"Hey." I waved my hand as I walked towards him. Luke's face lit up on seeing me. "I thought you were not going to be here today."
"Why's that?" Luke asked, wiping his hands on a rag cloth and throwing it away.
"I don't know." I shrugged. "Drinks, girls, night out, do you want me to continue?"
Luke grinned. "What makes you think that I didn't do all that?" He signed for me to wait and went behind the garage. After a minute, he got my bag and handed it to me. "Yours."
"Thanks." I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Yesterday, I left hurriedly and I kind of forgot."
I didn't know why I left like I had to clarify things with him. I had won, I had showed up and conversed with the people whom Calvin and Robert wanted me to, what more was I to do?
"Calvin was pissed at you." Luke whispered. I knew Luke wasn't the type to gossip and turn talks around, but with his warning, I felt like it was a big deal. I didn't understand why Calvin had to be angry with me. "He was cursing under his breath all night."
"That's okay." I assured. "I want to meet him today, anyway. I'll deal with him then." Luke nodded in understanding and I got that our conversation was over. "Have you seen Rob?"
"Bert didn't come here today, Scar" Luke said, an enigma of smile on his lips were telling more that what he was saying. "Said he had too much to drink yesterday and had a pounding headache."
"Oh," I said.
Robert was shitting and I knew it. He never drank and often scolded me when I did. If he lied about it, then, was there any other reason for him to do so? He had not contacted me after we spoke last night. By the time I got up, he was gone. My skin prickled and I knew something was not fitting in the whole scenario.
I had thought that I had figured Robert out and felt like I could read him better. But just as I had pealed one layer off of him, another layer surrounded him, having me captive. He was a little disturbed with Mira's incident and apart from that I didn't know what had gone wrong.
I remember that he had told me he had screwed up his game. Were people coming to him regarding that? He usually supplied goods to parties, was he caught by the cops this time? There were so many possibilities and I didn't know to which to cling to.
"Hey, he's alright." Luke placed his hand on my shoulder. "You look pale." I nodded my head and gave him a half-hearted smile. "I think Calvin's staring at us from his office."
I looked at Calvin's office once it was mentioned. Surely, he was standing in his office, looking at me through his glass window. When he saw me watching him, he pointed his index finger at me and wagged it front and back, asking me to go to his office.
"Busted." I muttered, giving a smile to Luke. I didn't want him to worry about me for worrying about Rob. "Wish me luck."
I walked towards Calvin's office, climbing the stairs, pushing my duffel bag and the school bag up my shoulder. Calvin was waiting for me when I reached his office, standing at the door, keeping it half ajar. When he saw me, his face hardened and underneath it, I could see anger flashing. He closed the door behind him and stood with his hands folded across his chest over his coat.
"Hi Cal." I waved my hand awkwardly in front of me, for which he only grunted back.
"Where the heck were you last night?" He demanded. "Victory Speeds had come to talk with you and you had eloped with that asshole?"
I was stunned with his words. I had come across a lot of stuffs all this time and this was nothing compared to the things I had heard before, but Calvin had never once raised his voice with me, let alone scold me. I didn't know going home early from a party was a deadly mistake.
I had met Victory Speeds when they had given me the trophy, claiming my win. I had been polite all along, nodding my head to them and agreeing to the things they said about my driving, yet here I was getting blamed on again.
"One of my friends fell sick, I had to take her to the hospital." I said, and I hated the fact that my voice showed a little bit of hurt that I wanted to conceal. "I'm sorry, but eloping was not on the menu."
Calvin closed his eyes and sighed. He ran his fingers over his shiny hair and looked at me. When he opened his eyes, he had become normal and I could tell that he hated being angry with me.
"I'm sorry, Scar." He said. "Lot of pressure these days."
I nodded my head as though I understood him, but deep down I wanted to lick the wounds that he had inflicted. "It's fine. So, you wanted me here?" I wanted to be to the point and get out soon. I was not liking how he had turned this whole thing into brutal business. "Actually, I wanted to speak to you too."
"Well, get in." Calvin said, half opening the door to his chamber. He slid into the room and motioned for me to follow. "We are having a meeting with the Victory Speeds people in another ten minutes, which by the way was supposed to happen at the party yesterday."
I stood in his chamber like a guilty kid caught for bunking the classes and was waiting for the principal's wrath. He took his seat on the leather chair behind the chair, waving his hands at one of the chairs in front of him. I sat myself down, plopping down my bags.
He had given me ten minutes and I started to wonder if that was enough to tell him the things I had planned beforehand. I looked around his room. Nothing had changed much – the same pictures hanging on the wall which hadn't seen new paint in ages.
"So Scarlet, what did you want to talk about?" He asked, leaning on the table that separated us, locking his fingers together in a praying format. "If it is change of your coach, I can't help it, darling. He's the only one who's free most of the time. But if you so insist, then I'm okay with taking off the coaches for you, too. After all, I'm sure you have taken in most of the tricks."
