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When Enemies Attract	By : tennisstar Category: Individual Celebrities > Athlete/Sports Misc Views: 3352 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not know Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic, or claim that this is in any way representative of their true lives. I do not make any profit from the writing of this story. This is fiction.

Chapter List
- 8
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“It’s so good to see you, Roger!” Mirka’s mother greeted him with a hearty hug and a light kiss on the cheek, immediately wiping away her lipstick mark from his skin. “We weren’t sure you’d be able to make it.”
Roger smiled brightly at her as she released him. “Good to see you too, Karolina. I couldn’t miss this celebration. Congratulations.”
“Oh, thank you darling,” Karolina said, beaming at him with joy. “I remember the tennis tour very well, dear. They are not interested in family gatherings, or time off in general.”
Roger nodded in agreement. Unless a player was in the hospital, the ATP wouldn’t be very accepting of missed tournaments. If no bones were broken, you could play, that’s what they thought. Luckily, Roger had the luxury of being the top player, not many officials would be willing to question him, as long as he wasn’t being unreasonable. Mirka’s father joined them, kissing his wife sweetly on the cheek as he approached.
“What a lovely necklace,” Andrej joked, indicating the impressively jeweled silver necklace Mirka was wearing. They all laughed, knowing that Roger had come to the Vavrinec jewelry store to pick out the birthday gift, with careful advice from Andrej. It was helpful to have a jeweler in the family, Roger thought, especially if your girlfriend is very picky about gifts. He could always go with the “well Andrej liked it” excuse and she wouldn’t dare insult her father’s expertise opinion. And most of the time, Andrej was one hundred percent right about what his daughter would like, Roger was far less accurate.
Karolina insisted that Mirka meet her new friend from a gardening club she had recently joined, leaving Roger with only Andrej. There were times in his life that Roger would fear moments alone with the Vavrinec patriarch, but the tension between them had long since ceased. Andrej was quite overprotective of his only daughter, and a young hotheaded tennis player wasn’t exactly the mate he had in mind for Mirka. But he’d calmed greatly since their first meeting and after many years of family gatherings, not to mention Roger’s great tennis success, Andrej now considered him part of his family. This was evident in the conversation he chose, not the awkward small talk they had shared for nearly two years, but man to man talk, in this case business.
“We’re just waiting for that coffee shop next door to admit their broke so we can buy them out and expand the store,” Andrej shared happily, pleased with the success of his business. Roger nodded and smiled. He wasn’t much of a businessman, most of his millions coming from tennis. As he listened to the man, Roger was pleased that with all the talk of an expansion, no business pitch was made to him. It wasn’t uncommon for people to try to convince him to invest in various ideas, but Andrej wouldn’t do that. Not only was his business too prosperous to need help, but he respected Roger enough to not bother him with business propositions. Roger saw the fondness in Andrej’s eyes as he spoke to him, and wondered vaguely when that had happened, when he began to see Roger as a son. For a moment he felt sickeningly guilty. Roger had sought Andrej’s approval for years and finally the man accepted him, trusted him with the love of his only daughter and it was just as the relationship was falling apart. Roger felt torn, the responsible side of him feeling guilty beyond belief for breaking Andrej’s trust, and Mirka’s for that matter, but even in theory he was aware that he is too attached to Novak to confess and move on now. Instead, he prays that Andrej will never find out of his betrayal.
To his relief, Mirka eventually pulled him away to meet some of her “friends.” Roger soon found out that she meant everyone there. Who knew she had so many friends? He did his best to be polite to the strangers, but after couple number fifteen Roger was exhausted and felt like a pawn. Was it really necessary for him to meet every person Mirka’s ever met? Or even sillier, casual acquaintances of her mother that Mirka had only just met herself. One woman honestly explained that she had met Karolina at the grocery store and has only seen her a couple of times in passing since then. Why was this woman even at the party? The invitation said “an evening shared by family and intimate friends.”
