fell off her. She squared her shoulders,
breathed in deeply and walked to the edge of the roof. Surrounded by the fiery
red evening sky and the skyscrapers around Sydney’s Circular Quay Mint sat down
and placed her laptop on the balustrade. Last night she had come here, just to
get away from her stepmother a bit and had discovered that there was great
wi-fi reception on the roof along with a fantastic view and much-needed
privacy. After answering her e-mails, she checked if any of her friends were
available for a video call. She would have loved to show them the Harbour
Bridge and the silhouette of the Opera House in the evening sun. But none of
them were online for a chat, not even Chili who was in Tasmania at the moment
playing a tournament in Hobart. Mint had initially considered signing up for
the tournament too, as it was smaller and she would have been seeded in the
main draw, but her stepmother had decided that it was better to play Sydney.
Mint sighed. She had realized right away
that Evelina Rickenbacher had made the decision solely based on the shopping
and entertainment values of the city, not whether it was best for her
stepdaughter’s chances to rack up some ranking points and perhaps even a title.
Mint had no chance of reaching one of the later rounds here in Sydney, with all
the top players warming up for the Australian Open. First she had to get
through the qualifying process and she had to win one more match tomorrow
morning before she would be in the main draw. Then she needed luck to get
further in the tournament. As a qualifier it was possible to get drawn against
a high seed, so the tournament could be over for you before it really started.
Besides getting away from her obnoxious
stepmother, Mint had another reason for wanting some privacy. She was working
on something she needed to keep away from Evelina at all costs. Mint clicked on
a folder on her computer and a window appeared asking for a password. After a
few seconds a table of thumbnails opened on the screen. In the last few days,
whenever Evelina wasn’t around, Mint had begun to go through the pictures
again. She had lost interest in them after Luxembourg, and the off-season had
provided her with a well-needed break from the tennis bubble, which she had
savored to the fullest during a debaucherous two-week vacation in the Bahamas
before going to Florida for training. But because the tour had started again
her watch dog was back, and there was nothing to do but play mind games over
what to do next with these pictures. There were actually really good ones among
them and Mint had decided to play a little trick on her compatriots, Gabriella
and Lulu. She had long pondered whether to give them prints of the picture that
showed one of the twins with Sasha. The photo was more about Sasha than about
the twin though. Sasha was staring at the Galloway, making it easy to read her
feelings from the expression on her face. The twin in the picture wasn’t doing
anything herself. She was only the object of Sasha’s admiration. Other than the
other pictures showing Amanda and Elise and Martina and Antonia which Mint had
found on the memory stick, there was no interaction here.
But at least it would give the twins
something to rack their brains about. Where did the picture come from? Why was
Sasha staring at the twin? Mint chuckled. They could handle a little
brain-racking. It would be a nice change from shooting glamorous videos for
Supersport. Mint picked a picture. She wanted to make prints of it and hand
them to the Galloways in Melbourne.
Suddenly a loud bang startled her. The door
to the staircase was pushed open and somebody walked through. Mint squinted her
eyes against the setting sun. The person had turned away from the door, so Mint
could only see the back and the short hair. It was Polly Duke, the Canadian
player. What was she doing here, Mint wondered. She was absolutely certain that
Polly couldn’t afford this hotel. She would usually stay
breathed in deeply and walked to the edge of the roof. Surrounded by the fiery
red evening sky and the skyscrapers around Sydney’s Circular Quay Mint sat down
and placed her laptop on the balustrade. Last night she had come here, just to
get away from her stepmother a bit and had discovered that there was great
wi-fi reception on the roof along with a fantastic view and much-needed
privacy. After answering her e-mails, she checked if any of her friends were
available for a video call. She would have loved to show them the Harbour
Bridge and the silhouette of the Opera House in the evening sun. But none of
them were online for a chat, not even Chili who was in Tasmania at the moment
playing a tournament in Hobart. Mint had initially considered signing up for
the tournament too, as it was smaller and she would have been seeded in the
main draw, but her stepmother had decided that it was better to play Sydney.
Mint sighed. She had realized right away
that Evelina Rickenbacher had made the decision solely based on the shopping
and entertainment values of the city, not whether it was best for her
stepdaughter’s chances to rack up some ranking points and perhaps even a title.
Mint had no chance of reaching one of the later rounds here in Sydney, with all
the top players warming up for the Australian Open. First she had to get
through the qualifying process and she had to win one more match tomorrow
morning before she would be in the main draw. Then she needed luck to get
further in the tournament. As a qualifier it was possible to get drawn against
a high seed, so the tournament could be over for you before it really started.
Besides getting away from her obnoxious
stepmother, Mint had another reason for wanting some privacy. She was working
on something she needed to keep away from Evelina at all costs. Mint clicked on
a folder on her computer and a window appeared asking for a password. After a
few seconds a table of thumbnails opened on the screen. In the last few days,
whenever Evelina wasn’t around, Mint had begun to go through the pictures
again. She had lost interest in them after Luxembourg, and the off-season had
provided her with a well-needed break from the tennis bubble, which she had
savored to the fullest during a debaucherous two-week vacation in the Bahamas
before going to Florida for training. But because the tour had started again
her watch dog was back, and there was nothing to do but play mind games over
what to do next with these pictures. There were actually really good ones among
them and Mint had decided to play a little trick on her compatriots, Gabriella
and Lulu. She had long pondered whether to give them prints of the picture that
showed one of the twins with Sasha. The photo was more about Sasha than about
the twin though. Sasha was staring at the Galloway, making it easy to read her
feelings from the expression on her face. The twin in the picture wasn’t doing
anything herself. She was only the object of Sasha’s admiration. Other than the
other pictures showing Amanda and Elise and Martina and Antonia which Mint had
found on the memory stick, there was no interaction here.
But at least it would give the twins
something to rack their brains about. Where did the picture come from? Why was
Sasha staring at the twin? Mint chuckled. They could handle a little
brain-racking. It would be a nice change from shooting glamorous videos for
Supersport. Mint picked a picture. She wanted to make prints of it and hand
them to the Galloways in Melbourne.
Suddenly a loud bang startled her. The door
to the staircase was pushed open and somebody walked through. Mint squinted her
eyes against the setting sun. The person had turned away from the door, so Mint
could only see the back and the short hair. It was Polly Duke, the Canadian
player. What was she doing here, Mint wondered. She was absolutely certain that
Polly couldn’t afford this hotel. She would usually stay
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