The Race For A New Life

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When she walked into her room, Rae noticed the roses were gone. Frantically looking around, Rae found them in a vase by the bed. She slowly moved towards the flowers, while she was trying to figure out how they got there. When suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She smiled, thinking it was Graham trying to surprise her. However, when she turned her head to see Matt with a smirk on his face, Rae’s smile slowly melted away and fear crept into her eyes. She suddenly realized that it wasn’t Graham who left her the roses. Matt kissed her temple, “I remembered that you loved red roses.” Rae blinked a couple times before saying something, “How-How do you remember that?” He looked down at her, “You kept saying ‘no pink’ when it came to things.” Rae looked back at the roses and nodded as she tried to think of how she could get out of the situation she was in.

She then tried to remove herself from his arms. “Matt, I should really get ready for bed. It’s been a long day. Also, the course is going to be trickier in the next couple of days.” He only tightened his hold on her, “Okay baby, you get ready and I’ll wait right here for you.” But as soon as he let her go, Rae went to the door. “Please Matt! I really do appreciate the flowers, they’re beautiful! But I’m really too tired for any company tonight”, she said as she gestured towards the door. Matt looked at her with a predatory look and walked towards her. “Tell you what, baby. You relax and I’ll do all the work. That way you get your rest”, he said as he put his hands on her waist. Instead, she opened the door, “Please Matt! I’m serious!” He let go of her waist with a huff and left her chin up, “Very well, baby doll. Since you said ‘please’.” Matt leaned in, his dark brown shoulder length hair encasing her face, and kissed her before leaving. She let a deep sigh when she closed the door Matt. Rae then double locked the door and also dragged the small dresser in the room in front of the door for added security before getting ready for bed.

Once again dreaming of a memory that she wanted to forget, Rae twisted in her bed. Matt had just pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine. “Well, baby doll, apart from that jerk and our disagreement. I did have fun tonight”, he said turning in his seat to face her. But Rae was looking straight forward, not wanting to look at him. Matt reached out with his hand and grabbed her chin for her to face him. When her eyes met his, he saw her eyes were lined with tears. “Baby doll, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”, he asked with concern. Rae shook her head and tried to speak, moving her mouth trying to form words, but nothing come out. Matt then leaned in and captured her mouth to calm her, but he didn’t get the reaction he wanted. Rae immediately pushed him off of her and slapped him across the face. “Well, that wasn’t what I was going for. I was trying to calm you down”, he scoffed. But Rae got out of the car and slammed the car door, not wanting to deal with him. Matt followed her and stopped her before she got to the front door. “Baby! What is your deal?”, he asked exasperatedly. “You! You’re the deal!”, she said as she turned towards him. “I can’t deal with this, Matt! First the guy about your car, then the whole argument about me being your property. Now … now you’re basically acting like nothing happened. I’m sorry, Matt, but I can’t be with someone like that”, Rae explained as she tried to hold in all the fury that she was feeling. Rae then turned her house and started walking away. “We’re done, Matt! Good-bye!”, saying as she closed the front door.

Next thing she knew, Rae was at the party three years ago, sitting next to Graham. “Hey Rae! How’s everything? You ready for this year’s race?”, he asked while handing her drink. She smiled at him, “Yeah, I think I’m ready for it. As for everything? Well, … I’m starting a new chapter in my life, so it will be interesting to see what will happen. By the way, thank you for drink, especially since it’s non-alcoholic. I don’t think I could handle liquor right now.” Graham arched an eyebrow at her, “New chapter, huh? You and Matt going in a new direction in your relationship?” She glanced over to where Matt was standing, talking to his best friend. Rae then looked back to the people standing s few feet away from her, “It’s not the direction that you’re thinking of. I broke up with him.” Graham scooted closer to her and started to rub a hand on her back. “Rae, I’m so sorry. I guess that I was happy for you to have someone that I didn’t see the signs of you not being happy”, he said sympathetically. She looked back at him, “You didn’t see them because they weren’t there until the other night”, she said with a sigh. She quickly shook her head to get rid of the memory of the argument. “But never mind about that. I just want to relax before the race”, Rae said with a grin. Graham had a thoughtful look on his face, “Okay, well I think I can help with that.” He then took her hand and stood up. He started walking towards the gardens with Rae following closely behind.

