AN: Here is a new chapter, sorry I made you all wait so long, but I had
internet issues. Boo. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story. I have a
few more ideas then the story is done. I don't know how much longer it will
take to cover all that I want to cover. If anyone has any ideas of
something they think should happen feel free to let me know, no promises
but if anything sounds good to me I'll use it :) On with the show.
Chapter 36 - Car shopping
She gave up and got up at 9 but left Dom sleeping. She chucked on a pair of pink track pants and a white tank top with Daddy's little girl on it in pink glitter. She had the top since she was daddy's little girl, her dad had bought it for her. The glimpse of that man was still playing heavy on her mind. She headed downstairs. Everyone but her and Dom was in the kitchen already. She turned a chair around and sat down. She poured herself a bowl of Lucky Charms and added milk. She was eating the cereal in her own little world, thinking about the events of the last two days when a hand waved in front of her face.
"Yo, earth to Torrie, you in there?"
"Sorry Leon, I was thinkin' 'bout something is all."
"What has you so spaced?" Vince was concerned and Letty and Jesse looked interested.
"Well I know it is crazy but I saw a guy in the crowd yesterday that looked just like my dad. I mean just like him. And since we never did figure out who left me the flowers, it was just kind of freaky. It is just the kind of thing he would do you know. Tell me that I couldn't race then be all proud I did good."
"But Torrie, there are people who look just like all of us. I saw a guy the other day and I would have swore it was Jesse, but it wasn't. I don't think your dad would have waited all this time to tell you he didn't really die would he?"
"Of course not Vince but it was still creepy."
They all finished eating with that out of the way. Torrie told them not to wake Dom up because the doctor had told them to let him rest for a few days anyway and the shop would just have to get by without him for awhile. They all agreed and Torrie told them she was heading down to the store for awhile to see how things were and she would meet them all at the garage later. They agreed, and decided with a glance at each other that if Dom was mad that no one woke him they were going to blame Torrie. Might be cowardly but he wasn't going to tear a strip off her.
Torrie arrived at the store and let herself in. She checked the inbox out back and there was a letter addressed to her. She didn't get much personal mail at the store, especially not hand addressed stuff. She let herself into her office and sat down. She opened the letter. It was short and the letter itself was typewritten.
I wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten you. I miss you. I hope to be able to see you soon. I'm so proud of you.
Love always.
There was no signature and it contained a delectate gold chain with a pendant that said princess in script. She couldn't figure who would mail her such a gift. Who hadn't forgot her? Some old boyfriend? She never really had any steady enough to miss her like this. She had a nagging suspicion she knew who it was, but that was just plain crazy. Wasn't it? She finished up what she had to do and then headed to the shop.
Jesse was up to his elbows in car, and Letty was under another one. Leon wasn't doing much of anything and Vince was no where to be seen. Dom it seemed had not shown up at the shop yet. Torrie hoped he was at home asleep. He needed the rest. She decided to do up one car then head home and make sure he was ok. She picked up the first work order in the pile and saw that it belonged to a civic that was to have a whole new exhaust system installed. Well this should old take me about an hour she thought and got to work.
About an hour later she was thanking god Civics were 4 cylinders and only had one tailpipe. She had installed the new Dynoflow cat back exhaust on the car and put the work order on the done pile. She told the gang she was going home to check on Dom and headed out.
She pulled into the driveway to find Dom standing in it.
"Thanks for running off and leaving me here with no car." Dom frowned at her.
"No car? What the hell is the big black monster if not a car?" She asked him sarcastically.
"Shit, I kinda forgot about that. I'm not use to having it back yet or driving it." Dom gave her a sheepish look.
"No car my ass." She mumbled. "Well, now you have a chauffeured vechicle, where are you in such a rush to get?"
"To my garage, of course." Dom told her with a look that said she shoulda known this.
"Well, there's no need."
"Whatdoya mean no need?"
"They guys and I got it all done. Why don't you and I go ride shopping?" Dom smiled a big genuine grin. "You're the smartest girl ever. We need to go car shopping." Dom hopped in the car. "Where should we go first?"
"Well, that depends on what kinda car you wanna buy."
"I don't know."
"You don't have any idea?"
"Well, I've been kicken around some ideas but nothing concrete yet."
"Well, what's your limit?"
"Limit?"
"To spend on a new ride."
