It Starts with Love

Chapter 7 - Loss

A/N: Surprise! It's a double update. Make sure to read Chapter 6 first. This was a hard chapter to write :( I hope I did it well. Let me know in the comments please! Also, I know my French is inaccurate, feel free to correct me :)

Maybe it was the deviation from her match day routine, maybe it was her birthday falling on the most inopportune time, maybe it was her impromptu surprise birthday party, or maybe it was the unplanned confession she made last night. Whatever it was, something had set Taliana's day off.

It began the moment she woke up. Instead of waking up alone, like she usually did on match day, she rolled into her sister's sleeping figure. It took her a few minutes to fully wake up. By the time she was conscious and coherent, her parents, accompanied by Francis, Patricia, and James, had filed into her room with balloons and a cake. It was her 20th birthday. In the busyness of things, Taliana had actually forgotten her own birthday. She blew her cake and danced around with the people she loved the most.

James was anything if not consistent. Match days always meant squeezing in a quick practice to get her moving well. For the first time in years, he uncharacteristically skipped today. "You deserve some rest. You're ready, anyway," he had said.

"I'm going out for a walk," Taliana informed her team and family who were still partying it up in her room.

So, it was with an empty schedule that Taliana walked out of the celebrations, which were still ongoing well into the day. She had begged off eating more of the cake and said that she needed a few hours to herself to get into the right headspace for her match. At first, she wondered around the place with no sense of direction. Soon, though, her feet started pulling her towards one of the smaller courts. There weren't a lot of people watching but it was a respectable crowd.

Without hesitation, she slipped into Court 5. She kept her head down until she had reached the top of the side bleachers. When she finally looked up, she couldn't believe her luck. She had, unknowingly, chosen Stefanos' match. No matter how much she wanted to get up and leave, though, her feet wouldn't respond. Again, she was captivated by watching him play.

It was already the third set and they both had a set each. Stefanos was serving. How very simple he was. He had no quirks, no service routine. What he did have was a tell. He adjusted his grip on the racquet then glanced at the other side of the court. It wasn't obvious but it was there. He had adjusted his grip once. Wide serve. He threw the ball up and swung. He hit it wide. Taliana almost felt proud for still knowing this about him. She caught herself, though. She had no right.

If there was one thing Stefanos couldn't bear, it was a first-round loss. He always thought it unacceptable to exit a tournament so early. The last time he had lost in the first round was in Miami. He had been so upset about it that he took it out on their relationship. Space, he said he needed space. And so, he had gotten his wish. There was now an infinite amount of space between them. If only things had been different.

Bile rose up Taliana's throat. This was not something she needed today. She stood up and quickly exited the court. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach that she couldn't get rid of. Even as she stood in the locker rooms, dressed for the match already. James had already dropped by with his usual pep talk and pre-match instructions.

In the hallway leading to court Suzanne-Lenglen, Taliana shook off all her worries and tried to leave them behind before stepping in the court. She waved once to the crowd then took her seat on the bench. She won the coin toss and asked to receive.

As per usual, they had a few minutes of warmup. Taliana had never met her opponent before that match. She was a qualifier, virtually unknown. She tried not to think about this too much, though, because she wanted to think of her opponent as a worthy adversary.