The Singles Game
Page 51

‘No pressure, Silver. If you don’t want a coffee, I won’t be offended.’ Another smile, this one a little bit mocking.
Charlie took the seat directly across from him. An Anguillan man appeared almost instantly.
‘She’ll have a double,’ Dan announced.
Charlie opened her mouth to protest that Todd didn’t allow caffeine, but Dan held his hand up. ‘Trust me, Silver. Your secret is safe with me.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, clasping her hands together. ‘So, what brings you here?’
‘You do, actually.’
‘No, I mean here. This village.’
Dan shrugged. ‘I just went out for a walk this morning and ended up here. I heard the food was good on the island, but I can’t believe I didn’t know anything about this coffee.’ He looked so peaceful, so collected. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a vintage surfing T-shirt and sneakers.
‘Do you do that a lot?’
‘What? Go walking?’ Dan asked. ‘You know, I guess I do.’
‘Is that where you always are when we’re not hitting?’
He appeared to think about this. ‘Yeah, I guess so. It’s my chance to see things, you know?’
The waiter reappeared and placed espresso cups in front of Charlie and Dan and a miniature pitcher of steamed milk in the middle.
‘Here, do it like this.’ Dan poured the milk into Charlie’s cup and popped in a single cube of white sugar.
‘Todd will have your head for that,’ Charlie said, her voice singsongy and teasing.
‘Well, screw him, then,’ Dan said. And then, a beat later: ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that.’
Charlie laughed. ‘So it all comes out! I had no idea.’
‘No, it’s not like that,’ Dan rushed to say, looking more agitated by the second. ‘I didn’t mean that. I respect Todd as a coach, and I owe him a lot for this gig. For picking me.’
Charlie reached across the table and placed her hand on Dan’s. ‘Hey, slow down. You were kidding. Todd can be a huge jerk. I get that. I’m not going to run off and tell him anything, okay? Don’t worry.’
Dan stared at Charlie’s hand for a long, awkward moment. She yanked it back to her lap.
‘Sorry,’ he said.
‘You don’t have anything to be sorry for!’
‘It’s just that I’m really grateful for this job, even if he is … difficult sometimes.’
‘Difficult?’ Charlie shrieked. ‘He’s a first-rate asshole. But that stays between us.’
Finally, a smile.
‘So, when you say you “owe him for this gig,” am I to interpret that to mean there was competition? Because Todd showed me a video of you hitting one day – I think it was your final year at Duke in a match against UVA, if I’m not mistaken – and he was all, like, “This is the guy. I got him and he’s going to change your life.”’
‘Yeah, I’m not sure that’s exactly how it went down, but it’s nice of you to say that,’ Dan said.
‘I’m serious! He was insistent it be you, and only you.’
They each sipped their coffee and Charlie tasted instantly that Dan was right: it was insanely good.
‘So what were you doing when Todd called you? You were two years out of college, right?’
Dan nodded. ‘I was back home in Marion, in Virginia, working for my family’s hardware store. I was playing some local tournaments but, man, it was depressing.’
‘You never thought about turning pro? First singles at Duke is pretty impressive.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s not that I never thought about it, but it didn’t really seem like an option. There was no extra money growing up for lessons or coaches or anything, so I pretty much taught myself. The whole point was to get a full ride to college, which I did, so I certainly couldn’t leave once I got there. I was good, yes, but I’m not sure I was good enough to go the distance. I couldn’t risk it. The guaranteed degree was way more valuable than the small possibility I could make any real money playing tennis. At least, that’s what I tell myself,’ he said with a smile.
‘And then Todd called …’ Charlie let her voice trail off.
‘And then Todd called. He said I was perfect for the position, but I think the truth is that my price was right. No one else would have done it for practically free—’ He stopped, clearly horrified. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. My god, I can’t keep my mouth shut today.’
‘I knew the salary wasn’t a lot, but Todd told me that was the going rate,’ Charlie said quietly. Why hadn’t she paid more attention to this when it was all happening?
Dan waved her off. ‘Stop. Please. I’m not doing this for the money. I’m doing it because it’s probably my only chance to travel the world and see these incredible places before I go back to Virginia and take over the store for good.’ He coughed. ‘And if we’re being completely honest here, I’m doing it because I think you’re a fucking awesome player with incredible talent and potential, and I want to be there when you win your first Grand Slam. Because I know you’re going to, and I also know it’s going to be the first of many. I would have been crazy to turn this down.’
‘You think so?’ Charlie asked. It was all she could do not to hug him.
‘I fucking know so.’
‘You say “fuck” a lot,’ Charlie said. ‘I didn’t know that about you.’
Dan grinned. He glanced at his watch. ‘Come on, Warrior Princess, we have to go. Practice courts wait for no one.’
He dug for his wallet, but Charlie said, ‘I’ve got this.’
‘What, you think I’m so poor I can’t buy us some Caribbean coffee?’
Charlie rolled her eyes. She liked the new cursing, joking Dan. ‘No, I’m just thinking it’s fun to have an excuse to pull money out of my bra.’ And she plunged her hand into her shirt.
Dan averted his eyes, but it didn’t stop him from saying flirtatiously, ‘Best reason I can think of. Come on, Silver. I’ll race you back.’
‘Oooooh, you think you can beat me just because I’m a girl? I run a seven-minute mile choking for air like no one’s business.’ Charlie left the entire twenty on the table and finished the last sip of coffee. The caffeine felt like a transfusion of pure life. ‘Now, move your ass!’