The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina's Story

Chapter 63: O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

Sunday, April 8 – Texas Motor Speedway

Chase wakes up, grabbing his phone immediately as he checks for any text messages or phone calls. Seeing nothing, he lets out a long sigh as he puts it back on the small night table. That would've been too easy, right?

He wanted to believe last night was a nightmare, but the text that did remain on the phone told him otherwise. He thought about deleting it, but didn't want to in case it was wanted for evidence despite having been already taken by those officers last night. 

Taking a deep breath, he slowly gets out of the bed, making his way into the small kitchen of the motorcoach. He was actually taken by surprise when he smelt breakfast, giving him another bleep of hope it was a nightmare, but seeing just Jordan at the table said otherwise. He had almost forgotten the car chief had spent the night over at the motorcoach. 

"Hey," Jordan says quietly, unsure of really what to say in response. What do you say to someone whose love of their life is right now missing without a trace? "I heard you wake up, so I made you breakfast." Chase simply sits down quietly, nodding his head in response. He appreciated the offer by Jordan, knowing he meant well in trying to do what he could to help. However, with how twisted he was about Sarina's condition, he didn't know if he could find the energy to eat what was on the table before him. "They're going to find her. You have to belie-"

"Alison is the master of the hide and seek as she's played that game with me all season, Jordan," Chase cuts him off with an eye roll. He was tired of everyone saying that Alison would be found. He was tired of everyone saying the nightmare would be over. They'd been saying that all year so far, but yet not one set of handcuffs had found their way to Alison's hands. How was he supposed to believe something was going to be done? "It really gives me so much hope they're going to find her." 

"I get it, I really do. But you can't ever stop believing in Sari-"

"Don't you dare go questioning that, Jordan..." Jordan lets out a sigh. He hadn't meant to say it in the way he had, and now felt terrible in having added to Chase's morning frustration. It just seemed the more conversation they had over breakfast, the worst it got. Maybe he should have just left him to eat his breakfast in peace. 

"Look, I don't know what to say to make you feel better. I just know things are going to work out somehow." Chase glances up, simply nodding his head in return. Truth be told, there was probably no words that could be said to make him feel better. There was also no magic touch that would help it either. There was only one thing to do to make him feel better, and that'd be for Sarina to walk through the door right now. 

"And I didn't mean to cut your head off, either – today or last night." Jordan knew that as it wasn't like Chase, but understood with the current circumstances. That's why he just let the attitude continue to slide off his shoulders. He knew the apology would eventually come for the behavior. 

"From what I've heard, Alan says your parents are going come by and stay with you – or even let you head out to Nashvi-"

"Why would I leave the state when I have a race today?" Jordan's jaw almost dropped immediately in hearing those words. He was all set to get the car ready for Elliott Sadler to drive. He figured Chase would want to head to Nashville in knowing that was where Sarina had gone missing from. He figured Chase would want to be on top of the investigation, and doing whatever in his power to find her himself. Why would they figure otherwise? "Oh, that's right. Everybody is concerned about me so arrangements have been put in place for either Elliott or Justin."

"Chase, your mind is elsewhere right now as we know you're worried sick over Sarina. We both know you were up late last night. We both know you're not thinking the clearest because you want to make sure she is okay. It was just an executive decision made by Alan, Rick, and Jeff because of what happe-"

"I understand, and trust me – I appreciate everybody being so caring. But, I am racing today." Jordan just shakes his head in return as he texts Alan. He thought about questioning the decision in return, but given what he had heard in response from Chase, he didn't feel like testing those waters for a fourth time this morning. Besides, Alan always had a better way of handling these situations with him. "I'll be fine, and I can handle i-"

"Are you even listening to yourself right now?" Chase nods his head as he sets his fork down. There was only one time he was going to say this for anyone to hear, and he hoped it got through the skull of the man before him. He knew if he was questioned once more, he would be showing Jordan where the nearest exit was. 

"Jordan, I know myself better than anybody else, right? I also know what Sarina would say to me right now. Whether it's this way or if the roles were reversed, we're both racers at heart. We would want the other to go out there and try our hardest to win that race for the other. She was in the hospital, and all she pushed was for me to go race. I did the same to her. I will be fine today because I am going to do everything in my power to win for her." Jordan could understand where Chase was coming from, and believed in his best friend. He just wasn't sure if that was going to be an understanding across the board. He could already see the arguments in response from not only Alan, but Jeff and Rick as well. 

"I texted Alan and told him what you said. He told me to send back to you that you don't have to feel pressu-"

"I'm not feeling any pressu-"

"I already told him, Chase." Jordan takes a deep breath as he reads the next message. He almost just wanted to hand over the phone and allow Chase to read it for himself so he wasn't in the middle. Why was he always getting stuck in these situations? "Alan says if you're insisting, then we'll go with it. But the minute there's something off, we're switching drivers. Morgan has also cancelled morning appearances." Chase nods his head as he picks his fork back up. "You know, you can tell me what's on your min-"

"I told you last night, didn't I? I just want her to be okay." Jordan nods his head accepting. That was the only thing they could both come to an agreement on this morning it seemed. Anything else, and he knew he probably should not say it. 

"Let me know when you're ready and we'll head out..."

Jordan sat back quietly allowing Chase to go through whatever morning ritual or whatever he wanted. It wasn't long before they were ready to go, though, meeting up with the rest of the team who expressed their support and concern. With that out of the way, Alan made the call in the meeting for everyone to simply focus on their jobs for the rest of the day – while noting he'd watch Chase's phone for updates during the race.

The pair went to the driver's meeting together, receiving the same comments of support and concern from fellow competitors. There were even a couple who wondered why Chase was even there, but understood once they heard the explanation.

Chase then retreated back to the hauler, changing into the fire suit, before giving his phone another glance for a possible update. With a simple nod, the trip was made out to pit road and once again – all eyes laid on his shoulders. There were some fans and other team's pit crew members who felt the worry they knew he had, while others wanted to lend a hand of support. And just like his competitors, some even had doubts in the back of their mind.

For Chase, it didn't matter what everybody was thinking around him. taking a deep breath, he was there to do a job and for the next four hours, he could forget about the worry – and hope that once the race was over, maybe they'd have the answer he wanted.