“The board have made their decision Mr Bailey”.
Tony looked at the man in the black suit dejectedly. He looked like an FBI agent with his black shades and stone faced expression. Their matter of business was also solemn.
Tony could never have imagined that his actions twenty years ago would still be coming back to bite him in his forties. In his early days as a tennis coach he had been accused of sexual harassment against some of the younger teen players that he mentored. All of the accounts had been blown out of proportion but in a lot of cases he didn’t have a leg to stand on. In instances where he had been on a tennis court alone with his students the law was always likely to side with the girl’s version of events.
At the time Tony watched as his personal and professional life began to collapse around him. But it was then, during his greatest time of need, that he received the help he so desperately desired. Although they seemed like a shady organisation the men of BM-BO promised to make the harassment cases disappear and pay off the girls. On top of that they assured him that they would make the girls publicly testify that their accusations had been false to silence the doubters and ensure his career didn’t suffer. All they asked for were certain unspecified favours further down the line. Despite the anxiety of what these requests would involve Tony was desperate and BM-BO seemed like the type of global company that got their way in such matters. He had agreed.
Now in his office he listened to the faint squeaking of trainers on polished floor and the buzzing of tennis balls hitting the net cord sensor from the adjacent sports hall. He now had his own successful coaching business which he assumed was the reason for BM-BO’s sudden visit. The man delved into his inside pocket. He produced a photo and slid it across the table. Tony’s heart sank when he saw who it was.
“Danielle de Costa” He sighed. “But she’s one of my key talents. What do you want with her?”
“That’s not your concern”, the man replied in his dull monotone voice. His face gave nothing away. “You owe us”.
Tony knew there was nothing he could do. Even though the harassment cases occurred a long time ago he knew it would still hit his career hard if they were to resurface.
“She has a month to get her affairs in order”, the man in the shades continued. “We will send over the travel documents in due course. The flight from London to Florida will take her to the tennis training academy”.
“And if she refuses to attend?”
“Make sure she doesn’t. We wouldn’t want to forcibly transfer her as much as we wouldn’t want to forcibly remove you from the business you have worked so hard to build up.”
Tony knew that the BM-BO official was deadly serious. When the transfer papers were put in front of him his pen only poised over the paper for a few seconds before he signed.
Danielle’s stomach was doing somersaults and she knew the reason was more than just the bumpy landing into Miami International. The best way to describe how she was feeling was nervously excited.
At first Danielle had been confused when Tony the head coach had called her into his office and told her the news. She wasn’t an arrogant girl but she knew she was perhaps the best young player at his academy at eighteen and she was curious to know why he was so quick to get rid of her. But when he went into more detail about the Florida Institute of Regional Tennis Academy in America she quickly realised that he had her best interests in mind. Although she knew she would miss her friends and family and that it was a scary prospect to be so far away from home she knew this was not an opportunity to be missed. Some of her favourite players in the game were either from or had trained in America and to be a part of that meant that people were starting to take her career seriously. As a result she had eagerly accepted the offer at the tennis academy in Florida. Danielle didn’t know Tony that well but she got the feeling his smile was a little forced. She assumed he was just sad to see her go.
When Danielle came out of departures she saw a man holding a sign with her name on. He introduced himself as Troy Delaney.
“I’m one of the assistant coaches at the academy”, he explained. “And we’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about your talents on court”.
“Yeah I’ve won a couple of tournaments and I think my form has really improved over the last six months”, Danielle explained politely. “I think there’s definitely room for improvement though and I believe this is the perfect place for me to perfect my skills. I won’t let you down”.
Troy seemed impressed as he led her out of the airport. Danielle was surprised when they approached a stretch limo and he opened the back door, beckoning her inside. She didn’t expect to be travelling in such style. The academy clearly didn’t have any funding problems.
“We’ll send all your luggage ahead of us”, Troy said as he sat beside her. “The academy director is keen to meet you immediately. The team will send your luggage straight to your room.”
Danielle felt her heart sink slightly as she watched her luggage being taken away but she quickly shook off the feeling of loss. These were professionals. She was sure they could handle the simple matter of transferring her cases.
Whilst they sped across the highway Troy gave Danielle a briefing on the academy and all of its facilities. As she listened she looked out of the window in fascination. Everything was so much like England yet tweaked somehow. The roads were the same yet they were travelling on the opposite side, the cars were similar but there were certain makes she didn’t recognise and the radio was on at a faint volume though the DJ had an American accent.
