Let the Floods Cross

Liezel linked arms with Zack as they both posed for the photographers on the red carpet. It felt awkward for the two of them to be standing together; especially for Zack. He is uncomfortable in a position where he has to smile for the camera, especially with Liezel. It is not her fault that he is feeling awkward. He just isn’t used to this environment.

“Alright, I am going to try to avoid as many interviews as possible, okay?” Liezel looked up at the bass player.

Zack looked down at her and forced a smile. He wanted to reassure her that he is fine with the interviews, even if he is not. It is awkward for him to be her arm candy, just standing beside her and saying absolutely nothing at all. Alex is supposed to be in his place and the guilt is starting to sink in for Zack.

“Zack, you look like you are about to cry if I make you stay on this red carpet any longer. Let’s just smoothly stroll on over inside the venue, yeah?” The tennis player tugged at the sleeve of his tuxedo.

He nodded at her in agreement and followed her past other tennis superstars, and into the banquet hall. His eyes widened in anticipation as he watched several of the tennis players he recognized walk past him.

“Don’t pass out if you see Rafa, okay?” Liezel teased, patting his shoulders playfully.

Zack chuckled at her as they approached an escort by one of the many counters surrounding the room. The lady greeted Liezel politely and briefly acknowledged the musician beside her, gesturing them toward the direction of their seats. The pair thanked the lady as they are escorted to their now-empty table.

“Beckett and plus one.” The lady pointed at the seats before excusing herself to leave.

The bassist raised an eyebrow as he saw the card in front of his seat.Beckett’s plus one is written on it. When Liezel noticed his strange behavior, she laughed at him and sat down. Zack followed her actions.

“Don’t worry, you’ll only be objectified for tonight. After we leave New York, you’ll be important again.” She joked.

Zack laughed along until he noticed something on their right side.

“What?” Liezel whispered.

“Andonov.” Zack whispered back, excitedly.

Rolling her eyes, Liezel put on a fake smile and turned to the direction her friend stared after. In all of her five foot ten glory, Portia Andonov approached the pair in a blue cocktail dress. Zack could not help but notice her long, dark legs as they strolled on over to their table.

“Beckett!” Andonov exclaimed excitedly as Liezel got up from her seat to hug her.

“It is nice seeing you again, Andonov.”

Liezel was only saying it halfheartedly. She liked the woman well enough, but she cannot help but feel like this woman will take away her chance of winning a grand slam again. This woman can possibly knock her out of the competition in this tournament.

Andonov’s gaze left hers as they wandered over to the man beside her. She smiled pleasantly as Zack’s eyes widened slightly.

“New boyfriend?” The Bulgarian tennis player asked.

“No, a friend. He’s a big fan of yours, Zack.” Liezel introduced.

Andonov shook Zack’s hand with a large smile on her face.

“I’m going to head back to my table, see you on the court then, Beckett!” Andonov said before disappearing from Liezel’s view.

She did not even have a chance to return the farewell. It does not matter much, anyways. Liezel wouldn’t know what to say to her rival. Zack, however, looked beyond star struck, and it is kind of hard for her to believe since she did not remember Zack being a fan of tennis.

Jack liked her because of her appeal, but Zack should be more modest than his band mate. She decided to shake the thoughts off and actually pay attention to the incoming guests.

“Liezel Beckett!” Both Liezel and Zack turned to a man across from them on the table.

Liezel grinned immediately while her friend raised an eyebrow in confusion. He did not know who this man is, and Zack knew some of his tennis players. The female tennis player got up from her seat and ran over to him with a huge hug. Zack took it that they are really good friends.

“Berdy!” She exclaimed, releasing her grip on him.

Other athletes are already starting to fill the room with their dates. She noticed that her friend did not come with a date. But before she could make a comment about that, he eyed Zack and beat her to it.

“Where’s Alex?” He asked in his Czech accent.

“He’s uh…”

Zack noticed his friend’s awkward stance and quickly appeared beside her to the rescue. He is still surprised that this tall man in front of Liezel knew about Alex; but she did bring him just about every year.

“Hi, I’m Zack.” He held out a hand for the guy.

“I’m Tomas, but people call me Berdych.”

The musician glanced at Liezel to study her expression but he could not pick out any since she was covering whatever she is feeling with her smile. She removed her gaze from Zack and turned back to Tomas.

“Berdych as in Tomas Berdych?” Zack asked.

“Yes, Zack.” Liezel laughed.

Tomas turned to the buff man beside Liezel and studied him carefully. He raised an eyebrow before turning to his female associate.

“So is he the new replacement for Alex?”

Liezel shook her head quickly.

“No, he’s actually Alex’s band mate. We’re friends.”

Tomas nodded.

“Good, please tell me you and Alex together?” Zack noticed that his guy’s English isn’t perfect.

Liezel turned to look at Zack, feeling hesitant to answer her fellow tennis player’s question. She is not too sure about where she stands with Alex at this point. Neither of them vied for a breakup, but they are both angry at each other and she can already tell that they are falling apart.

“Well…”

“Trouble in paradise?” Tomas asked.

Liezel nodded.

“Sit, Beckett. We can sit down and talk.” He gestured toward her seat.

She made a sound of affirmative, following Zack to her seat. When she sat down, she decided to focus on the empty seat beside Berdych instead of her sadness over Alex and her other colleagues seated around them.

“Speaking of trouble in paradise, where’s Lana tonight?” Liezel asked.

