by M. B. Gerard
She took the coins from her pyjama pocket and tried to choose which candy bar to take home. In the end she opted for the small bag of very sweet peanut butter cups and a coconut bar. Ripping the wrapper open she stuffed the whole coconut sweet into her mouth. With a sigh she closed her eyes and leaned against the vending machine, dissolving in the instant explosion of endorphins.
The ping of the elevator made her open her eyes. Watching the door slide open Sasha was wondering if she was dreaming. The disclosed view of the person inside the elevator didn’t help her to come to a solution. Inside the grey box, dressed in single-colored dark red silk pyjamas and lit by the pale light, looking like she had been beamed there from a spaceship, was a Galloway twin, staring back at Sasha.
For a moment it seemed that time stood still. Sasha didn’t even feel shocked. Neither did she feel the urge to run away from the Galloway threat. The coconut-chocolate pulp in her mouth seemed to numb her emotions. With curiosity she realized that the twin inside the elevator didn’t move either. The doors were already closing again. But then suddenly the Galloway girl reached out and pushed the button to open the door again. With another ping time moved again and the twin stepped out of the elevator.
“Hey,” Sasha mumbled with her mouth full, noticing that Lulu or Gaga had coins in her hand. They both had gotten up in the middle of the night to get some chocolate bars. Trying not to laugh so as to prevent the chewed candy spilling out of her mouth, Sasha curiously watched the Galloway twin who couldn’t help grinning herself. Was that Gaga or Lulu, Sasha wondered.
“You want a peanut butter cupcake?” She held out her hand with the opened plastic bag.
“Yes,” the twin smiled. “Thank you.”
Friendly and kind? Must be Gaga, Sasha thought in relief. Not the crazy Lulu, who was very possibly besotted with Sasha and anything that moved. Gaga reached out her hand and taking out one of the sweets she touched Sasha’s hand slightly. It felt like a tiny bolt hitting Sasha’s skin.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Sasha said, suddenly feeling sheepish standing there with the twin in their nightwear. Also her hands were beginning to sweat. Was it the chocolate infused high or was there a tension between them? The dark-haired girl standing in front of her didn’t say a word but watched her instead.
Sasha was suddenly aware of all the moments when she had followed the twins, listened in on their conversations and the thrill whenever she had gotten closer to unveiling their secret. Or did the thrill have a different meaning? She swallowed down the remains of the coconut candy, thinking about the day when she had crouched in the locker to hide, but was discovered by Gabriella. The twin hadn’t said a word but had smiled at Sasha. And then there was the frightening moment when Lulu had shamelessly hit on her.
Still lost in confusing thoughts the forward movement of the Galloway twin seemed like a shadow coming towards her. But the touch of the girl’s lips on her own felt very real. The following mingling of peanut butter taste with coconut stirred all the feelings Sasha had held under the surface. Without hesitation she grabbed the girl and pushed her against the vending machine, accidentally pressing the little beeping buttons. Embracing each other they kissed for what seemed like aeons but must have been only seconds.
When she suddenly realized what she was doing Sasha broke free and stared at the Galloway girl in shock.
“Gabriella?” She needed to know who this was! The Galloway twin hesitated.
“No,” she mumbled. “I mean, yes.” She took a deep breath, then looked Sasha in the eyes. “I mean, no. I’m Lulu.”
Yes? No? Sasha was thoroughly discombobulated. But before she could say another word, the twin had vanished to the fire exit stairs.
***
“Almost inexcusable. I have no other words to describe it. Inexcusable.”
Hugh sipped on his coffee and shook his head watching Elise’s second round match against Polly Duke, the Canadian player more than forty spots below her in the rankings and not at Elise’s level. However, today she dominated the match.
“It looks as if Elise is on a different planet altogether. Her mind seems to be somewhere else. No forehand, no backhand and most of all, no serve,” Sam Smith added.
“Yes, sensing that Renard is having a difficult time getting her first serves in, the Canadian has really stepped up her game and gone for the second serves, returning them with much control and force.”