"Oh, I don't know." Dom fidgeted. He didn't want to tell her they were pretty well filthy rich cause the team didn't even know, and well, it made him look bad. Like he tied her to the team and gave her a hard time about taking time off for her store for no reason. And he could pay off her mortgage on her store 100 times or more over but he never offered.
But he could buy any car he wanted. He was a simple man with pretty simple needs, except when it came to his car. That was why he hadn't said anything to the team about the feds never finding the money. He enjoyed running the café and garage. He enjoyed working with his hands like his papa. He didn't want his team to get lazy and think they should stop working because they had money. But he figured he would have to level with them if he wanted a good car. Otherwise he was gonna have to buy something that needed a lot of work, or less then stellar.
And he was Dom Torreto damn it. He had to have the best car, the best of everything. It was only right. He couldn't have people at races have better cars then him.
"I want a Mazda RX-8."
"Shit Dominic." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
Oh no, his full name, she was about to let him have it, he'd bet money.
"Do you know how much that car would be worth? I mean they're so new I doubt very much you could even get one that had been in an accident or stolen yet. You'd have to buy it brand new. I mean, it'd be a lot."
"I know, I just said I wanted one, not that I was gonna get one."
"I know, geese, don't take my head off."
"Sorry but I just want my car, ready to go, Jesse is the one that likes the building process, I just don't wanna be bumming rides and stuff for long you know?"
"I know. Why don't you just get a newer RX-7? You loved your other one and Jesse has proven he knows how to make them move."
"That's an idea. Torrie, we need to talk." "That sounds ominous. 'Bout what?"
"You know my team and I got in some trouble a while back with something we were into right?"
"Well, no, the trans were into something, but ok Dom, I know what you're talkin about. Brian told me the bare details. So yeah, I know."
"He told you the bare details as in what details?"
"That it went down in history that the Trans did it but it was really you guys and that we all had to take the secret to the grave because if not the world as we all know it ends. That you, in your hard headedness, wouldn't stop even when Mi and the guys told you to. That's about it. Of course I heard all the speculation and rumours about it all in the shop, but Brian just gave me the real version."
"Well, no one but me and soon you knows what I'm about to tell you. I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill me, ok?"
"Ok, I won't kill you." She laughed at him. She couldn't imagine anything he could tell her that would make her that mad.
"Well, we did about 4 jobs that went off perfect right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, we made a lot of money off them. And since the Trans did it, I couldn't exactly give that money back. So it's all in the bank account that we set up for it. I never talked about it again and the team seemed to forget about it too. I didn't want our lives to change. I mean if we spent money all over the place it might arouse suspion too. But I didn't want to tell the team incase they wanted to move to a better place, or stop running the stores, or if they wanted to take their shares and leave and break up the team. I didn't want any of that so I let them all assume the money was all gone. Brian must have some idea that they never found it but he never said anything. I never told you I had money because I didn't want you to hate me for getting you to come live with us, or for giving you a hard time when you missed time at the garage, or for not bailing out your store." Dom ended on a sigh, figuring he was in for it.
"Dominic Torreto! How could you ever think I would be mad at you for giving me a place to live and making me grow up some. I love you for making me come live at your place, for giving me a family to love and grow with. I owed you anyway. I raced out of my legue and lost, you won. You didn't do anything evil." She pulled off the road into a parking lot and turned back to Dom. "You couldn't give the money back, you couldn't very well go around talking about it either. And I think it was noble to just want to live the simple life you had before all the shit hit the fan. I don't love you for your money, I love you. And my store will bail itself out in the next few years. It's not going anywhere. I get everything I need from you." She smiled at him and he pulled her into his hug.
"So you're not mad?"
"No! Your team might be another matter." Dom groaned. His team had every right to be angry. Torrie gave Dom a sweet kiss on the lips and merged back into traffic. They pulled up to the Mazda dealer.
They climbed out and looked around the lot. There wasn't a car Dom liked. Torrie saw two nice RX-7's but Dom didn't like either. There was an RX-8 in the show room.
"You wanna go in and look?" She asked him.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Why do you want a brand new car? You're just gonna modd the hell out of it and void the warentee."
"You're right, I just like the look of these cars."
"aight."
They walked into the dealership and were immediately approached by a salesman.