Roger was relieved when Mirka wandered off to go have some “girl talk time” with a few of her friends. They sat around a table, drinking cocktails and gossiping. Roger was glad he wasn’t forced to join them. The husbands were sitting at a nearby table, looking bored and ready to leave. Roger was hesitant to join them too. It was always awkward for him to talk to a normal circle of men. Their typical topic of choice was sports and just his presence among them made everyone uncomfortable. He was already a sports icon, and his closest friends included the current ruler of the golf world and several football stars, mostly met through Nike or Gillette. The men were always on edge, trying very hard not to insult any players because they may be one of his friends, and Roger had to be careful not to share too much about any of his pals. It was just uncomfortable.
“Hey stranger,” a female voice chirped from behind him. He recognized it immediately. Before he even turned around he muttered, “Diana.”
“I come bearing gifts,” she said, handing him a glass of lemonade. He looked at it oddly, wondering why a beverage was a considered a gift, but accepting it nonetheless.
He felt a burning sensation run down his throat as he took a sip, fighting the urge to cough. “Woah,” he said as the feeling faded, the strong taste of residual alcohol overwhelming the citrus in his mouth. “That’s some lemonade.”
Diana smiled, leading him over to a pair of chairs far away from the crowd. “So what has my famous little brother been up to lately?” she asked kindly as they sat down. “Other than losing more often than usual?” Diana added wryly.
“Yes, tennis,” Roger said, watching as she rolled her eyes. There’s no way she would let him get by with such a simple answer. “Hasn’t been going well.”
“Why?” she asked. Diana was a fan of tennis, but unlike everybody else surrounding Roger, she didn’t know much about the game technically. If his forehand was off, or his serve was faulty, Diana wouldn’t be able to tell, Roger would have to tell her.
“I’m not sure. I think it’s a stamina issue. I just get so tired on court,” Roger admitted. He had thought about it a lot lately, especially when he had to explain his many recent losses to his coaching team. Nobody could find anything wrong with his game; he was just slow and lethargic out there, which messed everything up.
“Have you talked to a doctor?” Diana asked, clearly concerned. Fatigue was never a good sign.
“No, it’s probably nothing. I just need to train more,” Roger said, backing away from the subject. He never liked doctors much, trainers were alright, but doctor’s always found a way to have bad news.
“Maybe you should check in with Doctor Lawson while you’re in town. Just to make sure,” Diana suggested carefully. She remembered all too well the tantrums her baby brother used to throw before doctor’s appointments, and how they continued well into his teen years, though with less tears and more swearwords. Roger noticed the concern in his sister and reluctantly agreed, as long as she promised not to tell their parents.
Diana thought she had solved whatever had been troubling her brother, but even after he had confessed he hadn’t been feeling well, and agreed to get it checked out, Roger still seemed troubled and distracted. What could it be?
“So other than sucking on court, what have you been up to?” Diana asked playfully, hoping to lighten the mood with humor. Roger smiled, but then a distant look overtook his features, he clearly was lost in thought.
Suddenly, the smile returned. “I don’t know, stuff,” he answered, effectively sounding like a twelve-year old.
Diana rolled her eyes, but allowed him to be vague…for now. She was more concerned about what was bothering him, there was definitely something he was trying to hide, and the psychotherapist side of her wouldn’t let it go. There was something different about Roger, and Diana would stop at nothing to figure it out after…
“And how’s the PR princess doing? I saw her introduce you to…well everyone but me and the parents,” Diana said snidely. It was Roger’s turn to roll his eyes. He knew Diana didn’t care for Mirka much, in all the years she had never tried to hide it. His parents had assumed their daughter was jealous that Roger chose Mirka as his public relations manager instead of his sister who had held the position before. Roger knew better, but he would never tell his mom or dad.

Diana never wanted to be his manager or publicist, the only part of it she enjoyed was dealing with people. It had always been her dream to study psychology, preferably in America where the college curriculum was broader, but it wasn’t until Roger’s success that the family had the funds to fuel Diana’s dream. The true reason for the dislike was Mirka’s initial lack of interest in Roger. Diana was with him at all the pre-Olympic meetings as his manager; she knew immediately that Roger fancied Mirka and for several weeks it seemed that Mirka didn’t notice or care. It wasn’t until the Swiss team practiced together, and Mirka saw Roger play, saw his obvious potential, that she liked him. After that, Mirka very actively pursued Roger, and at that point he didn’t need much convincing. Months later they were inseparable and Roger carelessly brushed off Diana’s concerns, claiming that Mirka was never indifferent, just playing hard to get. The whole thing was still unsettling to Diana, even eight years later.