Sitting next to Hugh, Sam could do nothing but nod at his words. The Canadian had every reason to walk with her head held high. She had won the first set 6-2.
Elise had had a great American summer season so far. She was fit and had looked solid during her previous tournaments. But today her game was stricken with errors and her most potent weapon, her serve, had deserted her almost completely. Her first-serve percentage was at twenty-seven percent. Even though Sam wouldn’t have called Elise’s performance inexcusable, what she had seen so far from the young German was at least incomprehensible. After losing the first set, Elise sat on her chair and stared blankly at her towel. Something was obviously occupying her mind and prevented her from concentrating on the match. For the first time since Sam had started covering her matches, she had seen Elise truly out of sorts during a match.
Down at the court Elise hit a double fault.
“That’s her seventh, I believe,” Hugh said and Sam agreed.
The next serve was well-placed in the box and Polly Duke had difficulty returning it. It fell short into the court and Elise rushed forward but hit the ball too hard and it landed in the net. She buried her face in her hand. She had just been broken on another service game.
“Wrong day to play like this,” Sam stated. “And wrong opponent. Duke shows great body language right now.”
From Elise Renard’s point of view losing the first set was indeed regrettable but now she was trailing 0-4 in the second, which seemed unworthy of the new hot shot who was rising up the rankings.
“This is so loose from Renard. She looks like she has embarked on ‘Mission: Impossible’ here,” Hugh restrained a bitter laugh then shook his head in disbelief.
“Duke is certainly not an easy opponent and right now she is not going anywhere. She’s here to stay. She isn’t allowing Renard to get back into the match.”
“Yes,” Hugh said pensively. “Now, let’s see if she can hold her serve, now that she can smell the upset. She has a habit of getting tight when she comes close.”
Elise was known for her determination on court, her fighting spirit. And it was clear she had her back against the wall. Hugh was right. 0-4 didn’t look good on paper, but just one nervy game from Polly Duke and the momentum could swing again in Elise’s favor. Sam knew it all too well. When a player had nothing to lose she would let go of her fear and play freely suddenly. Indeed, the German player began to move around, to hit the ball with more confidence.
“Impressive,” Hugh commented.
“Well, it’s a start,” Sam laughed when Elise broke Polly Duke. “You could feel she got angry with herself. Hit her shots with more vigor.” Yes, it seemed Elise was back on track. Stunning the meager crowd, but most of all Sam and Hugh in the commentary box the German held her own service game for 3-4 in the second set.
“Renard has the momentum,” Hugh said with admiration. “Is this the start of a comeback?”
But as soon as he had said it, it seemed the race to catch up had exhausted Elise mentally. Again the German lost her concentration and in the end it was Polly Duke who finally converted her match point, breaking Elise’s serve again. While Hugh cleared his voice, Sam sighed loudly.
“Renard missed a big opportunity,” she said.
”But a great win for the Canadian here.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Sam agreed. “A wonderful finish for Polly Duke.”
Watching Elise pack her bag, Sam could see how disappointed Elise looked. She left the court looking down at her feet.
***
Lying on her bed Elise stared at
the ceiling of her hotel room. She was waiting for Amanda, who was still on the tournament site scheduled for an evening match today. It could take another three or four hours until Amanda was back, and even though Elise felt the need to talk to Amanda about her loss today she also knew that the inevitable would come up. Like it would again and again until she had the guts to finally do it.
After her loss, Elise had had a long conversation with her father. There were some crucial flaws in her game he had tried to address in previous matches but today they had again surfaced and had cost her the win in the end. At least, that was what he believed. She had agreed, of course, knowing however, that today the loss wasn’t due to tactical errors or wrong shot selection on the big points. The lack of concentration wasn’t due to endgaming or fear of facing match points.
