Nights in the Fast Lane: A Contemporary Romantic Comedy

by Grace Risata

  “I already apologized with words. Now let me SHOW you how sorry I am.”

  He started to explore other areas that he missed in the past week, but was interrupted when his pocket started to vibrate and hum. Dane pulled out a cell phone.

  “Yeah, we’re awake. What’s up?” he asked. He listened for a second and asked me if the girls wanted coffee. I nodded my head. Winter and Monica both required intense amounts of caffeine to get their day started. I preferred orange juice.

  “Spider is making a coffee run and he’ll be here in about ten minutes,” Dane informed me.

  “Where did you get a phone? You left your old one at my house.”

  “I had insurance on my old cell phone here. I told them I lost it and I got a new one. I don’t know why I bothered. The only person I ever called was Spider, and we weren’t exactly on speaking terms last week.”

  “Is he really okay that you’re leaving?” I asked.

  “Yes. It shocked the hell out of me when he explained why he was so cool with everything. That fucker got an offer to take his band on tour all over the Midwest last summer, but he turned it down because he felt guilty leaving me here alone. He makes it sound like I’m a two year old who needs to constantly be supervised. I guess the same promoter contacted him again last month and asked if he’d reconsider. Spider doesn’t feel bad leaving now, knowing I won’t be alone.”

  “He really does seem to worry about you a lot. I understand that he’s the closest thing to family that you have, but what about HIM? Why doesn’t he have a family?” I’d been curious about Spider’s past for a while, especially after all the heartbroken lyrics in his music last night.

  “ He doesn’t like people to know about his life. The little bits and pieces that came out in conversations with you and your friends in the past week is really more than he usually tells people.”

  “I better go let Winter know he’s coming with coffee. If he sees her in anything less than full war paint, she’s going to freak out.”

  “When you go in and wake them up, please tell Monica that she owes me ten bucks because Winter did not go home with anyone last night. I’ll take your money too.”

  I forgot about that. I knocked on the door and said, “Wake up! Spider will be here in a few minutes with coffee.”

  As expected, Winter screamed and ran to the bathroom. I had no idea why she was still trying to impress Spider since she never really put the moves on him. Unless you counted the kiss. It looked pretty passionate, but nothing ever came of it later. She ignored him the rest of the night. He kept stealing glances at her, but never made any attempt to flirt with her. I quit trying to figure those two out. It took too much effort.

  Monica came into the living room and plopped down, leaning back against a stack of boxes while looking glum. Before I could ask what was bothering her, Spider banged on the door and walked in carrying breakfast. He had a bag of pastries and a tray with coffee that he spread out on the kitchen counter, buffet style. I went to check and see what he brought.

  “Just give me a donut and whatever coffee you have, I’m not picky,” Monica requested.

  “What’s your problem this morning?” I asked her.

  “I didn’t get impregnated by any billionaire werewolves last night,” she flippantly replied.

  I handed her a cup of coffee and a blueberry Danish and returned to inspect the food.

  Winter waltzed out of the bathroom looking immaculate. She grabbed a cappuccino and sat next to Monica.

  “What kind of shifter were you hoping to get impregnated by?” she asked.

  “There are different kinds? I thought it was just werewolves?” Monica asked in confusion.

  “No, no, NO! You have wolves, bears, tigers, lions, dragons…”

  “Dragons don’t even EXIST,” Dane argued, throwing his opinion into the conversation.

  “I would want a were-bear,” Winter said completely ignoring Dane’s comment. “They’re all big and bad, yet cuddly. Clearly the top of the were-shifter food chain. No one messes with a were-bear.”

  “That’s stupid. A pack of wolves could easily take down a bear,” Dane argued.

  I looked at Spider who was making a “please shoot me now” face. We were standing in the kitchen, a bit off to the side, and I pointed to Dane and my friends.

  “See? In case you were worried about him coming back with me, you don’t have to. He fits in just fine with our crazy little group. We’ll take good care of him, Spider. I promise.”

