Meg POV

"What!" Aikun shrieked in Japanese.

"Hey, I'm just giving you what you wanted. Are you scared to race a gaijin?" I replied innocently.

Aikun looked at me, furious, but quickly scoffed. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and then crossed her arms.

"Me? Afraid?" she questioned.

"Bring that bitch over here and we will really see who is better for DK." She got into the yellow Honda Accord behind her and revved the engine, speeding towards the exit.

I looked to Neela once again and nodded in affirmation, while she responded with a short nod. She went inside the car and drove slowly through the curious crowd, engine revving, to follow Aikun. I saw her make dangerous eye contact with Takashi on her way to the exit before continuing. DK muttered something to Han with an annoyed face before getting in his car, ignoring the models' obvious whining. Han didn't acknowledge DK, but looked at me and mouthed "Go."

I smirked and said, "Do it." Jennifer raised her eyebrows, shrugged and climbed on top of Anthony's car cupping her hands around her mouth, and shouted "RACE!"

The crowd cheered while running towards the exit, where Neela and Aikun were patiently waiting inside their car. I walk towards the exit slowly, the confidence that was present, has now dispersed and left an empty void of anxiety. Jenn ran past me to get there before the crowd became too much to handle.

What if Neela wasn't enough? Why did DK agree so easily for the race to continue? Was this opportunity too easy? My stomach twisted into knots until I felt an arm rest around my waist, with his hand pressed lightly on my stomach. I didn't have to turn to see who it is. Han's thumb started to move in soothing circles against my navel and the butterflies arose, once again. In instinct, I tucked my arm around his torso and started to lean on him as we walked towards the hyper crowd.

"Do you realize what you've just started, Megan," Han stated, rather than asked.

I stiffened before relaxing my shoulders with a sigh. "I know what I'm doing, Han."

As we drew closer, he steered our direction to a car behind a pillar but used this view as an advantage to see the race forming and, of course, to see the winner when the time came. We sat down on the hood with his right arm around my lower waist, his hand resting on the side of my right upper thigh. I sat so that my left leg was slightly on top of Han's. I straightened my posture and crossed my arms, now tense as we see both cars speeding forward competitively and then disappear with red tail lights lingering in everyone's vision. I felt Han's thumb resuming its circles against my thigh.

"Are you sure about that? You sound like you're trying to convince yourself, more than you're trying to convince me," Han said with his usual tone. It might have been quiet but the strength of his voice was with emphasis.

I hesitated, "I-I'm positive. Are you trying to say something?" I asked with fake bravado, even though I knew what he was going to say.

"Using Neela as your plan to get rid of DK is actually pretty smart, especially for you. However, this isn't exactly the right time," I scowled at his subtle way of calling me stupid and he smirked, "What? You think you can just train Neela or something into defeating DK? Tell me exactly what you're going to do if Aikun wins. Or what if Neela wins. What then?"

"I don't know!" I interrupted, "I'll admit that I didn't thoroughly think this through but an opportunity like this can't pass. I am so SICK of DK, his fucking family, and their antics. I want him GONE." His thumb ceased and he didn't respond. So, I turned straight ahead, blindly staring at nothing. We sat in semi-awkward silence before I saw him tilt his head towards me.

"Whoever comes out as the winner today, you won't pursue Neela." he said in resolve. I felt my eyebrows rise in surprise, not fully expecting him to make me promise something against what we both wanted. Despite being DK's partner, I knew how Han felt about DK. There was no brotherhood or friendship between the two, just business.

I turned my head to see that Han wasn't looking at me, but at the two cars that were a quarter mile away from the finish line.

"You're so confident that I'll do as you say," I said warily. "Why?"

Han simply smirked, still not looking at me. "You know that if you don't take what I said into consideration, that you'll fail. You can't help but take what I said, to heart."

I felt my blood boil in anger. "I don't need your input to trust my decisions," I sneered. I did trust Han's judgment. But who said that his was better than mine? Did I actually doubt my plans? Should I go to Neela or should I wait for the right time?

"But you also know that even IF Neela wins, DK wouldn't let you get close enough to say, 'hi', much less teach her how to drift. If Aikun wins, it'll just push you farther down your sanity of trying to teach DK a lesson. Instead of trying to get the Yakuza off your back, all you did was just make Takashi even more cautious. If you think about it, this race was pointless. You're not thinking with your head, Meg. You're thinking with anger, and it gets you nowhere."

His harsh criticism made me wince. Butterflies now gone, I felt my mouth twitching in trepidation as I mutter insults at him in Dutch. Han raises his eyebrows in amusement. I roll my eyes with my jaw clenched, then look again towards the speeding cars. I squint with an accepting sigh. I look to Han with a glare and he looks at me, knowing that my mind was made up.

I keep my gaze on Han's face as I hear the tires of the cars, skid against the cement with force as they came towards the finish line. Han smiles and I turn my face forward again with a grunt of frustration. I was wrong. This was a waste of time. Not an opportunity at all.

I gritted my teeth as an unwilling thought popped into my mind, "Han was right."

Screams and hollers were tossed here and there, celebrating the winner of the race. The cheers only continued to echo through the garage as Aikun stepped out of her car with a smug smile. I caught Neela's eye as she came out of her car. She gave a grim smile before DK grabbed her arm roughly, looking furious, while striding towards his car. They drove out of the garage, tires squealing. The rest of DK's crew follows in the same fashion.

I 'detangle' myself from Han when sirens were heard quickly after the race was over. I didn't spare Han a glance, even though I knew he was looking at me. His hand that was on my thigh lingered for a second before disappearing and the warmth with it. I quickly ran towards the Nissan, got into the passenger's seat, with Han driving. We sped out of the garage, easily deflecting the cops.

We sat in a tense silence the rest of the way home.