Zack noticed that the two sure do know a lot about each other, but then he remembered that their extreme friendship is pretty publicized. She usually listed him as her best friend in the tennis industry.

Tomas frowned at the thought but shrugged as an attempt to cover it up.

“We are not together now.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry.” Liezel murmured.

“No worries, I know we weren’t going to work out.”

But it was obvious that there was something else, but it is none of Zack’s business. He decided to just sit down and observe, while being there for Liezel during this night.

“By the way, Beckett…” Berdych started.

“Yeah?”

He eyed Zack and then quickly turned away to look back at her before speaking.

“If you and Alex don’t work out either, you know I’m always here.”

Zack stared at the man in disbelief and at this point, he already started to feel bad for betraying Alex.



“So what’s the deal with you and that Berdych guy?” Zack asked when they both entered his hotel room.

After the banquet, Liezel decided that she would stay in Zack’s hotel room for the night since she did not have any particular activities to get to. Her parents are also in this hotel and she plans to spend the day with them tomorrow. If she stayed in her own hotel room, it would be in another building.

She didn’t want to spend the night alone, surrounded by her fellow tennis players; she wanted to talk to Zack.

“We’re close, that’s all.”

“I’m worried about you.” Zack said honestly.

Liezel sighed, turning to him. He patted down on the spot next to him on the bed and she obliged. When she sat down beside him, he stared her down expectantly, awaiting her response. She bit her lips and contemplated for a second before opening her mouth to reply.

“Are you worried about my wellbeing, my relationship with Alex, or my non-existent relationship with Berdy?”

“All of the above?” Zack answered.

She did not want Zack to ponder over her friendship with Tomas, because it is and will never be anymore than just friends. She wanted to try to reassure him, but she has greater matters in her hand.

“Look, I am worried that Alex and I will fall apart.”

The musician sighed, wrapping an arm around the tennis player.

“Beckett, you are an extraordinary woman. I think you have plenty of qualities to admire. But you need to do whatever you can to fix it and then let the cards play.”

Liezel buried her face against her friend’s rough shoulders, groaning in agony.

“I just can’t stop thinking about it. I want to focus on winning the championship but what if I come back with the championship and not Alex’s love? Honestly, what am I supposed to do without him?”

“You have to go back, apologize to him and stop complaining about not being able to give him enough. You need to try, and as much as I like you, Beckett, you haven’t been trying hard enough.” Zack said boldly.

Liezel picked her head up to raise an eyebrow at her friend.

“You think I haven’t been trying enough?”

“Exactly! You are extraordinary, I respect you, but one thing you really suck at is prioritizing your life. Alex has always been second choice next to tennis. Nobody is going to question your love for him, because I know you love him. We all know. But you’ve been putting him in the back burner for tennis since high school.”

She stopped and thought about everything. Zack has never spoken so truthfully and openly to her or anybody else. It is very rare to see him care so much about a situation revolving around her. As much as she hated him for doubting her ability to prioritize her life, she knew he was right. Nobody but Alex had been bold enough to point out this truth to her before this.

Beckett knew that she occasionally choose her dedication to tennis over her dedication to her long running relationship, but she did not realize how much she has been neglecting Alex.

“Oh my god.” She murmured.

Zack did not say anything; he just stared at her.

“I screwed up.”

The bassist did not make a movement. He just looked at her, because he has said enough about the situation. After a brief moment of thinking, he thought of what to say.

“You know, Ace and I had a good run.” Zack spoke up.

Liezel looked up at him in shock. One thing he hated talking about ever since his breakup with Acacia was the relationship that he had. He never shared what happened with them, and she never knew what caused the end of their relationship.

She immediately thought about Zack mentioning Ace’s clothes and how they were in the guest room of Zack and Rian’s loft. She wondered why it was there. When Zack told her to stay the night at the loft and mentioned Ace’s spare clothes, she thought nothing of it. But now, it has been brought to her attention.

“What is up with you two? So much hostility!”

“We did not end up well, neither of us understood each other. We didn’t try hard enough to mend a broken relationship. Well, I still blame her for what happened between us.”

“What did happen?” Liezel asked.

“I don’t want to share that, to be honest.”

“You know, Acacia really did love you and I can bet my annual salary that she still loves you.”

Zack turned away from her.

“I don’t love her anymore.”

“Are you trying to tell me that what happened between you and Ace will happen to me and Alex?” Liezel asked, mortified.

He let out a huge sigh.

“I see so much of Ace and me in you guys. It shouldn’t happen to you guys.”

“But what did Ace do to you?”

Zack did not answer. He got up from the bed and walked over to the window. Liezel followed his actions, starring at the New York skyline dazzlingly.

“Why don’t you ask her?”

Liezel opened her mouth in protest.

“Zack…”

He turned to her and made his way for the bed.

“Go to sleep, Beckett. You take that bed and I’ll take this one.” Zack said quietly.

He sat down on his bed, resting his head on the pillow.

“But Zack…”

“Beckett, go to bed.”

Notes

Sorry for taking forever to update :) And in case you guys are wondering, Andonov is completely made up, not an actual tennis player. Tomas Berdych, however, is an actual tennis player and I freaking love that man! And of course, the Rafa mention :D

Thanks to The_mindlessOne and skullandcrossbones for commenting on the previous chapter!

And guys, pay attention to all the Ace mentions cuz as you all know, the next and final story is about Zack and Ace. The story is here click by the way!