2

Grace arrived to pick me up super early, as we had a long way to go. Every time a race was held, the road became so complicated, a huge number of people also headed to the same place and the traffic jams became hell.

"I know we're going to win this time, I feel it in my bones," Grace said excitedly as she took a sip from her energy drink.

"I hope so, I'm already tired of hearing you complain all the way back," I said.

I took out my phone to check some documents.

"No, no phones, today is the big final and we need to stay focused," she said.

She took my phone and threw it in the glove compartment.

"How many of those have you had?" I asked her.

Grace looked at me and smiled, she drank the rest of the drink and tossed it in the back; I looked again and there were five already empty.

"What if I drive instead?" I asked her.

Grace shook her head immediately.

"Don't worry, I have everything under control. Now relax, we'll soon see the best race in the world and I'll finally be a winner," she said.

I leaned back in the seat and looked out the window, all for the sake of love.

[...]

When we arrived at the venue, there was a huge line; people were dressed in the colors of the teams participating in the race.

"Who did you bet on this time?" I asked Grace.

She turned to look at me and smiled, Grace and her illegal bets.

"Galactic Racing Nexus, I know we'll win! the driver is to die for," she said excitedly.

She looked at me and then frowned.

"Why are you dressed like you're going to a funeral?" she asked me.

I rolled my eyes. Grace took off my jacket and threw it on the ground.

"You're thirty-six, not seventy-six," she said.

I was going to pick up my jacket, but she didn't allow me and pulled me, as the line was moving forward.

"You're paying for that," I told her.

Grace nodded and kept walking as if nothing had happened; I turned around to go get my jacket. It was outrageous that she dared to do something like that; I began to dodge some people as I looked around on the ground. I bumped into someone and they ended up spilling their drink on my chest.

"Are you blind?" the guy said angrily.

I took a deep breath and turned around; I didn't want to start a fight in this place. I looked for Grace and quickly approached her.

"What happened to you?" she asked, seeing my satin blouse soaked.

"Some idiot spilled his drink on me and it's all your fault," I accused her.

She put her hand on her chest and looked at me indignantly.

"I told you I'd buy you another one, so stop making that face because it's always your fault that I end up losing," she said.

Now I was the one who was indignant; did I ever ask her to come to these places? The line kept moving, we entered the venue, climbed up the stands, and sat in our seats. From where we were, we could see almost the entire track.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I told Grace.

She didn't pay attention to me and I started walking down the stands; I knew the place well from all the times I had been there before. I walked to the area where the bathrooms were; there were so many people there waiting. I took a deep breath and decided to walk to one of the shops selling merchandise from the different teams; I was going to buy something to cover my wet blouse.

"Hello," I greeted the girl who was there. "I'll take that one," I pointed to the blue shirt with my finger.

We made the transaction, and I put on the shirt right away; now I felt better, although I still felt a bit uncomfortable. It was better to be like this than to walk around the place wet.

I started walking back towards the stands; when I saw a huge crowd of people running towards me, a blond guy was running ahead of the people, leading by a wide margin over everyone running behind him. He was holding a cup in his hand; I tried to move out of the way, but he ended up crashing into me, spilling the contents on my newly purchased shirt.

"Oh, no!," I complained.

The blond guy stopped abruptly when he collided with me, looking at me with surprised eyes and quickly apologizing.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see where I was going. Are you okay?" he asked, noticing the mess on my shirt.

I frowned and looked at him with irritation; the crowd running behind him stopped, forming a kind of circle around us.

"You just soaked my new shirt!" I said, frustrated.

The guy seemed dismayed, but then smiled at me slightly.

"I'm sorry again," he apologized.

He glanced back, grabbed my hand, and started running with me; I tried to let go, but he had a grip on my hand like a leech. When we reached the paddock, he stopped and let go of me; then he turned to me and smiled.

"What am I doing here?" I asked, already annoyed.

Coming to this was turning into a huge mess.

"Just give me five minutes," he asked.

I nodded, and then the guy disappeared. I looked around and saw the cars parked there; I approached the one closest to me, a huge red beast.

"What's the competition doing here?" a guy asked approaching me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

The man, who was about fifty or sixty years old, approached me with a big smile.

"Your shirt is from the other team," he pointed out.

I smiled with a little embarrassment.