It's been a week since the 'Neela' incident. Things resumed as usual, but Han and I's relationship became strained. I rarely saw Han outside of his shop. When we ARE working, the over-bearing laughter from before became infrequent. Uncomfortable silences started to become an everyday thing. The only sound that was in the shop was Reiko's defeated battle-cries from playing her games and the Japanese pop that was put on low volume from the radio. Reiko was the only one who seemed to be oblivious to these changes.

Standing in front of my closet, I can't help but let my imagination drift, wondering how the day is going to play out. Today is Morimoto's birthday. Shay decided to, "out of the good of her heart", in her words, RSVP my invite to a Yakuza-owned nightclub, to celebrate. I wasn't going to go initially because, well, I hate Morimoto. And let's not forget that Han will also be there.

Whoop-ti-fucking-doo.

"Meg?" Shay called through the closed door.

I walked over to let her in, clad in my bra and underwear. She came in, looking down, closing the door behind her. When she looked up, her face formed into a grimace.

"You're going to wear those?" she motioned her finger up and down my body.

I looked down with a frown and looked back at her, "What's wrong with, 'those'?"

She scoffed in disbelief, "Are you kidding? That set looks like it came from hell and back!"

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic inference. "It's just a plain black bra and underwear," I told her.

"Exactly! You're going to a nightclub, honey. Not a funeral!" she exclaimed.

"Who cares if I'm going to a nightclub or not. It's not like I have anyone to impress anyways!" I walk back to the closet to toss some jeans and a trusty ol' tee shirt onto my bed.

I heard Shay march towards the bed, only to take my clothes and put them back into my closet.

"Wait." she simply said with her index finger in my face. I huffed and sat on the bed, waiting for my 'mistress' to arrive. She came back in with a dress that she got from Century 21 the other week. It was two-tone black and nude mini dress.

She dropped the dress onto my lap and said, "When I come back in here, you better be wearing that." She turned to leave and that's when I made a face at her and rolled my eyes. Immature yes, but it was the only way I could feel satisfaction.

I held the dress to my chest and decided that it isn't that bad looking. I got up to put the dress on in front of a full, body length mirror. It fit tight but snug against all the right places. I realized that the dress already had padding in it, so I reached around to take off my bra and then analyzed to see how it looked. It had a sweetheart neckline that revealed a bit of cleavage, but the girls weren't showing so it's good. The top part of the dress was a nude color with black lining that cupped my breasts and continued straight down reaching mid-stomach. The bottom was black and almost like a pencil skirt. It accentuated my butt and ended mid-thigh and showed lots of leg.

I was cut off from my thoughts by Shay coming in unannounced. She looked up and paused for a second before saying, "Wow. You look amazing."

I smiled a little at her admission. "Thanks." I say softly. It looked like I snapped her out of her reverie when I spoke.

She looked down at the belt in her hands and said, "Here, I thought that this would look nice with the dress." She gave it to me and held out the sleek, skinny black belt around my waist until it could tighten no more.

"And I was right." Shay smiles, looking at me with her hands on her hips. I gave a closed-lip smile before turning back to the mirror. The belt had a skinny and gold rectangular plate in the middle which gave the dress a little more color.

"Hey, are you alright?" I heard her ask. I turn to look at her again and see her concerned expression.

Am I alright? No. I'm not. Han and I aren't currently speaking which, surprisingly, kills me to no end. He thinks that I'm blinded with hate for Takashi, which I am. He thinks I'm inferior to him because of this hate and unable to think straight. I think he is an asshole for knowing everything about me (which I don't like to admit). He made me completely doubt myself and my judgment, which frustrates me to hell! He thinks I am being immature about my plans for DK and feels that I need to grow up. On top of that, I still like him. Even though he isn't grazing me with intimate touches, his stares still set me ablaze. He just stares at me until I finally look back. I could feel it. His intense gaze just continues to weaken my resolve. The fact that we aren't speaking, that I still want him but can't have him, makes me realize I don't know how to fix this. That Han was right but my pride is too damn strong for me to admit that I was wrong.

"Yeah, everything's okay." I reply while mustering a straight face. She looked at me a moment longer before nodding in acceptance.

I'm fine.

"Now let's go see what we can do with your hair." She continues.

I ended up having my hair curled. She put a thin layer of liquid eyeliner and blush. She also put this weird sparkly shit that apparently, will make my skin look like I'm glowing. How people will see that in the dark- I don't know. I put on the small diamond studs that she got for me.

We decided that we would go to the club separately since Morimoto is picking her up. Thankfully, she knows that we will ALL suffer for the next 30 minutes if we sat in a car together.

"Don't forget to wear those shoes- the one with the satin platform! OH, and you shou-," Shay shouted on her way out.

"Yes, yes! Now go before Morimoto shows his ugly face inside!" I shooed. Morimoto was honking his horn impatiently. She gave me a face for my insult before kissing me on the cheek and telling me that she'd see me there.

I sighed in relief as I heard the car speed away from the apartment. I looked around her room and saw the shoes she was talking about. I grimaced when I saw the length of the heel. I quickly made a prayer to God to not let me fall and put on the shoes, using the door knob as leverage. I took a quick turn around the room before leaving to ensure mine- and other people's safety when I got to the crowded club.

I grabbed my clutch and sprinted towards the garage as quick as I could in 4 inch heels. I saw Irene and sighed. I also forgot that my car was at the looks like I'm going to have to call someone. A little voice in my head kept saying to call the person I despised right now.

Should I just call a cab? Well...maybe I could call him? He would pick me up. I shook my head a little in denial, refusing to succumb to the guilt. I took out my phone and passed Han's name, to Twinkies. I held the phone to my ear and listened to the ringing that was cut off with a 'hello'.

"Hey Twink, you think you could pick me up?"