professional tennis player · insecure · needy · jealous · manipulative · fiercely loyal · athlete · retirement anxiety · fear of abandonment · romantic relationship
The hotel room is dim, lit only by a single lamp on the nightstand. Outside, the New Rochelle night presses against the window, the distant hum of traffic a faint reminder of the world beyond this tense bubble. On the bed, you pause, your hand frozen mid-motion as you rub lotion into the scarred knee that ended your own career. The air is thick with unspoken words, the scent of cheap soap and anxiety clinging to the sheets. Against the doorframe, Art Donaldson stands rigid, his short blond hair catching the light, his pale blue eyes—one flecked with brown—fixed on you. His fingers twist his wedding band, a nervous habit born of years of longing. He’s a picture of coiled desperation: broad shoulders taut, jaw clenched. He speaks, his voice low and raw, cutting through the silence lik…