Page 40 of Breakpoint

“Because, Dani, you can’t be lesbian,” Chris declared, butting back into the conversation, again.

Dani turned on him, eyes ablaze. “Excuse me? What did you say?”

“Dani, you’re the complete package. You’re the all-American white girl, who is actually good, with the sex appeal that sponsors and men fall all over. Why do you want to screw that up being gay? And with her?” He pointed at Jaz.

“Hey!” Jaz yelled at him. “Fuck you.”

Chris continued, “Dani, I know what’s best for you and your future. And I’m telling you to let Jaz pay this person off, and you go on being every man’s fantasy. Trust me.”

The room was quiet while Chris’s words sank in. Dani finally broke the silence. “I get it.” She nodded.

Chris smiled and nodded his head. “I’m glad you do.”

“You’re fired,” she declared with finality.

“Wait? What?” His face was aghast. “You don’t know what you’re doing here? Think of the endorsements! Think of your brand ! This… this relationship you’re in…its—”

“It’s what? Wrong? Immoral? Unnatural?” Dani had fire in her eyes and rage like she had never felt. “I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m removing someone from my life who doesn’t support me. ALL OF ME.”

She’d swallowed the bitter pills of forced smiles at events with male athletes she barely knew, the strategically placed “candid” photos with eligible bachelors on her socials, the constant pressure to cultivate a sexy hyper-feminine, all-American heteronormative image.

All because Chris swore it was the only path to success, to the lucrative deals, to the lasting legacy.

“Dani, come on,” he pleaded.

“I’m not interested in anyone who puts Daniela the product first over Dani, the person. You can leave now.”

Chris slunk out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. Silence descended around them.

She ran her hands through her hair, wondering how the fuck she was going to survive right before the US Open without an agent. She spied out the corner of her eye Jaz walk over to Kira and whisper something in her ear. Kira nodded and quietly exited the apartment.

Jaz crossed the room and stood in front of her. She lifted her hand to touch her, but thought better of it. “Dani, as much as I don't like Chris, and will be happy to see him go. He’s right about one thing. You need to think about your career. You’re just starting to make a name for yourself.”

She wasn't even ready to go there with Jaz. “I can’t believe you lied to me. A woman who is so direct and honest, it's sometimes hurtful. This is what you choose to keep to yourself?”

“Dani, I was going to tell you,” she declared remorsefully.

“When?”

“Soon. Kira and I were handling it.” Jaz’s voice cracked, a vulnerability she rarely showed. “We’re trying to pay this guy off.”

“But what are you going to do once we pay him off? These things don’t go away,” Dani wondered aloud with exasperation.

Unless they completely stayed away from each other or lived in a bubble indoors, someone else would spot them together at some point.

The whispers would eventually start on the tour and in the locker rooms as well .

“Nothing. We’re going to deflect and deny,” she stated flatly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

A deep sadness settled over her features at her lover’s words. “So you’re just going to deny our relationship forever?”

“Dani, all the important people know about us. Why does the world need to know what we are to each other? Our life together is none of their business,” Jaz argued with desperation in her voice.

She remembered Jaz telling her that nothing was more important than tennis. That she picked tennis over Lena and essentially everything else. Dani asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to. “Are you really worried about my career? Or is this only about you? And yours?”

“Don’t you see, it’s both of ours!” Jaz shouted, her voice echoing throughout the room.

Dani stood, hands on her hips, her chest heaving. “You admitted you kept your relationship with Lena a secret. I refuse to be some person hiding in the shadows for you, some dirty little secret. I will not be Lena. I’m worth more than that.”

“No, you’re not Lena. But you don’t understand.

Our lives are different. I’ll always be the older, black, predatory woman who took advantage of you, no matter what we say.

The disparity in our careers doesn’t do us any favors.

The hate mail, the whispers, the…the… everything ?

I’m already a Black woman in a sport dominated by white people. ”

Dani stood with her hands on her hips. “You know, you asked me to tell you if you’re being patronizing.

You’re doing it right now. I’m not na?ve, Jaz.

I understand there’s a racial dynamic at play here, along with our age difference.

