Grudge Match

The young shapely blonde turned her back to the net and walked toward her favored spot, getting in position to serve the ball. Taking a deep breath, Katie kicked lightly against the surface of the hard court and muttered softly to herself, "Now just calm down. You've got this." But really she was thinking just how the hell did she get herself into this situation. She was certain she was the better player; after all she was ranked fifth on her college's tennis team. Going into this afternoon's match, she had fully expected to win the set in six straight. Even after seeing Monica's practice serves just before the competition started, she figured that at most she might lose one or two of the games, but in her mind the final outcome was never in doubt.

Granted it was only the second game of the set, a "grudge match" between her and this aloof, mysterious dark-haired woman, a relative newcomer at the exclusive Clayburn Country Club. And they would keep playing until one of them had secured six wins. But it wasn't just losing a game or two that mattered to Katie. It was that after each game, the losing player had to remove an article of clothing. Katie herself had set up the rules, but all she had really wanted to do was to get Monica to quit the club. "Why," she found herself wondering," had she ever agreed to play a game of strip tennis?"

******

Things had always been easy for Katie Gordon. She had led a pampered life, raised in an upper class suburb as the only daughter of a man who headed up a very successful investment firm. She enjoyed every benefit of an affluent life style, including the family's membership at the country club where, beginning at age six, she had started taking tennis lessons. Now just turned twenty-one, she had played continuously for all those years, including time on both her high school and college teams.

Perhaps the only thing more important to her than tennis was her position at the center of Clayburn's social life. There she presided over a group of friends who had known each other since they were little girls. Each one of them, Katie believed, wanted nothing better than to be her closest friend, unaware of how they would occasionally make fun of her behind her back. About to enter her senior year at college, she regarded boys her own age as too "immature" and instead flirted constantly with men in their mid to late twenties. One of them, Nicholas Thomson, was a good-looking, rising young star at her father's office who was six years old than she. Katie had first met him at the company's Christmas party, then started a romance with him several months later that had continued throughout the summer. Nicholas realized there was a distinct advantage to dating the boss's daughter while Katie felt flattered by the older man's attention.

Viewed from a distance, she had everything going for her. Most people would describe her as an extremely attractive young blonde, who -- thanks to her near constant tennis play -- kept her five foot six inch frame under 125 pounds. And with a 34-23-35 figure she had no trouble getting noticed by almost every guy at Clayburn. But those who knew her best realized that in both tennis and in her social life, Katie naively underestimated the influence of father's money. And although she was very proud of her handsome, more mature boyfriend, she did wonder occasionally if some of the attention she got was solely a result of who her father was. And these insecurities played out in various ways. At times she would lash out at people she considered to be social "inferiors." She felt her butt was too big and fretted about her weight. As a result, she could be jealous at times, especially if she caught Nicholas staring just a little too long at other women.

And as the summer wore on, Katie began to suspect that Monica Perez was one of those women. The blonde first noticed her a couple of months earlier chatting with the club's resident tennis pro, Dan Sharp. Making some discreet inquiries, Katie learned that Monica had just arrived at Clayburn and was rumored to be in her late twenties. She had been invited to join the club by Mr. Nunez, a much older gentleman who had moved to the United States from abroad several years earlier. The woman's dark hair and olive color skin certainly made her seem like a foreigner as well, but Katie had overheard her speaking in flawless English. She was tall, almost five foot ten, with an hourglass figure that definitely caught the eye of most of the male club members along with quite a few of the women. And although pleasant and congenial when approached, she kept largely to herself and certainly seemed uninterested in Katie and her circle of friends.

So, given Katie's feelings regarding Nick, it wasn't surprising that one Saturday while gossiping with her friends over lunch at the club restaurant, Katie snapped when one of them let some comment slip about how she better keep an eye on her boyfriend when Monica was around.

"Just what is that supposed to mean, Ashley?" she said staring deep into the eyes of her friend. "You know Nicholas doesn't mess around with other women now that we're together."

"If you say so," she responded, turning away from the blonde's icy glaze. "But I'm just telling you what I've heard."