He talked to them about the car for a second before dismissing them as not able to pay and walking away. Dom was very pissed. Torrie could tell. She knew he wanted to just go buy the car to piss the guy off. She made him walk out. Telling him that they had to talk to the team before he bought anything worth that much. Dom agreed and they headed back to DT.
Chapter 36 - Car shopping
She gave up and got up at 9 but left Dom sleeping. She chucked on a pair of pink track pants and a white tank top with Daddy's little girl on it in pink glitter. She had the top since she was daddy's little girl, her dad had bought it for her. The glimpse of that man was still playing heavy on her mind. She headed downstairs. Everyone but her and Dom was in the kitchen already. She turned a chair around and sat down. She poured herself a bowl of Lucky Charms and added milk. She was eating the cereal in her own little world, thinking about the events of the last two days when a hand waved in front of her face.
"Yo, earth to Torrie, you in there?"
"Sorry Leon, I was thinkin' 'bout something is all."
"What has you so spaced?" Vince was concerned and Letty and Jesse looked interested.
"Well I know it is crazy but I saw a guy in the crowd yesterday that looked just like my dad. I mean just like him. And since we never did figure out who left me the flowers, it was just kind of freaky. It is just the kind of thing he would do you know. Tell me that I couldn't race then be all proud I did good."
"But Torrie, there are people who look just like all of us. I saw a guy the other day and I would have swore it was Jesse, but it wasn't. I don't think your dad would have waited all this time to tell you he didn't really die would he?"
"Of course not Vince but it was still creepy."
They all finished eating with that out of the way. Torrie told them not to wake Dom up because the doctor had told them to let him rest for a few days anyway and the shop would just have to get by without him for awhile. They all agreed and Torrie told them she was heading down to the store for awhile to see how things were and she would meet them all at the garage later. They agreed, and decided with a glance at each other that if Dom was mad that no one woke him they were going to blame Torrie. Might be cowardly but he wasn't going to tear a strip off her.
Torrie arrived at the store and let herself in. She checked the inbox out back and there was a letter addressed to her. She didn't get much personal mail at the store, especially not hand addressed stuff. She let herself into her office and sat down. She opened the letter. It was short and the letter itself was typewritten.
I wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten you. I miss you. I hope to be able to see you soon. I'm so proud of you.
Love always.
There was no signature and it contained a delectate gold chain with a pendant that said princess in script. She couldn't figure who would mail her such a gift. Who hadn't forgot her? Some old boyfriend? She never really had any steady enough to miss her like this. She had a nagging suspicion she knew who it was, but that was just plain crazy. Wasn't it? She finished up what she had to do and then headed to the shop.
Jesse was up to his elbows in car, and Letty was under another one. Leon wasn't doing much of anything and Vince was no where to be seen. Dom it seemed had not shown up at the shop yet. Torrie hoped he was at home asleep. He needed the rest. She decided to do up one car then head home and make sure he was ok. She picked up the first work order in the pile and saw that it belonged to a civic that was to have a whole new exhaust system installed. Well this should old take me about an hour she thought and got to work.
About an hour later she was thanking god Civics were 4 cylinders and only had one tailpipe. She had installed the new Dynoflow cat back exhaust on the car and put the work order on the done pile. She told the gang she was going home to check on Dom and headed out.
She pulled into the driveway to find Dom standing in it.
"Thanks for running off and leaving me here with no car." Dom frowned at her.
"No car? What the hell is the big black monster if not a car?" She asked him sarcastically.
"Shit, I kinda forgot about that. I'm not use to having it back yet or driving it." Dom gave her a sheepish look.
"No car my ass." She mumbled. "Well, now you have a chauffeured vechicle, where are you in such a rush to get?"
"To my garage, of course." Dom told her with a look that said she shoulda known this.
"Well, there's no need."
"Whatdoya mean no need?"
"They guys and I got it all done. Why don't you and I go ride shopping?" Dom smiled a big genuine grin. "You're the smartest girl ever. We need to go car shopping." Dom hopped in the car. "Where should we go first?"
"Well, that depends on what kinda car you wanna buy."
"I don't know."
"You don't have any idea?"
"Well, I've been kicken around some ideas but nothing concrete yet."
"Well, what's your limit?"
"Limit?"
"To spend on a new ride."
"Oh, I don't know." Dom fidgeted. He didn't want to tell her they were pretty well filthy rich cause the team didn't even know, and well, it made him look bad. Like he tied her to the team and gave her a hard time about taking time off for her store for no reason. And he could pay off her mortgage on her store 100 times or more over but he never offered.
