"Well I'm certainly not going to force you into anything but you seem to enjoy driving your car well enough. If you change your mind let me know. I've already talked to Stephanie and Carlos about it and they have some thoughts on how to start you off if you want to do that."
"Hey, you know you're my guy. If I do you'll be the first to know. Listen, I gotta run. I'm meeting Danielle for drinks downtown this evening."
"Ooooo, third date huh? This girl must be special."
"Well, so far so good. I'll catch up with you later."
"Talk to you later then."
Tyler put down his phone and stretched his arms over his head. He got up from his seat and walked out onto his balcony. It wrapped around two sides of the living room and looked out over the marina and marketplace below. It was a warm Saturday evening and people were out and about enjoying the weather and what was left of the sun before it got dark. As the lights came on in the marina Tyler's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Tyler? It's Stephanie Albrecht."
"Hi Stephanie. How are things?"
"Pretty good. Business is picking up, making some good connections, learning my way around town."
"Excellent. Good to hear." He paused. "Soooo, did you need something from me? Directions? More referrals?"
"The referrals are nice of course but that's not why I called. I had a question. Are you free next weekend?"
Tyler raised an eyebrow at the question.
"My weekends are usually pretty open. Why do you ask?"
"Next weekend there is an invitational track event at Grand Valley Raceway. Judging from the setup on your car I thought you might be interested."
"The setup on my car?"
"Yeah, most people that come in with modified cars have minor things done. Wheels, tires, maybe some suspension or aero. You have some pretty serious parts bolted up and the settings seem like it is track ready."
"You can tell all that from changing my brakes and tires, eh?"
"Absolutely! You have to remember I do this for a living."
"Good point. With what you see every day you would be the one to know. I suppose Grand Valley isn't too far from here. I've never been though. Sounds like it could be fun. When were you planning on leaving?"
"I was planning on early Friday afternoon, maybe two-ish. Should be plenty of time to make it there by nightfall."
"Sounds good. I'll take a half day at work. Should I follow you there or do you need a ride or what?"
"I'm sure my dad will try to arrange something for me but if it isn't too much trouble I'd rather ride with you than with some limo driver. Dad is already shipping a car over to the track for the event for me to test."
"Yeah? What kind of car?"
"I don't know. We'll both find out when we get there."
"Well I do like a surprise every now and then. Alright, so I'll meet you at the shop at say one thirty?"
"Perfect! I'll see you then. Oh! You do have a helmet, right? You'll need at least that for the safety inspection. I can try to find one if you don't."
"No problem. I have some gear. I'll see you Friday."
"See you Friday."
Friday came and it was an overcast day in Bayport. Tyler cursed the weather. He had just washed his car Thursday evening. As long as it didn't rain he would be fine with gloomy weather.
His dark blue R32 pulled up outside the garage at just after 1:15pm.
He parked at the curb and walked into the shop area. Stephanie was there working under the hood of the Z4 again. She called out to him as he walked over.
"I'll be ready in ten. Just need to finish torquing this manifold and wash up real quick. Make yourself at home."
"Jeez, you are good. How'd you know it was me?"
She laughed without looking up from her work.
"The VR6 in your R has a familiar note. And the time is about right. All done. Give me five minutes and we can leave."
Tyler shrugged.
"You know where I'll be."
Stephanie strode off as Tyler poked around the shop. He took a quick look under the hood of the Z4 and walked around a bit looking at the cars: a Honda S2000, Ferrari 599, some sort of small Nissan hatchback in pieces, an old Corvette convertible and the R8 he had seen parked outside the last time. As he was peering through the glass at the Audi's V10 he saw Carlos walking toward him and gave a quick wave.
"You guys sure have quite the clientèle. I didn't know there were this many nice cars in Bayport."
The two men shook hands.
"Good to see you again. Actually, only a couple of the cars are from in town. The Ferrari and the 'Vette in particular belong to a guy who was a regular at the California shop."
"You're kidding! So he had his cars shipped all the way across the country?"
"Heh, nah. He is the CEO of a software company. It started as just him in his basement and really took off. Now it is a global corporation and he's got a house on each coast plus some tropical getaway somewhere. When he heard we opened this place he had the cars at the house on this side shipped down to have all the maintenance seen to. He's a nice guy, very grounded for someone in his position. You may get the chance to meet him if you hang around here long enough."
Tyler looked around at the cars again.
"That I will be doing. I'm like a kid in a candy store."
The older man laughed and patted Tyler's shoulder.
"I can appreciate that. So, where are you and the boss lady off to today?"
"She invited me to a track event at Grand Valley this weekend. She said there was some car her dad wanted her to test out over there."
"Ahhhh! You should be honored, my friend. That is a very exclusive invitation indeed. it is an annual event and only open to financial supporters of the track and their guests."
"Really? So Stephanie...?"
"Her father. He is a close personal friend of the owner as well as the lead track designer. He spent countless hours on that track in his younger days."
"I see. Wow. I will definitely be sure to thank her then."
"And do be sure to watch yourself if you take to the track for the time trials and other events. There are usually a handful of semi-pro drivers around looking to make it to the higher levels. With all the money handlers at the event it can get very competitive."
Tyler was about to respond when Stephanie walked up to them.
"Telling Tyler all about your Grand Valley horror experience, Carlos?"
