Friday finally arrived and as Laura packed up her tools in the garage she looked at the clock. It read 7 o' clock. The day had taken forever to pass by and now she was even having to finish late at work! Of course getting home earlier wouldn't have meant anything, she'd still have to wait for the rest of the team to get ready. They normally left for races at about 10, which meant Laura had to wait another three hours for her moment.
Dom had taken her out the day before to test her abilities and agreed she was already a skilled driver. He kept asking her if she definitely hadn't raced at home. Everytime she replied No he would shake his head and mutter something. Leon had told him she got 10 seconds in the Skyline on Wednesday when she raced the quarter mile stretch. Dom of course made her do the stretch again and she got the same time. He made Leon take her out a few more times to make sure it wasn't just fluke, he had even given them Thursday off work. Now she felt even more confident driving her car. In fact, when she wasn't in it, she permanently felt as if a part of her was missing!
Now as she drove home, Leon in the passenger seat enjoying the fact he wasn't the one that had to take her places anymore, she listened to the engine and felt at ease. The only place she could truly unwind now was in the Skyline. He looked over at her, smiling at the happy expression on her face and she caught him in the act,
"What are you smiling at now Mr!"
He laughed, "Nothing. You always glow when you're driving, did you know that?"
"No, but thanks for filling me in!"
Ever since she told Leon about her past with Jerry he had become a lot more patient with her. Her was never the one to lean in and kiss her, which actually annoyed her more than anything. Before telling him he had seemed too keen on sleeping with her, whereas now he would hardly kiss her! She did feel a lot better around him now though, now that she knew he understood her mood swings. Even though she was sure she really fancied him she didn't know if she loved him. Maybe it was too soon to be thinking about love… it all seemed to go downhill in her relationships when love came into the picture!
They arrived home, the rest of the team not far behind and as usual Laura, Mia and Letty went upstairs to get ready. Laura was sick of wearing skirts so she decided to wear a black pair of low cut combats, her black converse and a white halterneck top. She put in a huge pair of silver hoop earrings and of course put her face on! She kept her long hair down, mainly because both Mia and Letty preferred it that way. They sat downstairs playing the PS2 until Dom told them all it was time to go at 10.10. Laura got into her car and reversed out onto the road. She let everyone go in front of her and she filed in behind Mia.
As soon as they arrived at the usual meeting place Laura could see how many stares her car was getting. The expressions on everyone's face told her she wasn't the only one mesmerised by it. She stopped behind all her friends and got out of the car. As usual most people practically feel over each other to get to Dom but surprisingly a few people came over to her. One girl told her the car 'rocked'. She had to laugh at them all, they practically drooled over the Skyline!
Leon made his way over to her and the four or five people surrounding her walked off.
"Like all the attention baby?" he grinned, knowing full well she did.
"Yeah, it's great."
Dom called her over and told her a friend of his was organising a race somewhere near the coast and that she should go for that one, to ease herself in. She agreed straight away, happy for any opportunity.
She watched Dom racing and as usual he won. After a lot of the crowd calmed down the whole team took Laura out to the coast. There was a lot less people here and she could tell the other three racers weren't very experienced. This eased her nerves a little. As she stood talking to the team a small black guy came over and whispered something to Dom. He told the guy to sort it out and that was that. As she watched the small dude disappear into a crowd or people she looked at Dom questioningly.
"Fourth racer pulled out. He needs to find a replacement before you can race."
Laura nodded and spent the next few minutes getting ready for the race. Dom saw the guy wave over and nod, meaning a replacement was on his way so she got into her car and drove over to the start line. The other two racers sat beside her on the left and there was a space waiting for the other racer on her right.
A few minutes later she heard the crowd cheer and she heard a car pull up beside her. She almost had a heart attack when she looked over to see the silver Skyline with blue vinyls. He put his window down a little and smiled at her. When she gave him a worried look he just winked and put his black tinted window back up. She hoped to God he wasn't good!
She zoned out as she watched a girl move onto the middle of the start line and raise her hands. The girls hands seemed to drop in slow motion. Laura skidded off, the two racers on her left already far behind and the silver Skyline just ahead of her. She shifted the gears as best she could but could feel the clutch sticking a few times. She was well ahead of the two racers on her left but just couldn't get ahead of the Skyline on her right.
"He's good…" she murmured as she past the finish line in second place.
The crowd immediately surrounded her and the winner and as she got out of her car she could see Dom marching over. He made his way straight over to the small black guy he'd been talking with earlier and shoved him pretty herd. Laura left the crowd and the silver Skyline behind her and ran over to Dom.
"Dom, what are you doing? I lost…it's not his fault…"
"You said these racers were all shit, that they only came for a bit of a laugh!" Dom shouted at the guy, who was trying his best to disappear, "So how exactly did that fucker, who is obviously a lot better than anyone here get into the race?"
The small guy just cowered below Dom and muttered a reply.
"You cheated her out of a race that would have definitely been hers. She's not ready to race anyone that good yet!" he shouted into the guys face.
This made Laura feel embarrassed and furious at Dom for overreacting and talking about her like she was a shit racer. She knew the other guy was one of the best she had ever seen so she wasn't upset she lost, why couldn't Dom let it go!
"Dom the buy in was nothing, just let it go," she said as she tried to ease him off the poor guy who seemed more willing to die than be where he was now.
Dom shrugged her off and was deciding what to do when Laura heard someone come through the crowd and stop beside her. She looked up to be met by those blue eyes that had haunted her dreams for quite a few nights now. He put his finger to his lips to hush her.
There were a few minutes silence until he decided to finally speak,
"Dom, it's my fault she lost. I just thought it'd be a nice way to…uh… say hello."
Dom turned around and instead of a smile or nice greeting, which was what Laura was expecting, he punched the stranger smack on the nose.
"What the fuck are you doing here Brian!"
Brian held his nose for a minute and then spoke up, obviously not sure what to say,
"Look Dom, I was sick of running so I did a job for the cops, got my freedom back and knew I needed to clear things up here. With you and Mia and the whole damn team!"
Dom stood for a minute, his face bright red and if it had've been possible there would have been steam coming out of his ears!
"Let's go talk Brian…"
Dom and Brian walked off up the street and Laura's attention settled on Mia. Her face displayed a mixture of pain and tearstains. She rushed over to her,
"What is it Mia?"
Mia sniffed a few times as Laura looked round Letty, Vince, Jesse and Leon for an explanation. Finally Mia mumbled a reply,
"That's him Laura. The guy who turned out to be a cop and broke my heart…"
She burst into tears again. The whole group looked dumbfounded as Mia got into her Acura and sped off up the coast. What the hell had Laura got involved in? Suddenly whatever feelings she hadfelt for this Brian guy wentnumb. She couldn't like him...he was completly off limits...right?