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28. Twenty-eight

Twenty-eight

Thomas

O n my Monday morning drive to Echidna HQ, I found myself thinking back to the weekend. Not only was I the luckiest guy in the world, but I was also feeling happier than I had in a long time. Racing was still my passion, it filled my mind and body with excitement, but now I had something more. I had Harper.

In a way, our weekend trip to see my family cemented something in my mind for me: she was the one. I hoped that she felt the same way, although her mid-drive attack on me, which blew my mind, also left me with no doubts about her feelings. Today was also her first official day at Echidna Racing and she was adamant that she wanted to drive in on her own. I understood. She didn’t want to be seen as relying on me, even though I tried to explain to her that it was more economical to drive in together, and when it was race week, I would be away anyway.

Stubborn as always.

I had to respect her feelings. I drove in on my own, resisting the urge to call and speak to her the whole way in. I knew Chris had organised some flowers for her and the team had written on a card to welcome her. Harper had fit in like wallpaper from the moment she stepped inside the large glass doors of Echidna Racing. I was excited for her first day; however, I had some major prep work to do myself.

This week would be the last race of the year at Mount Panorama, one of the most gruelling, calculating tracks in the history of Australian motorsport. Trying to thrash a GT car around it in the potentially wet weather was going to be challenging, to say the least.

“There has been rain forecast for the last race of the year at Bathurst, so we need to consider tyre strategies and focus on braking into the apexes,” Chris explained.

Tony, my engineer, added to Chris’s comments, “Jacko, for you, that means you need to be careful along the chicanes up on the ascend, as your tendency to oversteer there will cost us.”

“Yep, I know. I’ll work on that in the sim,” I said calmly. There was no avoiding it, I did have trouble on a certain part of the mountain called ‘The Esses’. These were turns six to ten, which were a series of corners in tight succession. Many drivers in the past had calculated wrong and ended up crashing by the time the straight came along.

Bathurst was always somewhere I had dreamed of racing, ever since I used to watch the great race with Xavier. The loud sounds, and amazing colours of the cars added to the pure excitement I felt from watching it all unfold. I knew it was something I had to be a part of, then and there.

***

I pulled up to the office and gathered my bags and race suit; it was wash day. I couldn’t be trusted to wash them myself, something Harper always gave me shit for. As I walked up the staircase, I heard the familiar sound of Harper’s laugh, and I couldn’t help but smile. I reached the upper floor to catch her in my eyesight, her long blonde hair caught the morning sunlight, and she was holding the bunch of flowers Chris had organised for her.

She looked so beautiful.

“Hey!” She smiled in my direction as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

“Morning, Harps, Chris.” I reached out a hand, shaking Chris’s as I held on to her.

I untangled myself and continued through to my office, not wanting to get in her way.

Harper’s resignation from the Sydney Daily was rather underwhelming. I wasn’t sure if she was glad of this or not. She had been there for years, and they let her go without much drama. She was better off without them, especially since she had found her home at Echidna.

My day started with an engineers meeting, during which we were all in the same building, but attended online with headphones. It never made any sense to me.

“Jacko, your feedback needs to be spot on during this race. It’s an enduro, so everything is going to have pressure on it. Fuel consumption will be up, shocks will get a proper workout, and if you even feel a hint of brake issues, you’ll have to pit.” I nodded, these were all things I’d had problems with in the past and I didn’t want to let the team down again.

The pressure to consistently perform at the highest level during the last race of the year was insurmountable. Years before, I felt completely overwhelmed and would make careless mistakes. But now, I was older, more experienced, and had several wins throughout the year under my belt. I was ready and keen to get fucking started.

“We will arrive on site on Wednesday and set up. Practise on Thursday and Friday before Saturday qualifying and the Sunday race…Thomas, are you listening?”

“No, tell me again, mate,” I said sarcastically, earning a laugh from the room and a less-than-impressed look from Chris.

“Knock, knock.” I heard my favourite sound again.

“Yes, Harps,” Chris said with a smile, as I turned around to greet her.

As she leant against the door with an Echidna Racing pen and paper in her hand, she looked every bit the professional.

“Hey, sorry guys, I have Will on the phone. He says Channel 6 won’t stop calling him for an exclusive. Think he needs help.” Her eyes trailed off around the board room, clearly feeling awkward about speaking with and about my suspended teammate.

“Hmm, I bet. Please take a message for me, Harps, and I’ll deal with it. Thank you.”

I winked at her quickly before she disappeared out of the door.

“You okay, Jacko?” Landon asked from across the table, as I watched her leave and smiled after her. I knew I had it bad for Harper, and I didn’t really give a shit who knew it.

** *

Harper

I continued to pack up my belongings as Thomas entered the room, his bag hanging across his chest, scrunching up his shirt a little.

“Ready to go home?” he asked, walking to the centre of the room.

“Whose? Mine or yours?” I said, stirring him.

“Well, I’m not bloody driving past my house to go all the way into the city,” he teased.

“Fine, I’ll stay over. I do have to go home at some point.” Although moving in with him was looking increasingly attractive.

Thomas walked me to my car and leant in by the window as I turned on the ignition.

“Call me,” I said as he kissed me.

“Of course! Unless Xavier calls, then you’re out,” he yelled over the sound of both our engines.

“And fair enough too!”

As we both pulled out of the Echidna Racing carpark, with the sun setting in the background and the lingering feeling of a successful first day at my new job, I knew what I was going to do.

Why the hell was I fighting this? I wanted to live with Thomas. He would be away a lot during the year, and it was up to me whether I wanted to go with him or not. If it didn’t work out, then I’d deal with it. Talk about a rollercoaster. I had lived with boyfriends before, and it never seemed to work out. None of them were Thomas, though. Maybe that was why.

My phone rang, and ' Thomas Henry-Jackson' flashed on the screen. I had finally removed ‘prick’ from his name, even though, at times, he still fit the description.

“Yes, who is it?”

“It’s the guy who’s going to put his mouth on your nipples when we get home.”

I was not expecting to hear that and had a mouthful of water that I subsequently choked on as I laughed.

“What the fuck, Thomas? I nearly choked and died!”

His laugh in the background made me smile. “Sorry! But seriously, get ready.” If these were the things I had to look forward to after moving in with him, then I would do it right now. As much as I wanted to tell him what I’d decided, his focus needed to be on the last race of the year. The rest could wait.