Despite the briefing Danielle was amazed when they reached the facility. It was much bigger than where she had trained in England. There was a large administrative building beside the long rectangular accommodation suite. Then of course were the courts. They had both indoor and outdoor grounds and they seemed huge. Danielle couldn’t have been happier.
The limo stopped outside the large sports hall and they took the lift to the top floor. Danielle cursed the fact that she hadn’t had chance to change. She still felt icky from the long flight but she didn’t even have the opportunity for a quick glance in a mirror before Troy ushered her into the director’s office.
The director was standing in front of a wide floor to ceiling window which had a view of some of the indoor courts.
“Ah Dani come and watch with me”, he exclaimed ushering her forwards.
Danielle bit her tongue sharply. She hated being called Dani but she wasn’t about to correct the man who had selected her for the academy.
The director didn’t introduce himself but he didn’t have to. Danielle had read the documents she had been provided with a hundred times about the Florida Institute of Regional Tennis and had also looked over them on the flight for good measure. His name was Ray Beckford and he oversaw the whole academy.
When she approached and looked out she realised he was watching some of the male players in training. They both stood there in silence for a while. Danielle was impressed. They had clearly been trained well but she was snapped out of her reverie when he spoke again.
“You’ll do well here”, he muttered.
With a sidewards glance Danielle could clearly see him looking her over. His eyes darted up and down as he checked out her body. She knew he was probably trying to gage her physical fitness to see how well she would manage on the court but it made her feel uncomfortable. It was like he was leering at her.
Eventually the director turned away and led her across to the admin building to meet the board of executive’s. She was polite and respectful as were they but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were gawping at her too. So it came as a huge relief when Troy came back and told her he would take her to her room. She was beginning to feel self-conscious.
Danielle was delighted with her room in the accommodation suite of the academy. It was like the suite of a lavish hotel yet Troy announced some bad news. The car with her luggage had been involved in a terrible car accident and he was unsure as to when she would get her cases. Though she was concerned with the safety of the driver her heart plummeted that her luggage was missing. Fortunately her wardrobe had been stocked with clothes emblazoned with the Florida Institute of Regional Tennis lettering. It was only when Troy left that she looked them over and discovered that this had been shortened to the acronym F.L.I.R.T. Danielle instantly decided she would sleep in her bra and panties that evening.
When Troy had left her to get settled in her new room she finally had a chance to look herself over in the mirror in the bedroom. She pulled the bobble out of her brunette hair and let it cascade across her shoulders as she observed her lithe athletic figure. There were visible creases underneath her bright emerald green eyes and for good reason. Not only had she had a busy day of meet and greet but jetlag was beginning to catch up with her.
Danielle decided to have a quick power nap to recover and spread across the bed. As she fumbled to the alarm clock she noticed the small LED screen panel above the beside cabinet. Leaning forwards she noticed another beside the door. The screens were blank and she was too tired to play around with them.
Snuggling into the bed she fell into a light restless sleep with feelings of doubt and unease washing through her mind.
“Good Morning and welcome to another fine day at the Florida Institute of Regional Tennis”
Danielle almost leapt off the bed in fright. The women’s speech was followed by thumping dance music and it seemed to flood the room intrusively. It was coming from the LED panels. She watched with blurry eyes as images of the academy played on the screen and looked at the clock. It was 6am.
Danielle cursed loudly. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t woken from the power nap and had slept straight through to the morning. Although the screens were annoying at least they had woken her so she could get ready for her first training session. It would have been embarrassing to miss it.
The power shower worked wonders at waking her up and washing off the grime of the previous day. She felt refreshed as she padded back into the bedroom but then suddenly remembered about her cases. Reluctantly she opened the wardrobe and took another look at the outfits inside.
Danielle knew she didn’t have a choice but to wear them. She could hardly wear the tight jeans and T-shirt that she wore the previous day though she kept her bra and panties on. After long deliberation she eventually went for black leggings with F.L.I.R.T stamped in white across her butt and a dark grey sports bra that also had the logo stamped across in white. She found some white sweat bands for her wrists and after tying her hair back into a ponytail she put on a black baseball cap. Fortunately the logo was smaller and etched across the back of it. Danielle had to keep assuring herself that the clothes were only temporary.
It wasn’t long before Troy came to fetch her. He led her out of the accommodation building and round to one of the outdoor courts. Once there he whistled to one of the girls who stopped mid session in the adjacent court and came over to them.
“This is Tori. She’ll be your partner for today. I’m sure she’ll look after you and show you how things work around here”.
“Of course”, she squeaked.
