Hotel Ferrero (Chapter 29)
Title: Hotel Ferrero
Pairings: Gasquet/Nadal, Djokovic/Roddick, Federer/Moya
Other characters: Andy Murray, Tommy Robredo
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Vampires, mentions of blood.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Roger and Carlos enjoy their stable relationship after the blood-drinking while Novak has dinner with Murray. Richard gives Novak a friendly advice which makes Andy laugh while Rafael gets to see Richard work. Haas gives his partner a special gift but Robredo doesn't realize the meaning of it.
From the previous chapter:
Marat found out that there was a sex tape of Juan Carlos and himself while the Spaniard and Haas worked out a plan for Mario and Robredo. Richard had thanked Marat in his own way and Marcos had come back with a new herb.
Chapter 29: New York, New York
Roger opened his eyes, blinked twice, and turned his head to the left. Yes, there was his lovely vampire sleeping with the bedcovers over his head.
‘Ah, I live for these peaceful moments, don’t I?’
The Swiss stretched his body and pulled down the covers just enough to give his lover a kiss on the forehead. Ever since Carlos had drunk his blood, they had been like teenagers who couldn’t keep their hands off each other.
‘It’s just great that our night lives aren’t bothering our tennis. Actually, I think it’s helping my game. Maybe I should’ve made him drink me before French Open and Wimbledon.’
Roger chuckled but he knew that it wasn’t too late to save his slightly less great season. He felt good about his game in a long time and he believed that he could defend his U.S Open title. He had already survived the first week without much difficulty and he didn’t have any pressure as the top seed anymore.
Roger slowly got out of the strong arms that didn’t seem to like the idea and picked up his cell phone.
‘Let’s see if I got any messages.’
Apart from the usual encouraging ones, there was one message that caught his eye.
I’m in town because of work. I miss you, baby brother. Call me. - Diana
‘I miss you too.’
His sister Diana and he had been maintaining quite a good relationship but ever since she got married and moved to Africa, they hadn’t had too many chances to talk.
‘So she started working again, I suppose.’
Roger smiled and sent her a message to set up an appointment while his thoughts drifted off to his parents.
‘When will they ever realize that Carlos is the one for me? What does Diana think about Carlos by the way? She never met him, right?’
Determined to set his lover’s image straight to at least his sister, Roger hoped that Diana would be staying in town until the day of the final.
‘I could really have her on my side. Dad dies for her.’
Roger smoothed his hair and decided that he should talk this over with Carlos. He felt more comfortable talking to him about sensitive issues these days and felt closer than ever to the vampire.
‘First things first, I got a match to win today.’
He looked over at the bed on which Carlos had just started snoring before walking into the bathroom.
Outside the Hotel, Novak was walking into a restaurant, following the young lady who showed him to where his friend Andy Murray was seated.
“Hey, Nole. Good night. How are… you.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes and felt a fireball come up his throat. Unfortunately, he knew how Novak looked like after sex. The swollen lips, the flushed cheeks and the overall glow that could bother a troubled mind.
“Um… Hi, Andrew. So sorry I’m late.” Novak apologized with a guilty smile.
“It’s fine. I was just…” Andrew stopped talking and glared at the Serb. “This is unbelievable. What a lovely night.”
Novak heard the sarcasm and ducked his head. “Sorry, I really am.”
“Well, I guess the reason why you were late is none of my business now.” The Scot picked up his glass of wine while the Serb had no idea what to do.
“May I get your orders?” A waiter came over, practically saving Novak from suffocation and the two ordered.
“Did you just order human food with lemonade?” Andrew asked, his voice not accusing him anymore. He didn’t want to waste his precious time with the Serb by getting annoyed with something that was out of his control.
“Yes, I did. I tend to eat more human stuff these days. It’s a blessing to be a vamp, you know. We can eat both their and our food.” Novak smiled, grateful for the change of air.
“But I thought that you would like to have some alligator thigh steak here. You always mixed up salad dressing with unicorn tear sauce, so I used to help you...” Andrew slurred his words at the end, realizing that those good days must have been over.
“Yes, good memories. Fortunately, I can tell the difference now.” Novak giggled lightly before studying Andrew’s face.
“Is everything okay? You look so tired.”
“I am tired. Nothing seems to be going my way.” The Scot admitted, loosening his tie.
“Sorry to hear that. Maybe you should’ve joined Tim on his vacation.” The tennis player carefully spoke his mind.
“I don’t want to talk about Tim tonight. Not after all those hideous outfits that he has made you wear.”
