Page 38 of Courting Trouble
Images popped up. Photos of Petra in action on the tennis court, holding up gleaming trophies, and then some shots of her and Cassie on courts together in later years. A few forums hinted at a close relationship with Cassie, some even suggesting they had been involved beyond the professional.
So, Petra was Cassie’s ex-girlfriend.
A sharp pang of jealousy hit Delilah. The contrast between Petra’s polished perfection and her own awkward fumbling was impossible to ignore.
Petra was everything Delilah was not: poised, authoritative, quaffed. Next to someone like Petra, Delilah, though thirty-one, felt like a clumsy kid.
Cassie could never take a silly actress seriously if she’s used to someone like Petra, she found herself thinking.
But then, a second, sterner voice in her mind said,That’s not what this is about.Delilah was here to learn. Not to compete with scary Russian dominatrixes for Cassie’s attention. Cassie was her teacher, not her love interest.
She slipped her phone into her pocket, heeding the second voice. No distractions. No fantasies.I need to focus. Cassie’s doing this for me. I can’t let anything mess it up.
Cassie came out of the office looking oddly tired. Delilah met her eyes and gave a small, grateful smile, trying hard to believe that the past between Cassie and Petra had precisely jack shit to do with her and what she needed to get out of this time,
‘OK, we’re in cabin eight,’ Cassie told her. ‘But leave your stuff here. Someone will take it over. We’re headed straight for a court.’
Delilah followed Cassie, never more out of her element than she was at this place. And being out of place was Delilah’s job. To find her way into whoever she was today. The Larchfield Programme? She could never belong here.
But Tamsin Rowe could, she reminded herself. This was her world. Delilah had to earn it. Earnher.
***
An hour later, Cassie was trying not to look as horrified as she obviously felt. ‘OK, that was fine.’
Delilah, hands on her knees, looked up at Cassie, panting. ‘Fine? What the hell just happened?’
Cassie bit her lip. ‘You’re OK.’
‘No, I’m not. I just played what I’m pretty sure was the worst tennis played on planet Earth. Maybe beyond, we don’t know yet without further exploration.’
‘You’re OK, Delilah, really. You’re obviously just a little shaken up by the location change,’ Cassie told her.
Delilah looked around her at the neighbouring courts. She could only hope that the athletes on either side of her were too focused on their own sessions to see what had just taken place.
‘Can you blame me?’ she said quietly.
Cassie shook her head. ‘No, I can’t. I can remember my first time here. I was trying to compete against people I wasn’t even playing. It didn’t go well.’
That was somewhat reassuring, but still, Delilah couldn’t believe it. It might have been worse than her first day.
‘Alright,’ Cassie said, her voice calm but firm. ‘Forget the last hour. It’s the first pancake, that’s all. Reset. Let’s start with your serve. Remember everything we worked on. The toss, the grip, the follow-through. I want to see control, not power.’
Delilah nodded, gripping the racket tightly, absorbing Cassie’s soothing tone. She took a deep breath and reset, asinstructed. Her first serve flew awkwardly wide, missing the mark entirely. She winced.
‘Again,’ Cassie prompted, her eyes sharp.
This time, Delilah managed a decent serve, the ball landing just inside the service box. A flicker of triumph warmed her chest.
‘Better,’ Cassie said, a hint of approval slipping into her tone.
As they continued throughout the day, Delilah felt the exhaustion creeping in—muscles aching, breath shortening—but she pushed through it, determined not to disappoint. She glanced toward the main lodge. It was too far to see Petra, but she could picture her, standing at a window, arms crossed, an amused smirk on her face at Delilah’s ‘skills’.
The thought stirred something inside Delilah. If imaginary Petra expected her to keep being crap, then she was going to be imaginarily disappointed.
Hopefully.
After a few more serves, Cassie finally lowered the basket. ‘You’ve got the basics down,’ she said. ‘It’s just about building on it now.’
