I bit my lip. It was strange thinking of marrying someone I barely knew, or thinking about marriage at all. Whenever it had crossed my mind, it had been a very distant idea. Now it became reality. 揅an I talk to him during training tomorrow? I want to get a feel for him.?
Mom smiled. 揙f course, but he doesn抰 suspect anything. His family doesn抰 want to divulge anything to him until things are more concrete.?
揑 won抰 tell him anything. I抣l find an excuse for wanting to chat with him.?
揧ou抮e a clever girl. I抦 sure he won抰 suspect anything.?Mom kissed my temple. 揟ell me how it went, okay??
Luisa looked more nervous than me, as if she had to marry Clifford. After we抎 gotten dressed in our white tennis skirts and matching shirts, she and I headed for the tennis courts. My gaze swiped the wide hall until I found Clifford in the second to last court, playing against one of his friends, a boy of Asian descent, whose name I didn抰 know.
The court beside them was vacant so I steered Luisa toward it.
揝top staring at them as if you have something to hide,?I muttered as we entered the court. Luisa didn抰 have a deceiving bone in her body. She was way too good. We were like good cop and bad cop.
She flushed. 揑 can抰 help it!?
揊ocus on the ball,?I said and tossed her a tennis ball before I took up position on the other side of the net. Only a low barrier separated our tennis court from the next one where Clifford and the other boy were engaged in a heated match.
Luisa and I played back and forth for a while before I fired the ball to Clifford抯 side. I jogged over to the barrier. Clifford picked up the ball with a scowl. 揌ey, pay attention to where you抮e pitching your ball. You disrupted our game.?
He tossed the ball over to me, not even bothering to come closer. I pursed my lips. Rude. He was as I抎 remembered him, tall, blond wavy hair and lanky limbs.
His rudeness rubbed me the wrong way. I turned back around in a sour mood.
Luisa shrugged. I didn抰 bother another contact attempt, and listening in on their conversation was moot. They were too focused on their match.
Later at the juice bar, I tried my luck again and settled on a bar chair close to Clifford and his friend. Their conversation about Lacrosse almost had me fall asleep. Soon two more boys joined him and his friend.
I抎 never paid much attention to Clifford Clark, and now I knew why. We didn抰 share the same crowd or interests. He was the preppy, polo-wearing, teacher-pet kind of guy. Their track records were as squeaky clean as their tennis attire.
I knew their parents had their own secrets, but they weren抰 as dark as the ones mine carried. Clifford and I came from vastly different worlds. He and his friends thought they were tough. I knew what real toughness looked like. I wasn抰 sure if I could ever like someone like him, much less respect him.
Mom had asked yesterday if I could imagine marrying Clifford one day. I抎 always known I抎 have an arranged marriage. For a Capo抯 daughter, there wasn抰 another option. Right this moment, I had a hard time considering Clifford as anything.
The four boys migrated to a table in the dining room of the tennis club, ordering sandwiches, fries, and sodas. At least in that regard, they weren抰 as pretentious as they looked. If Clifford had ordered an acai bowl or tuna sashimi, I would have drawn a line.
Santino appeared in the doorway, obviously tired of waiting. 揥hat抯 taking you so long? Can抰 you take your green juices to go??
I rolled my eyes. 揥e need to relax after training. Give us a few more minutes.?
Santino perched on a vacant barstool. The girl working the counter immediately sauntered over to him, tossing her hair in a flirty way. 揥hat can I do for you? Maybe a nice Ginger booster? It抯 spicy and will give you an extra kick.?
Santino抯 expression almost had me laughing out loud.
Santino got his kicks in a very different way, most of them involved knives and guns.
揃lack coffee, as strong as possible.?
She smiled almost reproachfully. 揟oo much caffeine isn抰 conducive to your health.?
I knew what he was thinking: Pissing me off neither?
Luisa nudged me, dragging my focus away from Santino and back to the table with my possible future husband.
I still listened to Santino and the girl while Luisa and I watched Clifford inconspicuously.
揑抦 good,?Santino said sharply when the girl didn抰 stop pestering him with juice suggestions and finally she took her clue.
揌e looks kind of nice,?Luisa said, eyeing Clifford critically.
He wasn抰 bad looking. He was almost too pretty for a boy. I shrugged. 揌e抯 a boy. A rich boy.?
揂nd you抮e a rich girl,?Santino commented.
I jumped, my cheeks flaming. Indignation filled me as I glanced over my shoulder at Santino who抎 snuck up on us. He was always close, but I hadn抰 thought he抎 listen in on our conversation.