“Be right back!” I yelled.
He nodded and returned to what he was doing. All around, teams were doing the same as us - getting the cars set up and ready for qualifying. I loved the buildup, the tension that came along with getting ready.
So many things have to go your way if you want to have a chance to win out here. The way we’d been running the past month or so, I felt fucking awesome about our chances. Everyone else knew how close we were. It was a matter of time before we got things dialed in. What we needed right now, more than anything, was consistency.
We’d get there.
Or I would die trying.
Approaching the three of them, I nodded my chin in Ava’s direction.
“Glad you could make it.” I began, gesturing towards their badges. “Any problems picking everything up at will call?”
“Thank you for having us. And no, no problems at all.” She paused and looked around for a second. “Wow, things have sure gotten busy since the last time I was here.”
“Yep, that’s the way it works.” I pointed in the direction of the woman and the boy. “Who’s this with you?”
“Oh,” Ava began, rolling her eyes. “Sorry about that.”
She finished talking and looked in the direction of the woman first.
“This is my roommate, Jillian.” Next, she tilted forward at the waist and put her hand on the kids shoulder before looking back towards me. “And this, is my nephew, Simon.”
Nephew? Much better.
I extended my hand towards Jillian. “Pleasure.”
She reached up and just before she shook my hand, she slid a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Smiling, she replied, “Nice to meet you, Dyson.”
Dyson? Cool. Someone’s been talking about me.
I let go of her hand and looked down at Simon. “Is this your first time at a car race, little man?”
He looked away from me and nodded his head.
“He can be a little shy around strangers,” Ava said.
“Not a problem. Before I leave town, we’ll all be good friends.” I winked at her and then looked down at the kid one more time. “You wanna see my car?”
Once again, he didn’t say anything, but, unlike the last time, a huge smile came to his face. I stepped to one side and gestured for the three of them to pass.
“Well, come on then.”
Jillian walked in front of me first, followed by the boy, and finally Ava. Just as she passed in front of me, I caught a whiff of her perfume. She hadn’t worn any the first time, when I met her at Dr. Wilcox’s office. I liked it. She wore just the right amount. A nice change of pace from Anastasia and Svetlana, that’s for sure.
“Hey,” I said, as she walked in front of me.
She stopped for a second and looked at me as Simon and Jillian continued to walk away.
“Yes?”
“Good to see you.”
She pursed her lips.
“You know, I’m only here because of my nephew. Don’t read anything into it.”
Once she finished, she looked away from me and followed behind them as they headed in the direction of my car. I chuckled and shook my head. A few minutes later, I’d given all of them the grand tour of the team garage, and while I finished, my teammate, Marco Rhys, approached.
“Hey man,” I began, as I pointed towards his car. “How’d it go out there?”
Marco slipped his hands into the pockets of his fire suit. “Um, all right. There’s still a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. Anyway, I’m not too concerned just yet. Talk to me in a few hours.”
I chuckled while he finished talking and looked past me towards the Ava, Jillian and Simon.
“Friends of yours?”
I nodded and introduced them all to each other. Afterward, Marco looked at Simon and said, “Hey, how’d you like to sit in my car?”
The kid turned and looked up at Ava. “Can I?”
Her eyes darted towards mine. “Is it okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” I looked down at the kid. “Whatever you do, don’t hit the brakes coming out of the straightaway heading into turn one.”
Marco chuckled and gestured for Jillian and Simon to follow him. After they walked away, I turned towards Ava.
“Seems like a good kid.”
She kept her eyes trained on him for another second or two before she looked at me.
“Yeah, he really is.”
“Take a walk?” I asked.
She looked at me for a moment and then glanced towards Marco’s car.
“He’s in good hands.” I began, waving with a causal gesture towards Marco. “I can’t go far anyway. Come on. I promise I won’t bite. I mean, unless that’s your thing.”
Ava shook her head at me. “No, it isn’t. But, okay, just for a few minutes.”
We walked in silence for a bit, eventually making our way out of the garage and along pit road. It was a perfect day for driving. Not a cloud in the sky.
“So you’re Simon’s aunt?”
Ava nodded.
“Too bad his folks couldn’t make it out,” I began, stopping and turning to face her. “Seems to me they’ve done a good job of raising him.”
Just then, a small gust of wind passed between us, sending Ava’s hair in front of her eyes. She moved it out of the way.
“Simon. He…”
Ava paused and turned her head away from me.
“Yeah?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “What about him?”
“He, um, he doesn’t have any parents.”
“Oh… Damn. Sorry to hear that. Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
I studied her and noticed a difficult swallow make its way down her throat while she considered my question.
“You know what, don’t worry about it,” I said, shrugging. “It’s none of my business.”
Ava continued to battle with wayward strands of her hair. During a few seconds of still air, she looked into my eyes. It was almost like she was deciding whether or not she could trust me.
“Maybe some other time,” I said, deciding to take the pressure off.
She smiled and nodded at me. “Maybe.”
DYSON
Just then, I noticed the expression on Ava’s face change. Something behind me caught her attention.
“It looks like you have company, Dyson.”
Doing a half turn, I glanced in the direction of her line of sight and noticed Anastasia bearing down on me.
Ava immediately appeared tense. “I’ll leave you and see you back inside the garage.”
I shook my head and gestured for her to stay put. “Don’t worry about it. It’s totally fine. You don’t have to go anywhere.”
By that time Anastasia was close enough I heard her footsteps.
“Dyson,” she began, walking right up to me. “What she doing here?”
“What do you want Anastasia?” I said, ignoring her question. “Can’t you see I’m busy right now?”
She crossed her arms and scowled at Ava before looking at me once again. “You promise me we going to leave racetrack today and go out. Do you remember?”
I nodded. “Something came up. What can I tell you, Anastasia? It’s race week, and schedules get fucked up.”
“Mmm hmm,” she grumbled. “How you have time then to spend talking to… her?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but Ava is an important medical professional on the team while we’re here in Austin.”
She shook her head and pointed at me. “She is not team doctor. That is Dr. Luca. Do not lie, Dyson.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a lie. Dr. Luca had passport problems and can’t get into the country. And so Ava here is helping out in his place.”
Anastasia thinned her lips. “I do not like her.”
“Whoa, whoa, hold it right there, Anastasia,” I said, pointing in Ava’s direction. “She’s never said a single rude word to you. You need to go right now, Anastasia. We’ll talk later.”
“No!”
I glared at her in silence for a couple of moments. “Go right now and quit complaining, or you can forget about ever going anywhere. Got me?”