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“Well,” she said. “Before you can win, you’ve got to qualify.”
“I do indeed.” I began, reaching up and draping my arm across her shoulder. “Come on, I’m ready if you are.”
AVA
At last, the day of the race arrived.
Dyson and Marco both drove well during qualifying, but neither of them were good enough to overtake Gunter.
Still, Dyson started close enough to him on the grid and with a victory would still have a chance to overtake Gunter for the championship at the end of the season.
Dieter insisted that I join him in the owner’s suite to watch the race. I accepted, though telling him I intended to head down to the pits as the race unfolded.
About a half an hour before the race got underway, I entered, and Dieter noticed me. Almost before I’d come inside, he walked in my direction with his arms open.
“Ah, Ava!” he began, smiling at me. “So good to see you again.”
I leaned in towards him, returning his embrace. Afterward, we separated and looked at one another.
“Yes, I didn’t expect I’d ever see you again after Los Angeles.”
Dieter frowned. “I was sorry about the way we had to part company with you so suddenly, Ava. We all enjoyed having you working with the team. I hope you believe me.”
I smiled at him. “Yes, of course. I’m not upset with you. It was always going to be a temporary position.”
He nodded and a moment later snapped his fingers together.
“Oh, which reminds me,” he said, gesturing towards the far side of the room. “There’s someone here I’d like you to meet.”
Following behind him, we weaved through groups of invited guests until a middle-aged, olive skinned man appeared before me. Dieter stopped and turned around to look at me.
“Ava, I’d like for you to meet Dr. Luca.”
Before I could say a word, the man extended his hand towards me.
“Ava, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but great things.”
“Oh, thank you, Dr. Luca. Have you gotten get all of your passport problems finally straightened out?”
“Yes,” he replied, nodding at me. “It was a terrible inconvenience, but thanks to you, a manageable one.”
“That’s very kind of you to say. But really, it was nothing.”
Dieter glanced at Dr. Luca. “Do you see what I mean?”
I looked at both of them, narrowing my eyes. Before I could ask Dieter what he meant, he reached out and placed his palm in the middle of my back.
“Ava, may I have a word with you in private?”
“Yes, of course.”
Dr. Luca and I said goodbye to one another and I turned to walk with Dieter. I followed him to the windows in the suite which looked out over the racetrack. We stood there in silence for a few moments until Dieter pointed down towards pit row.
“I have you to thank for getting Dyson to return to the team.”
Without turning my head, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
“I can’t take credit for that, Dieter. There were a lot of people involved, yourself included.”
He shook his head and continued to stare down at the rows of cars far below.
“Not where Dyson is concerned. The truth is that no one has ever held much sway with him. He’s exceptional at what he does, but far too headstrong and stubborn for his own good.”
I continued to listen but didn’t respond. Dieter and I had never had a conversation like this before. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Just then, he turned towards me.
“Ava,” he began, reaching inside of the pocket of his suit jacket. “I think it’s important in life to take care of people who take care of you.”
I followed the movement of his hand with my eyes. It vanished for a split second and then reappeared. In his grasp, Dieter held a folded piece of paper, which he passed to me a second later. I took it from him, but before unfolding it, I drew my eyes up to meet his.
“What is this?”
“It’s something that you deserve.”
Frowning, I looked down and unfolded the paper. It was a check made out to me for one hundred thousand dollars. My breath caught in my throat nearly choking me on the spot.
“I-I, uhh, D-Dieter what is…?”
I snapped my eyes back up to meet his once again. He smiled at me with them. Sunlight passing through the window warmed his cinnamon brown irises.
Still hardly able to speak, I continued, “I don’t understand. What is this for?”
He pointed down towards the racetrack. “For doing something that no one else could. Keeping the team together.”
I shook my head, immediately trying to pass the check back to him but Dieter refused to take it.
“Ava, I insist,” he began, waving off my attempts. “I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. It’s my pleasure and you deserve it.”
Combined with the money I’d already earned, this was more than enough to pay for Simon’s school for years, if I could somehow manage to get it worked out. There might even be enough left over for me to pick up my studies again.
For now though, I was grateful beyond words.
“Dieter, I don’t know what to say except ‘thank you’.”
I reached towards him for a hug and he wrapped his arms around me. After we separated, he gestured with his head towards the racetrack.
“You better get going. Darren is expecting you. And, if I’m not mistaken, Dyson might have a surprise in store for you as well.”
A surprise from Dyson?
After thanking him again, I left the suite and hurried down to the track as fast as I could. They’d been racing for a few minutes by now. Along the way, I glanced at television monitors, keeping tabs on Dyson’s position.
Not long after, I arrived at the pits. As always on race day, pit row was the epitome of controlled chaos. Superpowered engines screamed as the cars ripped down the straightaway at more than two hundred miles an hour. The crowd buzzed with excitement and the occasional cheer when someone passed. In the midst of it all, the teams executed complete tire changes and fuel stops with all the synchronicity of a military unit.
As for the race itself, Gunter once again held the lead.
During a pit stop for Marco, Darren turned and noticed me standing nearby. He motioned for me to approach the observation tower. After I had, he passed a pair of race radio headphones to me, enabling me to hear his conversation with Dyson as the race unfolded.
DYSON
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I exclaimed. “What the hell happened to this car? It was perfect in qualifying. The oversteer is ridiculous, Darren! I’m practically drifting, heading into turn three. At this rate, I’ll never run Gunter down. Who set this car up? A bunch of chimps?”
Darren interrupted my cussing fest.
“If anyone can drive through it, Dyson, it’s you. We’ve already tried to fix the oversteer twice. But unless you abandon, there’s nothing I can do.”
By this time, the race was nearing the halfway point.
I managed to hold my position between second-place and fifth-place the entire day, but the car was getting away from me. I bit my lip and tried to come up with a new game plan on the fly. The one we had going into the start was out the window now. We had one more pit stop coming up, but if they couldn’t get it dialed in, I was going to have to make it happen on my own.
Just then, the radio crackled to life again in my ear piece.
“Dyson,” Darren said. “I know we’re not running like you want to, but I think I might have something that will help.”
The steering wheel vibrated in my hand as I came out of turn four.
“Well unless you’re gonna strap a leprechaun to the front of this car, it better be good.”
Darren’s voice went silent. A few seconds later another one took its place.
“Sounds like you’re having trouble out there,” Ava’s voice echoed in my ear. “You need me to take over?”
I smiled, downshifting hard coming into turn five.
“If only it were that easy.” I said, coming out of it and heading down the back straightaway. Redlining the engine, I fought for fourth position. My struggles must have been plain for everyone to see.
Ava remained quiet for a few seconds.
“Okay, well I don’t want to distract you. I know you can do it.”
I smiled, shaking my head and downshifting hard once more.
“Honey, the only thing that would distract me right now would be you running across the track naked. I feel pretty safe that’s not gonna happen.”
In the background, I heard the sound of Darren laughing.
“Dyson,” Ava groaned. “Can you be serious? Just once?”
Passing and moving into third place, I replied, “Why? Winning is more fun this way.”
“Uh huh,” Ava deadpanned. “Well, from where I sit, it doesn’t look like you’re winning right now.”
I leaned back, laughing.
“Patience,” I began, refocusing on the road in front of me. “There’s a long way to go yet.”
A few seconds later, Darren interrupted us.
“Let’s get you in here, Dyson.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about? I’m not due to come in yet.”
The radio buzzed in my ear again.
“I’ve been running some numbers here. If we take a chance now, get you in, we can work on that oversteer enough to get you through the finish.”
