The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina's Story

Chapter 76: Richmond

Friday, April 20 – Richmond Raceway

Chase makes his way into the garage area, a smile fixated on his face as he stops by the car.

"I don't want to be insensitive here, but that smile normally means something...." Jordan starts as he leans over from the other side of the NAPA Chevrolet. He had wanted to make the dip in that something had happened, but didn't want to push his luck just yet. He could only guess that the topic of sexual contact was still a sensitive subject.

"Check the XFINITY leaderboard and then get back to me," Chase offers, earning a curious glance from Jordan. However, he did as requested, seeing Sarina had ended both XFINITY series practice sessions ranked third on the board.

"She looks like no damn rookie out there!" Chase shakes his head no with a smile of his own. There was certain amount of pride in watching his girlfriend showcase her talent, the talent he had always seen in her, in her Xfinity Series debut. 

"And the odd thing? She wasn't using the bottom lane. Justin pointed it out, and I noticed watching, that she was using the middle groove instead of the bottom." Jordan was now even more impressed as he kept his eyes on his driver. There was only one question left to ask, but seemed obvious enough in knowing how drivers worked. 

"Are you going to try and steal a secret from your girlfriend now?" Chase just gives him back a wink as Jordan laughs. "Hey, whatever makes ya happy is all that matters, right?"

"We just need to survive this week and our boss is back next week." Jordan nods his head in agreement as he makes his way over to Chase. He almost did not want to say these next few words, in not wanting to spoil how well things were going. However, whether they wanted to address it or not, it was still going on. 

"You know, Alan told me to keep an eye on you." Chase glances over intrigued. Where was this coming from? There was nothing that would have signalled for a conversation with how he entered the garage in mentioning this. Why was Jordan ruining his good mood right now? "He was worried about how you were feeling, and how Kenny would treat things. I mean, we both know what happ-"

"I don't want to talk about tha-"

"Let me guess – you haven't said a single word about that to anyone all week, have you?" Chase lets out a sigh as he lays his head on the roof of the car. Was it that obvious? Why was it so important and everyone's buisness? "As Alan predicted. Look, we're both just worried about you and being that we're the only ones that know besides Sarina and your parents, we're the only ones that can truly be here for you – unless you tell someone else."

"Jordan, please....." Jordan places a hand on Chase's shoulder, knowing what he was implying already without fully saying it. That didn't mean he was about to fully listen as he knew it was necessary if Chase ever wanted to truly move forward. 

"I know you're going to take your time and do this at your own pace and do whatever the hell you want with it. But please, don't keep putting it off. You're just going to make it worse. It's like you've always said – don't give someone the power to eat at you. What have you been doing with Alison for months? Don't give her this power." Chase glances over at the interior mechanic. He wanted to stay true to those words. He wanted to be strong and pretend that it was just that easy. But that was not the case. It still ate at him a lot more than he would admit. 

"And how am I supposed to just remove that power without question? The minute I go to let my guard down is the minute she strikes and does something." Jordan nods his head, having seen the pattern over the past couple of months. He did not need a reminder they could be moments away from something else happening. 

"So making yourself sick in thought is better? That doesn't sound healthy, Chase. But hey, it's your life." Jordan walks away as Chase just lets out a long sigh.