Suits in this weather?I inwardly shook my head.
“Can you see him?” Simone whispered to me excitedly.
“See who?”
“Oh, Elly. Please tell me you know at least who he is?” Simone leaned closer to me, her eyes never leaving the group.
“Uh…no,” I whispered back, just as I felt my phone vibrate with a text in my back pocket.I bet that’s from Mom.
“It’s Felipe Rodriguez, the ex-football player turned entrepreneur. Oh my God, when I say he’s loaded, he isloaded. He’s also very single.” This last bit was uttered much quieter than the rest.
While Simone continued enthusiastically, I carefully pulled out my phone and very slowly twisted my body away from her so that I could check it. It wasn’t as though I was prohibited from using my phone in Simone’s company, but she disapproved of what she called “too many distractions” before games. And talking to my family counted as a distraction, according to her list. Yes, she had a list. She had sent it to me by email. She’d had me download it to my phone, too, so that I would always have it on hand.
She was that serious about distractions.
“Last year, his men’s fashion show brought in…oh my gosh, what was the number? It was over…” Simone rattled on as I unlocked my phone. There was a message from my mom.Knew it.I opened it up.
All good on my end. Please don’t worry, honey. Focus on your game. How was the flight over?
Immediately, my mind started analyzing every word.All good?Does that mean her stats are improving, or just that there’s no change? Or is she trying to cover up whatever is going on her end and will throw a bombshell on me once my match is over?
I peered closely at the message.It does sound like Mom, but is she really the one messaging? Could it be her nurse? Because Mom is…
No! Don’t go there.
It was hard, though. The image of my mother, holding onto the porch banister as I rolled my suitcase down the cobbled driveway, was still ingrained in my mind. Her face when I stopped at the gate to look back at her.
For the first time, I noticed just how much her illness had aged her. How frail she looked in her dressing gown, especially compared to Sarah, her nurse. If Sarah looked like she was ready to lift the living room sofa and move it to the back of the house (we’d been talking about doing that for months), my mom looked like she could barely lift herself. She had insisted she would at least come out to wish me farewell as I got into the taxi that would drive me to the airport where Simone was waiting for me. For the first time in my whole life, my mom was going to miss one of my tennis matches.
“Right. You are clearly not interested in learning all you can about the big names around here so I’m not going to bother boring you any longer.” Simone’s brusque tone brought me back, away from the front gate of my home in Florida and straight into the lounge area of the Crown Jewels Resort. Plop into my seat. Simone had stood up again and was tapping her heels.
“Honestly, Ella. How will you ever progress in your career if you keep yourself all wrapped up in the bubble that is your racket and you? Maybe you could do that in the past, but nowadays, your career isn’t just about how many times you hit the ball—you have to do the schmoozing at the after-parties, too.¿Estás de acuerdo?”
And with that, plus a long sigh garnished with frustration and exasperation, she sauntered off, thetap, tap, tapof her heels echoing across the room.
CHAPTER2
SEBASTIAN
At least Elonzo wasn’t cheap.
I shook my head as I walked through the entrance to the Crown Jewels Resort. The porter followed closely behind, pushing a trolley stacked with the boxes my soon-to-be sister-in-law had insisted I bring along. My single suitcase was carried by another porter close behind.
But still, did he really have to set the date just as we’re about to sign the contract with the Japanese partners? What if we lose them over all this feckless activity?
I paused and picked up one of the carefully positioned ornaments from the box on top. It was a vase that looked as though it had been painted by some kid from the streets of Bogotá.
I rolled my eyes. Lavina was the one behind this rubbish. Her taste was about as poor as my brother’s taste in fiancées.
“You made it!” a familiar voice called out to me.
I replaced the vase in the box and turned toward my approaching brother. “Elonzo!” I said and plastered a smile across my face. The same one I had used during our company’s online meeting with the Japanese partners to explain our “delay.”
Elonzo stopped and peered into my face. My brother knew when I was faking it, but what did he expect? He knew exactly what I thought of this union and yet he insisted on going ahead with it. I could’ve been at the office right now, going over the Japanese contract with our lawyer but no, I had to be here to watch my brother make a complete mess of his life.
“I hope you’re not going to be like that at the ceremony. Or when we go see Mom and Lavina,” Elonzo said, his tone disappointed.
“Like what?” I said innocently.