When Eva woke up the next morning, breakfast was on the night stand with a single rose. Lucas was already gone. There was a note.
'Good morning, Sexy! Wear something comfortable today, we'll be going to the club, and then we'll go to the bars tonight and have some German bier (beer)'.
Something comfortable, Eva pondered. Maybe her robe would do, and then she could drop it quickly when he needed her. Sometimes, at moments like this, it seemed like all Eva ever thought about was sex. Well, she might wear something comfortable today, but it was going to be sexy, nonetheless.
She picked out a pair of tight fitting jeans and a top that had long sleeves with cut outs on the shoulders and a plunging neck line. After her shower, she pulled her hair back in a pony tail, though she didn't wear it that way often, and put on some dangly earrings.
Eva flipped through the TV channels. He had mentioned that the commercials only came on between shows, and were quite entertaining, since they had to give the viewer some reason to watch. There was a bier commercial, and it was definitely racier than one would see in the states. The clinging wet T-shirt on the model left nothing to the imagination.
Eva found some type of documentary that seemed to look at German night life. She couldn't understand all of it. But, it showed people in clubs, lots of drinking, people on the city streets being interviewed. There were lots of neon lights and girls dancing in clubs.
They interviewed some men in offices about things, and then there was a man they were interviewing that looked like Lucas. It was Lucas! They showed the city streets again, a girl leaning over a car window talking to the guy inside. Then it seemed to follow a hooker as she went through medical examinations, and then showed her standing in the doorway of a room as men walked by. It ended, and Eva wondered what Lucas was being interviewed about in the film. That was crazy.
She turned it off, and looked out the window, taking in the view of the city. She could see some kids on inline skates at the corner. They were riding them down the stairs to the subway, and climbing back up. How was that even possible without falling? There were three or four of them, zooming along the little park walls and then careening down the stairs disappearing before returning a minute later to zoom around some more. The door opened.
"Hey, Sexy! Wow, you look great! That's perfect, and I love your hair up. Are you ready?" Lucas asked.
"You know I'm always ready for you," Eva said in a sultry voice teasing him.
"Oh, I'm ready for that, too," he agreed. "But we have to go so we can make it to the club. I don't want to make Boris wait."
"Oh, so Boris is more important than me," Eva feigned.
"Not at all, but we need to go, you'll see," he said.
They went down to the front door, and the valet brought the car around. Lucas opened the door for Eva and then went around to the driver's seat. After he pulled out, Eva decided to ask Lucas about the show on TV.
"I saw you on TV, in some documentary, but I wasn't exactly sure what it was about," Eva began.
"Oh, hmm," he remarked while turning the corner.
"It seemed to be about night life, and night clubs, and businesses that cater to those things," she went on, trying not to blurt out that it seemed to be about the German sex industry.
"Hmmm, I've been interviewed for several shows, documentaries and the like. I doubt that I've actually seen all of them," he said nonchalantly.
"Wow, you're a bigger celebrity than I thought," Eva mused. "Do people recognize you in public?" she asked.
"Not usually," he remarked. "But, sometimes."
He pulled into the parking lot of the Frankfurter Tennis club.
"I didn't know that was the type of club you were talking about," Eva laughed. "I've never really played, myself."
"You don't mind watching for a bit, do you?" he said, not really asking, it seemed.
"I didn't know you were a tennis player," Eva said, thinking that this was one more thing that she didn't know about him. "I'm learning all kinds of new things about you."
"Wunderbar!" he said, getting out and then getting her door before grabbing a bag out of the trunk.
"I love tennis clubs. I've been playing since I was about nine. I can't explain the feeling really of walking out on the court. But, it is somehow relaxing and familiar. And the game..." He paused, a look of contemplation on his face. "It's beautiful really, a combination of speed and grace, precision, geometry, gravity, and aerodynamics. There's nothing like it."
Eva could see the twinkle in his eye as he talked about it, and could tell it was something he enjoyed. It was similar to when he looked at her. He opened the door and Eva stepped in to a foyer. A man behind a counter turned and smiled.
"Ah, Herr Hanssen," he said. "So good to see you! I think you'll need your 'A' game today. Good luck!"
"Danke, Franz," he replied. "If I can return half of his serves, I think I have a chance," Lucas said with a laugh.
"You're on the main court," Franz called after him as he strode toward a tall couple nearby.
"Lucas, so good to see you," the tall man said, taking his hand in a hearty shake.
"Oh, Lucas," the tall woman almost sighed, giving him an embrace. "It's been too long; how time flies. And this must be the young lady I've heard so much about," the woman said turning toward Eva.
"Hello, my name is Lilly, and this is Boris." Boris took Eva's hand, and it seemed to disappear under his, but it was softer than Eva expected.
