By 4 pm, Colleen was waiting for Andre just outside the courthouse, dressed in a white chiffon top, a pair of tightly fit slacks, and a summer hat to shield the sun which was at its peak.
As she watched the players practice before the game actually began, a favorite unintentionally registered in her brain. The man in the pink polo shirt with a visor over his head seemed to strike the ball remarkably well. Or so she thought. He played with so much vigor, enthusiasm, and professionalism, that Colleen thought his opponent stood no chance. Well, that remained to be seen.
Glancing at her wristwatch, the time was almost 4:10 and there was still no sign of Andre.
She sighed. Just because he made a booking-coerced a booking-at VIP doesn’t give him any excuse to be late. If the whistle sounds for the first set, Colleen swore under her breath that she would go inside without him. Even if it meant settling for the bad seat because the court was packed.
Just then, she felt a hand snake around her waist to draw her towards the hard frame of his body, and his familiar scent filled her nostrils. He was wearing a face cap, sunglasses, and a black polo shirt tucked neatly into black trousers.
“Dressed the part, I see,” she commented looking away from him and Andre chuckled. He let his eyes size her from head to toe. Something she had grown accustomed to him doing each time they saw each other. She should be used to it by now but somehow, Andre looking her up to down, appreciatively, made her stomach tingle. For a moment, she thought she saw something flicker in her eyes when he looked over her slacks but then he shrugged unenthusiastically, saying,
“You look alright.”
Colleen’s eyes grew wide. “What is that supposed to mean!?”
“Those jeans. . .” he muttered under his breath with hooded eyes. Looking back up at her, the side of his lips curled up. “It means what you think it means. Now, shall we?”
Andre led them inside the courthouse and through the stairs leading up to the east shed. Actually, the only place with a shed. Guess that’s why it was called the VIP area.
As they made their way there, Andre stated, matter of factly, to Colleen who was probably still wondering why tickets to a ‘meaningless’ tennis game were overpriced and sold out.
“The two opponents are Gregory Bellingham and Winston Stone. Know them?”
She shook her head in negativity.
“They’re in the Adult League State Tennis Championship being held in Michigan this year. Apparently, they are the best, top two even. Although this is merely a friendly, people say it could be a reflection on who would win the State Championship this year.”
“Who do you think is gonna win?”
“The State Championship? I have no idea. There are other professional opponents in the league so it’s rather unwise to judge the results of the Championship based on Gregory and Winston’s past glory.”
“True,” she nodded approvingly. “Fair enough. But who do you think would win today?”
Andre appeared to be in thought. Although she couldn’t see his eyes through the sun shades, she knew he was contemplating the answer to that question. And after a few seconds, he responded.
“Up his sleeves, he’s got some game-killer techniques that could win him the game. I’d put my money on Winston Stone.”
“The man in the pink polo?”
“No. He’s wearing white, today.”
By now they were at the shed end. Andre used his eyes to scan the occupants of the seats and almost immediately, someone from the small crowd waved at him, motioning to two empty seats beside him. Pulling Colleen by the waist, closer to him, he led them to their seats.
“Yo, man! What’s up?” Sean and Andre did a brief, yet funny handshake which ended with both of them jamming their shoulders. “You’re just in time for the game. The referee is about to call the first whistle.”
“Colleen!?” Stella exclaimed in a high-pitched voice filled with excitement as she walked through the other end of the stairs with five cups of iced juice. “Oh my goodness! I didn’t expect to see you so soon considering this is a massive resort.” She dumped the drinks on Sean who, only now, was able to recognize her beneath that hat, and went over to pull Colleen into a big bear hug.
Andre looked surprised as the two women hugged and cackled with one another like they had known each other for years.
“Wait up,” he divided a look between Stella and Colleen. “You two know each other?”
“Obviously. We bumped into each other a few days ago along the sidewalk.”
“More like I ran into you with my bike and almost took off your legs,” Colleen added and Stella laughed, waving it off.
“Oh, then I guess no introduction is-” Andre was saying when he was cut short by the blonde dressed in a yellow tank top that stopped just above her navel, and a gray palazzo jogger. On her feet, she had a pair of converse and on her eyes, white acrylic sunglasses. That is to say, she was dressed exquisitely. And also looked every bit the adjective.
She had been on her phone the whole time that brief ‘introduction’ was going on.
