Chapter 5
Five
Delilah sank onto the cold metal bench, the fabric of her tracksuit scratching at her skin.
She stared down at her phone, her thumb hovering over the screen as the echo of the car park argument throbbed in her mind. Cassie Thorne—the grumpy, rage-filled coach—had already shouted at her. They weren’t even on the court yet. This didn’t bode well.
Delilah’s fingers moved almost of their own accord, dialled Ashley’s number. The line clicked through, and when she answered, Delilah didn’t fuck around.
‘Ashley, I don’t think I can do this,’ she said, her voice tremulous.
‘Cassie… she’s a terror. We had a little incident in the car park, and the vibe is already poison.
The way she yelled at me… I mean, I get that people lose their tempers, but she was so angry.
It’s like she hates me already, and we haven’t even started training.
How is she gonna react when she sees me try to play tennis? !’
There was a brief pause, the faint sound of typing on the other end.
Then Ashley sighed. ‘Delilah, I know it’s rough, but you have to remember why you’re doing this.
You’re a good actress about to get her shot.
We’ve come a long way, and we’re so close.
Cassie’s going to take you the last few steps, OK? ’
Delilah shifted on the bench, biting the inside of her cheek. ‘How am I supposed to learn from someone who’s already pissed off at me? I’m going to be fumbling and failing every step of the way.’
Ashley made her voice gentler. ‘You’re not a wimp, Delilah. You’ve dealt with plenty of egos in your time. Jesus, you worked on a soap. You can handle her.’
Delilah closed her eyes, hating that Ashley was right. There was no way around it. No shortcuts. Delilah had to do this. She hadn’t really called Ashley to drop out. She’d called her to be talked back in.
‘Alright,’ she said finally, voice steadier now. ‘I’ll start the session. But if it gets unbearable, I’m calling you again. And you will pick up and you will listen to me moan, right?’
‘You’ve got my word,’ Ashley replied. ‘But I think you’re stronger than you realise.’
Delilah tucked her phone into a locker and headed to her doom, aka court three.
As she headed for the court, the distant thwack of tennis balls echoed in the air, sharp and rhythmic and entirely alien. But this had to become a world she could live in if she wanted to get her break at long last. She was so close…
Cassie Thorne was the only person standing between her and the role she desperately wanted. And, of course, herself.