Double Fault

Chapter 5

CHARLES POV:

I stood against the Ferrari outside the hotel lobby glancing at my phone to see if Florence had texted me back. My eyes shifted upward when I noticed movement towards the hotel entrance, and I saw Florence walking my direction.

She gave me a wave and smiled, then I saw her eyes shift to the car that just pulled behind me and her face fell. I followed her gaze to two guys getting out of the car and handing a key over to the valet. One of the men looked up towards Florence and smiled.

I watched the scene unravel in front of me as Florence and the two men intercepted right in front of me. The next thing I knew, three sets of eyes were meeting mine. Florence had her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, as the older man opened his mouth to me.

"Nice car there kid."

"Ugh, thanks," I said looking over to Florence who had removed her hand from her face and stepped toward me.

"Charles, meet my coach and trainer," she said tensely. "David and Gregor."

I let out a laugh, and I understood why Florence went so tense all the sudden. "Nice to meet you all, great match yesterday," I opened with.

The older man eyed me down. "Yes, my daughter played phenomenal. Happy you could cheer her on." My eyebrows furrowed at his statement and I was trying to think of a response.

"Okay, that's enough," Florence interjected stepping between her team and me shooing them on. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Nice to meet you both," I added.

The younger man half turned and spoke to Florence and me. "Sorry you are missing the scrabble game tonight, maybe next time," he said then turned away as the two guys walked toward the hotel.

I looked at Florence who looked mortified by the whole situation. I could understand why, but the whole incident was amusing. I motioned her to the car and opened the door for her as she plopped in.

When I entered on the driver's side, I was hoping to lighten her mood. "I'm more of a chess guy the night before a race."

I saw her smile and she turned to me. "Thanks," she sighed. She took a couple more seconds to regroup then opened the conversation. "So what's the plan, you taking me to space in this ship of a car?"

"How bout a speedy drive to a cafe and park," I offered and she nodded. With that, the rest of the conversation was easy driving to the little spot in London I knew.
~
I stopped the car in the lot by the park. From here it was a one mile walk to the cafe. We got out of the car, and I took a cautious lead of the walk until Florence fell into a nice pace beside me.

"So I promise to only ask this once and then we can move on, but what is it like having your dad be your coach?"

"Do you want my interview answer or my real one?"

"Entertain me," I responded cheekily.

Florence glanced at me, then she began her answer. I listened to her try to keep her answer calculated, but she would go into a rant at moments then quickly bounce back to her original storyline.

Wonderfully invasive. He is the second smartest tennis player and coach I have ever met, and he is absolutely the best at navigating the shit us players put ourselves and our teams through in a match. We are pretty good at keeping our tennis life separate  from family, but it can cross the line. It's easy to do when you're practically traveling 9 months out of the year together. We do this thing where he may say as your coach or as your dad, which is surprisingly helpful.