“Dana!” Trisha called out to the overwhelmed tennis player who was gazing out of the locker window. “Dana get over here now!” She loved the girl to bits but she was hopeless at getting into the mindset of a ruthless professional.

“Dana, this is one ***** of an important game for you. I do not want to see you looking at those crowds again, they are not your concern, you hear?” Dana simply nodded at her trainer’s words. “This is your first professional game Dane, and I’m going to be honest with you. It would help A Lot if you win this. I need you to think you’re going to win, to be cocky about it. To be a ***** basically. So during the next thirty minutes I do not want to see you being nice to anybody. Got that?”

Dana looked at Trisha in an unconvinced fashion.

“Trisha that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you s-”

“Good. I like that you’re trying,” Trisha interrupted. She gave Dana a pat on the back before leaving the particularly crowded locker-room to give Dana some alone time. Which was what the tennis player needed, especially after her trainer’s confusing advice. Who was Trish kidding? Dana was hopeless at being cocky about anything – the truth was she was scared shitless about this game and knew it showed.

“God Dammit why can’t I just be a *****!” She muttered under her breath as she checked her rackets for the third time that morning. She sat down on the bench nearby, her knees shaking, and watched the rest of the competitors in the room, hoping that they would all suddenly develop food poisoning and forfeited. Realising soon after this thought the impossibility of it all, Dana covered her face with her hands. She sat like this for what seemed like forever, only to be interrupted by a rather large cough. Pulling her face upwards towards the sound, still covered with her hands, Dana slowly moved two of her fingers apart to see a gorgeous blonde in front of her, staring into her one revealed eye.

“Dana Fairbanks?” The blonde replied in a rather professional voice. “I’m Alice Pieszecki, from the L.A. Sun, I was wondering if you had a minute for a few questions?”