when worlds collide [george russell]

Chapter 8

Willow went on like this for another week, each time when she thought of him, making him up to be a terrible person until the times she thought of him got less and less. She put all of her focus into her Bachelors thesis and met with friends in the short breaks she allowed herself to have.

She hadn't seen him in the tennis club for a month now, although she was now going there twice a week so she assumed - but also hoped - she wouldn't see him there again.

There had been no sign of George for a month and he couldn't be found in Willows thoughts either any more - until that one Wednesday in the middle of August. 

Willow was once again late for her session with her trainer so she ran through the door of the club, through the hallway out to the courts not noticing who she had just passed.

"Hi, Alex! Let's start!" she greeted her trainer.

"Just in time, Déntro! Have you seen who showed up again?"

"We don't have time for smalltalk, let's get playing!" Willow retorted with her racket held in the air, ready for him to play the first ball at her.

They quietly played back and forth for ten minutes not saying a word, the only sound coming from the balls hitting the nets of the rackets.

When Willow went over to her bag on the side of the court to get her water bottle for a quick refreshment before they continued playing, only then she noticed who was playing two courts to her left - George. 

She dared to look over for a few seconds, only wanting to see who he was playing with - another trainer. She took another sip of her water while turning away from George, regaining her focus for the next 50 minutes.

Although she thought she was totally over it, she couldn't deny the fact her heart was beating faster since catching a glimpse of him and his tanned skin complemented by his white shorts and shirt. With the baseball cap he was wearing covering his face she almost hadn't recognized him but his long tanned legs made it clear.

She told herself, if she only saw him one a week at the tennis club she could do this, she could keep not caring about him, she could forget about him. He was just another cub member to her.

As soon as her session with Alex was over, she wished him a good day, told him she'd see him on Friday, grabbed her stuff and made her way out of the club as fast as she had come in an hour before.

Just as her hand reached for the handle of the door to the street the charming voice belonging to the only person she didn't want to interact with ever again in order to defeat he obsessive habits rang out behind her, "Willow! Whats up?"

Willow panicked. If there was one thing she shouldn't do was talk to him.

"Sorry, in a hurry." she said without looking back, quickly getting out the door and closing it behind her. She made her way around the next corner, escaping the situation.

Of course this wasn't the best way to deal with it. If she was really over it she would have just talked for a minuted and made it clear she wasn't interested, but she hadn't come this far in her journey quite yet.

Whats up? - his words replayed in her head. What was up was that he secretly sneaked out of her apartment in the middle of the night after spending a very intimate time with one another and then went M.I.A. for a month and now he dared to casually ask "Whats up?". 

Willow was boiling as she continued walking towards the tube station. The audacity this man had astonished her while bothering her even more. If this was his way to get her to spend another night with him, it was a pathetic attempt. 

Over the last month Willow had figured out what she did wrong all these years with every boy she encountered and she had started digging herself out of the hole she had dug herself. She knew exactly what she wanted now and she swore to herself to never see anything besides the character people displayed towards her. 

After this interaction with George, she now saw him as what he displayed towards her - a one-night stand trying to get into her pants again with the cheapest words - and she wasn't having any of it.

Willow returned to the tennis club on Friday for her second training session of the week. This time she was actually early and went to use the bathroom until Alex finished the session he taught before her.

After washing her hands she grabbed her racket from the wall she had leaned it against and opened the door. There he was again, casually leaning against the wall opposite to the bathroom. 

For a second their eyes met and Willows heart undeniably skipped a beat before she quickly turned to the left to head along the hallway out to the courts. She hoped to avoid an interaction with George like this but to no success. He caught up to her immediately and was walking by her side.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to..," he paused shortly, looking for the right words, "go out with me again?"

They were now stood outside facing the courts as Willow turned towards him. She had thought about all the different ways an interaction with George could play out before and she had the perfect answers ready for every possible question, but now that it was happening she couldn't remember any and her brain wasn't working either to come up with something.

"I..I.., I'm quite busy at the moment" she stammered, feeling his blue eyes wander over her.

"She only makes time for tennis, sorry man." Alex's voice appeared behind her. 

Willow was relieved, thinking Alex would get her out of this.

"Well, then maybe we can play together." George proposed. He wouldn't let it go. 

Before Willow could reply Alex took it upon himself to do so, "Thats perfect! I'm not here next Wednesday and I wold have cancelled the session, but you can just play with George. So you don't miss any opportunity to practice." Alex looked at Willow with a daring grin on his face.

"Alright, it's a date!" George said.

"It's a date!" Alex repeated and put his arm around Willows shoulders to pull her away from the happening, so she couldn't say anything.

"Why did do that?" Willow asked with an outraged look. 

"You were there stammering and I thought I'd help. You guys are literally always eye-fucking each other from two courts away while playing. It's time you two make the next step." Alex defended his actions.

Willow wasn't going to explain the whole situation to him to make it make sense so she just shook her head and grabbed her racket to sign to him to start their session. 

It's only tennis, and only once, nothing more. Afterwards you can go back to ignoring him and keep him out of your life.. Willow thought to herself as she played the first few strikes back at Alex.