Please Mind The Gap #1

21: Please mind the downfall of men

21: Please mind the downfall of men

--- pic of Ivan in media section ---

"You ready?" Teddy called to a grumbling Nathan.

She was wearing an Adidas jacket and shorts and trainers. She was clutching her tennis racket. She could see that Nathan made no effort to change into tennis gear. He donned a plain shirt and beach shorts and worn out trainers. He half-heartedly gripped his racket and followed her.

"No," he replied moodily. "And I may never be."

"Come on," Teddy said imploringly. "Maybe..." she tried to go for the trick Nathan used on her: reverse psychology. After all, ego was the downfall of men. "You're too scared to play against Ivan because he's Ivan Tsakorov. Maybe he'll be too good for you. Don't worry. I completely understand if you're too weak to play against-"

"Ted," Nathan interrupted, smirking. "You should know that reverse psychology doesn't work on me."

Okay, so ego wasn't the downfall of all men. Apparently, ego was her downfall. Teddy tried for guilt.

"But Nathan..." she gave a huge pretend sniff she hoped sounded sincere. "I thought you liked me..."

His face softened. "But as it's for you..."

Teddy smiled smugly. Correction: Teddy was the downfall of one man. "You fell for that."

Nathan rolled his eyes and groaned. "I know that. But I can sense that there's no saying no to you."

"Good," Teddy said, satisfied. "I can feel that the Force is strong within you. You sense correctly."

"Star Wars and Harry Potter?" Nathan laughed. "Never knew you had it in you."

"I'm full of surprises. Come on," she urged him. "Is Waves nearby?"

"Sort of, yeah. Maybe twenty minutes away without traffic."

"Great," Teddy said. "Let's go."

---

It took them forty minutes to get there due to an argument between a cab driver, a motorcyclist, and a traffic enforcer; something about an old lady and a traffic light or the markings on the street. Nathan wasn't sure but there definitely was an old lady.

Either way, the whole heated discussion - with much yelling and obscene hand gestures - took thirteen minutes and resulted in some private car drivers punching the cab driver. Or the motorcyclist. Whatever.

Anyway, Teddy was one of the people who yelled rudely at the cab driver - or motorcyclist, Nathan wasn't sure. No surprise there, he thought. Finally, a policeman came and yelled at them all.

Everyone retreated sheepishly to their positions and everything went back to normal. Happy ending.

They arrived at the small tennis court to meet Ivan. A large man with dark hair in a suit greeted them, arms crossed and legs apart in a stern pose.

"Who are you?" He rumbled with a strong brogue in his voice.

"We're here to meet Ivan Tsakorov," Teddy said, still fuming from the Great Driver Dispute. "If you don't take us to him, I'll punch you like I did with the cab driver!"

Nathan sighed. "Calm down, Ted." He turned to the large man who looked befuddled. "I'm Nathan Wren and this is Teddy Errol. Tsakorov asked to meet with us."

The man nodded and stalked off to tell Ivan. After a few moments, the blond haired Russian-born Englishman appeared in a light green and verdigris Nike attire.