A Flat Six, A boost Gauge, and One Helluva Woman written by Ken Aurborum Giovanni
It wasn't well known, but Galatea too had her own study. It was on the second floor of the house in the southernmost hallway. It had a simple wooden door and a brass handle, inside you would find the same hardwood flooring present in the rest of house, the walls were painted a light grey and the ceiling was kept white. There was not much inside the room. Where a desk ought to be sat an upright piano and where a bookshelf ought to be filled with books, the medium sized one in the corner overflowed with sheet music of varying size, age, and arrangement. In the center of the room was a wire music stand, the brass lacquer worn off with age.
Galatea entered her study, flowing white sundress and instrument case in tow. She placed her case on top of the piano and retrieved her violin. The wood was finished in a deep espresso which complemented the rich, dark tone of the instrument. The bow, on the other hand, was quite unorthodox. By all means it was a traditional violin bow by function. The bow hair was siberian and was tightened or loosened at the frog, the frog itself had a very traditional rectangular shape, but the length of the bow...was made purely of carbon fiber. Though incredibly resilient and lightweight, the carbon fiber bow was more for form than function (as Galatea hardly ever has to travel with her instrument). It's glossy black surface checkerboarded with grey creates quite an interesting stage presence and paired with Galatea, it would be an aural and visual experience to be talked about.
She placed her shoulder rest on her violin and laid it the instrument back down onto the case. She reached for her bow and tightened the hair to her liking walked over to the bookshelf where she pulled out a piece of sheet music. In her hand was a violin solo part for the Bach Violin Concerto in E Major. She placed the music onto the stand and readied her violin. A deep breath in and she struck the first note.
It was a melodically simple piece and relatively short compared to later classical and romantic concertos. Something a bit "Pop-ee" but not too generic...like Vivaldi...something inherently Bach and polyphonic but not too "busy" to the ear. It was a crowd pleaser, essentially.
Multiple runs and a few hours later, Galatea had all but memorized the piece and sought to conclude the day's practice. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, surprised to see it was 19:00 (or 7:00 pm...Miria's habit of using a 24 hour clock seems to have rubbed off on her). Nonetheless she replaced her instrument and walked towards the door, jumping back in surprise when it suddenly swung open to reveal a certain Miria dressed in jeans and a simple white v-neck. She had her hands in her pockets and a very mischievous grin.
"I didn't even realise you were home, what time did you arrive?" Galatea asked, smiling wide and eyes twinkling. This woman made her feel like a giddy schoolgirl...and she hasn't even said a word yet.
"About 45 minutes ago, I didn't want to interrupt you. You sound beautiful by the way," Miria said, biting her lower lip, heart swelling at the sight of Galatea.
"Well, you obviously dressed for something, just let me take a quick shower and change into something else and then we…" Galatea trailed off as Miria dangle a single key connected to a lanyard in front of her, "No…"
"Oh yes, my dear. First one to the car gets to drive!" Miria said, bolting off right away.
"You JERK! Wait for me!" Galatea sprinted out of her study, all thoughts of the warm shower pushed aside by 6 cylinders of rear engine rear-wheel drive, automotive bliss.
Unsurprisingly, Miria was already sitting in the driver's seat of the car, which happened to be on the right side.
"I don't know why you're so pissed! I'll let you drive him on the way back!" Miria said, grinning ear to ear.
"Oh my god...we're really doing this...what are we? High school kids going on a joy ride!?" Galatea said laughing, getting into the passenger seat.
"Well, when we were in high school, I didn't have a turbo-charged sports car!" Miria said, launching the car forward and out onto the main road.
"Holy shit! Hold on! I don't even have my seatbelt on yet!" Galatea said, laughing all the while. It was very surreal. So reckless, so dangerous, yet fun, carefree, and oh so nostalgic.
"Better hurry up, first corner is coming up in 150 meters!" Miria said, depressing the throttle all the way to the floor.
Galatea quickly fastened her harness just in time before Miria Swung out the rear end of the car and drifted through the first corner. There wouldn't be any corners for at least five miles, but many bends and serpentine segments of country road would fill the void. Miria accelerated on the first straightaway, hearing the sound of the turbocharger spool as she pressed the pedal and the his of the waste gate as she shifted gears. Coming to the first s-curve, Miria shifted down to third and took a very clean line through the bend.
"Holy crap! When was the last time we had this much fun?" Miria said, laughing all the while. She slowed down as she downshifted, eventually pulling over on the right shoulder of the road.
"Last night in bed…" Galatea said with a mischievous smirk, but the effect was lost when both women burst into a fit of giggling.
"Do you think we're having a midlife crisis?" Galatea asked after a while of silence.
"I need to justify wanting to have fun...with my wife no less?" Miria said in mock insult.
Galatea pulled Miria in for a deep kiss, hoping that her wife would accept the gesture as an appropriate response.
"Now, my dearest Miri, I believe it's my turn to drive," Galatea said in a very low voice, her lips mere centimeters away from Miria's ear.
"S-sure…" Miria manage to stutter.
"You sound out of breath, my love," Galatea joked before getting out of the car.
Miria flushed red in embarrassment. It was true, Galatea could last longer in a makeout session without taking a breather. In Miria's defense, Galatea had been practicing all throughout high school while Miria was only getting started.
"I can drive like an F1 racer, I can cook, I can fight, I can hold my drink, I can satisfy you of all people, so forgive me if I come up short in some departments," Miria shifted into first gear and launched the car forward then locked the steering wheel all the way to the left to kick the rear end out, effectively executing what would have been a handbrake turn on a front wheel drive car.
Miria pulled back around and opened her door, "Top that sweetie," Miria said, sticking her tongue out at Galatea.
"Don't wish for things you don't want, my love," Galatea smiled back and sat on the driver's seat.
Galatea pushed the gas pedal down, keeping the car steady at 5000rpm...then she launched forward, making the tires squeal and the turbocharger/waste gate spool and hiss like an angry cobra. Like Miria, she entered the first bend in third but unlike Miria they she entered the car sideways in a drift. She swung the steering wheel around as the back end of the car slid out and pushed it through the corner sideways, all the while counter steering to keep them from spinning out into the grassy hills. The s-curve was executed in the same way, drifting on way then snapping the car back suddenly to trace the bends. On the straight away, Galatea floored the pedal, shifting up into fifth and reaching eighty miles an hour in mere seconds. Galatea started to slow down as they approached the entrance to the dirt road leading to the house, but suddenly made a u-turn into the right shoulder and halting the car.
"You may drive like Sebastian Vettel, my love, but don't forget that I can drive like Ken Blo-" It was Miria's turn to interrupt Galatea with a kiss, she pulled her in and showed no signs of letting go.
It was really just like high school again…
For those of you who couldn't tell, I'm a car guy! I love cars and motorsports and pretty much anything with an engine, displacement, and quantifiable power. So i tried my best to explain terms within the story and be very descriptive about how all of the pixie dust and unicorn fart mumbojumbo works. Anywhoo, thanks for tuning in (Ahaha, get it? Tuning? Because, you know...cars?) and enjoy the sory.
P.S. I know...no soundtrack or song name as the title but the title does give a clue to what car they were driving, so if you could figure it out I'll give you props and shout you out next chapter!
P.P.S. Anne, if you're reading this, you're not allowed to answer...