“Yes, I met them all. You know Mirka, a stranger is just a friend she hasn’t met yet,” Roger explained with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Right, so it wasn’t just her showing off her champion boyfriend to a bunch of strangers?” Diana asked with a mock inquisitive expression. Even Roger couldn’t deny that he was being used. These people might’ve thought meeting a former WTA player was mildly impressive, chances are half these people are here to do just that, but meeting the man being labeled as the best the sport has ever seen, that is something to brag about at work the next day and Mirka was more than happy to provide them the opportunity.
“Eh, maybe,” Roger admitted and Diana looked at him with wide eyes. He never failed to defend Mirka, no matter how little the insult that Diana threw her way, and now he’s agreeing with her? Kind of.
“Trouble in paradise?” Diana asked, more interested then she’d like to admit to herself. But honestly, she’d been waiting years for a tiff between them big enough to send the relationship crashing down. It was horrible to wish something awful like that on her brother, but then again, the thought of Roger being with Mirka forever seemed pretty horrible too.
Roger looked at her for a long moment, seemingly sizing her up. Diana is a shrink, and she deals with people’s problems all the time. Would it be so awful for him to force his problems on her too? But really, he needed to talk to someone about all this. Never before had his conscience failed him. Doing the right thing came naturally and he always trusted his first instinct. But now Roger knew he was in some limbo area between right and wrong, walking the thin line that separates them, and more than anything he just wanted to fall to one side. He looked around them cautiously, noticing that all the other guests were far away and otherwise occupied.
“Can you keep a secret?” he asked, Diana nodding with bright curious eyes. “Like a big secret?”
Diana rolled her eyes. “What do you think I do for a living?” she asked sarcastically, wondering what could possibly put her brother on edge like this, wasn’t he supposed to be the calm, rational one?
Roger shot her a look that said he wasn’t joking, and for a moment he looked like he was going to back out of this, to let the secret stay silenced. She wouldn’t let that happen. “Yes, I won’t tell,” Diana said honestly. Roger nodded and took a deep breath. Confession time.
----------------------------
Novak entered the room, delighted to see Ana already waiting. She had a notebook out and a pen ready, making her look like a child in school, eager to copy down notes. Novak on the other hand, had brought only his wallet and phone, completely unconcerned with the necessary information they might be told. He figured one of the girls would write anything useful down.
“Ana,” Novak said softly, not wanting to disturb the other athletes who were scattered throughout the large room. She jumped slightly, not expecting someone to come up behind her.
“Oh, it’s just you. Nearly gave me a heart attack Nole. I was reading,” Ana said, pointing down to the novel in her lap. “I saved you a seat.” She pointed to the office chair by her side where her purse sat, removing it so he could join her.
“Jelly wants a seat by us,” he said, placing his wallet, keys and phone on the table in front of the chair by his side, claiming the seat. Ana rolled her eyes and offered her purse to sit in the chair, knowing a few random scattered belongings weren’t enough to reserve a spot.
Once he’d settled into his place, Novak noticed Ana was staring at him expectantly. “What?” he asked, ruffling with his hair nervously.
“You’re not going to offer me an update?” Ana asked bouncily. “Considering last time we talked your life seemed quite…interesting.”
Novak smiled. Now he understood. Why couldn’t she just say that? “Well we’re sort of together now,” Novak said, feeling a blush creep across his face and looking around the room defensively, daring someone to notice. Nobody did.
Ana’s eyes got wide and he could tell she wanted to squeal her happiness, but she refrained, mostly. “Yeeee. You have to tell me! When? How? I want to know everything!”
Novak looked at her strangely. Is this how girls act when they talk about boys? He wondered vaguely, not quite admitting how intimidated he felt by her many questions.
“Umm,” Novak said lamely, unsure where to start, or how much to tell. He felt a prickling on his shoulder, and Ana looked up past him. “Ahem,” he heard a soft female voice behind him. Novak rolled his eyes, turning to the voice with annoyance.