I scrunched my forehead and wondered how he had come to decide that I wanted a change of coach. Had Robert approached him with those ideas? Until yesterday, I knew we were okay, but today I didn't know anymore. We hadn't spoken or had even seen each other for a whole freaking day. It was one of the firsts, especially when he was in town.
"No, no." I said, waving my hand in front of me as if to tell him that it was no big a deal and I didn't care if he was coaching me or not. I was surprised at my actions to know how easy it was to lie. I did care. "It's really fine." I need him to be my coach. He was the only one who calmed me during the races. "It's not about him, though." But did he know where he was?
"Oh?" Calvin was taken aback. His face became bright again as if he could deal with any other topic since he had dodged the difficult one. "Tell me, Scar."
"It's about the racing agreement we talked to few nights ago." I started and before he could show me all the colors and glitters, I wanted to clarify and stick to what I had decided. I didn't want to change my mind. "I want to do legal races, Cal."
"Really?" He asked, as if he knew I would choose it over his fancy illegal ones. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah." I said. "It's better to get your bones broken by someone you know rather than a strange guy. At least you know what you did wrong."
At this Calvin laughed, putting his head back. I didn't know if I had said anything funny. Recently, Calvin was more of business than building relations with the racers. Even Dad had maintained certain distance from this guy and now, I knew why.
"Good choice." Calvin said. "But you do know that once you choose this, there is no turning back, right?" I nodded my head. "You cannot get into illegal ones after that. It'll just spoil your name and if leaked out, you'll get banned from further races."
"Oh," This, I didn't know. How would I be racing with Ashley if that was the case? Would I be thrown out of racing permanently since I would be in illegal with hers? "Isn't it the same thing if I chose illegal?"
"No, sweetheart." Calvin said. "I thought you discussed with your Dad, but since you are talking all for yourself, I think you should reconsider."
"I think I need to get that from a manager." I said, getting a little brave. I was sure, Calvin saw this too. "I mean, the probability of me changing my mind would be higher with you." I smiled sweetly at him.
He sighed, but I knew he was happy with my words. I couldn't believe myself. I was acting to get more information from Calvin. I was once an innocent girl who had nothing to do with cars and races, but now, I was sitting in my manager's office, sugar coating him to get information.
One thing that I didn't understand was, he was persistent in getting me into illegal races than the other one. Was he under some kind of pressure from Ashley since he was the one to propose the race battle instead of losing everything?
"Well, illegal racers are like a cult. One gets out, only he gets out. It's like a family outside family." Calvin shrugged. He leaned forward and I mimicked him. "If a legal one comes under their radar, they cluster together to eliminate the newcomer."
I was sure my face had paled. I was not only entering a new zone, but a whole new dimension. I didn't know what to believe anymore. I had seen illegal races held for Robert and all of them acted as if they had each other's back.
Dad was in a few and those were the times when he had gotten straight to hospitals. What would they make of me when they know that I was Edward's daughter?
"Why do they do that?" I whispered back, scared to know more.
"Well, it's mostly jealousy." Calvin pouted, thinking hard. "Most of them won't make it to legal ones, you know, so many rules. In illegal, they get to break each and every one of them."
"So the legal ones are like on top?" I asked, not able to contain my curiosity.
Calvin sighed and rotated his head clockwise, as if he was telling his kid that earth was spherical for the tenth time. "You are missing the point here, Scar." He said looking at me. "Legal is considered superior because of those rules which only few of them pass through. Year after year, they get tougher. Here, there's always the thrill to break them all."
"Seems like you wanted to lead the illegal gang for us, huh?" I teased to ease the tension. "But, I would still prefer the legal ones, Cal."
"Have you decided?" Calvin repeated again. "There's no turning back once you sign those documents."
"I understand." I muttered. "I have got selected for the VS people who are legal and if I turn my back to it, then I'm as good as thrown out of the game. It's better if I stuck to this, don't you think?"
"Yeah." Calvin nodded his head, stroking his shaven jaw periodically. "Okay, then. I'll get the agreement docs ready in next two days. How many years do we have this deal for?"
His smile was bright and eye catching. I was sure he was digging for our happily ever after agreement, but I had my own set of mind that worked miraculously. In this matter, I wanted to go with Dad's idea of running independently. But with Ashley on my back, I knew this had to be done with Calvin.
"I was thinking three months." I said. Calvin's face fell on hearing my words. He clearly hadn't been expecting this. "I mean," I added, before he could summon another storm on me. "I am not so sure about racing and I took it up because of Ashley."
It seemed valid though and it was the truth. I was still in school and the future lay ahead of me. When I was supposed to be figuring my life out, I was pushed into the racer ways. And once it was done and played, I wanted to go back to sort my life, that if it remained.
"I understand." He said and I knew he wanted to tell more, but then there was a knock on the door. Before the door opened, he whispered. "Okay, I'll get all the things done by two days. But if you have a change of heart, let me know soon."
I nodded my head, not wanting to spell it out in words.
