his insides are a bundle of nerves. I don’t want you to come until right before the match begins because I don’t want him to get a hint that you’re here. I’m afraid you are all he’ll think about and won’t be able to concentrate once he sees you.
“Then, I will buzz you when I think it’s safe for you to come and stand in the archway near his player box and the minute he seems to be in trouble, I’ll signal for you to come and sit with me. His coach and his trainer are aware that you’re here, and agree this is the best way. Your attendance at that point should spurn him into wanting to win in order to be with you. I look forward to spending time with you and Faith after the tournament tomorrow.”
“Hmm, what do you know—at least I fixed you up with someone pretty, intelligent, and classy, compared to some of the boys you used to introduce me to…”
“All right, don’t get carried away. I hope I’ve covered everything, Mercedes. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. I’m overwhelmed and overjoyed. I cannot wait until tomorrow.”
“Thanks. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Mercedes, Faith, and Max sat in the hotel suite and enjoyed a pleasant meal together before he had to leave.
Max didn’t have a lot of time left before he would join Dante and his entourage, which included his parents. They planned an early supper, after the women’s finals, and Dante would have a massage afterward and they’d turn in early, relax and get a good night’s sleep, if all went well.
“As much as I hate to recommend this, I believe you two need to stay in your suite until tomorrow when you leave for Wimbledon. I’m sure it would be a rare occasion, but we can’t risk someone recognizing you.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Faith said. “I come here often enough and can order dinner from the restaurant later this evening and Mercedes can keep out of sight when the food arrives. Besides, we’re both tired and will enjoy an early evening, maybe rent a movie on the telly after dinner,” she said with her imitation English accent.
Mercedes hugged her brother and excused herself. “I’ll let you two be alone together for a few minutes to say goodbye,” she said, disappearing into her room.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mercedes wore a two-piece outfit in a raspberry pastel silk material—palazzo pants with a matching sleeveless midriff top. She wore her hair down, but pulled back the sides with matching combs because although the weather called for clear skies, the afternoon predicted breezy conditions.
Faith commented on how she looked, but seemed unaware that her insides churned like an ice cream maker. She didn’t feel relaxed reading the Sunday newspaper, nor having an early lunch with Faith and wasting time to get ready to leave at one in the afternoon.
She remarked a dozen times, at least, how pleased she felt that the men’
s finals weren’t in the evening. Two o’clock seemed like forever, and at one in the afternoon, when the driver Faith’s dad had put at their beck and call, buzzed their suite to tell them he had arrived to drive them to the stadium, she slowly exhaled all her pent up nerves.
Max met them when they arrived at the tennis club, escorted them to a private lounge for women only, and showed them the way to the aisle where they would wait for him to escort them into the player’s box when he felt the time was right.
They watched with great enthusiasm as the players were introduced and walked out onto the court for the opening ceremony, the coin toss, and warm-up. Mercedes grabbed Faith’s hand and held on tight as Dante won the coin toss and would serve first. She didn’t think she could sit there patiently for even a full game, let alone a set, but wasn’t sure what she’d do.
But it didn’t take long for her to realize that her jitters weren’t for naught. In less than an hour, Dante had lost the first set six-four. She thought about the conversation she had had with him about her young teen theory that you needed to win the second set in order to have the strength and stamina to prevent having to play five sets.
When he was down fifteen-thirty after his opponent had taken the first game in the second set against Dante’s score of only thirty, she got up and left for the doorway. Faith followed her and waited behind for Max to appear, but Mercedes couldn’t afford to wait another second.
Dante was on serve, now down love-forty and about to lose another game in the set. Mercedes stepped out of the shadows and stood in the middle of the stairway in open view, knowingly interrupting play and causing a disturbance in the stands.
Dante noticed the commotion in his peripheral vision and halted the ball toss, looked up and saw Mercedes. It took a slow motion second before a smile spread across his face. She smiled back, placed two fingers on her lips, and blew him a kiss.
The official in the umpire chair allowed for a time break and warned her over the loudspeaker that she needed to be seated before play could continue; otherwise he’d have her removed. Mercedes, blushing because of the announcement, followed by Faith, walked down the steps and she sank in the seat next to Max, who appeared ready to faint or choke her, she wasn’t certain. Mercedes, shrugged. “I couldn’t watch him continue to lose without letting him know I was here…”
Faith sat next to Dante’s parents in the second row of the reserved box, and they patted Mercedes on the shoulders. She nodded, but didn’t turn around. All her attention remained focused on Dante, while her heart vibrated in her chest.
His score of Love/Forty changed to 15/40, 30/40 and then deuce, and the crowd went wild. Next came the advantage, which his mother whispered with a French accent, and his next serve landed in the middle of the line—his first ace.
But his opponent wasn’t ready to give up the game. He served, scored 15-0; then it changed, 15/all; 30/15; 40/15; 40/30; deuce; 40/Ad-Edwards and Dante moved in with a drop shot and won the game.
Every game in the second set became a dueling match between the two players and without a doubt Dante wore his opponent down physically. All Dante’s tennis fans knew that once he began to moan or grunt with each stroke, his opponent was in trouble. He won the second set, but the score didn’t reflect the number five player in the world’s great shots and struggle to continue to overcome Dante.
The third set went by quickly and Mercedes thought Dante’s opponent might be ready to concede as he lost the set 6/1. But she soon discovered he recovered from the previous set.