  “I know, Izzy. I can see it. He’s very relaxed with you guys. He finally let his guard down. This is all that he’s ever wanted his entire life. Just a place to fit in and people he belongs with. I’m happy that he found it with you. I really am.”

  “You can find your own happiness,” I said, casually nodding in Winter’s direction.

  “I’m not looking for anything permanent. If I did go after her, it would be for one night only. Dane would kick my ass for doing that to one of your friends. I’m pretty sure she’s off limits.”

  “Suit yourself. You don’t know what you’re missing. She’s the most loyal, kind hearted, amazingly funny person that I ever met.”

  “I can see that she’s pretty special. It’s just complicated right now. That’s all. I’m not the kind of guy to bring a girl candy and flowers. I don’t stick around very long. Besides, I’m not really her type. I shift into a squirrel, not a dragon,” he admitted with a smile.

  I took a giant chocolate donut over to Dane, just in time to hear him complaining about Winter’s romance novel obsession.

  “Winter, those stories are NOT realistic at all,” Dane reasoned. He looked at me and continued, “Are there any books about a beautiful girl who rescues a troubled bad boy from a snow storm and then lets him stay with her and her dog and they all live happily ever after?”

  “No,” I said while laughing, “No one would buy that crap!”

  We finished our breakfast and then it was time to talk business.

  “So tell us about this race today, Dane,” Winter said. “What should we expect?”

  “What do you want to know?” he asked.

  “What are the rules, what are the stakes, and what are the odds you can win?” I questioned him.

  “The race starts at an old industrial complex. There are only ten cars in the race. We all do the circuit and try to be the first to make it back. The route winds through the city and ends up where it began,” he answered.

  “How do you avoid getting caught?” Monica asked. Typical mother hen, she was always worried about the consequences.

  “There are look-outs along the way with two-way radios and police scanners. The drivers are given walkie-talkies and they let us know if any cops are spotted. Otherwise, there’s not much you can really do to protect yourself. If you can outrun the cops, that sure helps.”

  “Why do you do it?” I asked.

  “It’s an insane adrenaline rush. It’s about going as fast as you can, while maintaining complete control. You let go, but still hold on, Izzy. The combination of speed and danger…it’s pretty intense. It’s a way to feel alive. You make a name for yourself and earn a reputation. The money is pretty good, too.”

  “Yeah, there’s a lot at stake tonight,” Spider confirmed. “There’s a two thousand dollar buy-in. I’m putting up a thousand and so is Dane. So with ten drivers, the purse is twenty grand. If he wins, we each get ten thousand dollars. If he wins, the Italians will get off his back and he’s free and clear with no bad blood between them. If he gets second, he gets nothing. If he does worse than that, he owes the Italians ten grand.”

  “How do you figure all that? Why does he get nothing for second?” I asked.

  “The Italians have another driver in the race besides Dane. They’re betting heavily on one of those two to win it all. Dane has to get either a first or second place finish for the Italians to win some money. They picked a random dollar amount for him to
pay back if he loses. It just happened to be ten grand. I don’t know why. I don’t make up the rules.”

  “The real money is in the side bets,” Dane added. “Thousands of dollars are wagered by all the spectators. We’re racing to claim the twenty thousand dollar prize, but the amount of cash gambled on the race must be in the hundreds of thousands. People come from all over. It’s by invitation only, so it draws a pretty elite crowd.”

  “How did you two get invited then?” Winter asked the obvious question on our minds.

  “Spider’s dad ---“ Dane started before he was interrupted.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Spider finished, shooting Dane a look that could kill.

  “Maybe I think it DOES matter,” Winter said in defiance.

  “Leave it alone, Winter. Spider’s dad has connections and that’s all you need to know,” Dane said. Dane slowly shook his head at Winter and made a face that she should drop it. Clearly Spider had some serious family issues that no one wanted to discuss.