Elise rolled onto her stomach and buried her head in the pillow. She might have boldly told her friends in the restaurant about her determination to tell her parents but she hadn’t bothered to really do it. The surprise visit by her mother last night had pushed the situation she had been in for the last couple of weeks to the brink. She felt like she hadn’t slept at all that night.
“Your mother didn’t look too shocked,” Amanda had said in the morning when they were getting ready to go down to breakfast.
“Because she doesn’t understand what’s going on,” Elise answered. It didn’t make the prospect of telling the truth to her apparently clueless and innocent parents any better.
“Yes,” Amanda shrugged. “Maybe.”
Elise looked up. “You mean she got it?”
“There was no way she did not see my shorts on the TV set, Elise. I think it’s time you tell them about us.”
Elise moaned in embarrassment and shook her head. No, it was definitely better to pretend her mother didn’t understand what was going on.
“I have to wait for the right moment,” she said hanging her head.
“There is no right moment, Elise.” Amanda stood up. “There is only the moment you choose to do it,” Amanda said tiredly. “Or not.”
Amanda slipped into her clothes and went into the bathroom closing the door. Sitting on the edge of the bed she heard Amanda brushing her teeth behind the closed door. Why would she close the door if she was only brushing her teeth? It could only mean that she was fed up with Elise and her antics. The last two words and the frustration in them were ringing in Elise’s ears. Neither of them had had much sleep during the night, but Elise felt that Amanda was tired of her – of her and the whole situation.
New York City, United States
Leaving the media area Sasha exhaled slowly. It had been hard work explaining where her serve had gone during the second set, which she had lost eventually to Gemma Heffington, the young and upcoming British player. But she had managed to come through her third round match in the end, winning the third set convincingly by six games to three against the more inexperienced player.
But the absence of her serve was frightening. Of course, it had never been the same since her injury two years ago, but today the double faults had a different reason. As much as she had tried since Cincinnati to avoid the Galloway twins, this morning she had bumped into one of them at Flushing Meadows. For a while now, the twin sisters had not been seen together that much, which made the initial moment of contact even more awkward as Sasha couldn’t tell whether it was Gaga or Lulu. Together they were much easier to distinguish. This morning on her way to the gym Sasha had looked down on the ground, carrying her sports bag and listening to music with her earphones when suddenly someone came around the corner and collided with her head-on. They both had cussed in surprise, but when Sasha realized who she had bumped into she had breathed in sharply.
“Lulu?” Sasha stared with wide-open eyes at the twin who looked back curiously.
“No,” the Galloway said curiously. “I’m Gabriella.”
Sasha laughed with relief.
“Are you going to the gym?” Gabriella asked. She herself had a bag over her shoulders revealing her own destination. Sasha nodded and Gabriella flashed her a smile gesturing to go there together.
But Sasha didn’t move. Even though it was a relief that this wasn’t Lulu she didn’t feel at ease at all. Would Lulu have told Gaga about the nighttime incident at the vending machine? Probably, since they were twin sisters. Meaning there was a good chance Gaga knew about Sasha. Would she talk to other people about it? Was she gay herself? She had hung out a lot with Elise lately. But then again these two hung out with Morgana, so Gabriella was probably not gay but only a book worm like Elise and Morgana. Or maybe, Sasha thought, it had not been Gaga at all in the hotel talking to Elise and Morgana, but Lulu. Why hadn’t she thought about this possibility? She looked up but Gabriella had already run ahead to the gym.
Sasha sighed. When she entered the gym she looked for Gaga. The Galloway twin was training in the middle of the huge hall, so Sasha decided to go to the back and hide behind one of the red square columns.
Since the night in Cincinnati she had been completely lost in the Galloway mystery again. But it had taken a bitter-sweet turn now. She not only wanted to know what was going on with the twin for reasons related to tennis. She wanted to know because she had enjoyed what had happened.