“Is someone sitting here?” she asked, indicating the seat beside him. He almost said no just to get rid of her, but remembered Jelena. “Yes,” Novak said simply, turning back toward a very surprised Ana.
How many times had Ana been with Novak when he picked up girls? Too many times to count. And this girl was pretty, very pretty and Novak didn’t even give her a second glance. If this meeting were a couple months ago, Ana was sure the blond girl would have Novak’s full attention, Ana and Jelena forgotten, but he didn’t give a damn about that girl, or any of the others who entered the room. Suddenly Ana realized how much Novak must care about this new guy in his life, enough to give up his libertine ways without thought. He probably doesn’t even know, she thought happily.
“You were just about to tell me about this boyfriend of yours,” she whispered, prompting him to share. He looked around at the room which was getting crowded. Novak nodded toward her notebook and she handed it over, seemingly giddy with the idea of passing notes.
He’s not my boyfriend.
But you said that you guys were together?
Well we kind of are. When we hooked up we both said we wanted to do it again. And we text all the time.
Sounds like boyfriends. Ana wrote with a thoughtful look.
No, we’re not ready for that. It’s just friends Novak thought for a moment. How was it that Roger put it? with benefits.
Ana sighed. If this guy was going to turn her best friend gay, the least he could do was claim him as a boyfriend. How childish is ‘friends-with-benefits’? Oh. Why?
Because I’m new to all this. I don’t know anything about the whole gay thing.
And he does?
I don’t think so. He has a girlfriend, remember?
She’s still around?
Yeah.
Ana saw a little bit of hesitance cross Novak’s features and decided to stay away from the girlfriend thing. So what changed? How did you get together?
Novak smiled brightly, and grabbed the pen tightly. He seemed to be thinking about what he should write, or maybe just thinking about the moment she was asking about. Either way it didn’t seem like she was going to get an answer. It’s funny how she’s heard him go into graphic details of his conquests when he talks to Murray without care, but now he’s suddenly too smitten and shy to share. He would kill her if she pointed out how adorable he was right now, thinking of his boy. She grabbed the pen.
That good, eh?
He looked down at the paper, picking up the pen. Yeah. Just when I thought he’d never talk to me again, he came to my hotel room.
Hotel room? OMG did you do it with him? Ana wrote with renewed excitement. Had Novak really had hot-steamy-man-sex and not told her?!
No! He defended quickly, as if the thought of him rushing into bed with someone was completely out of character. I wouldn’t even know how. We kissed he looked up at her, not forfeiting the pen. All night.
She smiled, looking like she’d want nothing more than a front row ticket to that. Novak tried not to be freaked out, reminding himself that this is the sweet innocent girl he grew up with, not a creepy stalker who might hide out in his closet with a video camera.
Finally Jelena arrived, obviously out of breath from her hurry. Just as she sat down a group of men in business suits walked in, Novak recognizing one man as the Serbian Davis Cup coach. They started going on and on about rules and arrangements, Novak tuned them out, focusing instead on slyly capturing the soda bottle Jelena had brought, stealing a sip. She didn’t seem to notice, or maybe just didn’t care, too busy listening and making flirty eyes at a guy across the table. Waterpolo? Novak inwardly guessed the man’s sport. Ana pushed the notebook toward him, recapturing his attention.
Sven’s gay. You should ask him about, you know, sex and stuff.
Novak almost laughed, he could tell how awkward it was for her to write that, probably only slightly more awkward than it was to read. But then he thought about the actual message. Maybe he would talk to Sven. From what he remembered the guy was decently attractive, so he probably had enough experience to tell Novak the basics at least. If Roger and him ever got that far, he really didn’t want to seem like a bumbling idiot. Yeah, maybe he would ask Sven.
The meeting was over soon enough, none of them having heard much of what was said. They could always make one of their managers or publicists call for a recap later. The three Serb players moved out of the stuffy business room into the hallway. Most of the athletes had left quickly and only a few were still streaming past. They were vaguely aware that they were blocking most of the hallway but none of them made an effort to move. The girl who wanted to sit by Novak passed them, shooting him a death glare. Ana tried not to laugh, especially since Novak didn’t seem to notice her…again.
