Chapter 2: 7 Years Later

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The sun shone bright through the window of Madison's North Carolina apartment. She rolled over and hit the snooze on her alarm that was blaring. "Madison get up you're going to be late" Heather yelled. "Coming" Madison said grabbing her phone and walking into the bathroom. She jumped in the shower and did her make-up and hair. She walked into her closet and grabbed her nice work pants and shirt. "Just in time" Heather said. "Why are you up so early?" she asked. "Went to the gym this morning" Heather said drinking her coffee. Madison grabbed her shake out of the fridge and made her way to Hendrick Motorsports where she would the new PR girl for Rookie Brian Vickers. She pulled into the massive establishment and made her way inside. "Can I help you?" the lady at the desk asked. "I'm here to meet with Brian Vickers" she said. "Ah Ms. Stewart, Mr. Vickers is waiting down the hall in the conference room." Madison walked down the hall into the room where Brian was standing at the window. "You must be Madison" he said getting up and shaking her hand. "Yes" she said. "Sit down" he said. They got to talking about what Brian and Madison expected of each other and came to an agreement. "So we leave for Daytona tomorrow" he said. "Awesome, see you then" she said. 
Meanwhile, Kasey was packing for Daytona in his Huntersville apartment. "You sure you got everything superstar" Kale asked. "Yeah yeah" he said. He dragged his bag off the bed and pulled it to the car. "Daytona is going to be awesome" Kale said as Kasey drove them to the airport. "Yeah I'm excited" Kasey said. "So anymore of that girl you were with the other night?" "No I'm steering clear of women for a while until I can get my career off the ground" Kasey said. "Yeah until you see another hot one" Kale said.

Heather poured Madison a glass of wine as she packed her bag. "Nothing like hitting the ground running" Heather said. "Yeah no kidding" Madison said shoving more than she needed into her suitcase. "Are you afraid you're going to see him?" she asked. "Of course I am, but even if I did, he wouldn't remember me" Madison said. She zipped up her bag and joined Heather on their balcony. 
The next morning the sun rose over the beach in Daytona and Kasey sat up in his motor home. He turned on the TV and saw there was nothing on and decided he would get dressed and go for a run. He always knew running cleared his head and today for some reason Madison crossed his mind. He hadn't talked to her in a long time and wondered where she was now. 
It was mid-morning by the time Brian and Madison made it to Daytona. Madison went to check into her hotel as Brian went to get settled in his motor home. Madison opened the door to her home away from home and set her bag on the spare bed. She changed into her black dress pants and Hendrick shirt and made her way back to the track. "Kasey you have an interview with FOX at 1PM with Brian Vickers on the 2004 Rookie class" his PR girl said. "Thanks" he said signing autographs for fans. "Brian we need to get you to the FOX interview" Madison said. "Alright" he said as they hopped on his golf cart. They arrived at the stage and Brian and Kasey were getting mic'd. "So Brian what's new?" Kasey asked. "Nothing much man, but my new PR girl is gorgeous" Brian said. "Where is she?" Kasey asked with a laugh. "Here Brian" Madison said handing him a water. "Madison?" he asked.

"You two know each other?" Brian asked. "Yeah we grew up together" Kasey said. "Good to see you Kase" she said as she walked away. They got through the interview and Kasey went to find Madison. "Why didn't you tell me you were working in NASCAR?" he asked. "I don't know I'm not the one with bad communication skills Kasey" she said signing some papers. "Are you talking about when I left Washington and we stopped talking?" he asked. "Look Kase, all of that's in the past. We've moved on with our lives and I'm happy for you" she said. "Come on Brian we have to get going." Kasey watched her walk away. "What was that about?" Brian asked as they got on his golf cart. "Just old friends running into each other" Madison said as she pulled into the garage. "Looks to be a little more than that" he said. "Look Brian we just met so I'm not up for you knowing my personal life at the moment if you don't mind" she said. "Alright damn" he said. Madison pulled out her hard card and flashed it as she and Brian walked through the garage area. "What's next boss" he asked. "You have qualifying then after that you're free for the rest of the evening" she said typing something into her razor. Brian walked out on to pit road and stood by his car while Madison stood by the pit box. "Madison Stewart" she heard a voice say. She looked up from her phone to find Kale standing there. "Long time no see" he said giving her a hug. "It has been a while" Madison said. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I work for Hendrick Motorsports doing Brian Vickers PR" she said. "Wow I didn't know you were out here doing that. When did you move from Washington?" "After you guys left. I finished out my final year and went to Belmont University in Nashville. Heather went to Washington State, but after we graduated we both decided to move to North Carolina and start new so now we live in an apartment on the lake." "That's cool" he said. "Does Kasey know you're here?" he asked. "Yeah we ran into each other earlier." "Why don't you join us for dinner tonight?" he asked. "I don't know about that" she said looking a bit weary. "Oh come on Maddie" Kale said. "Alright where?" she asked. "Buffalo Wild Wings" Kale said. "Alright I'll see you guys there." After qualifying wrapped, Madison and Brian got driven back to the Motor home lot. "See you tomorrow Madison" Brian said as she got into her rental car. "You too" she said as she drove to her hotel. 