  “So what’s the plan for today?” I asked in an effort to diffuse the situation before it became even more uncomfortable. “What are we all doing? I assume you need to work on the car before the race?”

  “I should take it for one last test drive and make sure everything is ready to go. Do you ladies have anything you want to do in town? Shopping or something?” Dane asked.

  Before Winter could go off on him for thinking that all women do is shop and spend money, Spider stepped up to explain Dane’s suggestion.

  “No offense, ladies, but this race is formal attire. You dress to impress. This is a high class crowd and Oak Valley couture is not going to fly. Why don’t you go buy the most expensive outfits you can afford? We go big or we stay home,” Spider stated most offensively.

  “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?” Winter replied. “I have at least four outfits in my suitcase that would blow your mind. Besides,” she said giving him the once over, “you look like a wrinkled piece of shit most of the time. I highly doubt you’re going to look very aristocratic, Mr. High and Mighty.”

  Spider opened his wallet and removed a wad of hundred dollar bills. He held them out to me and said, “Izzy, take this and go buy something nice for you and your friends. I’m not fucking around when I say that you need to look exceptional tonight. You’re not used to mixing with this type of crowd. They have high standards.”

  Was he kidding right now? I glanced over at Winter and Monica. They looked completely shocked. I then turned to Dane and raised my eyebrows. Obviously this jackass had no idea who he was talking to.

  “Listen, bitch,” I told him, “I don’t know who you THINK you are, but you clearly have no idea who I am. My…um…let’s just say that I’m unfortunately related to some people that are even bigger assholes than you are. They could buy and sell you ten times over. Put your money away before I shove it somewhere unpleasant.”

  Spider stared at me speechless, unaccustomed to a woman ever turning money away.

  Dane stepped up on my behalf and said, “Spider, she’s no different than I am. She’s too proud to take a dime from you. Let’s go outside for a second.”

  Dane grabbed his friend by the arm and they walked out the door.

  “What the HELL was that?” Winter asked in stunned disbelief.

  “No shit! If Spider is so freaking loaded, why didn’t he just give Dane the money to fix his car? Why did Dane have to take a job with the mafia? This makes no sense at all!” I said while throwing my hands up in frustration.

  Monica shook her head and offered, “Someone has some explaining to do.”

  Dane came back in alone and apologized.

  “I’m sorry for that. Spider can be a bit difficult some days.”

  “No,” I said, “that’s EVERY day. Start talking. As of yesterday you promised complete and total honesty and I feel like I’m not getting that right now. Not at all.”

  Dane ran his hands through his long hair and sighed.

  “Why don’t you explain it while I cut your hair?” Winter offered. “That mop is driving me crazy. You need a trim.” She actually reached into her purse and got out a pair of scissors. “Besides, this race attracts a certain clientele and you can’t go there looking like you just got out of prison. Spider’s orders!”

  Dane nodded his head and silently walked into the bathroom to let Winter get started. Monica and I followed so we could hear his explanation. We kindly waited in the hallway.

  “Spider’s dad is a very rich prick. One of his business rivals tried to dig up dirt on the family to blackmail him. Once he found out about Spider and his rebellious streak, he abandoned the plan to extort money from Spider’s dad. He instead focused on getting Spider in even more trouble, just for fun. He found out we stole Spider’s dad’s car and took it on a little joy ride, outrunning the cops. He got us involved in street racing because he actually sponsored a team. It was a win-win for him. He got to make tons of money off a winning driver, irritate the piss out of Spider’s dad, and grow the rift between father and son. Spider hates his dad with an equal intensity as the disgust that Izzy has for her grandmother. Unlike Izzy, Spider isn’t opposed to taking money from his family. His sister didn’t turn her back on the wealth, so she makes sure Spider gets large monthly deposits to keep him in the style he’s accustomed to.”

  “Then if he’s so rich, why didn’t you ask him for the money to fix your car?” I wondered aloud. I was also curious as to what Spider’s dad did that pissed him off so bad. No way could his story be worse than mine.

