Cutesy

How nice men treat women lol. Soooo cute!!! You never need grand gestures...just simple thoughtful ones. 

~

Oh, I say. Hey. I just remembered. I have a gift for you. I knew it was your birthday, so I made you a card. Happy Birthday.

She takes the card, looks at it for several seconds, then looks up, touched.

How did you know it was my birthday?

I just—know.

Thank you, she says. Really.

She walks away quickly.

THE NEXT DAY she’s coming off the practice courts just as Brad and I arrive. This time there there are mobs of fans and reporters all around and she seems painfully self-conscious. She slows, gives us a half wave, and in a stage whisper says: How can I reach you?

I’ll give my number to Heinz.

OK.

Goodbye.

Bye.

After practice Perry and Brad and I sit around the house we’ve rented, debating when she’s going to call.

Soon, Brad says.

Very soon, Perry says.

The day passes without a call.

Another day passes.

I’m in agony. Wimbledon starts Monday, and I can’t sleep, can’t think. Sleeping pills are powerless against this kind of anxiety.

She had better call, Brad says, or you’re going to lose in the first round.

Saturday night, just after dinner, the phone rings.

Hello?

Hi. It’s Stefanie.

Stefanie?

Stefanie.

Stefanie—Graf?

Yes.

~

"How should I know when your bday is?" Knowing full well when it is - NOT how nice people treat anyone lmao. 

"I'm a kind person" 💀💀💀

Oof. 😅😅

~

I’M IN CANADA, she’s in New York. I’m in Vegas, she’s in Los Angeles. We stay connected by phone. One night she asks for a rundown of my favorites. Song. Book. Food. Movie.

You’ve probably never heard of my favorite movie.

Tell me, she says.

It came out several years ago. It’s called Shadowlands. It’s about C. S. Lewis, the writer.

I hear a sound like the phone dropping.

That’s impossible, she says. That’s simply not possible. That’s my favorite movie.

It’s about committing, opening yourself to love.

Yes, she says. Yes, it is, I know.

We are like blocks of stone … blows of His chisel which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.

Yes. Yes. Perfect.

~

Yes. Sometimes when everything aligns, you realise that the mirror to yourself is simply a person who shares your loves and your values. That's all. It's not hard, it's the easiest thing in the world to slip into the familiar with them. Maybe cuz you just know this is it, and that you are meant to be. 

~

There is much I want to say to Pete, about marriage, about actresses, but I can’t. Ours isn’t that kind of relationship. There is much I’d like to ask him—about how he stays so fo-cused, about whether or not he regrets devoting so much of his life to tennis. Our different personalities, our ongoing rivalry, precludes such intimacy. I realize that despite the effect we’ve had on each other, despite our quasi-friendship, we’re strangers, and may always be. I wish him the best, and I mean it. To my mind, being with the right woman is true happiness.

After all the time I’ve spent putting together my so-called team, the only thing I want now is to feel like a valued member of Stefanie’s team. I hope he feels the same way about his fiancée.

I hope he cares as much about his place in her heart as he seems to care about his place in history. I wish I could tell him so.

~

Andre you romantic, that is so utterly sweet.