They both sat together on a bench in the garden. Graham started talking about things outside of work to clear any tension. Rae was more than happy for the distraction. Graham always knew how to distract her from anything stress related. As time went by, they joked, laughed and teased each other. At some point Graham had slid has arm around Rae’s waist and held her close. She kept smiling at his attention towards her, trying not to blush too much. Then at one point, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. Turning her eyes towards him, she saw something that she never noticed before with Graham. But before she could identify it, she caught something moving in the distance. She saw Matt in the distance walking away with a scowl on his face. Rae then put her head on Graham’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her to him. She silently prayed that Matt wouldn’t try to do anything stupid just because she was with a friend.

The next morning, Graham knocked on her door. Rae smiled at him as she opened the door and grabbed her stuff. “You ready for breakfast?”, he asked. “Oh, I think I could eat something”, she said while giving him a wink. He grabbed Rae’s arm and interlocked it with his. “Well, I thought that we could go to the diner across the street. Is that okay?”, he said as they casually walked down the hall. Rae put her other hand over his bicep, “That sounds perfect. You know that I can’t resist a good diner”, she replied with a smile. Graham patted her hand on his arm, “Oh, I know.” They continued walking like that until they got to the diner.

When they sat down in the booth, Graham sat next to Rae. She tried not to show him that she was blushing. “William and Grace will be joining us soon”, he then explained. Rae raised her eyebrows, “Oh … okay.” Graham did a quick stretch and place his arm on the top of the booth behind Rae. She a gave him a look out of the corner of her eye, “That wasn’t subtle at all.” Graham turned to her with a smirk on his face, “Subtle? You wanted subtle? Okay, I’ll give you subtle.” He then moved his arm around her shoulders and moved her towards him. “Subtle enough, beautiful?”, he said looking down at her with the smirk turning into a full-blown smile. Rae was wide-eyed and breathless at what Graham had just said and done. Luckily, William and Grace had joined them right then. So, Rae was able to put it behind her.

Once their food came, they all talked about the latest gossip. “So, yeah, congrats you two on finally being together”, Rae said to William and Grace. Grace blushed while William nodded and said ‘thank you’. Grace then turned to Graham, “Also, I just have to say that I’m sorry, Graham.” He gave her a questionable look, “Sorry about what?” “About Lacy, I’m glad she finally let go of this idea that you two were an item”, she explained. Graham waved his hand at her, “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m just happy that she will leave me alone.” William nodded in agreement, “Yeah, even I was getting tired of her publicity stunt.” Grace then turned to Rae, “Well, I’m happy that you two are finally getting together.” Now it was Rae’s turn to have a questionable look, “Who? Me and Graham?” Grace’s eyes moved back and forth between them. “No, no, we are not together”, Rae said. “That’s a shame”, William murmured. “You two would make a cute couple”, he continued to say. Graham glared at his brother from across the table and then turned to Rae. “I’m going to pay the bill and then we can get out of here”, he said before getting up from the table. Rae nodded and gathered her stuff. They then proceeded to head out to where the cars were.

As Graham and Rae headed for the vehicles, Graham put his hand on the small of Rae’s back. He then directed her to his station. “Hey, I just wanted to talk to you alone for a moment. Is that okay?”, he asked. Rae looked surprised, “Yeah! Why wouldn’t it be?” Graham shifted from foot to foot, “Well, with the stuff with Lacy and Matt. I didn’t want to over excite you.” Rae gave him a caring smile, “Graham, thank you for considering that, but I’m okay. Sure, the Matt thing is… stressful.” She looked down at her feet, “I wish that situation was different, but we can’t go back in time.” Looking back up at Graham, he saw the tears in her eyes. He wiped a tear away as it suddenly rolled down her cheek. “I know I would’ve done things differently. Rae, … I’m so, so sorry that you had to go through that. Still going through that! I really wish that I could get Matt to see what he’s doing to you”, Graham murmured. Rae shook her head, “It doesn’t matter. Once this race is over, I’m going through legal action to have him completely removed from my life.” Graham took a step forward and hugged her, “I will be there with you to help in anyway.” Rae nodded against his chest, “Thanks, I appreciate it.” She pulled away, smiling and went over to her station, with Graham looking after her as she made her way there safely.