Novak grabbed Jelena’s drink, stealing another sip. She smacked his arm playfully, making him spill a bit on his shirt, but made no effort to steal it away. “I can’t believe you lost to Murray after that awesome win over Federer,” Jelena commented. Novak nearly choked on the drink when she mentioned Roger, coughing dramatically as he pushed the bottle back toward Jelena. “Yeah because I want it back now,” she said, tossing it into a nearby trashcan. “After you spat in it.” Ana looked over him thoughtfully, but didn’t say anything.
A handsome man walked toward them choosing to squeeze between Novak and Jelena rather than walk around. As he passed, the man looked directly at Novak, his body a bit closer to Novak than necessary. After he passed them, he turned back, looking at Novak again. Jelena turned to a very confused Novak.
“That guy was totally cruising you, Nole,” she said excitedly.
“He was what?” Novak asked, even more confused. Cruising?
Jelena shook her head, ruffling with Novak’s hair affectionately in a way that said ‘it’s so cute that you don’t understand.’
“What?” he asked again as they turned to leave.
“Just stay away from the men’s room,” Jelena said with a wide smirk.
--------------------------------------------

“Things haven’t been going so well with me and Mirka,” Roger admitted, the words sounding strange to him. Roger knew things were rocky, as did Mirka, but they never talked about it, both pretending that if they didn’t acknowledge the change it wasn’t there. Roger looked up, expecting to find a gloating look on his sister’s face, but instead he found concern and sadness, prompting him to continue. “For several months now we haven’t really been a couple.” He breathed deeply, gathering his thoughts. “We only talk about tennis business, and we don’t even sleep in the same bed when we’re travelling. I don’t even know what we are to each other anymore.”
Diana listened with a thoughtful expression, deeply considering his words and contemplating what she could do to help. “Do you still love her?” Diana asked carefully when she was sure he had finished explaining.
“Yes. But it feels different. I still care about her, of course, but the romantic feelings I once had are fading. I’m not even sure if they are there anymore.”
“So the passion is fading? Most couples go through that, around this time actually, the seventh year slump,” Diana said proudly, like she had solved a particularly important puzzle.
“It’s been fading for awhile though. I’m not even sure if I could say I’m in love with her anymore. A couple of years ago I was so sure of it, I could shout my feelings from the top of a skyscraper proudly, hoping that God and everyone would hear. Now I don’t think I could whisper it in a dark room. The untruthfulness would haunt me,” Roger said sadly, twirling the ice around in his glass anxiously. He had known his relationship with Mirka was quite possibly on its last leg for several months now, but it hadn’t bothered him so much until…
“And I met someone else,” Roger said, looking up hesitantly at his sister, watching the shock travel across her face. Of all the people in the world to cheat, Roger would be the last one imaginable, surely Diana was thinking that.
“You what?” she breathed, obviously trying to control the volume of her voice, not trusting it to stay between them.
“I didn’t mean to. Actually we’ve known each other for quite a while; it just never occurred to me that…” Roger defended.
“That you should cheat on your long term girlfriend with her?” Diana asked, looking less shocked and slightly angry. How many patients had come to her before with this same problem, all claiming that they would never do such a thing, but when they met so-and-so they couldn’t help themselves. “God Roger, and here I was thinking you were the most honest guy out there…other than Jim, of course.” Diana pointed to her husband, who was in the center of the husband group, chatting idly in a way that was far too similar to the gossiping ladies one table over.
Roger knew then that she was joking, poking fun at her often clueless husband, and he felt more at ease. Roger knew that it was only Diana’s general dislike of Mirka that was keeping her from beating him with her designer purse, that and she didn’t want a bloodstain on her bag.
Roger impulsively decided to take it a step further. “With him,” he corrected, expecting the full brunt to hit him now. Instead she seemed to relax, even smiled, quite possibly her most puzzling action in all twenty-seven of their years together.
“You aren’t going to freak out?” Roger asked with genuine confusion. She shook her head. “Why? I certainly freaked out about it.”
She interrupted. “You know, all those years I wanted a gay best friend, and for awhile I thought you might be...” He looked at her oddly. “Now you tell me?! Do you know how much fun we could’ve had looking for guys? But no, you wait until I’m married, and you, well you’re practically married too. And now you have a boyfriend!”