Novak let out a short laugh. His friend could be obsessed with the tiniest things in life. “I admit that it’s not the prettiest I’ve ever worn, but I thought they were passable.”
Andrew shot fires from his eyes. “Are you colorblind? Well, if you weren’t, you certainly are now. That can seriously hurt people’s eyes!”
Novak found the conversation very funny. He took a sip of lemonade that reminded him of his boyfriend’s scent and answered. “My eyes are fine. I’m sure Tim just wanted to show people that vampires can wear bright colors as well. I’m part of the new tennis generation. Maybe Tim wanted to make me look different from Carlos’ generation.”
Andrew wasn’t persuaded by his friend’s theory.
“Next time you get to wear something like that, you pick up the phone and call me right away, so I can fix things before you get on court and let half of the tennis world laugh at you.”
“Andrew, it wasn’t that bad. I’m more worried about my drop shots than my clothes at the moment.”
Their appetizers had arrived and the conversation was interrupted.
“Oh, by the way, I heard that we’re going to shoot the new Bloodorade commercial right after the Open.” Novak changed the subject.
“Yes, you don’t mind the schedule, right?”
“I don’t.” The Serb picked up a snail with his spoon and put it on Andrew’s plate.
“You’re not eating?”
“This is me apologizing for being late. I can’t stand it when you’re mad at me, Andrew. So I’ll be careful not to be late again.” Novak added a smile that he knew his friend would appreciate.
The Scot hated himself for loving those words. “Does he feed you well?”
“Hey!” Novak protested, suddenly having so many things to say.
“You know what I mean.”
“Well, he doesn’t mind me drinking humans on the street and yes, he buys me tons of blood packs.”
“Great.” Andrew picked up his new snail and put it in his mouth. It tasted good.
“Delicious?”
“Yeah, it’s all right.” The Scot answered and Novak could see that he meant it.
“Andrew, I know you don’t want to talk about Tim, but since you’re always overworking, you don’t have to talk to Tim about my outfits. I have another manager, remember?”
“I’m talking to Tim because I like to be on your team. Don’t worry. It’s not that stressful.”
“But you guys are having problems because of me, and I don’t want to see that.” Novak insisted.
“That’s not your fault. That’s because Tim’s being ridiculous. We should switch to Fred Perry at any time.”
“With all due respect, I don’t think I’ll look any better in Fred Perry.”
Andrew made a face at the possible insult of his favorite brand and the waiter saved Novak once again by brining in the main dishes.
“Hey, do you think Tim’s got a boyfriend? Maybe he could think more clearly if he has someone by his side.” Novak blurted out and saw his friend frown.
“He’s one hell of a busy businessman. I don’t think he has time for that.”
“Hmm.”
“Why do you ask? You’re trying to hook him up with someone?!”
Novak almost laughed in his glass of lemonade, noticing that Andrew’s tone was getting a little hysterical. It was even funnier, knowing that Andrew probably had no idea what he sounded like.
“I just asked because he seems to be quite lonely. Tell me something, Andrew, how often does he come to see you these days?”
After chewing on some steak, the Scot answered. “Twice a week, I think, at least.”
“Really? How wonderful.” Novak couldn’t believe that Andrew couldn’t see something this obvious with his super smart brain.
‘I guess life is fair after all.’
Meanwhile Andrew was a little shaken. Tim was always Tim. He had always been the nice guy in the neighborhood Tim since the day that he had remembered knowing him. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that it was possible for Tim to find a long-term boyfriend or even worse, a husband and live happily ever after somewhere far, far away.
“Is everything still okay, Andrew?” Novak asked, beaming and patted his friend on the back of the hand. “You know you can always talk to me, right?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
Enjoying the look of a confused Andrew, Novak happily ate his dinner.
Meanwhile, another successful tennis player, Rafael Nadal, was hanging out in Richard’s room, watching him string racquet after racquet. The whole process was much more intense that he had imagined. He could see that his boyfriend had a unique way of stringing. If a string was even slightly uncooperative, Richard would make a face and glare at it for a few seconds. If a crazy string went even further than uncooperative, the stringer would make a frustrated noise and kick it out.
‘Okay, I should never mess with Richie when he’s working, no? Scarier than I thought.’
Rafael held his breath until Richard’s face became brighter as the stringing machine worked in his favor.
“Bored? I told you that it was going to be no fun watching.” Richard looked at his boyfriend who was spread out on the bed.
“Not exactly bored.”
“Hmm, that’s surprising.” The French giggled.
“You look very professional.”
“I am professional. Some people might think that I’m just a cute face, but I know what I’m doing.” Richard smiled, proud of his skills.
