“I thought you weren’t supposed to. You know, like whenever anyone in an interview is asked if they know who they’re playing next, they always say they have no idea. I figured it was bad luck or something.”
“They’re lying when they say that. Everyone looks at the draw.”
“So…” Indy trailed off.
“So what?”
“Who are we playing?”
“Oh right, sorry.” Jasmine glanced down at the page Dom gave her and pointed out their likely opponents for their next match. “The Kapur sisters, Pallavi and Ananya.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.”
The Kapur twins were one of the top doubles teams in the world and the number one seed for this tournament. They’d both given up playing on the singles circuit a few years ago and since then had won dozens of tournaments, most notably the Australian Open. Facing them in their first match together would be like deciding to run a marathon after a couple of hours of jogging on the treadmill.
“We are so screwed,” Indy said.
“We could go watch them play. They’re scheduled for right now.”
“Why not?” Not that knowing exactly how they were going to be dismantled in a couple of days would help her nerves, but at least she’d know what she was in for.
They made their way to one of the outer courts, where the Kapur sisters were scheduled to play a wild card team directly across from where their own match had been scheduled. The crowd was sparse and they found a spot along the chain-link fence surrounding the court. There were stands on the other side, but the view was better against the fence.
Indy was just settling in to watch when a voice interrupted her.
“Indiana.”
Indy turned her head, and her jaw dropped. A few feet away was a tall man dressed in khaki pants and a crisp light blue Lacoste polo. His dark blond hair, beginning to gray at the temples, was cropped close. Caroline was beside him, hanging on his arm, her wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses hiding her identity from passersby. Not that it was working: Caroline was the kind of woman people noticed, disguise or not.
Indy knew who she was immediately. So did Jasmine, apparently.
“Who’s that with Caroline?” Jasmine asked.
“That’s my dad.”
“Your dad? But I thought…”
“So did I.” Indy pushed off the fence and crossed the pathway between them. “Hi,” she said, making sure to put a question in her tone as they both hugged her.
“I called your father,” Caroline said, kissing each of her cheeks.
“Obviously.”
Her dad had the gall to smile. “I hadn’t realized you had progressed this quickly.”
“You should’ve asked me before you called him,” Indy said, glaring at her agent.
“It is done,” Caroline said with a dismissive shrug. “Now, why are you not preparing for your match?”
“Jasmine and I got a walkover into the second round.”
“Ah,” her dad said, looking at Caroline. “Well, if there’s no match, I should go back to the hotel and call the office.”
“Good,” Indy said, trying to stifle the hurt. Of course he didn’t want to spend any actual time with her, not that she wanted to either, but she would have liked the option of turning him down flat. “My next match is the day after tomorrow. Come if you want. I don’t care.”
She spun and walked away, catching Jasmine’s eye as she passed her.
