“I-I’m going to die..”
As Hops uttered those words and sat on the floor, sweating profusely, Angora lowered her sunglasses to shoot her a concerned look from the other side of the net. The weather was ideal for exercising, so naturally she had dragged along her favorite employee to her private tennis club, figuring it would be a great way to spoil her. Yet there sat Hops after a single match, cheeks flushed and sweating so profusely you’d think she ran a marathon.
“Oh, what was that, darling? Are you alright?”
Angora approached with a jog, slightly confused, sunglasses swiftly placed on top of her head. She did imagine that Hops’ clumsy nature would most likely make her lousy at sports - quite an adorable spectacle for her to feast on - but she never imagined her stamina would be so low as to make her nearly collapse on mild weather. Hops’ eyes looked so glazed over you could almost mistake them for spirals.
“Water…” was all Hops could huff in response.
Thus Angora wasted no time to signal for her servant to bring some bottled water over immediately. Hops grabbed the bottle, spilling the contents over her head rather than drinking it, before downing half of a second one in a single gulp - no doubt a skill she acquired from her drinking prowess. Angora’s lips curled upwards as she watched her cool down patiently. She enjoyed herself thoroughly stealing lecherous looks at Hops’ petite body, now being hugged by the sporty attire she wore (designer, also a gift from Angora). Her sports bra was visible underneath the soaked shirt, and her skirt was riding up due to her careless posture, exposing much more of her tights than before. Finally, she reached out and touched her wet, messy bangs, combing them back with her fingers.
“How do you feel now? It seems a break is in order.”
“Hah… I’m so sorry…” Hops said after she seemed to slightly recompose herself. “I felt dizzy all of a sudden…! I guess I got a little dehydrated from running around so much.”
“And here I thought you exceeded in running around” Despite her words, Angora’s tone wasn’t particularly displeased. “Come, I will treat you to brunch. No use continuing in this condition.”
Hops’ ears twitched at the mention of food, her eyes sparkling, and a smile graced her face as she nodded in agreement. It never failed to amuse Angora how easy she was to read.
After a generous meal Hops seemed to be feeling much better, as though she never nearly collapsed to begin with; her employer then urged them to return to the court. She hadn’t had enough of leisure time yet. She would, however, make sure Hops stayed hydrated this time around.
In no time the tennis ball was swinging left and forth across the court once again. Of course, Angora was single-handedly sweeping wins. Not because she was particularly athletic herself, no, but because Hops was so masterfully clumsy that she never had a shot in the first place. Entangling her legs on her own tail, tripping while running, gravely miscalculating where the would land, missing the timing to swing the racket. Adorable, Angora kept thinking to herself. Quite adorable. The swaying of her skirt, the sweat pouring down her collarbones were like her own personal show, and Hops her own personal plaything that she was more interested in than in the sport itself by now.
“Say, Hops,” Angora suddenly spoke, a devilish idea sprouting in her mind. “I’m feeling generous right now. Why don’t we spice up our game? It’ll serve you as a good opportunity.”
Hops cocked her head to the side inquisitively. She felt like the privilege of being invited to an exclusive tennis club was already an opportunity in itself, so what exactly did she mean?
“An opportunity? Spice it up?”
Angora nodded, bouncing the ball on the floor. Her tail waved mischievously.
“For every point you can score I will subtract ten carats from your debt.”
Clearly an opportunity Hops could not pass up on, seeing as she’d broken a little too many bottles at work in the past week. She blinked for a moment before reacting with surprise and shouting from across the net:
“Yes! Yes! Absolutely, yes! I-is this ok? I am definitely going to do my best to win now, alright!?”
Her confidence and excited expression, as well, were cute. Though not as cute as her frustrated pouts whenever she lost points or hit the net. Even with the extra incentive Hops was quite unskilled, but she did manage to score more than before, resulting in a triumphant amount of 60 carats off her debt by the time the crystals’ light began to dim.
While she tidied up hers and Angora’s belonging so they could leave, quite satisfied with herself, Hops took a big sip from her bottle and smacked her lips, still smiling. Sixty wasn’t much, but it was something! Then from behind her came up her boss’ alluring voice.
“I am curious about something.”
“Yes, miss Angora, what is it?”
“You’ve made sure to stay hydrated all day. You’ve been drinking from your water bottle since we arrived.” Angora smiled. A half delighted half scorning smile. “How come, then, that you collapsed from dehydration earlier under such mild weather…?”
Hops froze on the spot, her tail standing up in alert. She immediately averted her eyes to the side.
“U-um… That is, you know, it’s a funny story–”
“Oh, darling, no need to hunt for excuses for indulging. One has to wonder, though, where did you happen to get the liquor in your water bottle from? Surely it wasn’t from work, was it, now?”
And then Hops’ alert tail flopped downwards in defeat. She stammered for a moment. Angora simply smiled even more:
“I suppose your earnings from today will now be going towards replacing a bottle of wine.”
A humiliated sigh escaped Hops’ lips as her boss turned around and walked ahead, muttering something about how nice the evening breeze felt. At least she was in good spirits now, Hops thought. Maybe she wouldn’t be so harsh at work the next night.