Chapter 5
1178 Words
As Zephyrine walked into the Apex Alpha office Building, she couldn't help but notice how different it was from Vanguard's.
Unlike Vanguard's building, which is a giant, shiny glass tower in the middle of the city that looked like a bank, the Apex building was a gritty old brick warehouse hidden down by the docks.
It reminded her of her first legal job, where she had first worked as a mechanic apprentice.
“Miss Zephyrine, what are you doing here?”
Zephyrine's thoughts were cut short by a middle-aged man standing in front of her. She had seen this person yesterday when Gideon had introduced her to the Apex Alpha team.
She wasn't sure what he did here, but she knew he wasn't a racer.
“I'm looking for Gideon. Could you take me to him?” Zephyrine responded politely.
“Sure, Gid’s in his office, let me take you there.” The man responded freely with a smile.
“Thank you,” Zephyrine followed behind him as he took her to Gideon's office.
“Hey, Gid, new kids here!” The man shouted before gently nudging her into Gideon's office.
“Zephyrine?” The surprise on Gideon's face could not be hidden as he rose up from his desk to welcome her.
“I was just about to call you, but luckily, you're here. Sit, sit,” Gideon ushered Zephyrine to the worn-out couch in his office.
“You won't believe what happened,” he started recounting without giving her the chance to speak. “News of your comeback has been circulating everywhere.”
He grabbed the iPad from his desk and gave it to Zephyrine. On the screen of the ipad were screenshots of news from the sports section of various newspapers and blogs.
“Your reputation is starting to change, and sooner or later, people will completely forget about your history with Vanguard.”
Zephyrine glanced through the screenshots as she attentively listened to him.
“Just this morning, Volt-Charge Energy's director reached out to me to say that their stocks have massively spiked up since winning the race yesterday.”
Volt-Charge Energy, one of Apex Alpha Racing's major sponsors, was a modern electric-vehicle battery and lifestyle energy drink company that paid for the team's travel, high-tech physical training, sports doctors, and nutrition.
So it was fairly understandable why Gideon was this excited.
“Very soon, we'll become the number one racing company in Boston.”
Zephyrine couldn't help but smile at his excitement.
All these things were quite normal to her.
After she had been signed by Vanguard, she had won every major race with them.
She was literally on the news almost every day, and she had received a lot of brand deals, which Vanguard had mostly rejected because they had signed off the right to do so after getting their major sponsor, Aethelgard Luxury Watches.
Aethelgard Luxury Watches was a multi-billion-dollar Swiss watch company that funded 70% of Vanguard's total budget. In fact, after signing this sponsor, Vanguard had changed its name officially to Aethelgard Vanguard Racing.
“The next race is coming up in the next two weeks, and everything you need to prepare is available here. The simulation room is in the basement. Do you want me to take you there?”
“Uhmm, Gideon, I'm not here to practice, I actually came to see you for something else.” Zephyrine finally had a chance to speak up.
“Whatever you need, just let me know. I'll help you in any way I can.” Gideon assured.
Zephyrine pulled out the symposium invite later from her backpack and handed it over to Gideon.
“What's this?” Gideon asked as he flipped through the invite to read its content.
“These people won't just give up. They've been sending these invites since the beginning of the year.” Gideon complained.
“Is there a way you can accept the speech?”
Gideon paused for a while, as if he was thinking about what decision to make.
“I can grant you any requests in return,” Zephyrine added, since she wasn't sure what decision he would make, especially since she wasn't sure why he kept rejecting the invite.
“It's not exactly up to me, Cassian has refused to attend, so I have no choice but to cancel it.”
Oh, so golden retriever boy is the problem.
Shit! Why did it have to be like that? Did that mean she needed to convince him herself?
“Hey, boss,” a bright voice broke into their conversation.
Zephyrine looked up and saw Cassian standing at the entrance of Gideon's office with a bright smile and a box of ready-made coffee.
“Oh, Caspian,” Gideon waved back before turning to Zephyrine, “just who you needed to talk to.”
Zephyrine rolled her eyes.
“I thought you had classes today?” Gideon asked Cassian who had now stepped into the room.
“Brought this for you,” he handed one cup of coffee to Gideon before answering, “finished early but didn't want to go back home. I thought I'd use that time to practice more.”
He sat on the couch opposite Zephyrine before finally putting his focus on her.
“Hey Zeph,” He waved specifically at her.
Zephyrine suddenly felt awkward, but she didn't wave back. She nodded slightly at him.
“Oh, right, this came for you, except they sent Zephyrine this time?” Gideon handed the invite to Cassian before finally returning to his own desk.
Cassian slightly glanced at the invite before returning his focus to Zephyrine, who was clearly avoiding eye contact with him.
“Give me one reason why I should accept this?” He directed his question towards her.
“If you don't want to go, then don't,” Zephyrine responded harshly.
Cassian chuckled. He didn't seem affected by her harsh tone at all.
“I'll go on two conditions.” He raised two fingers up as if to prove his point.
Zephyrine did not respond, but the look on her face clearly told him she was listening, so he continued.
“One, you will assist in the live demonstration if I am to speak at the event.”
Zephyrine raised her brow in protest but did not interrupt him.
He continued.
“Two, we both know you're now the best player at Apex Alpha, and I admit that I'm not as good as you, so I want you to train me until I'm as good as you.”
This time, Zephyrine couldn't hide her glare. She couldn't help but ask, “It seems like you have a thing for annoying me, don't you?”
Cassian laughed at her question as if it were the funniest thing he had heard all day.
“It's not funny,” Zephyrine growled at him.
“Actually,
it is, and yes, I do have a thing for annoying you. So what's it gonna be, Miss queen of the track, you in or not?”
- Writer