During the break between sets, Dante requested a pit stop and left the court with an official. He soon returned with a clean shirt and a smile a mile wide. She looked at her brother and they both shrugged.
Dante’s opponent remained in his seat during the off-the-court break, changed his shirt, took sips of water and a sport drink, part of a banana and some liquid in a pouch, and bounced onto the court looking like a new person.
But Dante had his own incentive to finish this match in order for him to be with Mercedes. In no time, he was ahead 5 to 1 in the set, but his opponent came alive all of a sudden. The sixth game became stuck between deuce and advantage, then advantage/Edwards, deuce again, advantage to his opponent five times, and Mercedes felt as if they were in a time warp, stuck between deuces. Finally, Dante jumped a couple of feet in the air and with all his strength, slammed the ball in the opposite corner from where his rival stood. Game, Set and Match. The grand slam at Wimbledon ended.
In all the excitement of winning Wimbledon, and before they were prepared for the ceremony and the trophy presentations, a television announcer approached Dante.
He slipped his arms into a jacket and smiled from ear to ear, applauded his opponent and waved to the crowd, but never took his eyes off Mercedes. He looked at her, caught her attention, and with his index finger beckoned her to join him.
“Can I assume, Dante, that this is the fan you wink at after every match you win?”
“Yes.”
Mercedes hesitated, but was moved forward with the help of her brother and Dante’s coach, his parents, and Faith.
When she reached the court level, Dante was there waiting. He put out his hand and took her on the court with him. He turned toward her and hugged her until she thought she’d faint.
“You saved me when I was down Love/Forty,” he whispered.
Then he kissed her and she knew she was meant to be with him forever. After the kiss, as the crowd roared and made noise for another kiss, Mercedes put her arms around his neck and whispered, “I now know why I love you and it’s not because you’re a celebrity, and rich, not to mention handsome—it’s because you turn me on…”
Dante whispered back, “The woman waiting to interview us has a live mic on, and what if the entire sports world heard what you said?”
Mercedes moved back, looked into his eyes and answered, “I no longer care. I want everyone to know I love you.”
The crowd roared and applauded because they had heard her over the microphone. Dante put his hand in his jacket pocket, took out a diamond and emerald ring, and got down on one knee, and while the reporter held the mic, he said, “Mercedes McFadden, will you marry me?”
“Yes. Forever, yes!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The excitement, the celebration, and even the paparazzi seemed to continue endlessly. Dante kept Mercedes next to him after the award ceremony, TV interviews, and even autographing tennis balls and hats for the children who looked at him with great adoration, until she became uncertain whether or not he’d let her go when he went to shower and change. She even sat out of camera range while he had his live interview on the network.
By the time they finally separated from the throngs of reporters and cameras, had a grand celebration dinner, and were able to sneak away to her hotel suite with Faith and Max, Big Ben chimed three o’clock in the morning.
The four of them sat in the living area of the suite and stared at one another, too exhausted to speak. Dante intertwined his fingers with Mercedes’ left hand, lifted her hand to his mouth, and kissed her ring finger.
“I have an idea that would include you two,” he said, speaking to Max and Faith. “If Mercedes agrees, I suggest she and I apply for a marriage license when we get to New York, and get married before the week ends. If you can stay a few extra days, Max, you and Faith can be our witnesses.”
He heard a slight intake of breath from Mercedes, and continued, “Wait, let me finish. We’ll have a private ceremony, only the four of us, and I can move in with you, Mercedes, and we can spend this time planning a wedding in Florida over the Christmas Holiday.”
“I like that idea,” Faith offered.
Max said, “Sounds like a plan, to me.”
“Then,” Dante continued, “we can honeymoon in Australia in January, Monte Carlo in February, Acapulco in March—however many tournaments you want to plan to coincide with out perpetual honeymoon. You’ve made me the happiest person in the world, Mer
cedes.”
“Well, what do you think of that plan?” Max asked.
“I think between you and Dante, I will never be able to plan another event. You’ve taken over my life and I love this idea—so far.”
Max stood and said, “Now that the wedding plan is settled, I’m going to take a cab back to our hotel, get some shuteye and get everything packed and settle with the hotel to return to New York.”
“I’ll get in touch with my dad, make flight plans for the four of us, get some sleep, and pack in the morning.”
After Max left and Faith went to her room, Dante took Mercedes’ hand and led her into her bedroom. “I will never be able to tell you what your love means to me. I will attempt to show you over the years, but when I saw you enter the stadium today, yesterday actually, I mean, my heart filled with an abundance of love when I already didn’t think I could have loved you more. But, I admit I was wrong. To think that we can be married by the end of the week and be together every day from now on, Mercedes, is the greatest gift in the world.”
“I think our love is the greatest gift. We have hundreds of things to talk about and plans to make, but having you live with me will be my dream come true.”
“Maybe next weekend, after we’re married, we’ll go to Florida and make the announcement to your parents, we can tell my parents tomorrow at breakfast, and I’m sure they will want to give us a reception in France next year after the French Open.”
“Sounds like a perpetual honeymoon.”
Dante took her hand and said, “Can we put that on hold for a few days and get some sleep until it’s time to check out of the hotel?”
Mercedes sighed. “I hoped you’d say that,” and they jumped on the bed fully clothed and exhausted…
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Three days after Christmas, family and guests gathered on the terrace of the country club to attend the candlelight wedding of Mercedes McFadden and Dante Edwards.
Love/Forty Page 21
