Athena's Story Ch 3

Athena sits on the bed and stares at her phone, listening to her wife describe this Mia Kuusk person.

“She’s from a country I never heard of,” Sal says in conclusion. “She seems cool. I mean, I don’t know. She’s different from Shelby,” she says, referring to the secretary that she shares with the other designers at Salogal NA.

“And she’s in your room?”

“She was bringing me the itinerary. I don’t think I’m gonna get to sightsee much. Oh jeez.”

“What is it?”

“Somebody else is knocking now. Love you, babe.”

“Love you,” Athena echoes, and the Facetime ends. She sits and chews her lip for a long time, and only an acute consciousness of the time and how that time applies to her inadequacy forces her to get to her feet.

ATHENA

Tracy is no longer Professor Tracy. Now, years after Athena has graduated, she’s just Tracy. Athena would never have the courage to show up to a rando pickleball group without some kind of foot in the door.

Tracy always had good style, but she’s especially radiant in her black skirt and blue top. She rushes to Athena and hugs her in the parking lot. They’ve been on socials together, but haven’t spoken or laid eyes on each other in a decade.

“Oh my gosh. This is amazing. I’m so glad you came,” Tracy bubbles, grabbing Athena’s hand. “I want to catch up, but we’re late. I gotta introduce you to everybody.”

Athena allows herself to be led into the sports center, shivering as the powerful AC hits. She’s self-conscious about her leggings and thin hoodie; everyone else is dressed cute, showing skin, or both.

“You good?” Tracy asks. She can probably feel Athena’s tension through her hand.

“Oh. Yeah. Just never played this before. I’m glad to see you. You look amazing,” Athena says.

“Yeah, baby! Don’t listen to anybody. This is a serious sport. It will get you ripped!”

Athena chuckles. “OK. Thanks for helping me get in.”

“Oh, sweetie. We’re not that exclusive. There’s a million groups. I’m just glad you’re in mine. How’s Sal?”

Athena forces a smile. “She is doing amazing.”

“That is so awesome to hear. Hey, guys!” Tracy waves to some women assembled outside one of the private courts. “Athena, meet the Gurlberg Refugees.”

Athena cocks her head. “Refugees?”

“We all moved up here when they built that datacenter,” Tracy says with a shrug. “This is Mary, she’s an evil shark lawyer who does divorces and defends criminals.”

“Hey,” a busty redhead about Tracy’s age says with a little wave. Her white tennis outfit is impeccable. Athena feels homeless.

Tracy gestures to the woman beside Mary. “And this is Nadia. She’s a heroic good guy lawyer.”

“Only if you’re white and own property,” a brunette with an admittedly CEO-style short haircut says. She smiles warmly enough, but oozes polish in her gray shorts and black top. She offers her hand. “I’m a prosecutor.”

“We met when we were public defenders together,” Mary explains.

“We were also in a band together,” Nadia says.

Mary snorts. “The kid doesn’t want a history lesson.”

Tracy ignores them. “And this is Jess. Her main job is being mad at her wife, but she has a little side hustle as an accountant. She was also in that band, if I remember correctly.”

“I’m a VP,” the blonde says, jabbing Tracy in the side before swooping in to give Athena a hug. “Hi, Athena. If you ever visited the biker bar when you were in Gurlberg and somebody grabbed your butt, that person was my wife, and I’m so sorry.”

“Oh. Gosh. I never did go in there, but I always wanted to check it out,” Athena says. These women are all older than she is.

“You didn’t miss anything. And we aren’t all old, by the way,” Jess says quickly, reading her mind. “We have two token young people. Chadlee and Mary’s kid. They aren’t here today, but they definitely exist.”

ATHENA

The game is fun, and it’s not difficult to pick up. It’s clear that Mary and Jess are partners, and Tracy and Nadia play easily enough together, but they are not regular partners. Looks like Nadia usually plays with Kayla, Mary’s daughter, and Tracy plays with Chadlee. Athena gets to work in and be everyone’s partner for a little while as they show her the ropes.

She’s not much of an athlete these days, but one doesn’t need to be for this. As much as she hates to admit it, it does feel good to move and do something. Was it really this easy? No. This doesn’t fix anything; it just takes the edge off.

But that counts for something.

“Whoa!” Mary leaps out of the way with a laugh. “Little too much sauce on that one, beautiful!”

“Sorry,” Athena says. This keeps happening; she keeps getting excited and walloping the ball like she’s trying to hit a home run. “The sad part is I used to play tennis,” she admits to Tracy as she tries to catch her breath.

“None of us are in college anymore. Tennis is for young knees,” Tracy says sagely. “Although we’ve still got it,” she adds, giving Athena a sly look.

Athena’s noticed it as well: quite a few guys are watching from the second level. Pickleball still involves running, and there’s some eye candy on display in this court. Mary and Jess are busty, and everyone wears a cute skirt except for Athena. That makes her self-conscious about having a flat butt, but from the way everything burns, it won’t be flat for long if she does this a few times a week.

ATHENA

Sweaty and gross, Athena sinks gratefully into a cartoonishly uncomfortable chair at the juice bar in the food court. They played for two hours.

Tracy sits across from her, slurping thirstily. “This is it, right here. This guava drink. Oh, yeah. It’s like ****. I used to be in a cycling group, and the best part was drinking beer after the ride. That’s what this is.”

“That’s like six hundred calories,” Athena notes.

“And we burned more than that.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. I keep telling you it’s legit. Look at you, you stink. You were wheezing a minute ago. It’s a sport.”

Athena shrugs. “OK.”

“You sure you’re good? Couple of those big swings seemed to have a little extra in them,” Tracy says.

She misses nothing. Athena isn’t surprised or crushed to be seen through, but she honestly thought she was doing well. The joke is on her. She licks her lips, then takes a sip of her smoothie.

Tracy looks expectant. Maybe even a little stern.

Should Athena tell the truth? Or stay private?