“Is that you, Andy?” she said with a big, big smile on her face, spreading her arms wide to welcome Andre into her embrace. “My my! I didn’t see you there.”
Oh please.
“How long has it been? Five months? Wow. You haven’t changed a bit. Still as handsome as ever.”
Stella, immediately, cut into their reunion to introduce the pretty blonde.
“Valentina, this is Colleen, my newest friend. Colleen, this is Valentina, my oldest friend, and chief bridesmaid for my wedding.”
Colleen smiled genuinely at her and at first, Valentina was happy to throw her arms around her neck to welcome her into the mix, but when Andre pulled her to the seat beside him, right before Valentina sat there, the claws released themselves.
Shortly afterward, the game kicked off with the first set. Cheers from here and there were going in favor of Winston Stone, it seemed like it was only Colleen supporting Gregory Bellingham.
Well, jokes on all of them, Gregory won the first set by a point.
She didn’t know when she stood up, the only one amongst the crowd, cheering Gregory as they went to the sideline for some water.
“Such fervor,” Andre looked at her in awe. “Didn’t think you were a huge fan of tennis. Or sports in general.”
“Why? Because I’m a woman?”
Andre put his hands up in surrender. “Please don’t come at me with all that feminine unguis. I was simply stating my thoughts.”
Colleen laughed. “I’m a huge fan of soccer. England’s Premier League to be precise. I do watch tennis occasionally. But other than Roger Federer, I do not know any tennis player.”
“Did you say, Roger Federer?” Right beside Colleen was Valentina who ducked her head to look at Andre who hadn’t even mentioned the name Roger Federer in years. But, yeah, she has been looking for a way to insert herself into the conversation and Colleen just handed it to her.
“Remember when we traveled to Switzerland to watch Federer win his fourth Grand Slam? Oh it was so epic!” Valentina gushed. Then to Colleen, she said. “A few years back Andy and I took a vacation to Australia. I like to call it a bae-cation,” she chuckled to herself, revealing the braces on her teeth. “So I got us tickets to the tennis game and he was so happy because he has been trying to get us tickets online. Don’t ask me how. My daddy pulled some strings.”
Colleen sat amidst the both of them watching Andre pretend to be interested in what she was saying and listening to that little bit of history she was sharing as she connected the dots.
So Andre and Valentina had been in a relationship. No surprises there, she thought. How could they possibly not date one another? Valentina was a supermodel and Andre was a super rich bachelor who could pass as a model.
“Did you hear me?” Valentina flicked her fingers in Colleen’s face. “I asked if we could swap seats so that Andy and I could talk about the game since you don’t exactly know anything about tennis.”
“I think I can hear you perfectly fine from here, Valentina,” Andre said, holding Colleen’s hand to keep her in place.
The second set began and Gregory ended up losing by two points. The crowd went wild. It was all down to the third set. Colleen hoped her candidate would win so as not to give Valentina the satisfaction that she did know nothing about tennis.
Bummer!
Winston Stone won the third set.
Great!
Valentina brushed Colleen to the side, throwing herself on Andre who had taken to his feet, cheering, when Winston slammed his way to victory.
All four of them, Sean, Stella, Andre, and Valentina jubilated over the win together while Colleen sat there trying to feign happiness over it.
The truth is that she felt awkward being in their midst. More awkward than ever. They’ve all known each other for years and she has known Andre for what? Twelve days?
Well, the game was over, Winston Stone was taking pictures and signing autographs, the quad beside her was just as much talking about the win with so much vigor, and she was sitting all by herself.
What a complete waste of my fifty dollars, she thought.
Rising to her feet, she fixed her hat on her head, prepared to say her goodbyes while they continued their transports of delight.
“It was nice seeing you again, Stella,” she started, breaking off their conversation. “I’m a bit exhausted from all the shouting and moping, so I’m gonna head inside.”
“Oh,” Stella’s face fell. “I was thinking we could all have dinner together.”
She managed a smile. “Maybe some other time.”
“Speaking of ‘other time,’ will you be free on Wednesday? My bachelorette party is Wednesday. and I would love it if you came. Valentina and I would be happy to have you in the mix.”
An entire evening with the sassy, overly gratified Valentina Anderson who, very clearly, does not like her? No chance she was saying yes.
As if sensing the response Colleen was about to give, Stella maintained sternly. “I won’t take no for an answer. Please. It would be so much fun.”
“Alright. Fine.”