"The blond guy spilled water on my shirt and brought me here to fix the mess he made," I explained.

He frowned. The blond guy appeared with a red shirt and handed it to me.

"The red one matches your eyes," he said.

I took off the blue shirt and looked at the shirt in my hands; on the back, there was a name in white letters: "Hayden."

"It's the winning team," he said.

I looked up at him and observed him more closely; the guy was about twenty years old, with beautiful blue eyes, a tender gaze, and a too sweet smile. I looked into his eyes and smiled back a little; the guy had a contagious smile.

"Thank you," I said.

I put on the shirt that was extremely big on me and then looked at him again; he was watching me very attentively.

"It looks beautiful on you," he said.

I smiled back, and just nodded. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, so it was best to leave.

"I have to go now, and thanks again for the shirt," I said.

I turned to leave, but was stopped by him; I turned back and looked at him.

"If we win or lose, we'll have something like a little celebration or defeat party. If you want, you can come," he said.

"I didn't come alone," I said.

He let go of my arm and I could see a bit of disappointment in his eyes.

"Are you with your husband?" he asked.

I shook my head and laughed.

"With a friend," I said.

He smiled again.

"Great! You can bring her if you want," he said.

He handed me some passes and then moved away from me a bit.

"As soon as the race ends, come here. You'll be allowed in with those passes, and then we'll leave from here," he said excitedly.

I nodded, pocketed the passes, and turned around. At least I hadn't ended this too badly.

I returned to the stands; Grace was already very drunk and the race hadn't even started yet. I sat in my seat next to her and watched; she seemed like a lioness, always getting like this whenever she came to these races.

"We're going to win!" she said excitedly.

I nodded and smiled.

The race began, and the cars took their positions on the grid. I watched the red car and smiled, remembering the cute guy. The green flag waved, marking the start of the grand final. The engines roared, and the cars raced into the first corner.

During the first few laps, Grace kept cheering for her team, shouting and jumping, drinking like crazy and enjoying the race. The competition was fierce, and the cars roared around each corner; the red one was leading. I got up and started cheering along with Grace, although I didn't really know if we were cheering for the same team.

Finally, the climax of the race arrived. The cars approached the finish line, and the crowd erupted in cheers. The red car crossed the line first, and Grace was beside herself with joy.

"We did it! We won!" Grace shouted, hugging me enthusiastically.

She let go of me and started jumping and shouting along with hundreds of people. She grabbed my arm, and we started to leave the stands, but the crowd was so ecstatic that it was almost impossible.

"We have to see Hayden!" she yelled over the crowd.

I stopped abruptly, but she pulled me along, and I followed; when we finally managed to get out of the place, we started walking in search of the winners. I stopped again, and Grace looked at me angrily.

"What now?" she asked.

I took out the passes and showed them to her; Grace's face turned red suddenly, and then she snatched them from my hand.

"Oh, my God," she said slowly.

She started screaming and jumping with excitement again, grabbing my hand again, and changing direction, heading for the paddock.

Finally, we managed to reach the paddock area where the teams were celebrating the victory. Grace was scanning the area for Hayden, and I let myself be carried away by the crowd heading towards the focal point of the celebration. The music, fireworks, and general euphoria created a festive atmosphere.

Suddenly, Grace excitedly pointed to Hayden, who was surrounded by other team members. We ran towards him, and Grace hugged him effusively. Meanwhile, Hayden smiled at me. I pulled Grace away from Hayden.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

Grace threw herself at the poor guy again.

"I bet on you and won!" she yelled excitedly.

I pulled her away from him again; the poor guy looked so uncomfortable with Grace's behavior.

"She's drunk, I'm sorry," I apologized.

He shook his head and smiled.

"Don't worry, she's just excited," he said.

A man arrived and dragged Hayden away with him; I was left alone with Grace, and then I looked at her reproachfully.

"He could easily report you for harassment, and I swear I won't testify in your favor," I scolded her.

Grace, who looked bad, just nodded, I took her hand to lead her away from the place, and her palm felt very cold.

"I think I'm going to vomi..." she said before the first retch.

I wanted to step aside, but she ended up vomiting all over me; I closed my eyes and thought of birds in the forest, I needed to find my inner peace, or I was going to commit a crime in front of all these people and media.