Free Love Game - Season 2011 by M. B. Gerard Page A

showers. It sounded like a warning. Sasha was surprised. The outburst was uncalled for and – unlike her sister – Gabriella was known as a mostly friendly though reserved girl. The loss must have hurt her badly. Sasha shook her head.
    She took a shower herself and when she got out, Gabriella had already changed, ready to leave the room. Sasha approached the younger player with a smile.
    “Listen, I just tried to be nice. I know what it feels like,” she said. Then she winked at Gabriella “Maybe you just need some time-out with a certain tennis nurse to smile again?” It was an attempt to pull Gabriella onto common ground and create the secret unity an allusion to the Tennis Nurse trash novels always produced.
    “What are you talking about?” Gabriella looked at her with real incomprehension in her eyes before she left the locker room. Sasha was stunned. This girl had never heard of Tennis Nurse .
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    “Any new names?” Lynn asked Agnes. They were sitting on a couch in a cozy restaurant back room for a special private function. Several players along with a few umpires and officials had gathered for the regular Grand Slam Tennis Nurse Trading Dinner.
    “Are you spying on me for the Love Game?” Agnes laughed. Lynn gave her a wink which confirmed Agnes’s suspicion but the French player shook her head.
    “Too early to tell, Lynn. There is someone I’m keeping an eye on. I actually gave her a Tennis Nurse novel which she gave back to me – at the players’ party of all places. She insisted she never opened it but the battered state the book is in and her clumsy attempt to give it back under the table suggest she knows the story.”
    On a table next to Lynn and Agnes a furious bargaining battle was evolving. Natsumi Takashima was one of the few players who had already read the brand-new Tennis Nurse and The Case of the Handsome Hungarian that had come out around Christmas.
    The Japanese demanded three used novels for her new one.
    “I’ll give you The Girl with the Broken Racquet and The Mystery of Court 69 . But three is too much.” Cecilia García López purred into Natsumi’s ear.
    “Chill out, Chili. There is no way I’ll give that book away for only two novels. Also, I’ve already read Court 69 two years ago.”
    Mint joined their conversation. She had a huge collection of rare Tennis Nurse novels and Chili knew she could outbid her anytime.
    “What about a signed copy of Tennis Nurse and The Secret Tournament ?”
    Natsumi gasped. The Secret Tournament was a limited edition and the signature in Mint’s copy was of none other than Monica Jordan who was rumored to have had an affair with the unknown author of the series.
    “Are you serious?” Natsumi asked but already knew the answer when Mint cracked up laughing.
    “No, girl. You know I will never give away that copy,” Mint grinned. “But I could offer three for one. How about The Girl with the Fire Eyes , The Case of the Grumpy Umpire and The Girl who Slipped Through The Net ?”
    Chili was out of the deal and she knew it. Mint always did that. Whenever Chili was trying to make an impression on someone else Mint would interfere and draw all the attention to herself. Sometimes the Spaniard wondered why she bothered at all. Angrily, she got up and looked for another table. In the far corner she spotted Morgana Doré with a pile of Tennis Nurse novels before her. Only two hours ago the French girl had advanced to the semifinal beating Angela Porovski 11-9 in the third set.
    “Is that your way of recovering from a tough three-setter?” Chili asked when she approached Morgana.
    “I will not stay long,” Morgana smiled. “I just want to trade some of my copies.” She gestured for Chili to sit down and opened one of her novels.
    “Look, I made annotations and explanatory notes for a better understanding. It is really important to know all this background information to fully grasp the impact of these novels,” Morgana