To those who win on the court and at home
Tennis was my obsession in high school. Visions of the pro circuit, making a lot of money, surrounded by gorgeous babes. All of that.
If only I had been a better player!
My senior year, our number 1 player won the state individual title. He went undefeated in matches that year.
Meanwhile, I was mired in the number 2 doubles team, losing about half the time. Serving was my weakness, although I could hit forehand or backhand ground strokes with decent power and accuracy. Net play was not one of my strengths, and that matters a lot in doubles.
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Twenty years later, I returned to the sport. I had played about once a month over the years, but I had been divorced for a couple of years and decided to get out and get more exercise. I worked as a financial analyst, sitting at a desk all day. It would be hard to find a more sedentary job.
I tried jogging, but that eventually bored me to tears. My apartment complex had a gym, so I spent time on the treadmill. It was boring, too, but I could wear earbuds and not worry about hearing the car bearing down on me.
Eventually, I decided to play tennis again. I found a few guys who played routinely and started hanging with them. One night, I celebrated my 40th birthday with an old college friend and got drunk for the first time in a long time. I paid the price with a brutal hangover.
It was Saturday, and I thought playing tennis might help, so I went to the local courts. At the court on the end, there was one person waiting, a woman. She was watching a mixed doubles match. I looked over at the other courts and there were multiple people waiting at each. It was this one or nothing.
I sat down on the bench next to her. She looked at me and smiled.
"Are you interested in being my doubles partner when one of these teams loses?"
"Sure. I've never played mixed doubles, but I played a lot of doubles years ago."
"That's how I learned the game, too. My name's Lia."
"I'm Mitch."
The match ended and the winners stayed while we took the court.
We had a surprisingly fun time and won our match! It's possible the previous winners were exhausted, but Lia and I agreed we won on our own.
We took on the next couple waiting and won that as well. No one else was waiting, and we were tired.
"Lia, could I buy you lunch?"
"I'd like that, but we're both a little sweaty. How about dinner instead?"
"That works for me. Do you want to meet somewhere?"
We picked a nice restaurant, but not the kind you have to dress fancy for.
At 7 pm, I walked in the front door of the restaurant, and Lia was standing there, waiting for me. She was very attractive, wearing a beautiful flowing, floral print skirt and sandals.
I walked over to her, and she kissed me on the cheek.
"Thank you for asking me out for dinner. I know I kind of boxed you into it, but I'm glad you're here."
"I'm glad you suggested it. We can celebrate our victories."
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After dinner, we talked.
"You're a good doubles partner, Mitch. What's your story?"
"I played in high school. Not much since."
"Seriously? That's rather depressing!"
"Why depressing?"
"Because you are at least as good as me, and I've been playing for 25 years or so."
"I was trying to impress you."
"Well, you did. Are you married, Mitch?"
"No. Divorced. You?"
"I was. We divorced a couple of years ago after 8 years. I wanted children, but he didn't. He couldn't save money, so I knew we would never own a home, and he just wanted to play video games. It wasn't the life I thought I would have when we married. I decided to divorce him and walk away."
"No children?"
"No. It's a good thing now, but I still want to be a mother. ... You're also divorced?"
"Yeah."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Her name was Heather. We married right after graduation. My degree was in finance. What about you?"
"I was at San Diego State. Finance also!"
"Well, Heather graduated in marketing. We worked for two years, bought a home, and decided to have a baby. We eventually had three."
"So what happened?"
"Well ... she departed"
"She died?"
"No. She left three years ago, while the kids were at school, and I was at work. We came home and her things were mostly gone. After a week I hired an investigator to find her. When he did, we filed for divorce and had her served. Surprisingly, she asked for custody, but the judge laughed. Heather gets two weeks with them each summer. She did that the first summer and I haven't heard from her since."
"How old are your kids now?"
"Heidi is 14, Jason is 12, and Michael is 9."
"How are they doing?"
"My perception is they are glad not to have to spend two weeks with their mother. They're doing well in school, and I spend a lot of time with them and helping with their homework."
"How are you doing? That's a big load."
"As tempting as it is to say I'm doing fine, in all honesty, I'm up and down. Tired. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but last night a college buddy was in town, so he and I went out. For the first time in a very long time, I got drunk. I woke up this morning with a hangover and decided to play tennis."
"You were playing with a hangover?"
She was laughing.
"You beat those people and outplayed me on a hangover!"
"I don't know that I outplayed you. Your net volleys were amazing, but yes, I had a nasty hangover."
"I hope you don't need that to play well!"
"I think the point is, I'm not doing as well as I would like, and again, in honesty, I think my children need more than me."
"A mother?"
"I was trying to say that without saying it, but yes. I've probably said too much on our first date."
"Is this a date?"
"I thought it was."
She laughed. "I thought so, too, but I thought I'd tease you. Can I ask how old you are?"
"I'm 40. How about you?"
"I'm 32 and depressed again."
"Why"
"A forty-year-old with a hangover outplayed me this morning!"
"Perhaps we should play singles together sometime. You'd discover I can't serve worth shit and my drop shots are unpredictable."
"I'd love to, but your ground strokes are solid. You said my net volleys are good, but that doesn't happen as much in singles. Still, I think we'd have fun. How about next Saturday morning?"
"That works for me. Winner buys dinner?"
"Since it'll be my turn anyway, sure."
We exchanged phone numbers, and I drove home.
When I walked into the house, Heidi and Michael were watching
A Series of Unfortunate Events.
The episode about the snakebite.
"Where's Jason?"
"He went to Jim's. He said he'd be back by 9."
