"Gail wants to talk to you." Emily had such a sad look on her face that Parker stopped any other teasing comment she thought of making. "She's gone so don't worry about it, Emily. We'll put Abby out for awhile just in case so smile for me."



"I should have put a stop to this relationship a long time ago. It's my fault really, I didn't love Gail the way she was expecting me to but it just got to be something comfortable. That wasn't fair to her for me to have stayed this long, but I'm just tired of the arguing we're constantly doing." Abby rolled to his other side so Emily could rub him some more. The small blonde found him waiting for her outside her bedroom that morning, and she was coming to like him as much as his owner.



"You don't owe me any explanations. The most important thing for you is to do what's right for you. Do you have a place to stay once you get back into the city?" If Gail was capable of violence, Parker didn't want Emily anywhere near her.



"Yeah I'm staying with a friend until I find a place. Let me go and get breakfast started and you go take that shower. No, Parker, it will help me take my mind off all this stuff." Emily spoke over the objection Parker was about to make. "I don't get many vacations so I think I should get to do what I think is fun, and for me that's cooking."



"You're the boss so have at it. Abby, go outside boy." The dog put his paw over his eyes as if he knew what Parker had asked would put an end to his massage. Both Emily and Parker laughed at the ham's antics getting him to move from his spot next to Emily.



Parker slipped on a robe when she heard Emily calling her to breakfast after she had finished with her shower. Her guest did indeed know her way around the kitchen Parker could see when she sat down to a wonderful omelet, toast and hash browns. To make Parker happy, Emily had made hot chocolate instead of coffee smiling when the blue eyes rolled at how good it was.



"What is it about you and hot chocolate?" Emily held her own mug of the hot brew watching the cloud that marred Parker's face for a moment. Parker looked like she reliving a nightmare and Emily was about to tell her it was all right not to answer, but Parker surprised her by telling her something very personal.



"When I was little it was the happiest memory I have of my father. We would be the first ones up and he would stand at the stove and make us each a cup of the stuff. Not the mix either, my dad shaved chocolate and stirred it in slowly with sugar until it was just right. Over the years it became our ritual every morning, sitting at the table and discussing all kinds of different things. Then at around sixteen or seventeen he found out that I was like Gray and Kimmie and he stopped talking to me all together. I would wait for him before I had to leave for practice, but he wouldn't step out of his bedroom until I had left. Maybe it was all for the best since when we did talk all we could do was scream at each other." Emily reached across the table and put her hand over Parker's. It seemed absurd to her that people who were so rigid and bigoted had children.



"I'm sorry for asking, Parker."



"It's all right. All those cups I had as a kid just make me love the stuff. My parents may not accept me now, but drinking hot chocolate reminds me of a time they did." The big smile Emily had seen on television a million times when she watched Parker play was being aimed at her from across the table. Things could have been better in her life, but Emily was grateful that her parents had accepted her choices without censor. They just wanted her to be happy and find someone that would share her life.



"You're a wonderful person, Parker, and in time your parents will come to realize that. I've only known you a couple of days and I have at least that part figured out." Parker turned her hand over and squeezed Emily's fingers. She was glad that she had offered the pretty blonde a place to stay the night. Emily would leave in little over an hour and she would in all likelihood never see her again, but she was still glad she had done it.



Parker packed all of Emily's bags into the trunk of the car after Emily had gotten dressed. She saluted the pilot when she came out of the room in her uniform getting a slap on the arm for her trouble. When they pulled out, neither of them saw the disheveled woman sitting on one of the dunes that separated the houses. It wasn't noon yet, but Gail held a glass of scotch in one hand and the scrap of paper she had found on the beach the day before in the other. She had just known that Parker was lying about Emily and seeing her girlfriend in the car just proved that.



"You can't say that I didn't warn you, Parker King."



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Emily was in line for take off behind five other jets, so her thoughts turned to the last two days of her life. She had left Gail and met Parker; the latter made her smile. Parker had dropped her off at the airport and insisted on parking and walking her in. It was incredible how many people on the way to her gate recognized the tennis star walking with her.



At her gate Parker had handed over her bag and a card with all her numbers on it. Before their last good bye a woman had come over with her young daughter and asked Parker if she would take a picture with the girl. Parker handed the camera to Emily and posed with both mother and child. Emily almost teased the two that she was going to have to back up to fit their smiles in the frame.



Like the night before Parker kissed her gently on the lips then turned and walked away. Emily would go back to her flight schedule and Parker to her grueling practice schedule to prepare for New York and the Open. The voice from the control tower spoke in her ear and they were cleared for take off.



"Goodbye, Parker." Her copilot looked at her to see if she had said something but Emily was focused on getting the jet off the ground. Emily was sure that in the next two months Parker would forget her and move on to someone else. From the ground Parker watched the jet take flight as the same thought went through her head about Emily.



************************************************************************



"You are ready, Boris. I think the other women at this tournament, they are in big trouble," said Natasha after their practice one day. Parker had used the month to work on all of her shots and to improve her stamina through workouts. Gary had planned for the higher than normal heat factor in New York that summer through extra running time.



"Thanks, Natasha, I'm feeling good and looking forward to playing. You promise you'll come up to practice with me?" Parker wiped her face off and packed her rackets after her last practice at home. They were taking the next couple of days off to take care of last minute stuff before heading to New York. Abby was staying with Nick for the next couple of weeks until her friend flew up to meet her and Gary in the city.



"I wouldn't miss it especially since Gray will be there. If I can't have you, my friend, then I will make a play for that sister of yours." With careful planning both of Parker's sisters would be there for most of the play. "If I'm lucky then I will get to compare her ass to the billboard of yours you did a while back."



"Please don't remind me of that. I'll put in a good word for you and I'll see you in two weeks. Gary set up some playing time for us once you arrive." Natasha kissed both of Parker's cheeks before leaving promising she would call once she arrived in New York.



Four days later the tennis player and coach arrived in New York and checked into the Renaissance Hotel. After they registered and unpacked the couple headed to the Stage Deli for sandwiches and a slice of cheesecake. It was their first indulgence after settling in.



The next day Parker walked over to Central Park for an early morning run. As she took time to stretch she couldn't help but notice the woman that was staring at her as she went through her own stretching routine. The letters threatening her life has started coming more regularly and Parker found herself looking around for threats whenever she was out alone. There had been more than enough arguments between Gary and her on the subject, but she refused to bend to what he and Nick wanted. If she started living her life in fear or altered the way she went about her routines, the idiots sending the mail would start to win in her opinion.



"I'm sorry to stare but I just wanted to say good luck." The blonde woman broke her silent staring and addressed Parker. When she straightened out Parker noticed that the woman equaled her in height.



"Thanks, I appreciate it." Before they could get into an in depth conversation Parker put the earpieces to her radio in place and started down the path. It was at this time of the morning that she missed the tranquility of the beach.



The next two weeks was like in any tournament Parker played in, the toughest. The waiting to play was the one thing she had never gotten used to, but it was she attributed to the fast starts that marked her style of play. There was one thing that was biting into that boredom this time though, and that was whether she would try to find Emily or not. The pilot hadn't called all summer and Parker was trying to figure out why that was. Had Emily moved on, or gone back to Gail? Even if she had, Parker felt the woman had owed her at least one phone call.