Page 67 of Heart Match

To be honest, as soon as I saw my face on those photos I already felt so exposed I hadn’t thought that people still don’t actually know my name and who I am.

‘I guess putting a name to the face might make things more complicated,’ I say, scratching my forehead.

‘It could, yes,’ says Naomi.

The three of us look at each other, because there’s a name hovering above our heads.

‘But, you know, it will be fine. Do you think that after such a long time he’d still come after you?’ says Lexi.

‘I don’t know,’ I say.

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Eventually I make it to work. I leave with the girls, and we share an Uber to our respective destinations. The driver, a red haired woman with freckles dusted on her nose and cheeks, keeps watching me from the rear-view mirror.

‘I think I might know you from somewhere,’ she says, her eyes narrow as she tries hard to remember from where. I might have an idea, but I don’t say anything, and sink a bit deeper on the seat.

‘Hey, you never told me how things have been with Lewis after Saturday’s date,’ I say to Naomi.

‘You were too busy having sex on the kitchen island,’ she teases me, and for the first time since I discovered that the person I had sex with on the kitchen island is famous, I smile. Then the three of us laugh. The driver’s still watching us, me, from the rear-view mirror.

‘It has been … interesting,’ says Naomi. I can almost see her blushing.

When I’m about to get out of the car, the driver says—more like shouts—‘Oh, I know, I know!’ She sounds so excited, her voice so childish. ‘You’re dating Lamaire, the tennis player aren’t you?’

Oh God.

I basically try to camouflage myself all the way from the Uber to the front door to my desk. I’m glad the few people in the office are too busy to come and talk, but I still notice some look up at me, wink and smile or gesture some talk to you laters on my way.

I have a busy schedule today, with back-to-back meetings. On one hand I’m glad, it will keep my mind occupied. On the other hand, this means I’ll see a lot of people today, and for those who are more into tennis than I am, I’ll be something close to a tourist attraction.

I’m preparing for my 11:00 am meeting with the other designers, making sure presentations are saved on the cloud and confirming in which meeting room it’s going to happen when I receive the Google alert I was hoping I’d never receive. Now the media knows my name, and if they do, the world does too.

UK Gossip Today’s Blog

Lamaire’s next match is against Dordevic, but his heart match is Olivia Charlton.

I click on it to see what it says.

Everyone has been wondering who the hot brunette Lamaire has been seen with all over London is in the past days. Wonder no more, you gossipers, we have her name figured out for you: Olivia Charlton, a twenty-six-year-old Londoner and nothing less than a lingerie designer working for one of the most luxurious brands in the world, Secretive.

How the two met is still a mystery, one we’ll certainly try to find out for you. According to sources the pair is staying in the same building, not far from Wimbledon, in the quiet neighbourhood of Richmond. The question is, is she staying with him or is he staying with her?

Tomorrow Lamaire is playing Wimbledon’s semi-finals against Andrej Dordevic. Is Miss Charlton going to be there to support her beau? We can’t wait to find out. Who’s going to watch the match and be wondering who is going to be at Lamaire’s player box cheering for him? We know we will.

Wimbledon News

Lamaire’s affair: lingerie designer Olivia Charlton.

Tennis World

Miss Charlton’s keeping Lamaire busy out of the court.

Daily Mail

Who’s Lamaire’s new girlfriend?

They all have photos. Some I’ve seen before, of me and Luc. Others were taken of myself, alone. I freeze when I see one of myself coming to work on Monday, when I thought I was being watched. I don’t know if I feel relieved or furious when I see it.

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