The door opened and two tall men with broad shoulders and shiny coats entered. The way the looked, I knew they were high turnover businessmen. The one with a crooked moustache seemed to be the boss while the other seemed to be his PA.
"Hey, Simon Whittaker!" Calvin stood up to greet the two men. "Cole Wills, good to meet you."
Calvin shook hands with both of them and I figured that Simon was the guy with the crooked moustache. Like I had assumed, he was the boss. He smiled warmly at me and though his attire and his aura was intimidating me, his personality seemed pretty cool.
"This is Scarlet, the one with the trophy." Calvin said, after they had taken a seat next to me. At the mention of my name I smiled back to acknowledge them. I had met another few set of people from VS, but these guys were new to me. "Scarlet, this is Simon and Cole, the two pillars of VS."
"Hi, I'm sorry I wasn't there to meet you yesterday." I apologized beforehand. I could tell that Calvin much appreciated this than the VS guys. "I had an emergency exit."
"No problem." Simon said. His voice was very deep as if he had been drinking beer for a bottle of water. He looked old with wrinkled cheeks and hollow eye sockets, but the gleam in them hadn't dulled with age. "It's always best to catch a racer when they are practicing."
"I saw your race on camera, you were good." Cole said warmly. "That last part was terrific."
"Thank you." I smiled back.
"So, Calvin we wanted to seal the deal of ours." Simon said, producing his papers to sign. He looked at me, veering his conversation towards me. He turned the pages pushing his pen for me to sign "You have an agreement of one year with VS tyres."
"You will be taken in as a model and photo-shoots will be conducted." Cole added. "It's a great opportunity, very rare to get this early in the game."
Cole was very eager - to sell me his products or to sell me to his customers was the question I didn't get the answer to. He seemed very sincere to what he does and looked hopefully at me.
Calvin smiled at them and if it were a sitcom, he would have had tears in his eyes. "She agrees." He said, when both the men were looking at me for answers. "We were just discussing it before you were here. She is very passionate about all this."
I looked at Calvin. He looked like he had gotten some spirit on him, selling me to the new brand. Sure, it was a good opportunity and I would make good load of money out of it, but this also meant that I would be recognized. I personally, didn't want that... yet.
All of them turned to see me, anticipating my answer. A part of me was jumping up and down, pushing me ahead to agree to everything they were saying. That part was even ready with a blue fountain pen in her hand, ready to sign all the deals.
But a bigger part of me, the one who had seen the reality was holding the first one back. If I were to get the publicity now, then racing with Ashley would be a dream which I couldn't afford.
"I'm really honored about this." I started, trying to find better words to put my feelings out in the open. "I really am. To get this kind of a gig for one race is something I was dreaming all this long."
"What is it, dear girl?" Simon spoke like he had already figured me out and was only waiting for me to speak up and tell me he was right all from the beginning. "I know you are thinking a lot in there." He pointed at his head.
I didn't know how to approach the subject and get it done with. I didn't want to tell them about my pathetic story nor did I want them to know about the race I was having with Ashley. I wanted to aim for something subtle.
"I have a few commitments for the next three months." I started. These three months that I had spent with the racers and their habits, I had not only learnt their ways, but also picked up their diffidence. As I spoke now, I was wrapped around a layer of confidence that made me keep my head held high even though I was begging them to let me be for the next few months. "Can those photo-shoots be done after that?"
"I'm sorry, Scarlet." Cole spoke. He was more a businessman than Simon. He resembled Calvin in some matters and I started to wonder if they were twins in their last lives. "Our contract was discussed with your manager who had assured that you would sign this. It was because of the trust we have on him, we had let this leeway be there with us."
I gulped. "I really understand that, Mr. Wills." I stood up, walking the room to get some new ideas to make them understand my way. "And I'm really thankful for the opportunity that was given to me."
I looked at them and Simon nodded his head at me to continue. "But you also have to understand that I'm still a schooling girl. I'm already committed to many other things apart from school to run my house."
"I don't see how three months are going to change that." Simon pointed out.
That will decide if I would still have a roof over my head. Those three months would decide if I will have a future in races. That would decide my next fate with the legal world. That if I would be alive.
"I've a few agreements with other people that I've already signed for." I said. "They are going to clash if I agree now."
"Well, we cannot sit still till three months waiting for you, Scarlet." Cole said.
"I understand." I heaved a sigh. Then, suddenly, an idea was formed in my head and from outside, it looked brilliant. "How about I do your photo-shoots without my face in it?"
"What are you talking about, Scarlet?" Calvin asked, irritated that I had brought all this up on his beloved guests.
I chose to ignore him for the time being.
"I mean, as long I'm not being exposed on your advertisements, I'm game." I shrugged. "I'll do all your shoots and give you the photos, but I don't want my face to be recognized anywhere."
"She is a negotiator." Simon smiled.
"So, how about that for a proposition?" I asked. "If you are up for those terms, I'm all yours."
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A/N: A new proposition. What do you think. Did Scarlet make a right choice?