Roger paused, wondering if he should correct her. He didn’t think of himself as gay, this was still pretty new to him and so far he’s only liked one guy. And he was definitely not married, not even practically married. A year ago he wouldn’t have minded marrying Mirka, but now he could only think about their constant bickering, wondering if it could actually get worse. And then there was Novak, who he probably should think of as a boyfriend, but for some reason he had strayed away from that label when they discussed it. Was he really allowed to have a boyfriend and girlfriend at the same time? Probably not.
Roger noticed that Diana was still talking, now commenting on his “unnatural keenness for fashion” and “occasional dramatics” that should’ve been clear signs. At least she’s accepting, he thought amusedly, wondering if it was the demise of his relationship with Mirka, or his newfound homosexuality that had put her in such a good mood, either way it was sort of creepy.
“So you’re okay with this?” Roger asked, hesitantly interrupting her.
“Well, as your sister I am delighted that you are taking steps away from your current relationship which you know I’ve never been fond of. But as a shrink I think it’s a risky move. This could change your whole life Roger,” she said, looking at him sympathetically.
“It’s already changing my life. All of a sudden I’m lying to Mirka, and whenever something happens to me, my first instinct is to text him about it, like it’s not real until he knows. I couldn’t even bring my phone today because I knew I would just text him all day. At my girlfriend’s parent’s party I’d be texting my boyfriend. And even when I was talking to Andrej, feeling so guilty about going behind her back, I knew that I couldn’t give him up.”
Roger paused, hearing his own words and feeling the same shock that was written across his sister’s face. Did he really like Novak that much? And wait, did he just say boyfriend? “Should I tell her?” Roger said in a shaky voice, looking over to Mirka.
“I wouldn’t,” Diana said softly. Roger looked at her, confused. He was expecting to be told he had to tell her, it wasn’t fair to her if he kept cheating. “If you were seeing a woman behind her back, then yes, you would have to tell her. But since it’s a guy, well I would wait until you’re sure.”
“Until I’m sure? Sure of what?”
“Until you’re sure that this isn’t a phase that you’re going through. What if you break up with her now and then realize a couple months down the road that you’re not actually into blokes? Then you’ve ruined a relationship and you’re alone. Have you had sex with him yet?” she asked bluntly, surprising her baby brother. They never talk about sex, not since they were like fifteen.
“Uh, no” he said awkwardly, hoping she wouldn’t inquire further. She did.
“But you have been intimate with him, right? This isn’t just a friendship you’d like to take further but haven’t done anything yet?”
“No, we’ve uh, done stuff,” Roger said feeling a blush cover his cheeks and wondering where his vocabulary had wandered off to.
“Well after you have sex with him, that’s when you should reconsider. Will you tell me?” Diana asked, looking at him expectantly, daring him to say no.
“I guess?” he tried, wondering why she needed to know.
“This is a difficult situation, Roger, and I’d like to help you through it, but I can’t make these decisions for you. I wouldn’t even think of helping you cheat except that you looked happier than I’ve seen you in months just now when you were talking about him.”
Roger blushed deeper somehow, feeling like he had just been called out on his crush. It was true, Novak seemed to make him happy, and after months of feeling awful as his tennis game and relationship decline, he’d take all the happiness he could get.
“So when do you see him next?” Diana asked, returning to her far too curious self.
“Munich, next week,” Roger said, thinking back to what Novak had texted him earlier, it seemed the Serb knew his schedule better than he did sometimes.
“You’ll both be in Munich?” Diana was catching on. “So he’s a tennis player too?”
Roger nodded. “You’re not going to tell me who?” she asked, flashing him her best innocent look. “What good is a big giant secret if you don’t know it all?”
Roger thought about it for a moment, it wouldn’t hurt to tell her everything. And plus, he really wanted to tell someone.
“You really want to know?” he teased, knowing she was on the edge of her seat waiting.
“Yes! Just tell me already!” Diana said a bit too loudly. He gave her a look that said don’t do that again. “Fine,” she responded, motioning that her lips were zipped, she even threw away the key like she used to when they were kids.
Roger leaned in close and whispered. “Novak Djokovic,” and she nearly fainted.
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When Enemies Attract