Gale's cheerful hums echoed off of the walls in the empty training room as she passed through. It was her favorite time of day, late enough that everyone was off the clock, but early enough to still spend some free time in the sun. But that day? That day she had plans she had looked forward to all week.
"Dear Chrysler, Gale." Jackson emerged from behind the simulator. "Got enough wax? I can't see you for the reflections in your paint."
Gale stopped, taken off guard at his presence. She knew he'd be around. He never seemed to leave the place, but in light of her upcoming evening, she'd forgotten about him.
"Is it too much?" she asked hesitantly, looking down at herself.
Jackson blinked. Gale looked so self conscious. She didn't polish herself up for just anything, but she did tend to do so for someone. Jackson sighed.
"You look great, Gale, I'm just messin' with you," he said.
He couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice. The somber look on her face told him she picked up on it. Of course she did. Gale picked up on everything. Jackson considered telling her what he knew, but hesitated. She knew that he didn't like her hanging out with the newest Dinoco hauler, but he'd never try and stop her. That was her decision to make.
Or at least he'd thought so.
"Hey," he called to her as she turned to leave him. "One last thing. I think I heard Ray talking to the bossman earlier about something you might wanna check out."
He shrugged and turned away before she could ask what it was. He didn't want to be the one to tell her.
Just a quick chat, it'll be quick.
She sighed before knocking on her boss's door. It could have waited until the next day, but she knew herself - she knew that not knowing about what Jackson had mentioned earlier would haunt her and ruin her date. Her mind required closure to function properly. That was why she'd stopped watching so many drama shows.
"Come in!" The booming voice seemed to vibrate the glass doors.
Gale pushed them open to greet her boss. The black Mini Cooper was but a fraction of her size, but his presence never failed to make her feel small. She wouldn't ever let him know that, though. They had an agreement. If she was upfront and honest, he would be too. They talked business, never beating around the bush. It's what made them effective as a team.
"Gale!" he exclaimed as she entered the room and towered above his immaculate desk. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, I just ran into Jackson," she explained with an air of caution. "He said that you had some information I might want to know about? Does that ring a bell?"
The Mini's face fell, slowly turning from a welcoming smile to a disappointing nod. He knew exactly what the kid was talking about. It was a conversation he himself had been trying to avoid in the hopes that their situation improved. It hadn't, and showed no signs of doing so. He knew he had to make a call. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit, but it was the only handle he had on the situation, the only thing he could control.
It was best for the team.
"Gale, look, I'm gonna be straight with you. That's how we work, right?"
An edge crept into his voice, one that Gale recognized. Her throat started to close in fear. The only other time she'd heard this tone, she hadn't meant to hear it. It had been the last day she'd seen that trainer show up to work.
"Look here," he said to her, turning his computer monitor so she could see it. "You know about this, right?"
He clicked through a photo gallery. The paparazzi had been plenty busy, but she hadn't cared. Why should she? Why should she let them influence what she wanted to do?
This was why. Photos upon photos of her and Mack. They weren't bad photos. Some of them made her smile. There was one of them hanging outside an ice cream parlor. Mack's ice cream had melted at an alarmingly fast rate, and he struggled to keep up with it. He got it all over him, and she could do nothing to help, caught up in her own manic laughter. Laughter that resulted in her making a mess as well.
But there were more pictures - pictures of them together at races, together at rest stops on the haul out west, together driving down the interstates. None of these were bad photos. They weren't even compromising.
But they were something else.
"Do you remember the terms you agreed to when you signed on for the job?" her boss asked with a tired sigh. "Do you remember the conditions?"
Gale thought. She didn't have to ponder long. No, she didn't remember the terms and agreements down to the letter, but one thing was obvious.
"Conflict of interest," she answered shortly. "Can't be having that."
The car nodded and looked at his star hauler. She didn't have a single mark on her driving record. She could handle Storm in ways that not even Ray could. She was a genuine soul of sorts he wished he could have more of around.
"Gale, I don't want to let you go," he said in a much softer tone. "You're the best at what you do. But if something happens and we end up at odds with Dinoco, we don't have a chance. They're too big, too powerful for us to deal with."
"I know, sir."
"Because I consider you a friend as well, I'm going to give you an choice. I can't tell you how to live your life, but you signed a contract. To remain an employee of IGNTR, you cannot have a relationship with a truck that works for a competitor. Especially one that poses such a competitive threat to the IGNTR Racing Team. It's him or us. It's up to you."
"Yes, sir."
"Beautiful, yeah?"
