Double Fault

Chapter 16

PIERRE'S POV:

I watched my dearest friend across the table. There was a side to him only his closest circle knew when he was most comfortable.

He was animated, not afraid to let loose, listening and sharing stories, and most importantly he was talking about his family. He kept stories of his father close to him, and I've only heard him share about his dad a handful of times in my life. Here he was sharing stories about how his dad was worried he was a terrible driver or how his dad took him on his first diving trip. I watched while he would brush his shoulder against Florence's or rest his hand on her knee without a second thought. I smirked, damn he's in trouble.

Kika was picking up on it too, giving me playful nudges under the table. She didn't miss anything, one of the many things I loved about her.

"So what's on the agenda for tonight," I asked curiously as the conversation moved on. All of us have finished dinner at this point.

"Well you know a night swim the first evening at sea is the tradition," Charles said reading my mind.

Kika spoke up trying to object, but she knew better after last year. "What if Florence and I chat over wine while you two swim with sharks?"

"I do enjoy wine and chat," Florence offered trying to get out of it too. "I may even clean up after dinner," she said trying to sweeten the deal.

"No no," Charles said jumping into the conversation. "Règles du capitaine [captain's rules].

"Just because I don't own a yacht doesn't mean you can make up rules," Kika said putting up a fight.

"Sure you can, just marry Pierre and you can have your own," Charles teased causing me to scoff at him.

"We will marry for love," my tone dramatic. And yachts, I heard Kika blurt out causing all of us to chuckle.

"Until then, Capitaine says night swim in one hour," Charles announced over the table.

I was shocked when I heard perfect French escape Florence's mouth. "Tu ne gagneras pas [you will not win]." I had no idea she was fluent in our language causing both Kika and I to look at each other while Charles seemed un-phased. The rest of our conversation around the dinner table resumed in French, a welcome surprise.
~
Florence and I sat together while Charles and Kika cleaned up after dinner. Kika was eager to get Charles to share about Florence so she made a point to keep the wine flowing for all of us. When Kika finished topping off both Florence and I's glasses, she made her way back to the kitchen.

Our conversation started with how no one would be interested in early mornings, so Florence and I made a pact to do morning workout togethers unless we were really nursing hangovers. I was always interested in finding out how athletes in other sports prepped, and would add my favorite things to my workouts.  The conversation led us to tennis and her other Wimbledon matches before the final, she was finally sharing information freely.

"So what happened in the final," I cut in taking my chance. By her reaction, I knew she hadn't talked about it yet. She went silent but stayed focused on her hands grasping the wine.

"She beat me," Florence offered simply but continued. "I wouldn't say she's a better tennis player than me, but she had the better match that day. She only broke my serve once the entire time and managed to win it it from there. Even when I kept forcing more tiebreaker points, she didn't budge or give me a chance with an error. It was meant to be her day, not mine." She kept her eyes down then looked up. "Or at least that's what my sports psych told me to say."

I chuckled and sipped my wine. "I'm an avid tennis fan Florence, and I think you're day is coming," I said while we touched our wine glasses in a cheers.