She was sitting in the lobby when I arrived, still in the hospital wheelchair. She looked surprised to see me. “Oh, I thought the driver was going to take me home.”
The Elly I had said goodbye to that morning looked very different from the Elly that was hunched over in the wheelchair now. Though she was always pale, her paleness had taken on another level. Especially under the bright yellow pajamas, she was wearing, which she was making an effort to hide under a dark blue dressing gown.
“I need to get a new set of pajamas. I’ve probably disgraced the Rojas name wearing these out in public,” Elly said, offering a small smile. Even amid pain, she could crack a joke.
I couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to show my face in this hospital again.”
I walked around to take the handles of her wheelchair. “Back to your question,” I said. “The driver had…uh…a different errand to run, so I thought I would stop by.” Was I going to tell her that I needed to prove a point to my brother…or just come out and admit that this whole performance was genuine?
The former. It was all for the plan.
“I talked to your surgeon and doctor,” I said. “They say the surgery went smoothly, and with no complications. The doctor has full trust in your making a full recovery. I’ve already found you an excellent physiotherapist to help you gain back the muscle and full mobility of your knee…” I was firing these statements rapidly at Elly, but it helped me to keep talking and not to think about anything else. Especially, the tightening of my heart seeing her so weak, so vulnerable.
Like my dad after his first heart attack.
“Sebastian?” Elly broke through my thoughts.
“Yes?”
“Please tell me you didn’t come in your smallest sports car to pick up someone who just had surgery?”
I froze. I had in fact arrived in my bright red compact convertible. She was a spectacular beast—fast, elegant…but with very little space to spread out.
“Uhh…”So much for thinking things through.
“Where are we going to put the wheelchair?” Elly caught my eye.
Seeing that I didn’t have an answer for her, she sighed and shook her head. “Men and their cars.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
CHAPTER25
SEBASTIAN
TWO WEEKS LATER
“Mr. Rojas? Do you have a minute?”
I had just parked in the garage and was walking back to the main house when Ronaldo, Elly’s new tennis trainer, came around the bend. I glanced at my smartwatch. Presumably, he had just finished training his new protégé.
“I have a call in twenty minutes. Unless it is urgent…” I said, motioning in the direction of the tennis court.
“It’s quick. As you may have noticed, Elly has regained most of her mobility and form back…” Ronaldo began.
“I understand the PT gave her a full bill of health last week. I trust his opinion; he’s the best in the country,” I cut in. I didn’t have time for this. Our German partners hated waiting and I had no desire to allow slipping away from our business proposal.
“Yes. Yes. Elly is back to form. But her mind is not in the game. What she is missing, in my professional opinion, is a bit of a competitive edge. She is used to playing one-on-one matches regularly to keep her at the top of her game,” Ronaldo continued.
I frowned. “Isn’t there another player you could invite to play with her? I can get my security guard to do a background check on anyone you send me and we could arrange something.”
Ronaldo nodded. “Yes. That could be an option. I will go through my contacts tonight.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m sorry, but I need to go.”
Ronaldo nodded at me and headed for the exit whilst I marched to my office, once again playing through the presentation I was about to give through my head.
Revenue. Revenue. Revenue…