“Of course you do. And, I appreciate every bit of it, no?”
As Richard finished another racquet, Rafael took the opportunity to sit behind him, giving his shoulders a break.
“Ah, that feels good.” The stringer relaxed under the warm touch.
“Of course, I am professional too.” The Spaniard joked and was glad to hear Richard laugh.
“I think I could have the best season of my career this year all thanks to you, Richie.”
He placed a soft kiss on the back of his boyfriend’s neck.
“You’re talking to me as my boyfriend or as my client?”
“Both. I could never thank Carlos enough for introducing you to me.”
More kisses were added on the side of Richard’s neck which made the French close his eyes and absorb the feeling.
“It’s never the tool that does the job for you. You earned yourself a great season. If I had helped in any way, I’d say we’re a good match.” Richard turned his head and smiled.
Now Rafael couldn’t miss the opportunity to kiss the beautiful lips, so he wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed him with a jumping heart.
“We’re more than a good match, Richie. You’re perfect for me.” Rafael whispered in the vampire’s ears and Richard had to smile widely, showing off both fangs.
That reminded the Spaniard of another Spaniard that Richard was supposed to be talking to.
“Did you go talk to Juanqui about blood drinking? I thought that was tonight.”
“Not yet. Novak wanted my advice on something but I’ll go as soon as you leave.”
Richard turned around completely and put his arms around his boyfriend’s neck.
“Well, I should be going anyway.” Rafael hated to leave the room but he had to sleep well for tomorrow’s match. He kissed the tip of Richard’s nose and gave him a warm squeeze before separating.
“I wish the off-season would come quickly so we could spend more time together.” Richard opened the door for his boyfriend and Rafael couldn’t agree more.
“I should invite you to Mallorca some time.”
“Really? I’d love to go there.”
The young couple exchanged another hug and knew that it was time to part.
“Tell me how it went with Juanqui, okay? And, let him know that you can always try drinking me again.”
Rafael caressed the soft curls of his favorite vampire and Richard nodded.
“Okay. Get some sleep and go win that match for me, tiger.”
They both laughed at the word tiger but Rafael didn’t mind it. He actually thought that tigers were hot.
“Good night, Richie.”
“Good night, Rafa.”
Andy Roddick was having a good laugh reading Novak’s book on the many differences between humans and vampires, not aware of what kind of advice his stringer had given to his boyfriend.
‘Seriously, this book is exaggerating everything. I don’t think we are that different. If we can talk, eat and sleep together, I guess Nole and I have pretty much everything sorted out.’
He was waiting for Novak to come back from whatever vampire store he had gone to, so that he could get more sleep with him.
As Andy turned another page, he heard the door open.
“Hey, kid, you’re… back?”
Unfortunately, Andy didn’t recognize the creature that had just walked in.
Someone was wearing something similar to a spacesuit and Andy took a deep breath just to check if there was still enough air in the room.
“Novak, is that you?”
The spaceman nodded and opened the cover of his helmet. “Yes, Andy, this is a little heavier than I thought.”
“A little? Hey, you look like you’re on Mars or something. What’s with that weird costume?”
Novak put his helmet down and moved towards Andy in a very awkward manner. “Let’s just say that this will be my new pajamas for the next couple of days.”
The human wasn’t following at all. “Huh?”
“This is a protective suit that we wear in case we really have to go under the sun.”
“I’m still not following. You’re planning to sleep under the sun?”
“No, Andy! I’m planning to sleep on the bed with you.”
Novak walked past the couch and threw himself on the bed while Andy joined him with an interesting look on his face.
“Don’t laugh. I’m just trying to live with you. You’ve done so much for me, so I’m returning the favor.” Novak pouted.
But, of course, Andy wouldn’t be Andy if he could have resisted laughing.
“Ahahaha, you’re returning me the favor by wearing a spacesuit in my bed? Hey, I’d rather have you naked in the coffin!”
“Well, Richie told me that this way, I’d be safe even if you open the curtains in the morning.”
“Oh dear god, James has to see this.”
Andy lifted a finger and started poking his boyfriend here and there.
“Hey, stop that! You know I’m ticklish! And this weird fabric isn’t helping!” Novak tried to roll away but Andy was already straddling him.
“I can’t see another way to get you out of this suit on your free will.” Andy didn’t stop tickling and soon, the vampire was writhing and laughing at the same time.
“Stop! Andy, oh, stop already! What do you want me to do?”
“We can keep sleeping in the coffin since it’s kind of warm in there. And, if you really want to try sleeping on bed, we can try it next summer when it’s hot. What do you say?”
