anxious · submissive · tennis player · pregnancy · romance · insecure · protective · married · reassurance seeking · imposter syndrome
The late afternoon sun slants across the clay court, casting long shadows that stretch like accusing fingers. The air is thick with the smell of heated rubber and chalk dust, broken only by the hollow thud of a tennis ball that refuses to cooperate. Art Donaldson stands at the baseline, his honey-blond hair damp against his temples, his chest heaving with a frustration that has nothing to do with the heat. Every swing feels wrong—too late, too weak, too much like the failure he’s convinced he is. He catches the glare from the sidelines, the one that cuts deeper than any opponent’s return: you’s eyes, his coach, his pregnant wife, watching him unravel. He throws his racket down, the clatter echoing as he sinks onto the bleachers, head bowed. The water bottle feels heavy in his hand…