Mikaal

30: Mikaal

Dalia looked at Mikaal, a mishmash of excitement and nerves rushing through her, but interwoven in the mix hung a question. 'Did he learn this from Simon?' she thought, 'Or did he guess I'd love this from my car?'

They were at Barbagallo Raceway, a short circuit on which night and even truck racing events were held in Western Australia - and where thrill-seekers like herself could experience what it felt like to be behind the steering wheel of a real V8 racing car!

"See that table on your right? There are indemnity forms we need you to complete. When you're done, bring it back here."

"Thank you," Dalia said to the middle-aged woman behind the registration table who wore a black polo with the 'V8 Drive Day' logo embroidered on one side.

Mikaal's phone rang as they walked across the small room that had wooden slats for walls and large windows that gave spectators a view of the racing track from above - Mikaal ignored the call. The song that was Mikaal's ringtone sounded familiar to Dalia although it wasn't her style of music - she figured she had heard it on the radio recently.

"I wanted you to do this High Performance Driving Course where you get to use your own car and learn some cool tricks," Mikaal said, his green eyes dancing, "but the place near the airport that ran the course is now closed."

'One hundred percent, he talked to Simon,' Dalia thought to herself, remembering the High Performance Driving Course Simon had surprised her with the previous year in his efforts to help her get over Blake.

Mikaal was still staring at her. "Really? Why did they shut?" Dalia asked quickly.

"People living in the area complained about the noise."

"The noise? But they live right next to the airport for God's sake! Do they complain about the noise from the planes and ask the airport to shut down?"

"Exactly!"

Dalia and Mikaal exchanged a look they alone quietly understood.

At the talk of noise, Dalia's ears perked up to the sound of V8 racing car engines roaring in the background - exhilaration bubbled within her as her glance fell once again on Mikaal's face, gratitude exuding through her eyes.

"Mikaal," she said, her eyes turning serious, "I don't even know how to start expressing how much I appreciate this! I've done the High Performance course before and loved it so much, but I've never driven an actual V8 race car before!"

Mikaal's eyes widened slightly. "You have? How did you find it?"

"So much fun! I felt like I was in the movie Fast and Furious, you know, learning how to do things like drift!"

Mikaal plastered a smile on his face, but it lacked its usual exuberance. Dalia initially found his reaction odd but concluded her earlier guess must have been spot on.

"Well, I better read the fine print," Dalia said, picking up a pen and one of the clipboards from the table before taking a closer look at what she was agreeing to. It all seemed pretty standard stuff, but the part that made her heart beat a bit more erratically was when she read that should she damage the car, she would have to fork out $2,500 to cover the insurance excess to get the car fixed!

Dalia looked up and took a deep breath, going through the mental rituals she usually did before she partook in some crazy activity, focussing her mind on the things that calmed her nerves - namely all the safety precautions in place. For example, she would have a professional racing car driver in the passenger seat guiding her and keeping her out of trouble; she would be wearing proper racing attire like a helmet and fireproof suit; the car had airbags; but most importantly, she believed that it was already written when you were going to die anyway - and people die every day from seeming more 'harmless' activities like cycling, even walking...