She didn't know why she had told Kale she would go. It had been awkward enough running into Kasey at the track and now she was going to have beers with him and his brother. She got back to her hotel room and changed into some nice jeans and a black t-shirt and grabbed her new Hendrick jacket they gave her. As she walked out of the door of the hotel room, she called Heather. "Hello?" she heard her say. "Heather?" Madison said. "Hey, what's up?" she asked. "Oh nothing much just going to meet Kasey and Kale for beers at Buffalo Wild Wings" she said. "Already jumping on that boat I see" Heather said. "No, Kale invited me and I was just being nice." "Sure I'll believe that when I see it. Did he want to take you to dinner because he still loves you?" Heather asked jokingly. "Oh shut up I gotta go I'm here" Madison said. "Have fun" Heather said. Madison flipped her phone shut and walked to the door as her heart started to race. "Madison over here" Kale called. Madison walked over to Kale and Kasey who were seated in a booth in the corner. "I'm glad you could make it" Kale said. "Me too" she said looking at Kasey. "So when did you move here?" Kasey asked her. "About a year ago" she said. "After you left, I finished school and then I got accepted to Belmont University in Nashville and went there for Communications. Heather ended up going to Washington State and after we graduated we ended up moving to North Carolina together and now live on the lake." "I didn't know you lived so close, we live in Birkdale" Kasey said. "Really, we go there all the time" Madison said. "Yeah we've been living there for about a year now" he said. They laughed all night and Madison kept seeing Kasey look at her out of the corner of her eye. "Well guys this has been fun, but I gotta get back to my room" she said getting up to leave. "It was good seeing you again" Kale said hugging her. "See you at the track." Kale went to get into the truck while Kasey walked Madison to her car. "I'm glad you came out" he said. "Me too" she said. He leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him. "Kase, I'm not ready for that again, I'm sorry" she said getting into her car. Kasey went to get into the truck with Kale. "Did you kiss her?" he asked. "No she stopped me" Kasey said. "Well Kase, you did kind of break her heart" Kale said pulling out onto the road. "Yeah I guess you're right." 

Madison's heart raced the whole way back to her hotel and she didn't know what she had just experienced. After 6 years, Kasey still made her fidget. She opened the door to her hotel room and went to stand on the balcony. The salted wind blew through her hair and she was taken back to the night before Kasey left for Indiana. The rain was pouring outside like it did every night in Enumclaw, but this night was different. Kasey and Madison were steaming up the windows in his truck as Kasey moved slow, taking in every moment with the girl he had been in love with since they were children. "Madison" he whispered. She ran her fingers down his back as she arched into him. She felt him getting close and poured inside her. Kasey laid his head on her chest and sat up. He pulled her to him as he laid against the door, pulling a blanket over them. He played with her hands. "I never want this moment to end" she said. "Me either" he said kissing her forehead. "Promise me you won't let us lose touch" Madison said. "I promise" he said. "You'll always be my first love Maddie" he said kissing her. "I'll love you forever Kase" she said as he leaned her down and made love to her again.

Madison came back to reality and walked back inside. There was something about that night that Madison never seemed to shake and occasionally went back there. She would never talk about it to anyone. Sure she had had boyfriends since and Kasey had been with other girls, but those nights back home in Enumclaw in his truck, never left her mind and she wondered if Kasey ever thought of those times.

Kasey was back in his motor home watching TV and he heard the rain begin to fall on the roof. He couldn't believe that Madison, his first love had appeared back in his life. The rain began to pick up and he remembered the last night in Enumclaw when he promised Madison he would keep in touch, making love to her in his truck. He had cussed himself for a while for not talking to her, but he got caught up in racing and let that get the best of him. Maybe running into her would give him the second chance he needed to prove to her he still did have feelings for her.

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