Page 21 of From the Courtroom to the Court
"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.