Unfortunately, Matt was waiting for her at her station. Once Rae saw him, she stopped walking and became hesitant about being there alone with him. “Hey, baby! I came by your room, but you were already gone”, he said as he leaned against her car. Rae glanced around nervously, “Yeah, I met up with some friends for breakfast.” Matt lifted his hand towards her, “Come here, baby! Let me get some morning loving.” Rae went around her car, opposite of Matt. She went over and stood by the computer to start checking that everything was good to go for the race. Matt dropped his hand with a frown and walked over to Rae. He moved her hair to one side before putting his arms around her torso as he put his chin on her shoulder. “Come on, don’t be like that, baby girl”, he said nuzzling into her neck. Rae tried to move, but Matt tightened his hold on her. “Let me get some morning loving, baby”, he growled in her ear. “Matt, I really need to get ready for today. Please, not now!”, Rae said as she tried once again to get out of his hold. Matt glared at her, “I said I want loving, and I will get loving.” Rae looked over her shoulder at him and glared, “No!” He forcibly turned her to face him, “Yes, you don’t have an option.” As he went to kiss her, he was interrupted. “I’m pretty sure she said ‘no!’. So, you might want to do what she says”, a familiar voice said behind him.

John Travers was standing there with his arms crossed at his chest, staring Matt down. “You should go check your car, Matt. Especially since the race will continue soon”, John said. Matt placed a kiss on Rae’s temple and then went to his station. Rae exhaled a breath that she didn’t know that she was holding, “Thank you, Mr. John. I really appreciate it.” John put a hand on her shoulder, “It’s no problem, Rae. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.” Rae smiled at him, “I am now. He just doesn’t get the hint that I don’t want to be with him.” John nodded, “Well, if you any help, please let me know. Alright?” “Actually, there is something that you, or Miss Julia, could help me with”, Raae quickly said as he started to walk away. She paused to see how she should approach the request. “I actually want to go through the process of having a restraining order against Matt. And I was wondering if you help me with that”, she finally said. John smiled at her, “Of course, sweetheart. I can have the paperwork for you tomorrow morning. Does that work for you?” Rae beamed, “It does. So much. Thank you, Mr. John!” He pulled her in for a hug, “Anything for you, sweetheart. Now have fun today, okay?” Rae nodded her head and smiled as he left.

The weather cooperated that day, so it made it easier for everyone to drive the route. It was especially good for Darren and Rae, since the car was a convertible. Darren was driving while Rae was scrolling through pictures of the landscape and wildlife in that state. They were about to pass an old abandoned barn when Rae asked if they could go look at it. Checking the time, Darren thought that they did have enough time to check it out and stretch their legs.

As he drove down the dirt road, Darren noticed that they were being followed by two other cars but quickly realized it was Grace and Graham. When he stopped, Graham parked on one side while Grace parked on the other. “Hey guys! What’s up?”, said Grace as she exited her car. “Hey Grace! Nothing much, I just wanted to check it out. Maybe take some pictures”, Rae answered. Graham and William got out of their car and looked over the barn. “Yeah sure, why not?”, William commented. They all started walking towards the barn. William took Rae’s camera so that she could venture around and relax. Grace stuck by his side as he started to take pictures, while Graham and Rae went around one side of the barn. Meanwhile, Darren and Lacy went around the other side.

About twenty minutes had passed when Rae and Graham met back up with William and Grace. “Hey, where’s Darren and Lacy?”, asked William. Rae and Grace shared a look with each other. “Oh, they are probably connecting in a way that you can’t do through text”, said Rae while shaking her head. “Did he give you the same excuse about who he was texting?”, asked Grace. “Probably, he first said it was nobody. But eventually said it was Lacy”, Rae replied. Grace shook her head, “What is it about younger siblings that makes you want to kill them?” William and Graham looked at each other and had a non-verbal conversation. In the end they both shrugged at what Grace had said. “Well, we really should get going”, said Graham while he put his arm around Rae. She tried her hardest not to blush at the action. But Grace still winked at her.

