Toni would spend the best part of the morning and early afternoon warming up and keeping warm, while I’d know my fate soon enough, the benefit of playing first.
I sipped some more water, wondering at the churning sensation in my stomach. Reaction to pills before breakfast? No, as I sat down to take a few deep breaths I recognised it.
Nerves. I was actually nervous.
Well, wasn’t that adorable?
Chapter Thirty
I got back from beating Celeste, thankfully in just the two sets, to find Alice waiting in my hotel suite.
“I really need to tell security to up their game,” I said, trying not to hold my side as I walked in.
Alice moved to hug me, then reconsidered when she saw the grimace on my face. “What the fuck have you done to yourself this time? At least tell me it’s from having too much sex.”
“I talked to you from hospital. I know Mamma explained this to you more than once. I don’t expect you to care what the average serve speed is, or whether the seeding system has flaws, but can you at least try to hold on to details about whether your only sister is in massive amounts of pain daily?”
“That’s fair,” Alice conceded after a moment. “I’ll do better. But I’m here, at your request. How much tennis is there left to sit through?”
“Just the final. On Saturday.”
“Who are you playing?”
“My girlfriend, if things go well. Sorry, fiancée. Can’t quite get used to that.”
Alice flopped out on the sofa, picking up the remote and turning the TV on. “Sorry, I just love listening to the news in British. They sound way less like the world is on fire. It soothes me. Plus, no Fox News.”
“It’s fine,” I said, taking a seat myself and propping up my leg to give my hip a rest. “Thanks for coming. You get this is a big deal for me, right? I don’t need to draw a diagram?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, big deal. Break record, make Mamma happy, and you might retire. I’m on it, Elin.”
“Not might. Will retire. As in this is my last final, my last match. And outside of family and my doctors, nobody knows that yet. It might be a big deal come Saturday, win or lose.”
“Your wife-to-be is gonna beat your ass in your last ever game? Puh-lease.”
“If it’s her, yes. She’s going to try. I made her promise. I don’t want some pity win that won’t count stacked against the others.”
Alice snorted. “I always said there was something wrong with you. Now you’ve finally found someone as batshit competitive as you are. It’s kind of sweet. Will she carry you off court if she breaks you?”
“She probably would,” I replied. “Now you’re going to have to flip to the BBC. Her match is about to start.”
“Okay, that was me giving it my all,” Toni announced as she walked in three hours later. “Alice! Hi!”
“Yes, I don’t think Fatima knew what hit her,” I agreed. “Apart from that point in the third set where you literally hit her. With the ball.”
“She dived in the way of a smash! It wasn’t my fault!”
Toni and Alice hugged each other hello, cheek kisses and all. Eventually Toni made her way to my side, and I felt an instant lift as she folded herself into the armchair with me, all shower fresh and a little flustered from rushing around.
“Hey,” I murmured, patting her thigh. “I missed you today. Sorry I couldn’t come watch in person.”
“It’s okay, you missed Mira shouting my head off after, so probably for the best. She says I can beat you Saturday if I ‘sort my head out.’ Little does she know, right?”
“You two are really going to play each other and fight it out, aren’t you? The media must be having a fit with the engagement and all.”
“Yeah, about that. I got so many questions,” Toni said. “And Parisa says we have a bunch of joint interviews tomorrow on top of the other things. Should we talk about what we’re going to talk about?”
I gave a brief nod. “Later. We don’t have to get our stories straight; they’re not the police. I trust you not to completely embarrass me on television.”
“Cool, because I don’t trust myself. Can we eat in tonight? I know we have to be apart tomorrow, so I want to make the most of it. Alice, did you want to join us?”
Alice was watching us with an odd, fond little smile. I hadn’t seen her look at me that way in a long time; it seemed like something left over from our childhood. “Are you nerds actually separating the night before your final, like it’s a wedding?”
We both just stared at her. Of course we were.
“Okay, you should just tell people that story. Then anyone who has any doubts about you being made for each other will be totally sold. And don’t worry, I won’t crash your dinner. I’ll take Mamma out on the town so she can stop stressing about your leg exploding.”
“Hip,” I corrected automatically. “And thank you for that. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before she comes in here to talk the same strategy that we’ve been talking for two weeks. Like I don’t already know how to beat this one.”
“Hey!” Toni protested. “Just for that I’m going to beat you in three instead of doing it in straight sets.” She followed up with a kiss, and I let her get away with it. It was a good sign she could joke around.
Alice got up to leave, picking up her jacket and bag from where they’d been abandoned on the coffee table.
“Have fun, you two. Can’t wait to see you all over the sports pages.”
Where had joint