Tori was a small skinny Asian who looked about eighteen too and was quite clearly a girly girl. Danielle thought her choice of clothing was a little risqué. Surprisingly she was wearing F.L.I.R.T emblem clothing by choice. Her short white skirt didn’t have the logo on put it was evident that she was wearing a F.L.I.R.T. embossed pink thong based on the quick glances of it as she moved and the skirt lifted. Pink seemed to be her favourite colour. She was wearing a pink sports bra, pink sweatbands and pink and white trainers. Even her tennis racquet was pink which reminded Danielle that her personalised racquet was amongst her lost luggage.
Troy watched from the sidelines as Danielle and Tori started a game. Danielle used Tori’s spare racquet which was also pink. She felt a little embarrassed but was determined not to let it affect her game. All in all Danielle was impressed with her performance but she felt that this had been heavily dependent on her less able opponent. It didn’t seem to take Danielle long to read Tori’s tactics and she was quickly bounding around the court and catching Tori out. Although Tori’s serve had started strong it very quickly weakened and double faults were more frequent. In the end Danielle won comfortably in straight sets and she had barely broken into a sweat. Tori didn’t seem too disappointed in her performance. She bounded over to Danielle and hugged her tightly gushing at her well she had played. Troy seemed equally impressed.
“Good work Dani”, he exclaimed.
Danielle stiffened. She was willing to take the name from the director but not from the coach. Plus she didn’t want to give Tori the impression that shortening her name was something she was ok with.
“Thanks. It’s Danielle”, she said simply.
“Of course. Danielle”.
Danielle couldn’t help notice him pause at the correction but she didn’t care. She was adrenalin fuelled and confident and figured it was better to nip it in the bud early. Troy handed her a large blue water bottle. She unhooked the plastic nub and knocked it back gratefully. She was surprised at the sweet taste of an energy drink and Troy seemed to notice her expression.
“It’s a special kind of energy drink concoction”, he explained. “A lot of the top players have started drinking it. It provides a high amount of hydration and a sufficient burst of energy.”
Danielle licked her lips.
“It’s tasty”, she commented as she downed the bottle.
The longer the week progressed the more and more dissatisfied Danielle felt.
All week she was partnered with Tori who seemed to play worse and worse with each passing day. Danielle liked to win but it took the triumph of victory away with an opponent who was so easy to beat. It got to the point where Danielle was beginning to question how she had been accepted to the prestigious academy. She was sure half of her fellow players back in England could have easily beaten the girl.
Tori didn’t seem to be taking her training very seriously either. It’s not that she wasn’t professional. Tori seemed passionate with the game and she was happy and helpful enough with Danielle. It just became a little irritating how girly she was at times though. Danielle wouldn’t have described herself as a tom boy per se but she seemed very manly when compared with Tori who seemed obsessed with pink and bouncing around like a cheerleader overenthusiastically. Danielle observed her as they played. She seemed easily distracted, frequently taking her eye off the ball. She often hopped around the court, swinging wildly and using the wrong types of shots at the wrong times. She came across as a novice on a number of occasions.
The coaching was not great either. Most of the time Troy observed the game but he didn’t seem to be offering much advice to Tori who was clearly struggling at times. Danielle was expecting a critique on her performance as well but all she got was a lot of ‘well done’s and ‘good work’. She had made the journey across the Atlantic to hear more than that. She knew there were holes in her game but the issues didn’t seem to be raised along with any advice on improvement.
Then there was the issue with her cases. Although she knew the crash was an accident and couldn’t be helped she got the feeling that none of the staff were trying very hard to recover her luggage. She asked Troy every day for updates. At first he had sounded encouraging explaining that work was underway to get hold of the cases from the police yet after three or four days of asking his excuses seemed to get weaker and weaker. She was beginning to come to the conclusion that her luggage was unrecoverable for whatever reason but she wished someone could just be honest and tell her that.
In fact the only comfort Danielle did seem to find at the academy was the energy drink. It was the only thing she drank both on and off the court. The fridge in her room was regularly stocked with it in matching blue water bottles and it was the only drink available on the courts and in the gym. It was full of flavour but never seemed to really quench her thirst until she had had a bottle or two.
The final straw for Danielle came after ten days at the academy. She was woken as she was every morning by the blaring of the LED screens. She never understood why the screens kept wishing her a good morning and evening and telling her how lucky she was to be at the academy. She was already here and her funding paid for so she didn’t understand why they were almost trying to sell the place to her. She had eventually resigned herself to the clothing in the wardrobe but even she was surprised to find herself wearing the skimpy night dress. She had even started wearing thongs, something she had never worn back home. They weren’t as uncomfortable as she had expected though.