"So, pleased to meet you," Boris said his German accent quite obvious behind his large smile. "I see why Lucas likes you," he said with a wink. "I'll try not to beat him too badly, for your sake," he chuckled and then put his arm around Lucas and practically dragged him toward the locker room.
We'll let the boys play," Lilly said with a knowing smile, and we can get to know each other, plus I know some of Lucas' secrets," she laughed.
Lilly wrapped her arm through Eva's and turned towards the seating overlooking a tennis court. It wasn't a large area for the indoor court, but there were some people milling about as though they were waiting for something to start. Most wore tennis outfits, but not everyone.
"Lucas is such a catch, I'm quite sure all the women at the club are jealous. I've known him quite some time, and he introduced me to Boris, actually," Lilly paused. "You don't really follow tennis, do you?" she said, sympathetically. "Boris played professionally back in the 90's, but that was a long time ago."
"I thought he looked a little familiar," Eva admitted, "but I wouldn't have been able to name him."
She gestured towards the milling groups. "He still draws a little crowd when people hear he's going to play," she noted. "Let's sit over here, where we have a little privacy," she said pulling Eva along.
"How did you meet Lucas," Eva asked.
"I was a model and actress, and his production company was involved in some of the projects I worked on," she replied. "He always tried to make sure people were treated properly. It's a hard business sometimes." she explained.
Then in a whisper she added, "I also worked on the side for him sometimes, in the lean times between jobs." Lilly gave Eva a knowing look, but Eva felt like she wasn't in on the secret.
Boris and Lucas walked onto the court and walked to opposite sides and began batting the ball back and forth, talking across the net while they warmed up. Lucas seemed to hit the ball nearly as well as Boris, and they rallied easily. When someone missed a shot another ball was started immediately and they rallied again. Eva must have looked a little out of sorts, everyone knew about his business except for her.
Lilly whispered again, "You don't really know all about his business yet either do you?"
"Well, I can't say that I do, but he has promised to show me some of his businesses and real estate holdings in the local area," Eva replied.
"He's a good man, and he's done much to improve the conditions and earnings for workers in the club districts," she said emotionally. "Don't judge too quickly when you learn about his enterprises. Promise me." she implored Eva earnestly, taking her hand and squeezing it between hers.
It appeared the game was about to start. Boris tossed the ball and blasted it down the center line, rocketing it past Lucas' lunging outstretched racquet. It hit the back wall curtain with a resounding thud.
"I see you thought you had to bring out the big guns right away," Lucas commented. Boris just grinned. He lined up and rocked a couple of times before tossing the ball and striking it, sending it careening off the side line and wide away from Lucas. Lucas lunged, looking almost like a ballet dancer in his seemingly effortless motion, and somehow caught it on his racquet directing it back on a sharp angle across the court. Boris lunged at it but it was out of his reach.
"And I see you are already taking advantage of the fact that I'm an old man and slow," Boris quipped.
The points continued, each getting the advantage and then losing the advantage, with a lively banter and generally jovial mood. But, it was also apparent that they were intensely competitive and engaged, nonetheless.
Boris would serve and knife to the net, putting the ball away quickly. Lucas was scrambling and keeping the ball alive, occasionally dropping the ball softly over the net where it would bounce several times before Boris could get to it. Eva had never seen tennis like this before, and she couldn't help but sit on the edge of her seat silently urging Lucas to victory.
"They work so hard chasing after that little ball, don't they," Lilly said. "I don't mind it. I think it keeps him young."
"I didn't even know Lucas played tennis," Eva remarked. "Maybe I don't really know him at all," escaped quietly from her mouth. Lilly looked at Eva empathetically.
"Tell me what you do know about him," she encouraged.
"Well, he grew up in a wealthy family household after his parents died," Eva started, trying to think how to say the next part without saying he was a gigolo, "...and learned how to behave and how to cater to high society women. He has some business dealing with my uncle. He knew my aunt at one time, and she taught him to dance. He's kind, attentive, great in bed..." Eva couldn't believe she had just said that especially to someone she just met, but Lilly seemed so understanding and in tune with her feelings, "and I melt when he looks into my eyes."
"Maybe you know about the most important things that someone needs to know about another person," Lilly offered. "He adores you, I promise you that, and you won't find a man of better character anywhere." Then she added with a whisper, "and it doesn't hurt that he knows what he's doing in bed, now does it."
Good lord, Eva thought to herself, she's slept with him, too. Now her mind was going around in circles. Eva didn't know anything about him, he's slept with half the women in Europe, he might be involved in the German sex industry, he can dance, and play tennis, and....Eva's mind drifted to their love making session the previous night...and fuck her like no one else. Crap, the whole thing was crazy.
