Aphrodite
APHRODITE
“WELL, LOOK WHO it is!”
I glanced up from the menu and looked up to see the past coming to step into my present in a way I didn’t want.
I’d spent my time training at one of the national centers to get ready for this game not bothering to head back home to Jersey.
The house manager, that my mother absolutely didn’t need, had gotten all the clothing I’d requested to me so I could prep for the weather here.
The entire flight over I’d spent sleeping and the first few rounds of the tournament had flown by.
Everything that happened since Miami seemed to happen in warp speed.
I lived it but none of it felt like I’d experienced it because my mind was stuck in the past with him.
One magical weekend of romance and exemplary dick had me going through the motions of my life.
Heading back home to be berated would’ve only ruined my mood so instead I trained harder to prevent my game from faltering.
Along the way, Anthony was encouraging with his words and affirming in his actions.
He’d have food waiting on me and groceries sent to the short-term rental I’d reserved.
He caught a quick flight up just to meet me for dinner so he wouldn’t be a distraction.
We ended the night with him using every part of his body to provide me with the best massage and then my favorite part of him to further relax me.
This was more than infatuation.
Which is why this mop-headed asshole walking toward us with an expectant smile on his face had me in such a shitty mood. The lack of surprise on my parents’ faces let me know this was a setup.
“Mr. and Mrs. Harper, so nice to see you here.” Christopher Valentine stopped at our table with a grin and it was crazy that my parents thought I was going to sit here through this bullshit.
“Dite, aren’t you going to say hello to Chris?”
I nodded my head toward him as he shook my father’s hand and hugged my mother.
“Chris.”
He stood next to the table expectantly and gave me a look that I guess was supposed to spur me into falling in line. A cocky smile was on his face as he held his arms open wide.
“No hug?”
Lucky I don’t clock your ass with this fucking plate.
“No.” My words were apparently too curt for my mother because she had the nerve to chastise me.
“Dite!”
Her words were hissed through the smile on her face and I stared right back at her unbothered.
As usual, she was dressed to the nines; her lightweight sweater was blue cashmere, and her khaki-colored slacks were wool.
My father had graced us with his presence and he was wearing navy slacks and a cream sweater.
We were inside the hotel they were staying in, and I was apparently footing the bill for getting harassed.
They’d been calling me more and more as I moved through the tournament.
I sent them the tickets I knew they were really concerned with just so they would leave me alone.
My mother messaged me this morning asking me to make time for lunch with them so I stopped avoiding them and got this out of the way.
My focus needed to be on the finals and I wasn’t going to allow them to be a distraction.
Now I wished I’d just gone to my room and called Anthony.
“Mother, he asked and I answered. It’s as simple as that. I’m allowed to have boundaries even though it seems the three of you seem to think differently.” I removed the napkin from my lap and sat it back down on the plate in front of me my appetite nonexistent.
“You are not going to be rude, Aphrodite.”
My family always thought it was so cute that his last name was Valentine and mine was Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Like it meant we were supposed to be together. It was just happenstance in my mind because nothing about Christopher Valentine was loving.
Having spent the last few months with Anthony, even though it was long distance, I knew even more that Chris was probably the worst type of man.
He was the epitome of a fuckboy who felt as though the world owed him more than it did.
He was born to a biracial father who had played baseball and a white mother who played softball.
They were the type to praise their son even in his wrongdoing, and that attitude ruined him as an adult.
The tale that his parents possessed didn’t trickle down to him and he refused to believe it.
I cleared my throat and put a pleasant but small smile on my face.
“Mother, I’m not being rude. I didn’t want to come to lunch because I need to rest up before tomorrow.
I requested this to be something low key and I’d prefer it to stay that way.
Nobody wants distractions to be the reason I don’t perform well.
” I gave Chris a pointed look because I needed him to know he didn’t hold any power over me anymore.
“If having lunch is enough to get you off your game you’re not nearly as prepared as you swear you are.” My father was chuckling like my potential failure was enough for him to feel vindicated.
“Thanks, Dad. Are we going to order or will we still be critiquing what I have going on?”
“I invited Chris here—”
And that for damn sure meant I wasn’t staying.
“I’m sure you did.”
I picked up my menu not trying to be rude but wanting to get something to go.
There was no way I was going to stay here long and I could already tell that my parents were going to fuck up my peace of mind.
The best way to get back right was to chill by myself or talk with Anthony.
I missed him like crazy and I hated that he couldn’t get here.
I still hoped that he’d be able to get a waiver but I understood his not being able to spend two weeks here because of his busy schedule.
Anthony’s focus was on assuring everyone that they hadn’t made a mistake by taking a chance on him.
I thought he was being too hard on himself because when I looked him up; I saw the streaming he’d done of his workouts when he wasn’t on a team.
He was the first person I’d dealt with that hadn’t been pre-approved by my father or completely invested in tennis the way I was.
I wasn’t sure how our opposing schedules would work if we actually tried to make this thing work but I was adult enough to enjoy what was going on for however long it lasted.
Parts of me hoped that this would be a forever kind of thing.
While I’d been ignoring them Christopher had taken a seat next to me and I glared at him, trying to figure out why. The restaurant was a typical British hotel establishment with large windows facing the street, wood-paneled walls and stark white tablecloths.
Chris wisely kept his head down and I knew then something else besides a bullshit romantic rekindling was on the table.
My father cleared his throat drawing my attention to him but I still angled my body away from this asshole beside me.
“So, Chris is looking to get back into training pro-athletes.”
“Well, good luck in all your future endeavors, Christopher.” I wasn’t leaving any room for there to be confusion about how I felt about what I knew he was trying to get at.
“It would go much smoother for him if he had a big name to say he helped train.”
“Then instead of wasting time having lunch with us you should probably be out there networking so that you can find your next client.” My smile was tight, the anger at them thinking they could force some piece of shit on me that had damaged every aspect of my being back into my life was insulting.
“Your father said that you wouldn’t have issue with adding me on as part of your team for the event.”
My eyes went to my dad’s and I waited on him to explain himself.
I had a coach and even though I had issues with her I wasn’t going to replace her with him.
The last thing I was going to do was to step on her toes by giving her hard work away and crediting someone else.
Teresa was a problem for another day if she wasn’t going to get in line with falling back.
She was like my father in a lot of ways constantly pushing me, but she at least acknowledged my successes.
I didn’t need someone to coddle me but I damn sure wasn’t going to be bullied by someone on my payroll.
They got me fucked up.
I felt like Teresa was okay with being like my father just not as heavy-handed. She was an iron fist but took the time to put the velvet glove over her words so the delivery was smoother.
“That’s not going to happen.” I put the menu down on my plate not even wanting to bother with getting something to go. I picked up the phone and saw I had a message from Anthony waiting on me.
“And why not?”
Dad looked furious at my blatant refusal to do his bidding and I looked up from the phone before slipping it back in my purse.
“Dad, do you realize how many contracts we’ve signed?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have contracts in place where I pay a certain amount of people on my team. Everyone, down to the people I practice against is spelled out. I’m not about to spend money on a person I don’t even like to provide him a leg up he didn’t earn.”
I was disgusted with this man coming around begging.
Especially with the model of man that Anthony presented.
He had no issue busting his ass for everything he got and then still doing what he needed to make sure I was good.
My bank account didn’t exist to him because he saw taking care of me as his privilege.
He for damn sure wasn’t standing around looking for me to fund his life or give him clout.
“You can always make exceptions for an old friend, Didi. It can’t be that deep.” Chris had the nerve to cross his leg like begging me for money and recognition was no big deal.