"Oh, and what exactly is that?"

Another woman at the table, Amber, jumped in to try to defuse situation before things got out of hand. "She's right, Katie. It's nothing. I mean we've all heard stories about how that Monica will chase almost anything in pants."

"So you're saying she's been going after Nicholas?" she asked, with an incredulous tone to her voice. She went to take another sip of iced tea, and finding her glass was empty, yelled out at the poor unsuspecting waiter, a former high school friend of the girls who now worked summers at the club.

"Connor, aren't you good for anything? My dad helped you get this job at the club and you can't even make sure we all have something to drink?" The poor guy, who Katie and her friends knew had had a crush on the gorgeous blonde in high school, was mortified, hurrying over to make his apologies.

"Don't bother saying anything, just bring us some more iced tea," she said, talking to him as if he were a child and then dismissing him with a wave of her hand. And as Connor scurried off, she turned back to her friends and said, "I don't know what you think is going on, but I'm going to settle this right now." And grabbing her phone from her purse, she stormed out of the restaurant and stood outside on the lawn, dialing Nicholas as she walked.

He answered on the third ring, the background noise suggesting that he was out somewhere with his friends. "Listen, Nick, I need to ask you something about this Monica Perez'"

"Look," he responded, "I'm out with the guys so can this wait for later."

"No, honey," she coo'ed, beginning to calm down a bit, "it can't. You see, Amber is saying that she's heard that something is going on between you and Monica Perez."

"Katie, I barely know her. I mean jeez, didn't she just join the club recently."

"That's not the point. I just need to know that nothing is going on between you two."

The line went quiet for ten seconds, something that Katie hadn't been expecting. So she resumed, "I'm not hearing you deny it, Nick. Don't tell me...," she said, tears already welling up in her eyes.

"Well," he proceeded, carefully choosing his word, "if you must know, a couple of weeks ago when you were away for the weekend, I was having dinner at the club by myself. After eating I decided to have a nightcap and I passed this Monica at the bar. I think she may have had a few too many and," he hesitated before continuing, "she kind of made a move to grab my butt."

Katie was shocked, and as Nicholas provided more details, she felt her anger growing. He said that somehow the woman had heard that Katie was out of town and had tried to proposition him, even going so far as to try to slip her phone number into his pants pocket. "I pushed her away, but I guess it's possible someone watching might have misinterpreted that scene."

"Why didn't you tell me about it when I got home?" she pleaded.

"Oh, babe, the last thing I wanted to do was worry you. And I know how important the club is to you, so I didn't want you to have to think about it whenever you saw her there."

That seemed to give Katie an idea. Feeling her anger return, she snapped back at Nick. "You're right, I shouldn't have to think about her going after you every time I see her. I think I can take care of that right now."

Nicholas began to warn her against making any hasty decisions, but it was too late. Katie ended the call, put her phone back in her bag, and stormed off towards the tennis pro's office, situated near the courts and the locker rooms at the far end of the building. Dan's door was unlocked and the lights on, but he wasn't around. "Most likely," Katie thought to herself, "he's out on the courts giving someone a lesson," and she proceeded to head it that direction.

As she did so, she headed down a hallway and passed the entrance to the women's locker room just as Monica was emerging. Her dark hair still damp, and it appeared that she had just finished showering after playing some tennis and was now leaving.

"Oh, hello Katherine, "Monica offered, trying to pass by her as quickly as possible.

"Don't 'Oh, hi' me," the blonde snapped. "Just stay away from my Nicholas and do your prowling elsewhere."

That stopped Monica dead in her tracks. Turning to look at Katie, she calmly replied, "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. But if you think I'm interested in your boyfriend, then you are sadly mistaken. And if you're going to toss accusations like that around," she said, after a brief pause, "I believe you owe me an apology."

"An apology!" Katie gasped. "When you're the one trying to steal my man!"

The other woman's eyes, already a deep brown color, seemed to grow darker. "That is not true, and I think you should be careful what you say. Now just go back to your little group of friends and stop slandering me." She started to walk away, then turned back. "And oh, try to work harder on your tennis game. It really could use some improvement."

