Chapter 21 #2
“Someone woke me up at a ridiculous hour, so I figured I’d come down and see what all the fuss was about. Looks like I’m right on time to catch the show.”
“Teddy—” she began, but Paolo cut her off.
“Do you have a problem?”
Teddy stood up straight and looked the other man dead in the eye. “What if I do?”
“Then you should get over it,” Paolo said. “I think she has made her preferences clear. She doesn’t need jealous little boys following her around after they’ve been rejected.”
Jasmine let the words sink into her mind and watched as they hit Teddy. Is that what was happening? Teddy was jealous? The idea seemed ridiculous. Teddy didn’t want her, at least not the way she wanted him, but apparently, he didn’t want anyone else to have her either.
Glancing up at Paolo, she realized that it didn’t matter. She’d moved on, and Teddy was going to have to get used to the idea.
The fence rattled, and for half a second, she thought he’d leapt over it, just like he did every day back at OBX whenever there was one in his way. Instead, she looked up to see his back to them, walking away, again, just like he had the other night after dinner.
“I’m sorry I said that to him,” Paolo said. “I know he’s your friend, but I—”
“No,” she interrupted. “No, you were right, and it’s good that you said it to him. If he’s going to be this way, maybe he’s not really my friend after all.”
For the first time, she actually believed it. And for the first time in a long time, she realized she wanted something more than Teddy.
There were more people than she’d expected to see for a match in Crystal Palace while Wimbledon was still in full swing.
The sun had finally burned off the clouds that had hovered for most of the first week, but the weather wasn’t really what drew the crowd.
It was because of her name. She was the daughter of tennis royalty and they were curious.
As far as Jasmine was concerned, this would be the last time people showed up to watch her because of her parents.
After today, everyone would see what she was bringing to the table, that her game was world-class, and that she was ready for the big time.
Glancing up to the stands, she saw Dom chatting with Paolo, who didn’t have a match of his own until later that night.
Behind them, Jack and, to her surprise, Indy sat, but then again, that made sense.
Indy was scheduled to play the winner of this match, and she’d never seen Brennan play before.
It was a scouting trip, nothing more than that, though odds were good Indy was rooting for Jasmine to win.
She probably thought it would be easier to face her in the next round than Brennan.
Jasmine had faced Brennan before, though, two years ago at the OBX Classic, and she knew her game pretty well.
The only difference now was that she’d added some velocity to her serve that made it tough to return, a lot like the game Indy played—which, coincidentally, meant Brennan was the same type of player Jasmine had been training with for months now.
All Jasmine had to do was stick with the general game plan, block back the serve, and run down everything Brennan sent back across the court.
Her opponent was bigger and broader and thus slower.
Jasmine smiled, thinking about how her new backhand would probably be too much for her to track down on a crosscourt shot.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but she knew she could do it, and she knew that later today, she’d finally be able to go after what she really wanted.
Jasmine’s phone bleeped and the screen filled up with her parents’ smiling faces.
“Ah, mija,” her mother said, “we are so proud of you! What a victory!”
“Great job out there today, kiddo,” her dad echoed almost over her mom. “That backhand was fantastic! Why haven’t you ever used it before? What a weapon!”
Her mom immediately raised her voice and kept talking. “Why are you not out celebrating? Are you okay? I thought I saw you favoring your right leg a little bit?”
“Mom, I’m fine,” she said. “I wasn’t limping, and we’re not going out until later because Paolo has a match in a couple of hours and we’re going to watch him first.”
“Paolo?” her dad asked, his dark brows furrowing at the mention of a male name. Typical.
“Paolo Macchia. He’s staying with Alex, too.”
“That’s nice. You said this was urgent, though, mija. What did you want to speak about?” her mom asked, her concern easily read in her tone even if her face was calm.
“You guys know Jack,” she said, grabbing him by his wrist from where he was hovering off to the side and dragging him into view of the phone. “Now, before you say anything, no, it’s not what you’re thinking. He and Indy are still, you know, he and Indy.”
Her dad blew out a breath of relief, but she knew her next words would probably fire him up again.
She didn’t need their permission or consent; she was a grown woman, even if sometimes she didn’t feel that way.
Still, they were her parents. She loved them.
Doing this without them would suck, but she would if she had to.
She’d wanted them there so desperately during her match, and it had hurt when she’d looked into the stands and saw they weren’t there.
Jasmine sat up straight, lifting her chin, and felt the confidence flow through her, the same confidence that had spurred her on to the 6–2, 6–1 victory just about an hour earlier.
“This morning, I asked Jack to be my agent, and he agreed. He’s putting together the paperwork now and we’re going to sign everything tonight.
I just wanted to let you guys know before we put out the press release tomorrow morning. I wanted you to hear it from me.”
Silence.
Two people who really never ran out of things to say were completely silent, and as the seconds ticked by, Jasmine started to squirm in her seat.
“Harrison,” her dad finally said. “You approached my daughter about this?”
“No, sir,” Jack said. “She approached me.”
“And Jack wanted to make sure we talked it all out with you guys before we signed,” Jasmine said.
“Fine,” Jasmine’s dad said. “Will you excuse us for a moment? We need to talk to Jasmine alone.”
Jack patted her softly on the shoulder before he left the room.
As the door clicked shut behind him, her mother shook her head. “I thought we spoke about this, mija, about keeping your options open.”
“I don’t want options,” Jasmine said. “I know what I want. This is what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted.
Everyone else, they want me to have options because they think—you think—that I can’t do this.
But I went out there today and I proved that I could.
I’m going to be a professional tennis player, and maybe I won’t be number one in the world, and maybe I won’t win Grand Slams, but I’m going to try, and if it doesn’t work out, you guys can say you told me so. ”
“Jasmine, it’s not about being right or wrong or telling you we told you so. It’s about what’s best for you,” her mom said.
“And I know what’s best for me. I won’t be happy at college playing girls like Amy Fitzpatrick and fantasizing about being on tour while Indy and Penny are living my dream. I want this, and I’m going to sign with Jack. He’s done great things for Penny and I think he can do well for me.”
“Jasmine…” her dad began.
“John, she says she’s thought about this,” her mother said, turning to Jasmine. “Have you? Have you really?”
“It’s the only thing I think about, and I know I can do it.”
Her mom gave her a watery smile. “Then go for it. We’re on your side, mija, always.”