But he could buy any car he wanted. He was a simple man with pretty simple needs, except when it came to his car. That was why he hadn't said anything to the team about the feds never finding the money. He enjoyed running the café and garage. He enjoyed working with his hands like his papa. He didn't want his team to get lazy and think they should stop working because they had money. But he figured he would have to level with them if he wanted a good car. Otherwise he was gonna have to buy something that needed a lot of work, or less then stellar.
And he was Dom Torreto damn it. He had to have the best car, the best of everything. It was only right. He couldn't have people at races have better cars then him.
"I want a Mazda RX-8."
"Shit Dominic." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
Oh no, his full name, she was about to let him have it, he'd bet money.
"Do you know how much that car would be worth? I mean they're so new I doubt very much you could even get one that had been in an accident or stolen yet. You'd have to buy it brand new. I mean, it'd be a lot."
"I know, I just said I wanted one, not that I was gonna get one."
"I know, geese, don't take my head off."
"Sorry but I just want my car, ready to go, Jesse is the one that likes the building process, I just don't wanna be bumming rides and stuff for long you know?"
"I know. Why don't you just get a newer RX-7? You loved your other one and Jesse has proven he knows how to make them move."
"That's an idea. Torrie, we need to talk." "That sounds ominous. 'Bout what?"
"You know my team and I got in some trouble a while back with something we were into right?"
"Well, no, the trans were into something, but ok Dom, I know what you're talkin about. Brian told me the bare details. So yeah, I know."
"He told you the bare details as in what details?"
"That it went down in history that the Trans did it but it was really you guys and that we all had to take the secret to the grave because if not the world as we all know it ends. That you, in your hard headedness, wouldn't stop even when Mi and the guys told you to. That's about it. Of course I heard all the speculation and rumours about it all in the shop, but Brian just gave me the real version."
"Well, no one but me and soon you knows what I'm about to tell you. I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill me, ok?"
"Ok, I won't kill you." She laughed at him. She couldn't imagine anything he could tell her that would make her that mad.
"Well, we did about 4 jobs that went off perfect right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, we made a lot of money off them. And since the Trans did it, I couldn't exactly give that money back. So it's all in the bank account that we set up for it. I never talked about it again and the team seemed to forget about it too. I didn't want our lives to change. I mean if we spent money all over the place it might arouse suspion too. But I didn't want to tell the team incase they wanted to move to a better place, or stop running the stores, or if they wanted to take their shares and leave and break up the team. I didn't want any of that so I let them all assume the money was all gone. Brian must have some idea that they never found it but he never said anything. I never told you I had money because I didn't want you to hate me for getting you to come live with us, or for giving you a hard time when you missed time at the garage, or for not bailing out your store." Dom ended on a sigh, figuring he was in for it.
"Dominic Torreto! How could you ever think I would be mad at you for giving me a place to live and making me grow up some. I love you for making me come live at your place, for giving me a family to love and grow with. I owed you anyway. I raced out of my legue and lost, you won. You didn't do anything evil." She pulled off the road into a parking lot and turned back to Dom. "You couldn't give the money back, you couldn't very well go around talking about it either. And I think it was noble to just want to live the simple life you had before all the shit hit the fan. I don't love you for your money, I love you. And my store will bail itself out in the next few years. It's not going anywhere. I get everything I need from you." She smiled at him and he pulled her into his hug.
"So you're not mad?"
"No! Your team might be another matter." Dom groaned. His team had every right to be angry. Torrie gave Dom a sweet kiss on the lips and merged back into traffic. They pulled up to the Mazda dealer.
They climbed out and looked around the lot. There wasn't a car Dom liked. Torrie saw two nice RX-7's but Dom didn't like either. There was an RX-8 in the show room.
"You wanna go in and look?" She asked him.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Why do you want a brand new car? You're just gonna modd the hell out of it and void the warentee."
"You're right, I just like the look of these cars."
"aight."
They walked into the dealership and were immediately approached by a salesman.
He talked to them about the car for a second before dismissing them as not able to pay and walking away. Dom was very pissed. Torrie could tell. She knew he wanted to just go buy the car to piss the guy off. She made him walk out. Telling him that they had to talk to the team before he bought anything worth that much. Dom agreed and they headed back to DT.