Love Game - Season 2011 by M. B. Gerard Page B

the No. 1 spot. She could be the queen of tennis again. She knew she just had to work harder than ever. Good thing she had abjured long-legged distraction for now.  Looking, but not touching was the device that would get her back to the top. It had worked in the past and it would work again. There was nothing to take her mind off the tennis.
    The restroom’s door was pushed open. The music from the speakers mingled with the music outside. Obviously Luella Galloway had been dragged off the stage as someone else was performing a horrible impersonation of Enrique Martinez’s new song. Sasha could make out two pairs of high-heels clicking over the bathroom floor. Without making a sound Sasha lifted her own feet off the ground so they wouldn’t show under the toilet door.
    “Your sister is very funny,” a young voice said. Sasha knew the melodic sound of it but couldn’t place it.
    “Yes,” another girl answered. “If she’s in a good mood, she can be very entertaining.”
    That was Gabriella Galloway, Sasha thought. They were talking about Lulu.
    “So, you know Agnes,” Gabriella said to the other girl. “Are you trading books with her?”
    “What?” The other girl sounded offended.
    “I saw that you gave Agnes a Tennis Nurse novel. Which episode was it?”
    Now, wasn’t that interesting, Sasha thought. Gabriella Galloway knew about the Tennis Nurse series?
    “I didn’t read it,” the other girl snapped. “Agnes gave it to me over Christmas, but I had other things to do. I didn’t even open it!”
    There was a silence on the other side of the door. Sasha could only hear the water running. Then a pair of heels turned and walked to the door. Audibly, Gabriella breathed in over the clicking sound.
    “Elise, I’m sorry,” Sasha heard the American say but the door had already closed.
    Elise? Sasha sat up straight in surprise. The only person Sasha knew with this name was Elise Renard. Sasha shook her head in amazement. Of course, she could remember the face now. She silently began to chuckle but burst into laughter as soon as Gabriella had left the restroom. The best thing about the whole scene was that Elise Renard denied reading Tennis Nurse .
    Sasha hadn’t laughed so much for quite a while.
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    “He is finer than frog’s hair!” Robyn blurted out. She looked up to the sky as if she had seen a vision. “And he’s terribly fit. His hair has turned even redder in the Australian sun. It’s so hot.” She was still slobbering over that reporter guy she had met in Perth and who was now standing at the entrance of the players’ party taking pictures of the arriving players.
    “I know his name,” Gemma chirped.
    “What? How do you know that?”
    “He called me.”
    Discombobulated Robyn looked at her friend.
    Gemma grinned. “Well, not exactly. He called my room from the reception desk to tell me to come down to the lobby. You remember the interview I had to do this morning, don’t you? I didn’t know it would be the guy you’ve been talking about for the last two weeks.”
    With Gemma leading the way they made their way to the buffet. Robyn followed her friend impatiently.
    “Will you tell me the name now?”
    “Tom,” Gemma said with a grin. Then she paused dramatically. “Tom Richardson.”
    A loud snicker made them turn around. It was Ted Curry waggishly grinning at his two British colleagues.
    “Have you found a new victim?” He laughed. “I should give the poor fellow a warning.”
    “Don’t you dare interfere, Ted Curry!” Gemma gave him a punch in the ribs.
    “What are your plans?” Ted searched the buffet. “Will you lure him to a dark place and strap him down with a left-over racquet string?”
    “We might,” Robyn giggled.
    “Well, well, young ladies,  I’d love to witness some naughty action. Give me a call if you catch the Crimson Snapper.”
    He picked up a fairy cake and popped it into his mouth. Munching it in a devastatingly sexy manner he