Page 26 of Game Point
‘They’re sick and I was asked to step in.’ Her hand reached out towards me. I stared at it, wondering if touching the skin of Satan would leave me with third degree burns. ‘I’m sure it’s all the same questions.’
‘Sure.’ I said the words cautiously, as if even saying a single phrase out of step would land me in hot water.
Don’t say anything stupid, Brooke’s words echoed around my mind. She couldn’t have known … right?
‘Amazing.’ Rachel gestured towards the sofas, perching herself on one. I made my way over, trying to find a wayto relax. I fidgeted, crossing and uncrossing my legs, only settling when I made eye contact with Rachel across from me, her beady eyes assessing. She leaned forward, placing her phone on the table between us.
‘Well, congratulations on your run in New York.’ She kept her eyes trained on me. I swallowed, trying to push away my nerves.
‘It was great to be back playing.’
‘It must be,’ she agreed, ‘And then that final? Watching your racket break.’ She made a face, a twisted look of defeat. ‘How did you feel about your playing in that match?’
I searched for the right words to form into an answer. I only managed to come up with three. ‘It was unfortunate.’
‘For it to end so dramatically, and in two sets.’
‘Like I said, unfortunate.’
‘Your confidence must’ve taken a blow?’What did she want from me? A dissection of my performance? A turn-by-turn analysis? Just be a good girl and answer the damn question.
I pushed down my frustration, smoothing it out like I try to do when things aren’t going my way during a match. This was no different, Rachel was my opponent, and this was the battle for the first set. Except I had no weapon, there was no racket in my hand. I felt defenceless without it.
‘I’ve been concentrating on my game play,’ I replied. ‘I’ve been working with a brand-new team to figure out what’s going on during my matches.’
Rachel nodded, her body shifting backwards. ‘Yes, you’re back with your old coach, Brooke. How is that going?’
I tried to fight the urge to say the words through gritted teeth. ‘It’s going great. It’s good to reunite with anold face. And we’ve been working to bring a new team together, based on my weakness on court.’
‘A very expensive team’ I didn’t add, but if Brooke thought they were necessary, we hired them.
‘There were rumours around that you didn’t have the best of partings.’ Rachel didn’t miss a beat, all but bringing up the paperweight incident. I knew I’d live to regret that, no matter how good it had felt in the moment.
‘Things can get heated, but that doesn’t mean you can’t behave like professionals. Everyone is doing what they think is right for them. Me and Brooke had worked together for a long time, it had felt like it was a good moment to go our own ways.’
Rachel looked happier now she was getting more of an answer from me, her crooked smile relaxing with thought. Every word circled through my head twice before I actually let myself say it, double thinking and anxiously trying to read all the ways they could possibly twist my words.
‘What brought you back together?’ she asked.
I repeated back everything I’d been told, by Imogen, by Brooke, when we sat down to ‘discuss’ my training plan. ‘I think there’s a need to go back to basics. Since Brooke was the one that taught me everything I knew, she felt like the right person to do that with.’
I understood the logic, it made sense and we’d tried everything else. I didn’t have any better ideas.
‘Looking ahead, the China Open,’ Rachel reflected, ‘What is your goal?’
I couldn’t help but scoff. ‘Winning would be nice.’
I almost cringed at the automatic response, but whatelse was I supposed to say?Oh, taking part is all the reward I need.No. Fuck that. I wanted to win.
‘Of course.’ She took a moment, taking aim, and then without restraint, she launched her first missile. ‘But what is your response to those who say you’ve had plenty of chances at the top? That you’ve yet to fulfil the potential you showed when you first arrived on the scene?’
‘Well, I don’t think there’s a limit to the number of finals somebody can get to. That would be stupid.’ I was dumb enough to let my first reaction escape me without any second thought. I pulled myself together enough to add, ‘And my track record is still impressive.’
‘You do have an impressive track record.’ Rachel’s smirk returned, clearly enjoying getting under my skin. ‘A world record for women’s tennis, actually. How do you feel about that?’
I pushed back, uncertain. It almost felt like a trick. Nobody had mentioned a record before. My eyes narrowed as I dared to ask, ‘What record?’
‘The record for the most grand-slam finals achieved, without being able to claim that top prize.’ Rachel said the words as if it was all a matter of fact, all totally reasonable. As if I should know.
