Nobody Is Jealous Of You - Part 5

“…The Federation doesn’t just ban you based on random photography and hearsay,” Dimitri jumped in, calling the curtain on Ailis’s soap opera. It seemed like she enjoyed narrating her humiliation and devastation to him because she assumed he had more patience with her than the rest of them. “So what did you tell them?” Dimitri asked sternly.

Ailis’s eyes darted around, scanning their surroundings. She wanted to ensure her response did not fall on the wrong ears. She pushed in her chair after catching Madge’s eye and gave her a go-screw-yourself look. Madge quickly looked away, tempted to give her the finger. But Phillipe shook his head, cautioning her to let it go.

“I really don’t think this is the best place to tell you—”

“Venues aside, I’m here, so don’t waste my time and start talking.” He was relentless. Dimitri had just about had enough of her secrets and her need-to-know-when-to-know policy over the last few weeks. It made it difficult for him to know how to protect himself, especially with Miranda Bardic snooping around. He wanted to be patient with Ailis, even though she possessed a personality that made her intolerable. And despite their questionable friendship, he would love nothing more than to have nothing to do with her.

“I didn’t plead to anything. They just asked me for a test and I said no.”

“Were you going to fail it?”

Ailis didn’t trust Dimitri with the truth, so she relied on her poker face to bail her out of that one. But Dimitri could see the ocean behind her pupils and knew she was hiding something. That was the only confirmation he needed to know that he should stay away.

“See, this is why I can’t help you with this, Ailis.”

“Don’t do that.” Ailis frowned, disliking his accusatory tone. “I thought I was doing you a favour by taking the fall.”

“I told you they weren’t mine and how to get rid of them.”

“I didn’t believe you.” Her voice quivered. “You’d kill a Throne and an Heir if it meant you were able to be number one. And you never made that a secret.”

“I was joking, you idiot!” Dimitri fought to control his temper. “You’re the one with a one-to-twenty record against Nelly Aruba. That’s humiliation! You’d think you’d be retired by now!”

Ailis was immune to Dimitri’s words. She had heard it all before from colleagues and strangers alike. There were days when she felt the burn, and on those days she wanted to crawl into a hole. But on other days, she brushed it off.

“I didn’t come here to play tag, Ailis…” he said, watching her watching him. “Just tell me what you told the Tennis Federation and I’ll be out of your way.”

Ailis nodded understandingly. “Did Miranda talk to you?”

The annoyance on Dimitri’s face at the mention of her name proved he wasn’t a fan of the lady. He had had a couple of unpleasant run-ins with Miranda, most of them involving him slamming the door in her face. And the last time she tried to get him to talk, she tried to guilt-trip him by saying, “It’s sad that you’re the leading man in this love story and you couldn’t give two cents about what happens to Ailis.”

It would have struck a chord with him if empathy had been his strong suit, or if Ailis and he had been on the best of terms, as she liked to advertise.

“She’s under the strange impression that you’re protecting me,” Dimitri told Ailis.

“Why’s that hard to believe?”

“Because we were poison!” Dimitri exclaimed.

The look on his face was more perplexed than confused. He couldn’t comprehend how Ailis, given how things had been when they dated, believed that they stood a chance. They were bearable as friends, and he didn’t know how he had gone from there to being smitten with her. But even so, throughout their relationship, Ailis had complained constantly about his absence, his insouciant attitude towards everything and everyone, his friends whom she found obnoxious, and the wedge between herself and her parents because of him. And he had been drained by her possessive and obsessive qualities.

So what was she holding on to? It bewildered him.

“And I don’t think you’d put your career in jeopardy for a foetus, let alone a living being,” Dimitri added flatly, as if she were the Ursula of the land.

Before Ailis could defend herself, something she found herself doing a lot lately, a waitress interrupted them.

The English-muffin-inspired veggie burger and fries she had ordered could give her the energy she needed to survive Dimitri. It wasn’t a cheat day, but she didn’t have a Grand Slam around the corner like the rest of her peers. And her depression had sparked quite an appetite in her, so she figured she was going to allow herself to enjoy the spoils.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” The waitress batted her eyes at Dimitri, who was satisfied with the water in front of him.

“I think he’s fine,” Ailis interjected, dismissing her.

She knew Dimitri could do whatever he wanted with whoever he pleased, but she didn’t appreciate the idea of allowing it to happen in her presence. His feelings for her may have dried up and soured, but hers for him still lingered.

“Why don’t you come over tonight and I can explain things without feeling like there’s a microphone attached to my lip?”

Dimitri dismissed the invitation by simply waving at Nelly. She greeted him with a smile from across the room as she got up to leave. Ailis caught their exchange, rolling her eyes in the process.