Andy wanted to give his boyfriend time to think so he stopped his assaults and busied himself wiping sweat off Novak’s face with the back of his hand.
“Why are you sweating so much?”
“’Cause this fabric is really weird and you tickled me!!”
“Then accept my awesome suggestion and let’s get you out of this.”
Novak pondered for a moment. “But I want to make it up to you.”
“Trust me, kid, you can make it up to me by so many different ways. I can already think of thirty four different ways at least.”
“So we try sleeping on bed next summer? You’re sure you can sleep in a coffin till then?”
“I’m sure. So let’s get you out of this crazy costume.”
“Okay. But I’ve got nothing inside here. It was too hot.” Novak’s face turned crimson and that just made Andy’s hands pick up the pace.
In the room right next to theirs, Carlos woke up in the middle of the day, annoyed at the sound of the alarm clock.
‘Urgh… I need a new clock. I heard that there was one where we could tape people’s voice. As soon as the Open is over, I’m using my prize money on that. Roger could sing for me so I can wake up to pleasant evenings every day.’
The Spaniard liked his plans and quickly turned on the TV. He knew that he was supposed to be sleeping well for his night match but he wanted to watch Roger’s matches on live television.
Ever since he drank the beautiful Swiss’ blood, he felt as if he was back to the unbelievably healthy days when he was around two hundred years old or so. And, much to his relief, he hadn’t had a problem of addiction so far.
‘That means that I love him very much, no? As Roger said, some stupid addiction can’t stand in our way.’
The Roger inside the television entered the court with a gracious smile on his face, and Carlos took his lover’s pillow in his arms with a similar smile.
‘Ah, he always looks so strong and elegant on court. I often forget that I’m living with the greatest human tennis player ever. So often, he giggles with an evil smile or tries to play pranks on me when he’s got a milk moustache or something.’
The vampire chuckled at the memories and pulled out a blood pack from the mini-bar. His brain automatically directed his thoughts towards the taste of Roger’s blood.
‘How could someone taste so amazing like that? Ah, unbelievable… If only his parents knew that I wouldn’t drink him to death even if he tastes so good.’
Carlos clearly remembered Roger’s reaction at Wimbledon, so he knew that he had to be very patient with that particular issue.
‘Too bad that we don’t have tournaments in Africa. Maybe his sister could’ve been on my side.’
The Spaniard dismissed all gloomy thoughts since the warm up was over and the match was about to begin.
“Go, Roger!! I know you can win in straight sets!”
The Roger inside the television smiled as if he had just heard Carlos cheering.
‘Ah, this is going to be a good match.’
Proud than ever of his lover, Carlos leaned against the headboard, all set to enjoy some great tennis.
Tommy Robredo was walking into the Hotel, still wondering what had gotten into his partner’s brain.
‘There must be a deadly virus that makes vampires give presents. If that’s not it, I don’t know why he paid for a night in this overly expensive hotel!’
He took the elevator.
‘Since when did he do this kind of thing for me? And, why on earth would I want to spend the night in the hotel alone? I’ll just feel more lonely.’
He stepped outside the elevator as it reached his floor and found his way to his room.
‘And why did he give me this?’
As he put down his bag on the floor, he looked down at the list of their customers that his partner had practically forced him to carry.
‘He must be on drugs. I knew it! He can’t be spending money on this… wait a minute, is this some sort of a honeymoon suite?’
There was a very large coffin which had rose petals shaped in a heart on it and flowers were decorated in the corners of the room. Tommy checked the bathroom and there was a huge Jacuzzi with all sorts of buttons to press.
“Guh, Tommy!!” He roared and threw the thick customers’ list on the table.
A small piece of paper and a paperclip that must have been with the list caught the Spaniard’s eyes and he roughly picked up the paper to read. It was the German’s handwriting.
My dear partner,
Just a few things to make you ready:
1. Don’t frown. Just keep smiling.
2. Go brush your teeth and relax your mouth.
3. Don’t think. Just act.
- Your thoughtful partner, the sexier Tommy
“For the hundredth time, Tommy, I’m the sexier one!”
Tommy threw the paper on the floor, hating himself for displaying such violent gestures.
‘This is all because I kissed Mario that night. I should’ve just said bye casually. Now I can’t stop thinking of those lips. He was a sweetheart. Very edgy, but still, a sweetheart.’
Tommy couldn’t believe that he was having such a hard time because of someone he didn’t even know that well.
Knock-knock.
Someone knocked at his door, so the Spaniard let out an annoying sound and yanked the door open.
“What?!” He almost spat out and froze.
He was there.