Danielle got ready quickly and since the gym and tennis courts were all locked off at that time there was nothing for her to do other than lie on the bed listening to the screens and sucking on the energy drink. She had gone with a long straight black skirt and white thong along with knee high white socks and a tight white vest top with black stripes down the sides. All had the predictable F.L.I.R.T log across them.
When Troy eventually came to fetch her he offered her another water bottle. The drink in this one had a much sharper taste. It was nicer than the other drinks she had had which seemed watered down in comparison. Danielle had been meaning to ask Troy if she could train with a different girl on the way to the courts but the question slipped from her mind. By the time it resurfaced they were inside and Tori was already skipping over to her.
It was the pink nail varnish on Tori’s nails that made Danielle snap. That and the puffiness of her lips. Tori clearly cared more about how she looked than on the serious problems in her training.
“I want to speak with Director Beckford”, she snarled rounding on Troy.
The awkward silence that followed was only broken by a high pitched helium giggle from Tori.
“I’ll make some calls”, Troy eventually said after looking carefully into her eyes. “I’ll see that you get an appointment to speak to him tomorrow”.
Danielle watched him as he left the court, rapidly dialling a number on his mobile phone as he went. She was glad that he had taken her request seriously even if she had been a little rude about it.
When Danielle woke the next morning she had expected to feel sharp and energized knowing that the talk with the director was important. She wanted to have a serious discussion with him about her training regime, the coaching she was receiving and the need for a new training partner. If she did not receive any suitable answers or immediate changes she planned to go straight home. The academy was beginning to feel like a waste of her time and she felt going back home to train was preferable. The academy may have looked stunning and professional on the outside but the reality was that she felt neglected and if Tori was anything to go by both the training and standard of players was poor.
Instead she felt dazed and light headed which she hadn’t expected at all. If anything the stronger energy drinks should have perked her up. She tottered over to the fridge and downed a whole bottle but it didn’t seem to wake her up very much. Even the screens didn’t annoy her as much as usual. A strange feeling of guilt washed over Danielle as it gave its usual spiel of academy propaganda.
By the time Troy arrived she was feeling very confused. When he entered the room he looked her up and down with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t think it would be very wise to meet with the director in a pink babydoll”.
Danielle gave a yelp when she looked down. She wasn’t sure what shocked her the most, the fact that she had chosen to wear the Barbie pink garment the night before or the fact that she had completely forgotten to change into her training clothes. She darted back into her bedroom and hurriedly changed. In her haste she had forgotten to put on a bra or thong.
The walk across the grounds felt like a blur. She barely realised that they were heading away from the sports hall and across to the front of the admin building. The director was standing outside a limo, a similar one to the vehicle which had brought her to the academy from the airport.
“Come, come Dani”, he tutted. “You’re already late for your appointment”.
“My appointment?” She whispered dreamily as she climbed into the limo.
On the journey across Miami the director handed her another sports drink to occupy her. The nozzle on this drink seemed slightly longer which meant she had to suck harder and knock her head back more before she could drink the contents. She focused all her energy on the drink, barely noticing where they were heading.
Danielle was surprised when the limo stopped outside a beauty salon. She was feeling more dazed than ever which she put down to car sickness. The director was kind enough to lend her a hand as she staggered out of the limo.
She had been booked in for what the bubbly receptionist described as a ‘full session makeover’. She was unsure what it had to do with tennis but followed the pretty girl who met her at the desk and took her to a chair.
At first Danielle had expected to spend the pampering time drifting back to her thoughts the previous day. Her mind felt scattered but she had hoped she could collect them together and discuss her issues with the director in the limo back to the academy. However, that wasn’t the case. Everything seemed to distract her. The stifling heat, the bright lights and the modern decor seemed to suck her train of thought away.
She watched in the mirror as the girl began her makeover. Danielle wasn’t sure what her opinion was of the transformation. She wasn’t the type of girl to obsessively stare at herself in the mirror and was generally content with how she looked. Still she was confused at her lack of resistance when her hair was dyed bleach blonde. In the back of her mind she knew she should have had a say in the matter but somehow she couldn’t translate that into words. Instead she snuggled back into the chair and watched the stylist at work.
