Page 12

Emily and Emma arrive at the club just in time. They left the courthouse late, forcing them to grab a quick bite before stopping by the law firm and shutting themselves in the older cousin's office to prepare for tomorrow's session. When they realized the time, they were almost late for practice, and Emily jumped from her chair, urging her cousin as if the building were on fire.

"We're not in school, Emily. No one's sending you to the principal for being late," Emma says as she walks quickly behind her cousin after parking the car in the club lot. "Though if Leah Walker were the principal, I'm sure you wouldn't mind being sent to her office," she adds playfully, and Emily nearly trips over her own feet at the comment.

Leah Walker. Lately, she hears that name often, and each time, something stirs in her stomach, preventing her from thinking like a focused, rational person.

"Stop talking like that, you're distracting me," she complains, making her cousin laugh. "Look, she's already on the court. We're late," she says and quickens her pace.

"Speak for yourself. I'm just a spectator who, by the way, needs to pee."

Emily stops and turns to her just as they reach the court.

"Why didn't you go to the bathroom when we were at the office?" she asks while pulling her hair into a high ponytail.

"How could I when you practically dragged me to the elevator?" her cousin counters.

Emily smiles and turns to enter the court, where Leah greets her, racket in hand.

"Hi, sorry I'm late," Emily apologizes with a wide smile that twists Leah's stomach.

"You're not late," the tennis player says, checking the time. "There's still a minute to go."

Emily broadens her smile and opens her bag to take out her racket just as Mia passes by the back of the court.

"By the way," Emily says. "Could my cousin use the locker room restroom? The poor thing couldn't go during the two hours we spent in my office," she adds, glancing sideways at Emma.

Leah laughs and nods.

"I would have if you'd let me breathe," Emma defends herself, rolling her eyes. "Where are the locker rooms?"

Leah is about to answer, but a wicked impulse crosses her mind, and with a mischievous smile, she raises her hand and calls Mia, who approaches slowly when she notices the presence of Emily's rude cousin.

"Would you mind showing Emma where the locker rooms are so she can use the bathroom?" Leah asks, holding back laughter when Mia pierces her with a look.

"It would be my pleasure," she says and signals Emma to follow her.

"So you're the girl for everything," Emma quips as she follows a couple of steps behind, taking the opportunity to check out her butt with a boldness that seems unlike her.

Mia ignores her and continues walking until they reach the building where the women's locker room is located.

"I'll wait here," Mia says, leaning her shoulder against a tree in front of the building while crossing her arms over her chest with a casual air.

Emma finds this strangely sexy, which irritates her.

"I don't need a ball girl to wait for me," she spits venomously.

Mia looks her up and down, unfazed by the comment, and smiles.

"You certainly don't. What you need is some manners and a good lay," Mia retorts, surprising Emma. "Especially the latter it would definitely help with that bad attitude you seem to have in excess. Besides," she adds, straightening up when Emma opens her mouth to protest, "this ball girl here," Mia points to herself while taking a few steps toward her, "could beat you on the court without breaking a sweat."

Anger climbs up Emma's neck, and she gets so close to Mia that there's barely room for air between them.

"We can test that whenever you want," she says with an arrogance that really bothers Mia.

"There's a free court. We can test it right now," she says, maintaining eye contact.

Emma feels like she's about to spit her heart out of her mouth, though she's not sure if it's from anger or something else.

"Get a couple of rackets while I go to the bathroom, ball girl," Emma hisses, pushing her body against Mia's, who flashes a cocky smile while thinking about how much she'll enjoy making this snob run around the court.

"Great job, Emily!" Leah shouts when her clumsiest student returns the third consecutive shot.

After practicing serves during the first fifteen minutes, forehand shots during the second, and backhand during the third, she's now decided to simply rally with Emily to give her a break at the end of the training session. Besides, she's noticed that this is when Emily seems to enjoy herself the most, as if all she needs is to run after the ball and try to return it.

The tennis player sends another gentle shot, making the ball bounce just a couple of meters away to ensure Emily can return it, and prepares to run because, while Emily might manage to return the ball, the direction she sends it is another matter entirely.

"In the next class, we'll focus on getting all your balls to land on the opposite side," she smiles after running to the net to cut off the ball, aware that it would have gone so high it would have left the court.

"I'd be happy if just a few of them made it in," the lawyer laughs, and Leah stops, placing her racket between her legs to tighten her ponytail.

"You shouldn't settle. You'll improve, I promise. It's just a matter of time. We've managed to get you to focus for more than two minutes at a time now it's every five," Leah jokes, drawing a laugh from Emily, who approaches her, considering the training session over.

"Thanks for being so patient with me," she says, surprising the tennis player, who narrows her eyes.

"It's my job, Emily. You don't need to thank me."

"That's not true. I've had other trainers before," the lawyer explains, shrugging her shoulders as they walk toward the bench, separated by the net. "At first, they have patience, but it runs out quickly when they realize how clumsy I am. You, on the other hand, always treat me the same way—you even seem to enjoy it."