  “The same reason that you won’t take money from your grandma,” Dane said. “I take care of myself. I don’t owe anyone ANYTHING. I make my own way in the world. More than one person has tried to use Spider for his money over the years. I never have. Not once. That’s what cements our friendship. I’m the one person that he can’t buy and he knows it. He respects me for it and that’s why we get along so well. That’s why your issues with your rich relatives hit home for me. Spider has the same shit going on. Please don’t tell him I told you any of this. He gets really weird when people know he has money.”

  “Then maybe he shouldn’t pull out wads of hundreds and shove them in my face!”

  “When he gets nervous, it’s his natural reaction. All his life, everyone and everything has had a price. If he can’t get what he wants, he throws money at it and thinks it solves the issue. He thought you didn’t want to go shopping because you had no money. It was his convoluted way to fix the problem. It just came out bad because he doesn’t really know how to deal with people.”

  We all thought about Dane’s comments while Winter finished cutting his hair. It looked really good when she was done. I wolf-whistled at him.

  “I can see your face now!” I admitted while admiring her handiwork.

  “Is that a good thing?” he asked. He then thanked Winter and told her, “I’m not sure how much you charge for haircuts, but those two each owe me ten bucks so feel free to collect from them.”

  We all showered and got ready to go out for the day. The three of us ladies were going shopping and Dane was going to give his car one last check to make sure she was ready for tonight. We made a plan to meet back at Dane’s apartment at seven to get prepared for the main event. I told him that we would get food and he was on his own for supper. I figured he would appreciate the day to himself without three girls standing around asking him a million car questions. He needed to relax and focus on the race. Clear his head and get in the zone.

  Winter assured us that she had plenty of classy clothes to wear, so she didn’t need to buy anything else for tonight. One mall and four outlet stores later, she had three additional dresses, four pairs of shoes, and a purse. Her excuse was that she was “on vacation” and the deals were “too good to pass up.”

  Monica insisted on going to some home décor/furniture outlet stores so she could see what kind of pieces were trending in Chicago. She took about three hundred
pictures on her cell phone, but didn’t buy anything.

  As for me, I obsessively checked my phone every four seconds to see what time it was. I couldn’t make up my mind about the race. I half wanted time to speed up so I could get it over with, and I half wanted time to slow down because I didn’t want Dane to get hurt or arrested. It was pretty bizarre to think that I was going to be part of a secret underground racing culture. I started to freak out until Winter and Monica helped me pick out a really nice dress and matching shoes. It was a black mini-dress with full skirt and long sleeves made entirely of black lace. The shoes were black leather knee high boots. They were amazing. Since Dane repaired my washing machine and did some other handiwork around the house, I had extra money in the “fix your house” repair fund that hadn’t been needed. It was now the “look sexy during the illegal street race” clothes fund. This new fund had a way better name.

  When it was time to grab dinner, Monica chose a nice restaurant that had great reviews online. I think that she was slowly reverting back to her old ways of researching things before she made a decision. I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t think the crazy version of her would last very long anyway. The steak house that she suggested turned out to have amazing food and we all shared a bottle of wine and tried to relax. My friends noticed that I checked the time every five minutes and they graciously offered to head back to Dane’s place early. We were not expecting the scene waiting for us when we arrived there.

  We were treated to the sight of three debonair gentlemen in dress shirts and suit coats looking like they stepped out of a 1920s gangster movie. Ant, Spider, and Dane were so completely gorgeous that I whipped out my phone and told them to pose. As could be expected, Ant smiled and posed, Dane frowned, and Spider reached to grab my phone presumably to confiscate it.

  “If you touch my phone, I’ll hurt you,” I threatened while holding it out of his reach.

  “I don’t know why you’d want a picture of HIM anyway,” Winter complained. “It would probably break your phone.”

  “That’s mature, you know that?” Spider snapped.