Chapter 16
April
“No problem, that should keep me busy for the day. Any news on the draw?” April asked.
“Yeah, nothing too unexpected. If all goes to plan, you should have a tough match in the quarters but should make it to the final and face off against Suzie. Again. She changed her game recently. She had a fire in her eyes in Paris, which I hadn’t seen before.
I'd keep your distance from her off the court now more so than usual if I were you. Especially after beating her to her first Grand Slam. She played dirty and still lost out in the tie break.” Her Dad said, as if April didn’t know that much, her torso still felt the body shot Suzie hit her way near the end of the match.
The bruise was still there, faint, but there.
“She’s reckless and dangerous when she’s mad. ” Her Dad added.
“Don’t I know it,” April said as she stared out the hotel room window.
The last tournament final was brutal. Her Dad was right; Suzie had changed her game and was far more aggressive than she’d played before.
In an earlier match against a new French player, she’d gotten so mad when she missed returning the ball after the first bounce that she’d hit the ball so hard after the second bounce that it had ended up hitting the ball boy at her side of the net.
He had to be replaced to get checked out.
Luckily, he was fine. Shocked and bruised, but overall ok.
Suzie got lucky; another inch to the left, and it would undoubtedly have been his eye.
“Jon and I have rooms at the end of the hall. In the meantime, relax, unpack, and meet Jon on the courts at 2 o’clock. Don’t let Suzie get in your head. She’s not worth it. Work on your own plan and stick to it.” With that, Roland swiftly left April alone to her thoughts.
It didn’t take long for April’s thoughts to make their way to a certain green-eyed, fire-headed, stunningly androgynous woman.
Jade had taken up permanent residence in April’s head over the past eight weeks.
Did Jade even occasionally think of April?
Did that night mean a fraction to Jade as it had to her?
This spiral of questions wasn’t new to her at this stage.
Weeks of the same questions. Weeks of no contact.
Weeks of desperately longing for the feel of Jade’s fingers touching hers one more time.
Get it together, April! You have work to do! Stop daydreaming about her, however hot she is!
“Try that again, you’re dropping your elbow too early. C’mon, get out of your head.” Jon, her coach, yelled from the other side of the court.
April was distracted: she knew that. She tried everything she could to get into the right headspace needed for her to have any hope at this title.
She kept thinking about her last match against Suzie, and how different her game was from the last time they faced each other.
There was a power in her serves that hadn’t been there before.
So, April was here, forcing it instead of letting it happen naturally like she always had.
“Sorry Jon, give me a minute, I’ll grab a drink and be back,” April said, walking over to her bag and taking a deep breath before taking a large gulp of water. She heard footsteps and looked over to see her coach walking her way.
Jon had trained alongside her dad, hadn’t made it as far as Roland had, but went into coaching seven years ago.
The shaved head and designer stubble masked his age well.
He’d kept up his fitness and was a very active coach.
April had met some over the years who just shouted from the sidelines or talked in your ear but didn’t demonstrate to help.
Jon did, and it suited April’s learning style perfectly.
“I know you were thrown by her style change, but that’s her.
You can’t control anything that she does.
All you can control is how you choose to react to it.
” Jon lifted his own bottle of water and took a small drink before continuing.
“Look, you know what you’ve been doing works, it’s beaten her previous style and this new version.
You don’t need to worry. Just focus on what you can control and let the rest happen however it will. ”
“I know, I’m trying,” April said in frustration.
“Maybe that’s the problem. Don’t try, just relax and find the fun for a few minutes, to help reset, then we’ll focus on your game. Not hers.” Jon said as he walked back to his side of the court.
“Find the fun,” April muttered under her breath sarcastically, “Sure Jon, let’s do that.”
It didn’t take long for her to relax into a few rallies, then some wide shots that made her run from one extreme corner of the court to the other. After that, she was ready for a bit of serving target practice before hitting the gym.
Jon was clearly on a mission to exhaust her enough to sleep that night, with the amount of medicine ball Russian twists and suicide sprints he had her do. She was barely walking by the time they were on their floor back to their rooms when she saw Suzie walking toward them.
“Just smile and don’t engage”, Jon whispered before Suzie got close enough to hear him.
April waited for the catty comment. The dig about her having another fluke of a win against Suzie at the last tournament. Something about her dad perhaps. Yet as Suzie drew closer, nothing was said.
What April hadn’t expected was for Suzie to change from walking down the middle of the corridor to walking toward April’s right-hand side, and trip right beside her.
April reached out a hand to catch Suzie as a reflex.
Suzie grabbed April’s forearm and caught her balance.
Yet there seemed to be more force tugging against April’s arm than the trip would have caused.
That’s when April felt it. The burn in her shoulder.
Suzie stood up and caught the grimace on April’s face.
“Thanks for catchin’ me darlin’, that could have been a nasty fall.
I’d say it may have taken me out of the tournament.
That wouldn’t have been a fair win were you to go on and get a victory without facing me, now, would it?
” Suzie brushed her hands down her front as if to remove imaginary creases in her clothes.
April didn’t hear a word of it. The pain searing through her shoulder felt like lava. Her ears were ringing. She could feel the sweat, cool on the back of her neck. She couldn’t let Suzie know. She was not going to give her the satisfaction.
Through gritted teeth, April managed to say, “That’s great you’re not hurt Suzie, glad I helped avoid that.” She looked at Jon. He could tell something was wrong but as he moved toward her, she barely shook her head, but he noticed enough to back away.
“Oh, what’s wrong darlin’, did you hurt yourself saving little old me?” Suzie leaned into April’s ear, “well bless your heart.”
April focused on her breathing; it was all she could do not to retaliate. She knew Suzie had done that on purpose.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” April managed to say in as level a voice as she could currently manage.
“I’d put some ice on that shoulder just to be sure, darlin’.” Suzie called over her shoulder as she started to walk away. “Wouldn’t want you to have to pull out of the tournament now, would we?!” With that, Suzie disappeared down the hall.
Jon rushed over, “How bad?” He asked.
“I need to throw-up. It’s my playing arm, Jon.” April grabbed her shoulder, and they made their way to April’s room.