cushion.
“You are cranky because you lost that match and worry about your ranking. That’s ok. I’ll make you forget your stupid match,” Felicia purred while kissing Amanda’s shoulder, then her neck and her ear.
Amanda closed her eyes. It was not what she wanted from Felicia. But for the moment she would take it.
***
Reluctantly Elise entered the little café. It was 9 A.M. in the morning and she was about to have breakfast with her good friend Agnes. However, she was nervous. As nervous as she was before an important appointment. She also felt bad about lying to Agnes about the Tennis Nurse novel. She had waited for a good moment at the players’ party in Melbourne and she really had been determined to talk to Agnes then, but there had been a constant coming and going of people at the doubles player’s table and when Elise had finally given her the novel back she had become so nervous that she was unable to say anything. Agnes had just looked at the crumpled novel and had said nothing – until yesterday, when the older player invited her to this cozy coffeehouse, before Elise took a plane back to Florida.
Agnes was already sitting at a table near the window. The morning sun warmed the scene and Elise all of a sudden felt comfortable again. This was her friend Agnes. They had known each other for about fifteen years now, ever since Elise’s father was Agnes’s coach and Elise was just picking up a racquet looking up to the Top 10 player, Agnes once was. Elise sat down and they instantly engaged in a cheerful and animated conversation. Their usual conversations were about the tour life, training methods and Elise’s dad, as Agnes knew his quirks and was very talented in imitating his pep talks. It always made Elise scream with laughter.
Elise had also known for a while now that Agnes was in a relationship with a woman, even though she had never seen her with someone. Also, they had never talked about their private lives. That was just the way it was – everyone knew about it, no one talked about it. But there had to be a way to talk about private things, Elise thought. But how to address it, she didn’t know.
“Do you like pets?” Was that a good way to start? Elise wasn’t sure.
“Yes,” Agnes laughed, “but you know that it’s almost impossible to have a pet when you are on the tour. We feed the stray cats though, when we are at home.”
We. Elise knew she had to hold onto that straw, but how? She began playing with the salt shaker.
“You want to see some pics?” Agnes took out her cell phone and looked for the photo album. The pictures showed several cats on a porch. Then there were pictures of a woman. It was Candice Crantz, one of the communications managers. Was she the other half of Agnes’s we ? Skipping through the album, Elise saw more and more pictures of Candice and Agnes. On one of them they even held hands. Elise took a deep breath. On the court there were moments when you had to take the plunge and jump in at the deep end. Sometimes these moments came in little sun-flooded cafés.
“Are you together with Candice?”
Elise regretted the question instantly. Surely Agnes found it impertinent and wasn’t it a taboo after all?
But Agnes didn’t give Elise much time to worry. “Yes,” she answered very matter-of-factly. “We’ve been together for six years now.”
“Six years. That’s very long,” Elise said sheepishly and surprised by Agnes’s straight-forward answer but also with admiration. How come she didn’t know about them? Six years! Would she ever have a relationship that long, Elise wondered. Well, first she should have a relationship at all. She sighed inaudibly looking at the couple on the display.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Elise?” Agnes looked at her young friend with a warm smile. Elise stopped breathing. Had Agnes really just asked that? But what had Elise expected? That’s what she was here for – to talk about herself. And
“You are cranky because you lost that match and worry about your ranking. That’s ok. I’ll make you forget your stupid match,” Felicia purred while kissing Amanda’s shoulder, then her neck and her ear.
Amanda closed her eyes. It was not what she wanted from Felicia. But for the moment she would take it.
***
Reluctantly Elise entered the little café. It was 9 A.M. in the morning and she was about to have breakfast with her good friend Agnes. However, she was nervous. As nervous as she was before an important appointment. She also felt bad about lying to Agnes about the Tennis Nurse novel. She had waited for a good moment at the players’ party in Melbourne and she really had been determined to talk to Agnes then, but there had been a constant coming and going of people at the doubles player’s table and when Elise had finally given her the novel back she had become so nervous that she was unable to say anything. Agnes had just looked at the crumpled novel and had said nothing – until yesterday, when the older player invited her to this cozy coffeehouse, before Elise took a plane back to Florida.
Agnes was already sitting at a table near the window. The morning sun warmed the scene and Elise all of a sudden felt comfortable again. This was her friend Agnes. They had known each other for about fifteen years now, ever since Elise’s father was Agnes’s coach and Elise was just picking up a racquet looking up to the Top 10 player, Agnes once was. Elise sat down and they instantly engaged in a cheerful and animated conversation. Their usual conversations were about the tour life, training methods and Elise’s dad, as Agnes knew his quirks and was very talented in imitating his pep talks. It always made Elise scream with laughter.
Elise had also known for a while now that Agnes was in a relationship with a woman, even though she had never seen her with someone. Also, they had never talked about their private lives. That was just the way it was – everyone knew about it, no one talked about it. But there had to be a way to talk about private things, Elise thought. But how to address it, she didn’t know.
“Do you like pets?” Was that a good way to start? Elise wasn’t sure.
“Yes,” Agnes laughed, “but you know that it’s almost impossible to have a pet when you are on the tour. We feed the stray cats though, when we are at home.”
We. Elise knew she had to hold onto that straw, but how? She began playing with the salt shaker.
“You want to see some pics?” Agnes took out her cell phone and looked for the photo album. The pictures showed several cats on a porch. Then there were pictures of a woman. It was Candice Crantz, one of the communications managers. Was she the other half of Agnes’s we ? Skipping through the album, Elise saw more and more pictures of Candice and Agnes. On one of them they even held hands. Elise took a deep breath. On the court there were moments when you had to take the plunge and jump in at the deep end. Sometimes these moments came in little sun-flooded cafés.
“Are you together with Candice?”
Elise regretted the question instantly. Surely Agnes found it impertinent and wasn’t it a taboo after all?
But Agnes didn’t give Elise much time to worry. “Yes,” she answered very matter-of-factly. “We’ve been together for six years now.”
“Six years. That’s very long,” Elise said sheepishly and surprised by Agnes’s straight-forward answer but also with admiration. How come she didn’t know about them? Six years! Would she ever have a relationship that long, Elise wondered. Well, first she should have a relationship at all. She sighed inaudibly looking at the couple on the display.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Elise?” Agnes looked at her young friend with a warm smile. Elise stopped breathing. Had Agnes really just asked that? But what had Elise expected? That’s what she was here for – to talk about herself. And
Similar Books