She cracked open her eyes and looked up again at the sunset, the warm orange and pink hues in the clouds warming her as the air chilled. She smiled and tried to snuggle closer to him as though she weren't already leaning against him.
"Yeah," she answered.
Mack looked over at her and felt his spirit swell. Her black paint seemed to absorb the shades of the sky and radiate them about her. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. She shined up better than even McQueen did.
Gale gazed at the setting sun. Silently, she wished that it would stop moving, that it would stay in that place forever - that she could stay in that place forever. She wanted nothing more than that grassy, secluded hillside and the remnants of a picnic behind them to be her past, her present, her future. Maybe if she closed her eyes and wished really hard…
Mack watched as she seemed to drift away again. Her eyes shuttered closed and the sense of urgency in her affection increased. That was normal for her, he thought. She was always like this. But why did something feel off?
Their date had gone exactly according to plan, perhaps a little too much so. He'd surprised her with flowers. They'd talked about anything and everything, just as they always did. But why had she seemed so desperate to see him? Almost sad? Maybe it was his imagination. He did have an active imagination.
But he also wasn't one to speculate. Transparency and honesty were some of his best traits.
"Is somethin' wrong, Gale?" he asked quietly as the bottom of the sun touched the horizon.
She flinched at the question and pulled away slightly. She opened her eyes again but let her gaze fall to her hood. She couldn't hide the way she felt from him, he understood her too well. If something was bothering her, oftentimes he would catch it before she even realized it.
"Tell me," he insisted.
She looked over and made brief eye contact with him. For the first time in months, she couldn't hold it. She looked back to the horizon and blinked away a couple tears. The sun fell lower. Was her time almost up? Did she have to make a choice right then and there? It wasn't possible.
"I talked to my boss today," she said quietly.
Mack tensed. They'd talked about it - themselves and their implications - in times past. They knew that what they were doing was technically against the rules. Worried, Mack had even spoken to Tex about it once after it went public, but the old Cadillac just laughed and waved him away.
"As long as y'ain't spillin' company secrets, do what you wanna do," he'd said.
But Mack had been around the circuit long enough to know that not every sponsor was as gracious and understanding as Dinoco. Some companies - like IGNTR - had a lot more to lose.
"And?" Mack found it hard to prod further. He didn't want to know what she was about to say. He didn't want to hear it.
He already knew.
"He told me to choose," she whispered. "I don't think I can."
The answer seemed obvious at first. She'd choose him. She'd choose love. That's what she wanted more than anything. She could be a hauler for any other company and get along just fine. That wasn't an issue.
But Jackson needed her. Heck, even Ray needed her around to keep his sanity. IGNTR needed her to do her job. Without Storm in line, without a functioning core team, they'd be nothing. They all needed her, and could she just forsake their needs for her own?
Could she bear forsaking Mack's needs for the betterment of some corporate agenda? It didn't seem right. Both decisions were selfish. Both were inconsiderate. Either decision put her at a loss.
But Mack understood.
He nudged her and put on a soft smile. She clenched her teeth in an effort to keep the tears from rolling. It wasn't very effective. It was her favorite sort of smile.
"It's okay," he told her.
"It's not," she choked out.
"Sure it is," he insisted gently. "Nothing lasts forever, y'know."
"That's not true. It can. We can."
Mack laughed a little. "Now, come on. Leave that hopeless romantic stuff to me. You've got a career most trucks only dream of. You can't just give that up. I'll always be here. I'll always be at the tracks, on the roads. They need you. It's okay."
"I'll never forgive myself." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
Mack shrugged and played it calm. "One day Storm will outrun himself. Then what for you? Something new, maybe? I'll be waiting. I'll be there."
The sun disappeared behind the rolling hills before them. The shadows fell in their entirety. Gale felt invisible. She couldn't even see herself in the dim light. Too much wax. Too much darned, tear-stained wax.
Mack watched her outline pull away from him. He felt a growing panic as their touch was severed. He didn't want her to leave. He wanted her to stay. What was he doing?
If you love her you'll let her go.
No. No, that's not how it had to be. Maybe - maybe he could quit! Dinoco had more than one hauler, it would be alright. It would be -
Gale's muted outline moved around in front of him. Suddenly he felt the familiar sensation of her lips on his. She meant it. He did, too.
"I'm holding you to this." The whisper came to him as a breeze rustled through the nearby trees.
He didn't see her leave. She drifted into the night with no lights, as quietly as she could. For all he knew, she was the night.
The last of the light faded from the blackened sky.
And so he waited.