It was bad enough that this woman had tried to steal her boyfriend, but mentioning her tennis playing made her even angrier. For most of her life the only thing she had ever truly worked hard at and taken seriously was tennis, and she prided herself on being the best player at Clayburn. And now this nobody, this outsider, had the nerve to suggest that she should try to improve.

"Listen, Miss Perez," she lashed out, I'm tired of seeing your face around here. If you think you're better than me, let's get out on the court with our rackets and play. And I will whip your ass."

"Honestly I have no interest in playing with you unless you apologize first." Once again she turned her back on the younger woman and started to leave.

"Well then I'm going to have to tell everyone at the club that in addition to trying to pick up men in our bar, you're also afraid to face me in a match. I guess that proves you have a guilty conscience," she practically yelled at Monica.

"Listen, she spoiled brat," the other woman shot back. "I could care less what you say about me refusing to play tennis with you, but if you ever repeat that lie again about your boyfriend, I will make sure you get thrown out of this club." And with that she left the building, slamming the door behind her.

"Come back here," Katie said, her voice growing louder and louder and her face turning red. "Just who do you think you are? My daddy practically owns this club, you bitch. You'll be the one who gets thrown out."

After leaving the club, she was still so mad that she texted Nick to say she was going to his apartment, then got in her car and immediately drove there. When he showed up a couple of hours later, she repeated the conversation with Monica practically word for word. "Can you believe the nerve of her?" she ended up exclaiming.

Her boyfriend seemed surprisingly subdued. "Now babe, just calm down. And think about it. The last thing you want to do is start accusing her in public. I mean the way she approached me was kind of gross and everything, but hey, it's just not worth it to, you know, tell everybody about it."

"But I thought you'd be on my side," the blonde pouted.

"And I am," he said, putting his art around and trying to calm her down. "But I'm just thinking about what's in your best interest. I don't want things to upset you any more than they already have. Let's just forget about it."

"How can I if I have to keep seeing her face around the club? And, you know, I'd love to see Daddy get her thrown out but I don't think you can really do that. I think her husband or sugar daddy or whatever he is has like tons of money."

Suddenly Nick saw a way to take care of the entire unpleasant situation and keep her father from getting involved."Well," said Nick with a devious, look in his eye. "There may be a way to embarrass her so much that she decides to quit the club."

"Really?"Katie said, realizing that this could be the perfect solution. "How can we do that?"

"Actually," her boyfriend replied, putting his hand under her chin and turning her face to look directly at him. "You can do it, all by yourself."

Katie pulled back, completely puzzled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know when I was in high school, I went to camp every summer. There was a kid who liked to play tennis, but all the other campers hated him. But he never took the hint and kept trying to hang out with everyone, so the story goes that finally one of the guys -- the best player at the camp -- challenged him to a game. He told him that all the cool kids did it and that's how he'd get accepted into the group"

"But so what?" Katie replied. Even if he lost, I bet they couldn't force him to quit the camp"

"That was the genius of it. It was a game of strip tennis, and each game you lost you had to take off a piece of clothing. The guy lost in six games straight and had to get naked. After that, he was too embarrassed to ever show his face around those guys again. Apparently he never came back to the camp."

And so?" Katie asked hesitatingly, "do you mean I should...."

"Yep," Nick said with a big smile, "you challenge the bitch to a match. Like don't even do it to her face; you just post it on the boards at the tennis courts where they post schedules and shit. And you also leave her a note at her locker, and that's where you tell her all about the secret rules."

Katie's face began to glow and her smile broadened. "The rules of strip tennis!" she exclaimed.

"Exactly," Nick exclaimed. And with that, they began drafting the notice they'd post in public, saying that Monica had insulted her and called her a liar, and that Katie was challenging her to a grudge match with the loser apologizing to the winner. That way, it all sounded very honorable and above board. Meanwhile, they wrote out a separate note to be left at Monica's locker, explaining that it was clear that neither of them would ever apologize to the other, so they'd really be playing for their clothes, not just an apology.