Danielle lost track of time. She was taken to a tanning booth where she was given a bronze tan then taken back to the chair where her face was caked in make-up. By the time the stylist had finished she had long lashes, rosy cheeks and cherry red lipstick. Every spot and blemish had been masked. When she was given a manicure, pedicure and her nails painted in glossy white vanish Danielle had been desperate to stop them, thinking back to her anger with Tori and how the changes could interfere with her training. But instead all she could do was lean back and sigh in comfort.
Danielle found herself back in the limo and it was dark outside. She wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep or if leaving the beauty salon had drifted from her mind like her talk with the director had. The first thing Danielle noticed was her tight chest and constricted breathing. When she looked down she gasped at what she was wearing. The one piece dress ended in a short frilly skirt and the whole thing was a pastel orange colour. She wiggled her bare butt on the seat to feel that she was wearing a thong. Pressing her fingers against the thin material of the dress allowed Danielle to discover that underneath the dress she had been fitted into a rib crushing corset.
For a moment Danielle felt angry. She rounded on the director sitting beside her fit to burst but suddenly he pushed the nozzle of another energy drink against her lips and the contents dribbled down her throat. Instead she took it from his grasp and sucked on it contently like a baby with a bottle of milk. Then everything seemed to feel right again and all her demands and questions fizzled away.
Danielle had expected the limo to take them back to the academy but instead they passed it and drove a short way down the road to a large stadium. They passed through a series of checkpoints, the driver brandishing a pass to security, and the limo stopped at the back of the building just as Danielle finished the drink.
This time the director didn’t just offer her a hand. He had to take her by the waist and hoist her onto her feet. She allowed him to, grateful for the boost but was confused when she wobbled shakily on her feet. Looking down she found that her feet had been encased in five inch heels. The top of the shoes looked like an orange and white trainer but the soles had been fitted to tall white heels. Though stylish they weren’t practical.
The director walked ahead of Danielle who struggled to keep up with him, tottering stupidly on the heels and pressing her hands to her waist after every few steps, rasping for breath against the tight corset. They entered through a green door and Danielle could hear the faint sounds of an audience cheering. They walked down a long corridor, the director still taking the lead with Danielle desperately trying to keep up. Just when she thought she would have to stop to catch her breath and take the weight off her aching feet he stopped beside two large doors. Here the sounds of the crowd was deafening. All of a sudden a guy was beside her and thrush a tennis racquet into her manicured hands. The director opened out the doors and beckoned for Danielle to step forward as the cheering and floodlights hit her blindingly.
“Good luck in your first major game”, he whispered in her ear. “Blow them away”.
And with that the director flapped up her dress with the back of one hand and gave her ass a rough smack with the other. She yelped in surprise and horror, stepping forwards and allowing the director to shut the door behind her. There was no way back.
Danielle’s heart thumped loudly in her chest but not as loud as the crowd reacted when they saw her. Amongst the yells and whooping she could make out wolf whistles as she walked shakily onto the court.
Danielle felt even worse when she faced her opponent. She looked like she meant business. The girl sneered at Danielle patronisingly as she looked her up and down, shaking her head in disbelief at what she saw. Danielle looked at the clay ground, and her skimpy dress, and her heels and her glowing brown skin and the ends of her blonde hair ashamed. How had she allowed this ridiculous makeover to happen on such an important day and at such an important event?
Danielle was facing a much tougher and skilled opponent than Tori. At first her opponent hit her hard with everything she had. Despite her nails she was able to return a lot of the serves with ease but the heels ensured that she couldn’t run around as easily as she could in trainers. She tottered in vain around the court and soon became breathless from the corset. The crowd whooped and whistled at every shot she wiggled towards and missed by a mile. Danielle quickly discovered that the corset made it extremely difficult to serve the ball. She built up a host of double faults. Every time she threw the ball up into the air the corset would squeeze her tightly as she arched her arm to hit it. Her usually sharp technique crumbled and as the game went on she started to miss the ball completely, inviting the crowd to collectively laugh and clap at her apparent clumsiness and the glimmer of her thong as her skirt flapped up.
It didn’t take long for the shoes and corset to drain away all her strength and her opponent knew it. After thrashing Danielle in the first set, winning every game she began to relax. By the time she coasted through to victory in the second set she began to toy with Danielle. She deliberately hit the ball to the furthest ends of the court knowing that Danielle would find it impossible to reach them and return the ball. The game was over in less than thirty minutes and by the end Danielle’s eyes were welling with tears. When her opponent won the last game and claimed the final third set Danielle slammed the racquet into the ground in frustration and stormed off the court as much as her heels would allow.
The jeering sound of the crowd followed her.
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