“I thought she didn’t like you.”

Ailis picked up her fork, playing with the French fries on her plate before putting one in her mouth. Dimitri wasn’t a fan of anybody who ate and talked at the same time; it was his golden rule. And so, as she expected, he was going to sit there and wait until her plate was clean.

But just because Dimitri didn’t like it, it never stopped Ailis from trying to break him out of the habit. They hadn’t seen each other in weeks and had communicated very little over the phone. And so she thought there was no better moment than then to catch up.

She picked his brain for information about his training for the Cardinal Open, but he didn’t engage. She moved on to quizzing him about his relationship status, something she knew irked him, especially when it came to gossip. And so she was bound to get a response.

“I’ve heard rumours about you and Feya Yates—”

“I’ve moved on from tennis players,” he shut her down quickly.

He didn’t elaborate any further. She then probed him about his thoughts on Throne’s comments regarding men’s and women’s pay in tennis. But his “I couldn’t care less” gaze was her only response.

“So when will your P.I. know the truth about whoever it is you put yourself on the line for?”

By P.I., he was referring to Miranda.

“I’m telling you the truth, Dimitri. I thought you were in trouble.”

Dimitri shook his head, not wanting to hear any of it.

“What happened to the collector, Ailis?”

“Nothing happened, as far as I’m concerned. I just kept the drugs!” she hissed. “I got a call instead…” Ailis embarked, hoping he’d be convinced by the end. “From someone called ‘Anon’, telling me he was a friend—”

“I don’t know anybody called ‘Anon’,” Dimitri cut in.

“But she knew a lot about you. And he told me how I should keep the meds. That you were in trouble.” Ailis was deliberately mixing the gender pronouns. She still couldn’t decide whether she was talking to a man or a woman.

Dimitri laughed. He found it humorous that someone as intelligent as Ailis could so easily be duped by the word of a stranger. But Ailis didn’t let his cynicism discourage her.

“Well, whoever it was said you had a problem and was freaking out that you were going to get caught. They ordered me to keep it quiet. So I had to make sure that the product didn’t get back to you. That’s what ‘Anon’ kept saying. And so, when this ‘collector’ came, I fibbed and said you told me to keep them.”

Dimitri started laughing again.

“It’s not funny, Dimitri. Your crowd aren’t the most congenial group of people. So I could see how you’d get wrapped into this lifestyle.”

Dimitri’s laughter transformed from restrained to erratic very quickly. If he continued any further, he’d be better off in an asylum.

“My friends didn’t like you, Ailis. Just because they didn’t like you doesn’t make them criminals.”

“Are you sure about that? Friends don’t give people titles like ‘collector’ unless you’re running some kind of operation,” Ailis said, met by the frown that never left his face.

She had always struggled to read Dimitri; he wasn’t exactly an open book like the other men she had dated. And when he did open up, it was strictly about tennis, nothing else. Which was why drugs and Dimitri didn’t seem far-fetched.

“The phoenix on your shoulder blade. It means something, doesn’t it?”

She looked at the same design on her wrist, but hers was recent and had a lot to do with her crazy, stupid love for him.

“You’re a real Oscar, Ailis!” His voice did not quiver.

“It’s not a performance, Dimitri. You know that. I’m onto something…” Ailis maintained eye contact. “‘Anon’ never stopped texting me, Dimitri—”

“So you made a new friend—”

“You know it’s more than that. You said it yourself: you don’t know this person, although I beg to differ. But I really don’t know this person, yet he knows a lot about me. And I think he framed me…”

Dimitri dismissed her with an eye roll, not wanting to hear any of it. Ailis questioned whether his ignorance was feigned or real.

“Whatever you’ve gotten yourself into, you’re on your own.”

Dimitri got up from his seat. He walked over to give her a kiss on the cheek, putting on a show in case anybody was watching.

When he was gone, she dug into her purse, pulled out her cell phone and rapidly texted ‘Anon’, a contact on her phone.

 

Dimitri doesn’t know anything. Why are you lying to me?

 

Ailis looked at her phone, waiting for a response.

“You’re finally alone…”

Ailis turned around, startled by the familiar voice. The void expression on her face was welcoming enough for the man to make himself comfortable opposite her.

“So you’re working with Miranda Bardic,” he said as he sat down. He signalled a waiter his way, paying little attention to the menu. “You’ve always struck me as bold, not stupid.”

“I’ve never asked you about your affairs, William. Why are you taking a sudden interest in mine?” Ailis responded.

Her phone went off, and a text from ‘Anon’ came through. She pulled the device closer to her before reading the text.

 

The only way you remain unscathed is to maintain your innocence. So keep your mouth shut and you’ll still have a career.

xoxo