𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃

11: 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 *

"Yes ma'am?" She looked at me for a second too long, before sighing slightly. I swear this woman wants to be my mother. Landrum moved to the far side of her desk, pulling out a manila folder with a clasp on the back. It was thick, yet light in my hand.

Looking down, I rubbed the front of it before finding her eyes.

"What's in here, Mrs. Landrum?"

"I wanted you to have an official copy of today's newspaper. Your story is listed on page 2. Not too many featured articles are so lucky," She spoke proudly, waving to the folder in my hand. "I know you have probably never gotten a real newspaper before. But this one should be framed and hung up, Ms. Flemming. You did an amazing job and you should be proud. So, that's a gift of mine to you." She patted my hand with a caring touch, smiling sweetly.

Gosh, now I wanna cry!

I'm never taking another Plan B.

At least yo' ass ain't pregnant.

Tell this lady 'thank you' and stop talking to yourself, Penelope! 

"Thank you, so much. You didn't have to do this though, Dr. Landrum. I would've found a physical copy," She shook her head, mumbling the words: 'nonsense' to me. "Well, thank you again, it's because of you it's even included in the paper."

Once again she disagreed. "No, ma'am. That's your talent. Your skills and dedication. Don't ever let anybody take that from you," I heard her clearly, returning the smile as I unwrapped the string to look into the envelope. "I really hope you go far with this Penelope. It's not many that can accomplish your skill sweetie. That's what you call a gift, a blessing even."

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𝗞𝗗

Stepping down from the driver seat of the semi, I made sure to close the door.  Kai was rounding the left side of the truck, his attention stuck on the car carrier attached to the eighteen-wheeler. He had been my passenger for the four-hour round trip.

Stepping to the middle of the trailer, I pulled the release latch to manually unlock the tire padlocks. We only had four vehicles total on the trailer.

"You talked to Sebastian?" Came from Kai, while he held out his hand for the keys to the locks on the carrier. And I gladly handed them over.

Ready to get this over with. I had been up since six o'clock this morning— before Penny's alarm could ring. By the time Penelope rolled out of bed, I was done showering and was slipping on my clothes. Driving the semi wasn't the problem. It's been a while though and I think I had forgotten how much manual labor goes into the task before you even hit the road. 

Loaded on the carrier were four cars. A Nissan GT-R, two BMW M4s, and one 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner. Over $240,000 worth of cars on this carrier and we had to get them off effectively. The Plymouth Roadrunner and one of the BMW M4s were cashed out for me. Just like my Impala, the Roadrunner was long-established in its glory, but definitely in the motorsport world. It's one that I have been waiting on for a while. Especially as a racer. While Kai's only pick was the Nissan GT-R. Leaving the last BMW for its new owner — Sebastian.

"Not since we left Columbus. He texted while we was on 285."

Emptying my pockets, I tossed my phone to Kai, before using my height as an advantage to reach the adjusting lever of the carrier. I needed to unstrap the tires of the Nissan GT-R and one of the BMWs on the top row.

Being that I was the only one who wasn't afraid of heights — this was my task. But I had it honest since I also was the one with my CDLs. Kai's college career kept him grounded for life after high school. While my love for driving kept me, but in another way.