Emily mentions this as if it's normal, but rage gnaws at Leah, and she considers asking who Emily has trained with, but she doesn't want to upset herself. Instead, she turns to Emily and blocks her path just before they reach the bench.

"I do enjoy it, Emily," she confesses in a burst of honesty. "Your class is always the most fun of the day, and it's not just because you're a bit clumsy, though that's part of it," she adds with a wink that shakes the lawyer's insides like an earthquake. "You're a very pleasant and fun woman. It's very difficult to get bored with you."

"Wow, thanks," Emily says, equally stunned and moved. "I have a great time with you too. I love coming here, training, and..." Emily realizes that if she continues down this path, she might say something she shouldn't, so she decides to change the subject. "Where did my cousin go?"

Leah turns toward the fence, grateful that Emily has shifted a conversation that was getting out of hand, and furrows her brow when she realizes she hasn't seen Mia either.

"I'd say they haven't returned from the locker room, though I'm not sure," she says while wiping her neck and arms with a towel.

"I'm not either. I haven't really noticed," Emily laughs, and they look at each other for a moment, aware that they've been so focused on one another that everything around them has disappeared.

"Well, grab your things, and I'll walk with you to find her if you want," Leah suggests.

The two women head toward the bar, the only place they assume Emma might be, but halfway there, Leah stops when she hears a girl's grunt after a racket strike. She turns because she knows that sound well it's Mia when she returns a shot with fury.

"There they are," says Leah, pointing to one of the courts where the two women watch in perplexity as Emma and Mia run from side to side, hitting the ball as if their lives depended on the match.

"I've never seen Emma run so much," Emily comments, amused. "And those sneakers? Where did she get them?" she asks, surprised to see her without the heels she never parts with.

"Mia must have lent them to her," Leah concludes, crossing her arms while proudly observing her employee's good play.

"Well, looks like I'll have to wait," Emily says, staying beside Leah.

Silence falls between them for a couple of minutes until the tennis player decides to break it, driven by curiosity.

"I've never asked you, Emily, but where does your passion for tennis come from?"

Emily smiles and shrugs her shoulders.

"I'd say from nowhere in particular. I've always liked sports, all of them in general, but tennis is my weakness. Having a racket in my hand and being able to run to return the ball fascinates me, and it seems like something simple to practice as a hobby, I mean," Emily pauses briefly to clear her throat while Leah watches her expectantly, "it's a sport with easy rules, and to have a good time, all you need to do is return the ball to the other side of the net, but as you can see, even that's hard for me. I'd kill to be able to play a match just for fun."

"You can play a match, Emily," Leah frowns.

Emily laughs and waves her hand as if shooing away a fly.

"Not really. The only one who agrees to play with me is my cousin, but the poor thing gets bored because either I miss the ball completely or I send it out of bounds. So when she asks me to play, I always tell her I can't."

Leah twists her expression.

"We could play doubles," the tennis player says.

"Doubles?" Emily asks.

"In pairs. You and me against Mia and your cousin, to balance things out. The balls you miss, I'll return, and Emma won't have to run all over the court to return them because she'll have Mia's help."

If Leah had known the excitement her proposal would bring to Emily's face, she would have suggested it sooner.

"Would you play with us?" she asks, nearly jumping.

"Of course," Leah smiles.

"And you'd be on my team? I'm terrible, you know..."

"I'll be with you," Leah cuts her off.

"What if they don't want to?" Emily wonders, turning toward the court where Mia scores the point that wins her the match. "Well, Emma will say yes, but Mia might..."

"Mia will play too, don't worry," Leah confirms. "We'll find a slot next week and set it up."

"Like I told you, I beat you," Mia says smugly as she passes by Emma, who's burning with rage.

"That's only because I'm not wearing the right clothes," she argues, looking at her skinny jeans.

"You should have changed them. I offered you clothes, but since you're a stuck-up princess..."

"Don't you call me stuck-up, ball girl," she huffs, running after her.

"I'm not sure they'll want to play together," Emily says as she watches the spectacle with Leah.

"Of course they will," the tennis player replies, unfazed. "Ladies, make peace," she says, approaching the two. "Next week, the four of us will play a match, you two against us, so stop arguing unless you want us to crush you."

"Lose to Emily?" Emma can't contain her laughter as she hugs her cousin. "Sorry, it must be the sun. I don't know what I'm saying," she apologizes and kisses her on the cheek.

Emily couldn't care less about the comment. She's used to hearing things like that. She knows she's bad at tennis, but she's happy because she'll play a match, and she'll be with Leah.

"Well, I'll leave you. I have to teach my last class of the day," Leah says when she sees Alison Young, her most promising student, walking by.

"See you next week then," Emily says goodbye, giving her a broad smile.

"I want a rematch with you," Emma declares, giving Mia a small shoulder bump as she passes by.

"She's hateful," Mia grumbles in Leah's ear.

"Be careful, Mia," Leah smiles mockingly. "You know what they say: there's a thin line between love and hate."

"With her? I'd rather chew glass."

Leah's laughter echoes as she walks away from the court, leaving Mia with the ball tube in her hand and her gaze fixed on Emma Harris's back.