"Just thought he could use a fair warning is all."
"I suppose. Listen, the Z4 is about ready. Everything is back together but it needs a once over on fluids. Can you make sure that gets done? And have someone run it a few minutes and retorque the head as well."
"No problem. Leave everything to me."
"I always do." She smiled. "Ready, Tyler? Let's put some asphalt behind us."
"Sure thing. Nice to see you, Carlos. Thanks for the info."
"Of course. You two stay safe and have a great weekend."
Tyler and Stephanie walked out of the garage and into the sun that had decided to make an appearance from behind the clouds. It was now a warm and bright afternoon. A light breeze was blowing as Tyler put Stephanie's things in the trunk.
"I can manage myself, you know."
Tyler blushed.
"It's how it was brought up."
"Fair. At least you kept some of the creature comforts in the car. Spare, radio...seats."
Tyler chuckled.
"Well it's still my daily driver after all. That's one of the reasons I like this car so much. I can push it around a track for fun and still drive it to work and take people places."
"Well said, Mister Practicality. Shall we be off?"
"Let's go."
They got into the car and roared off for Grand Valley Raceway.
It was evening when they pulled up outside the main building of the complex. Stephanie wanted to check on the car her father sent and see if she could take care of the registration before the Saturday chaos. She had also reserved two rooms at the on-site hotel and asked Tyler to check in.
"So how's your old man these days?"
"He's alright. Well enough to be sending out cars at least. To be honest, we haven't had much time to chat since I moved out here."
"Well you tell him I said hello when you get the chance. Some of us miss his ugly mug around here."
"Heh, I'll be sure to relay the message."
"Good, good. I'll go ahead and take care of the registration for you and this Tyler Scott fellow. No worries. Just show up ready to the safety inspection and you'll be set."
"Thanks, Bill. You're always a big help. Any chance I can go take a look at the car tonight?"
"Yeah, not a problem. Head on down to the garage and I'll let security know you're coming. You're set up in Bay 6 again."
Stephanie said her thanks again and walked down to the garage. As she got closer she breathed in the smells of a race track: grease, rubber, fuel, exhaust. Entering Bay 6 she found a bright green hatchback waiting for her.
She smiled and walked around the car, inspecting it. it definitely had all the marks of her father's shop: the color, the bodywork, even the interior was similar to the other cars they had modified. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed.
"Hi dad. ... No, I'm fine. I'm at the garage at Grand Valley. ... Yeah. Is this what you did with mine? ... No, why would I be mad? I left it there with you because I didn't want it any more. ... Yeah, I'm glad you did something with it. ... No, not until tomorrow. Bill says hi and he misses your ugly face. ... Sure I will. ... Okay. I'm gonna go get some sleep for tomorrow. ... I'll talk to you later. Good night, dad."
She replaced the phone in her pocket, locked up the garage and headed off for some rest.
Tyler answered the knock at the door and found Stephanie waiting in the hallway. He let her into the suite and closed the door behind her.
"Everything okay at the garage then?"
"Yep, the car should be good to go in the morning and the bay is all ready too."
"So what car did your dad send over?"
Stephanie grinned.
"I'll keep that a secret for now. Suffice to say that it will be a familiar day. Even you wouldn't have much trouble adapting to it."
"Sounds fun. If your dad's shop is as good as I have heard it should be one hell of a ride."
"Let's hope so. I'd hate for this one to disappoint. Anyway, let me grab my stuff and I'll head over to the other room. Unless you want that one?"
Tyler winced. He'd forgotten about the room arrangements.
"Uh, about that. Slight change of plan."
"Oh? What's that?"
"The hotel is booked solid so they bumped us down to one room instead of two."
Stephanie crossed her arms.
"Bumped us down? Well that isn't going to work. I've known you two days and as nice a guy as you seem I'm not sleeping in the same room. I'll have to go downstairs and give them a piece of my mind."
She started angrily for the door. Tyler put up his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Hey, hey, hey! Not a big deal. I thought the same so I grabbed an extra blanket for the couch."
Stephanie looked over and saw that Tyler's bag and a blanket were sitting next to the table by the couch. She glanced over toward the bedroom and saw her bag laying on the bed.
"Besides, I already talked to the manager and he's been turning people away since this afternoon. He saved this last one for you."
"Oh. Well, I suppose that will be fine then."
"You're sure? I can always go into town and scrounge something up."
She squinted at Tyler and thought a moment.
"No, it's fine. You seem trustworthy enough and I did invite you. Just don't let me catch you trying anything funny."
She mockingly waggled her finger at him as she spoke. He chuckled and put one hand in the air and the other on his chest.
"I was never a Boy Scout but I solemnly swear on my honor that I will be passed the hell out on the couch until morning."
She giggled.
"Well alright then. You pass out here and I'll go sleep in there...with a baseball bat under the pillow. Just in case."
"Heh, fair enough. One request though, man to woman."
"What?"
"Do you mind if I use the bathroom first? I'd like to change and wash up before the sun rises."
"Ugh! Men!"
She grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at him. Tyler neatly ducked, grabbed his bag and ran for the bathroom. Another pillow bounced off the door as it closed behind him.
Just found this and can't wait to read it! Haven't yet looked for more recent episodes, but I'm hoping.
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