Nine

LISSA AND I WERE ALONE at Opens. Our sportswear was on consignment in the Raquethon booth, though we had to swing by each day and replenish the stock. It hadn’t started snowing in Minneapolis yet when we arrived on Tuesday, but the temperatures were in the thirties at night and forties during the day.

I entered the tournament ranked ninth by virtue of the points I’d won at Intercollegiates and World’s. I was lucky. That meant I drew a bye in the round of 32 that played Wednesday. I had the day to get comfortable with the area and get some practice in at the Calhoun Beach Club, which had offered its facilities to competitors. Lissa and I were defending champions in mixed doubles, so we wouldn’t play until Friday. Lissa had decided not to defend her Open title. She wasn’t planning to compete at that level any longer.

We had a good workout at the club and marveled at their walled courts. There was no glass wall for these courts. Instead, there was a wide-open area of about four feet at the top of the back wall where observers could watch from above. If the ball flew out the open area, it was an automatic replay. In the hour we worked out, we never sent a ball out that hole. We just don’t use that part of the box much.

We got back in time to meet with the representatives from Raquethon. We carted boxes of women’s outfits and warm-ups to their booth. Fortunately, we don’t have to do anything for the Ice Queen Knights by Raquethon because they own all the stock. They were giving our inventory good display space, but we both anticipated that our sales wouldn’t come near what they’d been last year with our own dedicated booth. Still, our online sales were increasing steadily.

Wednesday night I took Lissa to dinner. I’d insisted she bring fancy clothes and I wore my black suit. The little black dress has never looked so good on anyone. Lissa usually prefers cream and pastels, but this black dress was unbelievably gorgeous. It fell just below her left knee, but was cut in a wedge to expose six inches above her right knee. The panels that covered her boobs—barely—had a deep plunge in front. Two thin straps fell from the back of her shoulders to just below her shoulder blades where they joined the rest of the dress. She wore strappy high heels that let her tower over me by about four inches. I didn’t mind at all!

Even though the restaurant was only a few blocks from our hotel, I called a cab. She wasn’t walking far in those heels. The cab fare was about three-eighty and I gave him a ten. He said he’d meet us back at the restaurant in two hours.

We were seated at the restaurant and after we looked at the menu, they rolled a cart of meat out and explained the different cuts. We each ordered a filet mignon. We had a fantastic salad. The meat was perfect and so tender you didn’t need a steak knife. And the brownie they served for dessert with coffee was unbelievable. Unlike the steak, they served the brownie with a steak knife. It was easily two inches thick and topped with double that much whipped cream, surrounded with strawberries and drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrup.

Enough about the food already. I’m a guy. So sue me.

“Lissa, have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“You might have mentioned it, but it could be my imagination,” she answered. I reached over and kissed her, licking a little dab of whipped cream off the corner of her mouth.

“It seems like we haven’t been alone together since ... what ... our Valentine’s Day outing? I miss being with only you sometimes.”

“That was a wonderful day. Our dance cards have been full.”

“God! I’m glad that some of that is over. Painting the mural was exciting, but I felt like I was in a panic half the time. School seems so much easier now.”

“It should. You’re twenty-one now, Tony.”

“Wow. That makes it sound like I’m an adult and could possibly win the affection of a gorgeous runway model,” I laughed.

“You could get lucky.”

“I had kind of an epiphany when I was preparing for World’s,” I said. “You got there first. I’m not going to be a pro racquetball player. Maybe not even a competitor once I graduate from school.”

“I thought that when you registered for Opens. You know you’re not going to meet Brian Summers by not entering the Open competition.”

“But I belong in the Men’s Elite. I decided that I’m not going to compete with the pros. Let Brian have that challenge,” I said.

“You’d still like to play him.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I still will. But there’s something else.”

“Yes lover?”

“Win or lose, I’m not going to just tease you this week.”

“You’re not?”

“No. You are too special to waste a week just teasing,” I said. “I want to hold you and love you. I want to feel your body tense beneath mine as you rise to your climax. I want to fill you with my seed until you are overflowing on me. Lissa, darling, I want to make love to you.”

“Oh, Tony...”

Our waiter chose that moment to refill our coffee cups and drop off the check. I didn’t bother to look at it. I was sure what I’d see. I put two hundred-dollar bills in the little leather folder and handed it back.

“Do you see this beautiful woman I’m with?” I asked him.

“Yes sir. She is hard to miss, sir.”

“Good answer. Keep the change.”

“Thank you, sir.” The waiter left and we were alone again.

“Tony, the meal had to have been...”

“About a hundred sixty. Thank heavens we didn’t drink.”

“You are so suave.”

“Come on, darling. Our cab should be waiting.”

Minneapolis is cool—in addition to being cold. We stood out in front of their landmark building, the Foshay Tower, and there was a bus stop there. They play music—well, to be specific, they play waltzes—in the bus shelters. Our cab wasn’t there yet, so I took Lissa in my arms and we danced on the sidewalk to the music that was piped into the bus shelters. In a few minutes, our cab pulled to the curb.

“Would you mind taking us on a little drive?” I asked the cabby.

“Not at all. Where would you like to go?” he asked.

“We were at the Calhoun Beach Club earlier and I was told driving around the lakes was a nice ride. How about that?”

“Certainly. It’ll be about thirty dollars to do all three lakes and come back to your hotel.”

“That’s fine. Thanks.”

The driver pointed out a few things to us as we drove, but mostly, I just held Lissa in my arms and looked at the big houses around the lake. We passed the Calhoun Beach Club on the west side and then went down the side of Lake Calhoun. At the south end of the lake, the driver turned off again and we drove around Lake Harriet. Then we drove up the east side of all three lakes and cut into town back to our hotel while I kissed Lissa for the last couple of miles.

I noticed the driver hadn’t turned on the meter, so I handed him two twenties. He thanked me and we headed to our room. The rest of the week we could eat thin soup and stale bread. Tonight was worth it.

The amateur matches were divided between a fitness center downtown and another one way out in St. Louis Park, west of town. My first match was in the boonies. Lissa and I caught the shuttle at nine for my first match at eleven. My match began right on time. I faced a tough local competitor who had won a match the day before. I’d been plugged into some good rock and roll on my headset this morning and I entered the court more relaxed and ready than I’d ever felt. I took him in straight games. We traded points in the first game until I broke loose at ten and piled on the points. I took the second game by eleven.

I managed to watch another match while we were still at the club and then took advantage of the elegant locker room facilities and spa before we headed back into town on the next shuttle. We checked in at the Raquethon booth at Target Center and made sure our stock was replenished and looking good. That left us with the rest of the day free.