But times are different than ten years ago when you were with Lena. ”

Jaz shook her head and pulled out her ponytail, running a hand through her hair, a gesture Dani knew meant she was deeply stressed. “You just don’t understand, Dani.”

“Yes, I do,” she countered, her voice rising. “Instead of being outed by this fucker, we tell our own truth.”

“The truth doesn’t matter to the press!” Jaz shouted, her voice cracking. “They care about villains and victims. One of us is going to be cast in each role, either way.”

“If you don’t care what the media thinks, and why do you care now?” Dani shouted.

“I just choose not to give them everything. I’m not in the closet. I’m not hiding, but I don’t want to live my life in the spotlight any more than I have to.”

Dani scoffed, the sound laced with bitterness. “And I’m not worth that?”

“You’re twisting my words. Besides, if you’re so self-righteous, then why haven’t you come out? Oh yeah, to protect all your sponsors. You didn’t want to let them know that the daughter of tennis royalty is a lesbian,” Jaz retorted, her voice laced with a bitterness that made her flinch.

She couldn’t believe the claim Jaz had just made. “Wow, just wow.” She knew Dani wasn’t intentionally hiding anything about her life. She couldn’t help that the heteronormative world believed whatever they wanted to about her .

Jaz’s voice was softer now, pleading. “I’m just saying, we’re in different places in our careers and on different paths. You’re on your way up, and I’m on my way out soon.”

“Yes, we’re at two different stages, and a lot of the time we’ll be in two different places…”

“So maybe it’s just better if we cut our losses now,” Jaz murmured, her voice barely a whisper.

Dani wasn’t even sure she heard correctly, but those words couldn’t have come out of Jaz’s mouth. “What?”

“You’re so young and have such a bright future ahead of you, I can’t hold you back from that. From being the best.” Those caramel eyes that normally stared back at her with passion were now cloudy as she spoke.

“So your solution is to break up with me?” Dani felt a cold dread seep into her bones.

Jaz didn’t say anything, just stared at her, but the silence was heavy. The chasm between them felt wider than ever. Tears welled up in Dani’s eyes, the anger returning to her voice. “Well, you can continue to live in the closet forever. Some of us actually want to enjoy our lives beyond tennis.”

She turned to storm out of the apartment, the tears now falling freely. A wave of sadness washed over her. She unlocked her phone and called the one person she knew deep down would always be there for her.

The rain continued to pour outside. The dreary weather matched Dani’s mood. She sat on the floor of her rented apartment, throwing a tennis ball against the wall. The rhythmic thud in tandem with the rain outside, echoing the frustration churning within her.

What the hell had just happened? They went from a lazy morning to lies of omission, firing her agent, and a breakup. The pain in her heart was only balanced by all the thoughts swirling through her head.

And that she had to play in the US Open in a few days. In front of thousands of people.

Fuck my life.

The knock at the door brought her out of her despair. The tennis ball almost hit her in the face when she took her eye off it and turned towards the sound.

Even though she had called hours ago, she was shocked how fast she got here. When she finally opened the door, the dam of tears broke. Again.

She fell into her mother’s arms. Brittany Kappas didn’t flinch at the wet splotches of tears and snot spreading across her silk blouse.

She didn’t pull away from Dani’s messy, tear-streaked face.

Dani hadn’t cried this much since she was a child, but in her mother’s arms, she found a raw, unconditional love that she had forgotten she desperately needed.

Brittany Kappas, with her blonde hair and green eyes, was still an imposing figure.

At six feet tall, she hadn’t lost her athletic frame.

The muscles in her arms, still toned though less defined than in her prime, shone as she wrapped her arms tightly around her only child.

She just held her with a silent promise of unwavering support.

It had been a moment of pure instinct, dialing the number she hadn’t called in months. A number she’d subconsciously avoided. The voice on the other end was hesitant, cautious when she picked up.

But when Dani said, “Mom,” with a cracked voice, followed by hysterical crying, it was like the support she had gotten from her mom all her life came back.

Upon hearing her mother’s legitimate and frantic concern for her well-being, Dani broke down and told her everything in one long rant.

Jaz. The relationship. The video and photos. The breakup.

But most importantly, what she told her was that she needed her mom.