Parker finished her run then put in two hours of practice on the court. Gary found her in her room sitting by the window reading a book a few hours after they had gotten back. He hated to disturb the boxer and t-shirt clad player, but it was time Parker got out of her funk.



"Want to go out tonight?" He took the chair across from her after knocking her feet to the ground.



"Aren't you supposed to keep me indoors eating healthy foods and drinking distilled water, or something along those lines?" Gary laughed at the arched eyebrow aimed in his direction. "Not surely to lead me astray in the big city?"



"I was thinking dinner, Parker, not a night of picking up hookers."



"I don't know, a hooker can be a new bonding experience for us. I promise not to tell Nick anything."



"No thanks, how about dinner at Gotham instead? I got us an eight o'clock reservation." He laughed as he poked her with his foot over the hooker comment.



"How pray tell did you manage that, Coach Gary?" The book in her hand snapped closed so that she could give him her full attention.



"That's easy, I made the reservation in your name. It comes in handy for me to know the tennis god so well. Come on, you've looked a little flat lately so this might be fun. We can get dressed up and hit the town." Gary gave her his best pleading look.



"Sure, what could happen?"



The cab dropped them off in front of the restaurant fifteen minutes early so they had to wait in the restaurant bar until their table was ready. Sprinkled throughout the eatery were enough celebrities to take the pressure off Parker, so she was looking forward to trying the much talked about restaurant.



"Welcome, Ms. King, and thank you for joining us this evening. If you and your companion are ready please follow me." The hostess led them to a table almost at the center of the restaurant. A few people nodded their heads in Parker's direction but otherwise left her alone to enjoy her evening.



Parker took the chair facing the door and accepted her menu from the waiter. When she glanced up she noticed the same woman from the park that first morning, only now the woman was wearing a light summer suit and her hair was pulled into a bun at her neck. The fan stepped into the bar and sat at one of the stools as if waiting for someone by the way she was looking at her watch.



"What are the chances of seeing the same person twice in a city the size of New York in different locations?" asked Parker. She put her menu down and reached for the wine list while Gary turned around to see who she was talking about. "The Opus One, please." The waiter nodded and left to retrieve her selection.



"Who are you talking about?" Gary turned almost completely in his chair to get a better view of the patrons seated around them. Parker was about to complement him on his superb table manners when a group of people walked through the front door. Two she recognized right off.



"Holy shit, what in the hell was I thinking when I asked what could happen? I should have stayed in and finished the chapter I was reading."



"What?" Gary did another quick visual inventory stopping on one woman surrounded by an entourage.



"Holy shit," was all he could think to add to the moment. If I had this kind of luck for the lottery, I could retire from coaching, thought Gary as he continued to stare towards the entrance.



Emily stood off to the side in her pilot's uniform watching as the staff fell all over the pop sensation Alicia and the group that had come in with her. She spotted Bobbie in the bar and walked over to meet her. The tall blonde she was living with wrapped Emily in a hug and kissed her hello.



"How was your trip over from the airport?"



"Not too bad, it was a slow traffic night. It seems more crowed in here than on the street." Emily took in the happenings of the restaurant from the circle of Bobbie's arms. The touching greeting wasn't missed by the blue eyes at the center table, it was the main reason Parker missed Alicia's spotting her sitting with Gary.



"Ah, poor baby," the tall blonde said kissing the Emily again.



"Park, heads up, man." The waiter had just poured their glasses of wine after Parker had told him the bottle was fine giving Alicia ample ammunition. Parker turned her eyes from the second kiss exchanged at the bar to see the irate singer standing next to her.



"The fucking least you could have done was to blow me off yourself, asshole, not have your flunky do it." When she wiped the Merlot from her face she couldn't help but think how good it tasted. If the first glass Alicia had thrown made Parker think that, Gary's glass only confirmed it for her. The restaurant manager was the only thing that prevented the scorned woman from dumping the rest of the bottle in Parker's lap.



"How about Chinese to go with all this good wine?" Parker wiped her face again and asked the question as calmly as possible. Gary couldn't help but laugh as Parker's white shirt stuck to her collar.



"Sounds like a doable plan, Parker, let's go." Gary threw two hundred dollar bills on the table and they got up to leave. The manager wanted to give him his money back, but they insisted on paying. It wasn't the restaurant's fault that Alicia had exacted her pound of flesh.



Emily almost pushed Bobbie down to get to Parker before they left. The tennis player had not looked in her direction and Emily was surprised into inaction for a moment when she saw that Parker was with Gary instead of with a date. For weeks she had convinced herself that Parker had moved on and had tried her best to try and deal with the fact their little summer fling was just that. One nice evening that would turn into nothing.



There was a couple getting out of a cab when they walked out and Gary held the door for Parker. He saw the person run out of the shadows when he turned around to tell Parker to hurry. The distance between them prevented him from doing anything but watch helplessly, but the shocked look on his face made Parker turn.



A dark blue ski mask covered his face but the large hunting knife in his hand was very visible. All she heard before the pain bloomed was, "Death to those who go against God."



Parker held the assailant's hand with the knife in it by the wrist, it was the only reason it prevented the wicked looking blade from going in all the way and causing more severe damage. From where Gary stood he could see the red stain commingling with the purple of the wine on Parker's shirt and jacket. Before he could get his feet to move the attacker ran back into the alleyway and out of sight.



The cut was almost in the middle of her chest as if the guy with the knife was aiming for her heart and it was deep enough that blood ran through the fingers of Parker's hand she had pressed to her chest. The inane thought of not being anemic crossed Parker's mind as she saw how dark her blood was against the white of her shirt.



"I'm thinking maybe some tapioca pudding from the hospital is in order, Gary. And take a note down for me as a reminder, to never accept a dinner invitation from you again. You are like a walking magnet for disaster when it comes to me and women," teased Parker.



Her voice shocked Gary into moving and helping Parker into the cab. Emily walked out just in time to see Parker's grimace as she bent to get into the vehicle; the blood covering her hand was visible to her in the light outside the restaurant. The tennis player and her manager never saw Emily, as she stood frozen in the entrance to the restaurant.



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



"It's not fatal, that's the good news. The bad news is that I'm going to have to put in a minimum of six stitches to close the cut." The emergency room doctor had cleaned the wound and was in the process of deadening the area before he started his suturing as he gave them his diagnosis. He was still giving thanks to any deity that happened to be listening for being at the desk when Gary walked in with a pale Parker.



"Will it affect my play?" asked Parker.



"Well, Ms. King, I wouldn't recommend playing at least until these come out."



"You are kidding right? I haven't busted my ass all summer to watch the U.S. Open from my hotel room." Parker was about to get up and walk out in search of another hospital if the guy's answers didn't change.



"No, one pull from playing tennis and these babies I'm about to put in could rip. I would advise against playing until you are healed."



"Parker, could you just lie there until the nice doctor is finished? The tournament isn't for another two weeks, we'll be fine." Gary was busy studying the bulletin board in the room in an effort to keep his eyes off Parker's bloody chest, and the wicked looking slice running along her ribcage on her left side. The police had been called, but without a description of the attacker they were at a loss as to were to begin.



"These are going to take longer than that to come out," the doctor added as he probed the area with his fingers trying to decide if it was all right to proceed.