The next few days pass in a blur. I train hard and fast. The countdown until the US Open constantly flashing in my mind.
Every time I opened instagram or TikTok or any social media, it would explode in media buzz about the US Open, we're still a couple of weeks out and it's already the trending topic across social media's. TikTok is alive with those 'edits' with dramatic music over it with me and Nicki.
But the second my hand grasps a racquet, it all fades away.
I have one goal.
And nothing is going to get in my way.
It was late one of the nights.
My uncle had retreated back to his own house, and I was about to head to bed with my book for half an hour before I go to sleep.
My hand was on the light switch when my doorbell sounded through the house.
Who the hell is at my door this late at night?
With a sigh, I turned around and walked back down the hallway and pulled open the front door.
"Oh hey" I say,
Lewis was standing there, his hands in his jacket pocket with a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Do you want to make a song?" He blurts out
I get flashbacks to this exact scene a couple of months ago when he said those exact words to me after the met Gala, after I was called a bitch on live tv and he showed up at my hotel room door and asked me the same question.
It's almost laughable how much life has changed since that night.
I feel myself laughing slightly as he breaks into a smile, he's no doubt also getting Deja vu
"I'll grab my coat" I say
*****
A few hours later and we've got one whole song done and we're both feeling absolutely euphoric.
"Play it again" I yell throughout the studio.
Lewis who was standing on the other side of the glass in front of the technical buttons, laughs loudly before pressing a button and the opening chords begin to blast through the stadium.
Immediately I start tapping my foot, the melody is perfect, the beat is perfect. Lewis brilliantly brought my feable humming beats to life and turned it into real music to mix with the lyrics I wrote after Wimbledon.
By the end of the song we're re both laughing. I walk back over to the microphone and put the headphones on to hear Lewis while looking at him on the other side of the glass
"You got any more lyrics?" He asks
"Oh I've got notebooks upon notebooks" I laugh "but we got time, we should make one more"
"I'm ready if you are"
"You direct this one, what style are we going for?"
"I can't, it's your song"
"If it's left up to me, we'll be here until after the US Open, pick any style you want, I got range, I promise"
He pauses for a moment, staring at me softly through the glass as he thinks
"Can you rap?"
After many hours of work, laughter, google searches and a well earned midnight order of McDonald's, between the two of us, we've made three songs.
"That was so fun" I say as I begin to wind up the wire that was connected to a microphone.
"I forgot how much fun music production can be" Lewis said as he mirrored my actions with the wire for the other microphone
"How'd you get into it in the first place?"
"Got bored" he shrugged "there's not a lot you can do while sitting in your hotel room by yourself, so I taught myself how to do it during my down time. So what's the plan with these songs?"
"I don't know yet" I shrugged "I'll probably release them, why not you know"
"They're really great Laney" he spoke,
"Thank you Hamilton" I say
I feel my heart drop slightly at how sincere his words are. The man standing before me is one of the most genuinely kind people I've ever met.
The thought of the US Open trophy flashes through my mind, I think back to last year. Sitting in the stands as Nicki lifts the trophy to tie my record.
I don't have another choice.
Lewis takes a step towards me. Very slowly, he reaches over and takes the wrapped up wires from my hand and drops them on top of a speaker beside us.
He's standing right in front of me. Only a few centimetres separated us.
If I were to stand on my toes and lean forward slightly I'd be able to kiss him.
"Laney, I -" he begins to say, leaning forward slightly
"No" I interrupt him "I need to speak to you"
"Oh" he says. He blinks hard and I can see him visibly tense as he takes a step backwards, leaving a bit of space separating us "what do you need to talk about"
I fidget with the hem of my top. I don't want to say this. I'd rather anything else.
The image of the US Open trophy flashes through my head, and then the image of Nicki lifting it as I stand beside her.
"I don't want to see you anymore"
He falters for a moment before saying "what?"
"I don't want to see you anymore. I think it was a mistake ever becoming friends with you" Guilt thrashes through my veins and burns my throat "and I thought I could ignore your behaviour towards my brother but I can't. You aren't a good person and I won't allow myself to be friends with someone who acts like that towards my family"
Lie, lie, lie.
How can I bring myself to lie like this? To one of the sweetest human beings in the world
"Laney-" he murmurs, the ache in his tone crushes my soul
"No Lewis. I don't want to be around you ever again"
I can see the hurt in his eyes as he stares back at me.
"You're rude and selfish, and arrogant and I have better things that I could be wasting my time on"
He swallows before his eyes drop to the ground
"If that's how you feel" he mumbles "I guess I'll be going then"
He turns and picks his jacket off the speaker he had left it on a few hours later
"Have a nice life Ricciardo"
And he walks out the door without glancing back.
YOU ARE READING
She's back ~ L. Hamilton
FanfictionDelaney Ricciardo is fierce and her determined to win at any cost has not made her well liked. But by the time she retires from tennis she is a twenty four grand slam winner and regarded as the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen. But si...
