As I lay down I couldn’t help but think about the past. For some reason my mind took me back to the fall day at the race tracks when I was just 26. I was heading inside after the race when I heard Daly, the organizer of the event, call my name and ask me to come over. Daly had this beautiful smile on his face and his eyes were laughing. Daly said, “Anjali Malkani, I’d like you to meet Alex Shergill. Alex, this is the young lady that kicked your butt this year!” It was always wonderful seeing the reaction of men when they found out they got beat by a woman. Apparently in years past, Alex usually had one of the fastest times or he was at least in the top 5. This year he was #6.
Many of the big dogs from Wall Street tend to have extravagant get togethers and crazy parties. I guess it’s all of the money they make – they have to spend it somewhere. Race car driving for amateurs is one of the annual events that bring the financiers out of their offices to display their competitive nature on the racetrack.
Alex held out his hand and said “Nice to meet you Anjali. I’m still in shock that a girl beat me. Where did you learn to drive like that?”
I laughed and said, “My dad taught me how to drive fast and race. He loves racing so he’d often take me and my younger brother to the tracks when we were teenagers.”
“Let’s go inside and grab some drinks. Anjali, as you can imagine there are some other drivers that want to meet you too! I think all of your drinks are going to be paid for today.” Daly said.
Alex said “Can I please buy you a drink – I’m really not a sore loser, most of the time anyway.”
I laughed and we all walked inside. I definitely could use a drink and I needed to find Raj too before he got worried. As we were walking towards the door a beautiful woman walked up to Alex and slipped her hand into his and kissed him on the cheek. When I say beautiful – I mean drop dead gorgeous. I’m straight and my jaw dropped – that’s how beautiful. Alex smiled and then introduced me to his girlfriend Anna. And then it hit me, this was Anna as in Anna Diaz one of New York’s up and coming models. She was even more beautiful in person than in a magazine. Then I looked at Alex, and thought he doesn’t belong in finance – he could be a model himself. He had dark thick wavy hair, light olive skin, and blue eyes with specks of green in them. He was tall – I’d say at least 6 ‘1 and he had a nice body. The two of them looked good together. They could probably do ads for several products and those products would go flying off the shelf. It wouldn’t even matter what they sold.
Once inside, Daly, got us a table and went to the bar to grab some beer and food. Anna, Alex and I seated ourselves and I was wondering what I would talk to them about. I don’t know them, they’re both gorgeous and I’m not good at small talk. Thankfully, Alex started the conversation.
“So, Anjali are you in Finance or are you dating someone in Finance?”
“No, I’m not in Finance at all. I’m an Architect, but my Fiancée is an Investment Banker at Goldman. That’s how I got to race. He actually doesn’t like racing so he let me take his spot.”
Anna looked over and noticed my left hand. “Wow, that’s a beautiful engagement ring. How did you meet your fiancée? Obviously not on the race track.”
“Well actually, we were introduced to each other by our parents. It’s an arranged marriage.”