Everything had been like a sweet sweven, almost unreal in hindsight. Only the taste of peanut butter left in her mouth made her believe that it had actually happened. Sasha had tried to remind herself that she didn’t like Luella. But she couldn’t deny that the kiss had unfurled desires she had subdued for her career’s sake. If Lulu hadn’t vanished all of a sudden they would have probably spent the night together. She had to admit, she liked the thought. She even had to admit that more than once her mind had wandered and she had imagined herself with the dark-haired beauty.
Suddenly exhausted from racking her brains, she stepped from the treadmill. What was going on with her? Sasha shook her head. Before she could figure out the Galloway mystery, she obviously had to figure out herself.
***
Comfortably sitting in a leather armchair, Amanda accepted the cappuccino from the waitress and turned back her attention to her friend Natsumi on the other side of the coffee table. It was a relaxing day for the Australian after an extremely tough match the day before against Stephanie Moeller. She had come back to the hotel sore and exhausted, so today she had had only a light hit in the morning.
Spontaneously, she had decided to chat with Natsumi in the hotel lounge while she waited for Elise to return from Flushing Meadows. They would later have dinner in the hotel restaurant, as Amanda didn’t feel like going out tonight.
“I will spend some time at home, then fly directly to Tokyo,” Natsumi mused. “How about you? Looking forward to going back to Japan?”
Sipping on her coffee, Amanda just shrugged timidly. Natsumi was surprised. She knew that Amanda liked Japan and was always eager to play there.
“Elise will skip Tokyo,” she explained. “Hadn’t planned it due to her low ranking before Wimbledon. She will play the European indoors instead.”
This meant they would spend several weeks apart from each other. Amanda had been convinced that she had gotten used to this life, but apparently now she had to admit that the prospect of not seeing Elise made her feel doleful. The whole situation seemed to be at a dead end, since Elise had made no move yet to come out to her parents and they were still crossing corridors late at night.
A few seconds passed before Natsumi bent over the coffee table. With a big grin, she winked at Amanda.
“I know exactly what you will need when in Japan.”
Amanda frowned and began to play nervously with her coffee spoon, turning it around in her drink. If she kept on doing so, she would start digging into the cup itself.
“And what is it?”
Over-enthusiastically, Natsumi raised her hands up in the air and literally shouted in the hotel lounge, catching the attention of some clients.
“A girls’ night out! In tow
n! Like in the good old times!”
Amanda grinned. They had had a good time in Tokyo, and she wouldn’t be able to turn down this opportunity. Of course, she would have preferred Elise to be there with her but perhaps it was even better this way. Nights out with Natsumi could turn pretty wild, pretty fast. Amanda looked at Natsumi and nodded in confirmation.
“See? That’s a deal!” Natsumi grinned. “But before Tokyo there is this little tournament called the U.S. Open and it requires all our attention first. How do you feel after yesterday? It was one hell of a match!”
Amanda giggled and put down her empty cup on the table.
“It was tough but I loved it out there. The fight, the crowd supporting me. I really enjoyed my time on the court and when I was down a break in the third set I just kept on fighting.”
Natsumi cracked up laughing and shook her head. A bit taken aback, Amanda frowned and bit her lower lip. What was so funny now? What had she said to make Natsumi laugh so hard.
“What is it?” Amanda wanted to know. Natsumi grinned.
“Nothing, really,” she answered. “It’s just that you sound like Elise. That’s totally something she would say!”
Amanda felt her face grow hot. Natsumi was right. She was adopting Elise’s way of speaking. But Elise made no effort to adopt Amanda’s. Natsumi cleared her voice and tried to come back to more serious matters.
“So. Kovalenko tomorrow?”
Amanda nodded gravely. Yelena could be a dangerous opponent.
“Yes, a tough one but I’m ready.” Amanda lifted her head. “I can’t miss out on the opportunity to gain as many ranking points as possible here. It might be too late in the Asian swing,” she explained. “I’m here to give my best and I want to get back into the Top 10.”
“Oh, and I thought you were here to win a Grand Slam,” Natsumi teased her.
“Sure,” Amanda replied with a chuckle. “Who isn’t?”
