If only they knew

The Meeting

It was the Tuesday of Indian wells, and as she had hoped and prayed, Dasha had avoided Anett. She was just about to go out on the court; she had heard nothing more from Daniel. She still can not imagine why Daniel was coming and why he brought Charles? What did it all have to do with Anett? She did not have time to think about it. As she talked to her coach Anett and her doubles partner for the week, Elena walked passed, ready for their match. Anett told Elena she would catch up to her as she hurried over to Dasha. She hugged her tightly, and Dasha knew in her heart something was not right with what was all going on, so she held on to Anett for longer than she usually would. It did not go unnoticed.

"Dash, what is wrong? You have been avoiding me, and now you are acting so odd. I'm terrified." Anett looked up at her, so concerned.

Anett was called by Elena for the match, and Dasha's coach Carlos was pretty keen for her focus to return. She lent into Anett and promised to talk to her about everything soon, letting her know how much she missed her. The girls parted with waves and smiles. Dasha spoke with Carlos for a few more minutes before she was called to court. She was playing an unknown American wildcard, and usually, Dasha would be super happy for this, realising that she would probably win quite easily, but she just couldn't get her mind fully into it.

As Dasha walked out, her mind was drawn back to her conversations with her best friend whilst she was in Monaco describing Charles and how handsome he was and his features; she wanted the best for her friend, and it hit her that she wanted to support Anett the way Anett always supported her Dasha smiled as she thought about when she told Anett she was bisexual.

***FLASHBACK***

"Anett, I need to talk to you. I am not sure how to tell you, but I am bisexual". Dasha was so nervous she had never spoken it aloud before. "Cool. Are you going to keep eating?". Knowing that Anett had roots in a similar society, Dasha looked solemn and figured she had lost her best friend. A couple of minutes later, Anett asked Dasha what was wrong? Dasha looked at her with a look that read 'really'? Anett explained she did not give a shit about that. She loved Dasha, and it would never change how she felt about their friendship. Both girls started to cry like babies, drank way too many cocktails and partied the night away. Looking back, Dasha realised that was the night she knew Anett was her person forever.

She looked up to see Daniel and Charles. The match started, and she won the first set over her opponent; her opponent took a really long bathroom break during the set change. Dasha was forced to sit there, staring around the stadium. Her eyes stopped at Daniel, Charles and Carlos whispering to each other; her coach was explaining to them what was going on she could make out from his pointing, they had a great time she could tell from the smiles, and then it felt like she had been punched in the boob. Dasha turned to the umpire and told her she needed to go to the bathroom. The umpire argued, but when Dasha whispered to her, she was about to throw up, the argument was over. Dasha ran so fast off to the toilet. Carlos jumped up, alarmed, wondering why Dasha had gone off script? What was happening.... Daniel and Charles looked equally alarmed.

Dasha ran into the bathroom with the image in her mind, leaned over the toilet and threw up. The official knocked on her door, telling her she needed to hurry. She walked out with tears, realising her best friend had fallen for Charles Leclerc. Dasha lost total concentration and that second set. Fuelled purely by anger and Carlos screaming at her, she won the match, she shook hands and ran off the court. Dasha dumped her bags and saw her coach, Daniel, and Charles smiling, waiting for her. Carlos had an angry face, and as she got closer, Daniel held her arms out for a hug, but she ran passed both of them, and in a slap that could only be described as echoing, she wiped the smile directly off Charles' face. Shock and gasps emanated from the behind the scenes stadium as she furiously berated him.

Anett POV

Anett and Elena were over, losing to a much better team. They hugged as they laughed. Word was spreading about Dasha playing quite severely, and Anett had planned to go meet her friend after her match. 

As Anett sat down at the player restaurant talking to Dmitry about her singles match tomorrow, she heard yelling. It wasn't uncommon for people to argue, so she brushed it aside. It wasn't until about ten seconds later that she heard who was yelling that she began to stir. It was Dasha, so without thinking, she ran, leaving Dmitry and her food behind. 

She was pretty clear in her mind, she didn't know how to fight, but she surely was not going to back down when defending her friend. As she got closer, she could see that Dasha was with two men and Anett stopped thinking she should have made Dmitry come with her. 

Anett turned and saw him and made out barely that he said something similar to were a team. Anett smiled. Dmitry was a fantastic guy to who she warmed. She ran to the men who Dasha was arguing with, both their backs turned to her, and she began to hear Dasha screaming things like, "this is your fault, and how could you do this". 

Anett didn't care, she was here to fight, but these men looked so familiar, blinded by rage, began to yell, "turn around, coward, as she ran to the first guy". 

Dasha began to scream "NO" at the top of her lungs, but it was too late. Charles had turned, and when they locked eyes, both as shocked to see each other, Anett, who was planning to punch these guys, had been emotionally punched when she saw him standing there. She was so unsure what to do. Anett had been caught. It was then Anett needed to sit. Until Dasha sat next to her and grabbed her hand. 

"Anett, I think you know Daniel, but it is about time you were introduced to Ferrari formula one driver Charles Leclerc". Dasha held on as Anett squeezed her hand lent to the bin beside her and threw up the contents of her stomach.