Matchpoint

Chapter 18:

The next few days seemed to fly by like a blur. Dom doesn't speak to me, I don't speak to Dom. We hit the ball back and forth, but that is the extent of our interactions.

I fear the moment the article on Dom is published. I don't know what the journalist will choose to use or how she will twist the tale to create more drama.

In fact, I try my best to forget about it. The more I dwell on it, the worse I feel about what was said.

It isn't till the Tuesday, a week before Monte Carlos that I am reminded of that goddamn awful interview.

I'm jogging down the path towards my house. The morning sun is just poking out behind the trees. Its sun rays are reaching for me like tiny little hands.

I've got my headphones in, listening to my morning mix, I'm completely unaware of any of my surroundings, exactly how I like it.

Until a body steps out onto the path, their hip jutted out in a perfect stance, and their manicured nails curled around their phone.

She gestures for me to unplug my headphones, so, unwillingly, I cooperate and stare at her with two questioning eyes.

Holly smiles at me, slowly walking so that we meet halfway. "These photos of you and Dom look pretty intense."

The moment the words leave her mouth, I freeze in place.

"Like, you could've told me there was something going on between you and Dom." She smirks, taping her phone playfully.

"There is nothing going on between Dom and I." I mutter, shoving the headphones back into my ear.

However, Holly shoves her phone in my face, and I am met with one intense picture. It must have been one the photographer took mid fight with Dom. His face is inches from mine, jaw tense with frustration. But amid that all, the anger, the tension that is so clear in the picture, Dom's eyes are pouring into mine just as mine are to his, and something about it seems almost too intimate to be published in a public paper.

"I mean, not to mention the comments made by Dom about Ladley, yikes." Holly shakes her head in shock.

My eyes scan the article on Holly's phone, and Holly ushers me over to a bench, where I sit and gawk over the writing.

Dominic Fraser is gearing up for his next tournament, and from what we gather, he thinks he's going to be the one to watch on the court.

Fraser's recent changes in coaching may result in a new style of player, but things we can all be assured of are Dom's firey personality, on and off the court.

"I think it's just who I am." Said the golden boy. "It's my passion, I let it get the best of me, and when I believe something to be true, I likely won't let it go."

Whether that's the call of the referee on court or the role people play in his tennis career, Dom has shown us time and time again to the extent he will go to prove a point.

We were lucky enough to see such passion when Dom was photographed with hitting partner Clove Dunn, infamous daughter of the Dunn's, who agreed to step into the role of our missing model.

Dom spoke highly of his new hitting partner, stating that "she has a keen eye for the game and picks up [Dominic's] mistakes with ease," and, to our readers delight "[he's] already seen improvement in [his] game play from her detailed criticism and coaching".

"So, who is going to tell Ladley that you're pretty much coaching, Mr Fraser?" Holly asks softly, but there is a sneaky smile that is stretching across her face.