"You know why I called you all here today?" Julie Finlay said pacing back and forth in front of her friends and coworkers on a warm spring day in Las Vegas clutching a tennis racket, letting the middle of it rest on her shoulder.
Greg, Sara, Morgan, Hodges and Henry stood in a military style line up on the clay tennis court in front of Julie squinting against the bright sun, also clutching tennis rackets somewhat clumsily.
"Today you are going to learn the fine sport of tennis," Julie said with a spring in her step while she paced. "So, pair up, pick a court, we play doubles, I'll be coaching while you play."
"How come he doesn't have to play?" Greg said with a nod at Russell who was sitting on the bench watching them.
"Because I've already had the full Julie Finlay tennis coach experience back in Seattle," Russell said "trust me, once is enough."
Julie gave him a scathing look then refocused on her friends.
"Sara with Morgan, Hodges with Henry, Greg you're with me," she dictated "get moving."
They did as they were told, at the risk of facing the full wrath of Julie Finlay with a tennis racket.
Not even five minutes into the lesson and the teams were already struggling. Hodges had hit the ball so far out of the court that it sailed over the fence and into the parking lot. Clearly hand and eye coordination was lacking in this dynamic.
"O.K", Julie said sighing in frustration "new tactic, let me show you the basics one on one and then we'll play."
The team trooped back to the metal benches to wait as Julie started coaching Henry first.
"Is this how it was in Seattle?" Greg whispered nervously to Russell while watching Julie teach Henry the proper serve.
"Sort of," Russell said "I was terrible at it; the kids picked it up in no time though"
"Maya and Charlie played?" Sara asked.
"Only because Jules' taught them," Russell said "they were naturals according to Jules"
Russell instinctively ducked a moment later as the tennis ball Henry served under Julie's instruction, sailed right at their group congregated on the benches causing them all to flinch.
"Sorry," Henry called out meekly to them cringing at his mistake while Julie ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
She loved her co workers, she really did, but teaching them to play was looking like more of a hassle than a fun outing like she wanted it to be.
"Morgan you're next," Julie said when she relieved Henry of his practice rounds and ushered Morgan to follow her on to the court.
On and on it went under the now hot afternoon sun, flying blurs of green bouncing back and forth, arms growing sore from the continuous swinging of rackets. Morgan picked up the correct motion much quicker than everyone else. Sara however had much faster returns, able to dart back and forth to keep up with her opponent. Henry got the serve correctly on his fifty second attempt. Hodges swung too much like he was playing baseball nearly knocking Henry over as he dove for the next ball. Greg was the only one to keep the ball going for more than five minutes back and forth when he practiced with Sara. After almost two hours of practice Julie deemed her team ready to go. She beamed with pride at her accomplishment.
"Nicely done," she said pacing back and forth in front of her charges "now we can really play, let's pair up and go."
Unfortunately they were an odd numbered group so Henry was left without a partner having watched Greg partner with Morgan and Hodges race over to Sara.
"Come on Henry," Julie said gently "you can be on my team."
But Henry looked as if he would rather eat bugs than play with or against the aggressive competitive Julie Finlay.
"Uh, o.k.?" he said unsure of himself as she waved for him to stand in the back while she stayed up front closest to the net.
Fifteen minutes later however he had seriously regretted his fear. Julie was just as good a player as she had been telling them. Henry barely had to move or even dive for the ball. Instead he watched as Julie took all the dives, darted back and forth ferociously across the court, smacking the ball back to Hodges and Sara faster than they could keep up. When it was someone else's serve, Julie bounced up and down in anticipation, unable to keep still for even a few seconds. In less than half an hour, their team had won, Julie taking the last serve and whacking the ball so far out of Sara and Hodges' reach that it hit the fence after it sailed over the line and bounced right back to her. Hodges was left standing with a dumbfounded look on his face while Sara smirked, the only one of them not to underestimate her friend's athletic abilities today.
Morgan and Greg won their game against Sara and Hodges then Julie made everyone switch teams. For two hours they played, improving on their skills and just having fun. Hodges made the mistake of trying to play one on one with Julie while the others took a break only to find her skills much more advanced than his. When he tripped over his own foot trying to catch the violent serve she sent his way, he eyed her with a mixture of fear and regret for even attempting to play against her.
Despite the lengthy amount of time spent on the court, by late afternoon, everyone was starting to get tired and making plans to go home and nurse their wounds. Julie however still had pent up energy to spare and when she had no one to play against; she stayed on the court bouncing the ball back and forth against the wall for practice.
"She's a machine," Hodges said stunned as he watched Julie continue to play solo.
"Maybe you should stop her," Henry suggested to Russell.
"Nah she'll be fine," Russell said glancing over at the open fence entryway where someone had just walked in. He smirked and nodded so everyone could see who had just arrived.
John approached the benches where Julie's team sat looking dirty and disheveled by the days events.
"Rough day?" he asked them all leaning against the fence.
"She's insane," Hodges jumped in quickly with while nursing his sore foot "I don't know how you keep up with her."
John glanced over at Julie who had not yet noticed his arrival. He let go of the fence and started walking over to her.
"She's gonna murder him for sneaking up on her like that," Henry whispered nervously to Morgan who shushed him.
Julie had just hit back her sixteenth return in a row when she heard John's voice behind her say "Isn't it neat how "love" is a score in this game, love?"
Julie turned, letting the ball hit the wall first as she caught it in her hand without looking.
"Love means zero," she corrected him "love means you have nothing"
She was teasing him, he knew, but he still pretended to be offended by her answer.
"Ouch love," he said grinning at her, wearing those ridiculous sunglasses she adored.
She sashayed over to him, out of breath from all the running around but still managing to melt his heart.
"Having fun?" he asked, smoothing her hair out of her face for her.
"Tons" she said standing on her toes to kiss him properly.
"I think you broke you're team," he told her nodding back at where the group sat huddled on the benches looking exhausted.
"Nah they'll be fine," she said waving her hand casually as if they played like this everyday.
"Wanna play?" she asked him now with a hopeful gaze.
"And have you murder me?" John asked scandalized at the very idea.
But her pout melted his heart and he couldn't resist. He knew how much she loved this game and that she just wanted to play to spend time with him.
"All right," he said and her heart soared with joy "show me what to do."
Julie bounced over to the benches, snatched up a racket from the cart for John to use and bounced back over to him. As they played, the rest of the team watched. Out of all of her opponents today, John seemed able to keep up with her right from the start. As they played, Russell thought back to those games and lessons in Seattle; how she had owned the courts back then and still to this day. He watched her score against John, defeating him in less than twenty minutes, her triumphant laugh echoing throughout the courts. She was happier in this moment and in this day than he had seen her in a while since the recent events from the Gig Harbor copycat. Watching her dart across the court, dive for the balls, hitting them back with such a force they could hear it from where they sat, watching her smile at John's somewhat pitiful attempts to defeat her, hearing her laugh echo across the courts every few minutes; it was as if she never fell in to that coma.