Half a minute later, they all heard screaming. All four were wide-eyed as they watched Darren and Lacy start running from out of the barn. Soon enough, a flock of bats were on their tails. Graham just shook his head at what was happening. William and Grace were trying not to laugh. Unfortunately, Rae couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard. After Darren and Lacy got away from the bats and Rae caught her breath, they all eventually made it back to the cars and continued to the next checkpoint.

It was decided that Rae would drive the rest of the way to the checkpoint. She tried not to giggle about what had happened to Darren, but to no avail. “So, … did you enjoy yourself?”, she asked snickering. Darren glared at her, “I’m so happy that you’re enjoying this. Enjoying is not exactly the right word. You’re having the time of your life!” Rae sighed once she got control of her laughing, “I’m sorry, okay? We were worried about you guys. Soon enough you did let us know where you were and that you were okay.” Darren just shook his head and looked out the window. “Come on, it’s not like you two were about to do it”, Rae then commented. Darren turned to her, showing a menacing glare. Rae went wide-eyed at the stare, “Oh, oh, oh. Ah, … wow, okay, I was just joking.” Darren rubbed a hand over his face, “Look, just don’t say anything to anybody. Especially mom and dad”, he said. “Please, Rae! I don’t need any kind of harassment over this!”, he continued to beg. Rae raised a hand up in surrender, “Okay, okay, I won’t. I promise, Darren.” Darren nodded a ‘thank you’. “So…how long has this been going on?”, Rae asked. “A couple of months, we didn’t want any unnecessary attention”, he mumbled. She nodded, “Okay, okay.” The rest of the car ride was quiet, which Darren was thankful for.

Everyone made it to Idaho with luckily no complications. But before they could go to their rooms, there was a mandatory meeting to be had. Steven Locke stood in front of everybody, “Alright everyone, I know that we have had a couple of hiccups this time around. However, there is good news. We are at the half way mark of the race.” Everyone started to clap and cheer. Steven put his hands up to calm them down, “I know, I know. It’s great, we are almost there. But, BUT! We are now getting into the hardest part of this race. Now, I’m going to let William Travers update us on the conditions.” Steven moved aside to let William talk. “So, I’ve been in communication with our contacts in the next few checkpoints. Everything is good to go, but there have been some issues with landslides. So, we need to be especially careful this time around, okay?”, William said as he looked over everyone. There was nodding and audible agreement. Not long after that, the meeting ended and everybody went their separate ways.

William then gave back Rae her camera from earlier and gave her a wink before leaving her. She then went into her room and sat on the bed for a little bit. Deciding to look at the barn pictures that William took, she started to relax. Flipping through images of William and Grace, she also saw a few of Darren and Lacy. However, time seemed to stop when she reached the pictures of her and Graham. She immediately recognized the look that he was giving her in every picture. It was the same look from three years ago, a look of endearment, love and enlightenment. Rae felt her heart starting to pound in remembrance of his touch, of his scent, of how he would just speak poetry with his eyes. She wondered if he really did feel the same as she did. Could he love her? But she quickly put that thought at the back of her mind. Rae couldn’t concentrate on a relationship right now. At least not with what was going on with Matt. She would have to wait. After making her decision, she put up the camera and got ready for bed.

Russell let Rae and Darren drive the Impala, only after giving them a lecture about how to treat ‘her’. Darren once again drove first, but only because Rae was a better driver with the mountain ranges. The drive through Idaho was good and also was the beginning of Washington. However, the conditions of the roads had changed since last talked about. Unfortunately, they all had to take back roads to avoid these harsh conditions. Luckily, they made it to the checkpoint before it got too late.

The next day they continued through Oregon with no problems. As they got closer to California, there was an event that nobody realized would happen so soon. The fact that it happened quickly and was almost deadly, frightened everyone.