Since a player has to win six games to end the match, they had to come up with six items of clothing. They both had heard rumors of topless sunbathing back in the eighties at the pool on days when kids weren't allowed, so they figured no one would stop the game until someone lost the final point and had to get completely naked. Monica would have to take off one piece each time Katie won a game, and with six wins, the match would be over. Then, just to make sure, Nick wrote down the items each woman was allowed to wear --two tops plus a bra, two bottoms (a skirt and shorts) and finally panties. Shoes and socks didn't count as both players would need to keep them on -- Katie didn't want any excuses from Perez when she beat her!

They checked Clayburn's online schedule and found out that the upcoming Saturday called for a "grown-ups only" evening party, which meant that after 4:00, no children would be allowed at the club. So, they set the time for the grudge match at 5:00, and the next day Nick plastered the boards around the club with the notice of the challenge match and Katie proudly taped the sealed letter with the rules of strip tennis on the locker marked "Perez." And then they waited.

As it turned out, Monica was out of town for most of that week, returning on the day before the intended match. It was late afternoon when she showed up for a quick game with the club pro, only to see the posted challenge outside the changing area and then to find the private note on her locker. She quickly changed into our tennis clothes and carried the note along with her racket as she went to the court to meet up with Dan.

"Do you know anything about this?" she asked, the tone of her voice sounding both perplexed and bemused.

"Do I ever!" he exclaimed. It's been the talk of the club for the last week. What is going on between the two of you?"

"You mean with her," Monica said. "Some adolescent grudge match that I refuse to play, and now she's added this," she said, thrusting the private note into Dan's hands.

He took a minute to read it, looked up at her, and then read it a second time. "This is ridiculous," he said. "I mean, I know Katie has a lot of growing up to do, but what is she thinking?"

"I have no idea, Dan, but I suspect that boyfriend of hers put her up to it. I honestly think he believes he can drive me out of here and not have to account for his behavior."

Dan nodded, having been at the other end of the bar the night of the incident and seen Nicholas drunkenly trying to grope Monica before she slapped him in the face.

"Do you think you can talk her out of this" she asked, "before it's too late?" She paused thoughtfully. "She's just a silly little girl, but if the entire club knows about this, I'll have to accept her challenge. At the same time, we both know what will happen if we play that match."

Dan nodded. "I'll do my best, but I know she left here an hour or two ago. I'll try texting her, and if nothing else, I'll be seeing her just before the match tomorrow. She asked me to serve as the umpire, just to 'keep things fair,' as she said."

"Why on earth did you agree to get involved?" Monica asked.

"That was before I knew about this," he said, waving the rules of strip tennis in his hand. "It seemed like a ridiculous plan but I guess I hoped I could somehow keep things reasonable. Now, I'm not so sure. Still, I'll try my best."

"Please do, Dan," Monica said as they took their places on the court. "In spite of it all, I feel sorry for the girl and I really don't want to see her embarrassed. But she may leave me with no choice." With that, she began the volley for serve, her shots streaking over the net and landing with pinpoint accuracy. It seemed ironic that in the time she had been at Clayburn, Monica had heard all about Katie's tennis prowess and was interested enough to watch her play on several occasions. But clearly the blonde had never asked about Monica's background or taken the time to watch her play. Had she made the slightest effort to get to know her, Katie would have realized that she had asked for a match with someone who had made it to the World Tennis Tour's Junior Finals in her native Argentina and then continued her competitive play in Europe into her mid-twenties. As Don struggled to keep up with Monica, he had no doubt about which woman would end up naked in front of everyone at the Clayburn Country Club.

And he really did do his best to try to stop things from moving forward. Katie got his messages, but Nicholas, growing more and concerned about what Dan might tell her, convinced her to ignore the request to get in touch with the tennis pro. In fact, he did everything he could to keep his girlfriend preoccupied the next day, encouraging her to go shopping and reminding her how much fun it was going to be to defeat "that woman."