Author's note: I do not condone street racing. This is illegal and unsafe. Take the racing to their appropriate venues: drag strip, road racing tracks and/or autocross events.
*****
"...I don't know how long it'll take to get this thing up and running again. Maybe half and hour more to an hour, tops. If not, I'm going home even if this isn't done, hun," Lawrence said to his angel on the other end of the line. "Okay, don't stay too long. Try not to be too late for Tom's party, 'kay? Oh, and Faye called earlier that she could pass by and offer me a ride to Tom's, would that be okay?" Anna asked. "That's no problem. See you at the party later then. Love you."
He replied. "Love you too." And they hung up.
Anna was Lawrence's fiancé and they lived together at Lawrence's place. She is in her late 20's, a practicing general physician and currently studying to specialize in internal medicine. Lawrence is in his mid-20's and is a head Systems Analyst for this rather well-established information technology and communications company. He has fair complexion, short brown hair, well, long enough for his bangs to cover his eyes but he manages to wear it neatly. Anna would say he is handsome and looked... boyish, young, innocent and harmless. Of course she knows that he is just the opposite which she finds really sexy, among many other of his traits. He is not rich like those oil-tycoons in Houston however money wasn't a problem for him. He is responsible and keeps his expenses and life-style in-check. Living a simple life. Sometimes, treating Anna and himself to some extravagance.
His best friends, Tom and Faye, on the other hand, were rich... and lived it. Having a business, more like a huge corporation, which controls or owns several other corporations. How people achieve this... *shrug*. *cough* Inheritance. *cough* Tom and Faye were hosting a party for some bankers/businesspeople at his estate. And invited Lawrence and Anna and some other good friends along.
Lawrence returned to his task, getting the company server back online. It was a Saturday. He was just called in as a favor. He didn't mind much. Until Tom phoned him an invitation about a few hours ago. "Damn thing. Just run properly already so I could go!" he hissed at the terminal. Surprisingly, after re-writing a few scripts, the server started up and run good again.
Relieved. Closed the books and placed them back on their appropriate shelves, he walked quickly out of the "server control room," informed the few who were working that it's back "up and running" and made his way to the elevator down to his sleek black sports car and drove off straight to Tom's since Anna said she was hitching a ride with Faye.
Lawrence was just cruising as usual right at the speed limit. Windows down and stereo turned up just enough for him to hear it amidst the wind noise. It was a fine day. Slightly overcast. Traffic was light. Pleasant day for a drive actually. Traffic light about 300 meters up turned yellow then red. Lawrence decelerated to a gentle stop.
Twiddling his thumbs on the steering wheel waiting for the green, he glanced at his right side view mirror and saw a sleek yellow Corvette coming up. "Wow, now THAT's a car," he thought to himself. A few moments later the sports car came to a stop next to him. He noticed the badging "Z06" on the front fenderwell of the Corvette. He looked at the driver and was pleasantly surprised. A very pretty lady, seemingly in her mid-20's. Fine, long, flowing, light brown hair tied up in a rather intricate bun leaving a short pony tail. Well, since her windows were down too.... "Nice car," Lawrence smiled at the lady. She smiled back, "Thanks. Yours is pretty hot too. Wanna race?" Momentarily shocked, Lawrence glanced at the traffic light, still lit red, and looked back at the pretty girl in the 'vette, "Sure. On green.." Lawrence turned his stereo off and adjusted the settings on his car's electronic boost controller, slightly raising the maximum boost setting of his twin-turbos. "Hey, I'll need whatever I can to run with THAT car," he thinks to himself, smiling.
Both cars revving, waiting for the green. Light turns green, both cars launch off the line like bats out of hell. Lawrence's car with all-wheel-drive has an instant advantage in stop-and-go racing and he instantly pulls ahead of the Corvette with her front bumper in-line with his rear bumper. Turns out she was quite skilled and launched her high-horsepowered sports car perfectly and not overly spinning her rear wheels. He kicks the clutch quickly and hard and simultaneously pulls the gear to second. He hears the sweet, loud roar of the Corvette do the same a moment later. He glances at his mirror and sees the Corvette starting to slowly pull alongside him. Both hit third gear. Each shifting precisely and well-practiced. Both cars are now alongside each other. *BEEP!!!* Radar detector in the Corvette goes off, quite loudly that Lawrence also hears it and both cars brake hard. Surely, being caught going close to 100 in a 45 isn't what either of them had in mind. She winks at him, blows him a kiss and quickly turns into the first right. Mixed feelings running through him at the moment: excitement, lust, worry... his first concern however was to get off the road. He changed lanes and turned into the next right. He turned to double back to look for her to no avail. A bit disappointed, he just shrugged it off and continued to Tom's "castle," as he called it.
As he pulled into Tom's estate, parked among the Jaguars, Mercedes, BMWs and Caddilacs he noticed a yellow Corvette Z06. Lawrence snickered to himself.
As Lawrence stepped in the room, he went straight to Tom with a warm greet and their childhood special handshake. "Heya bud. How's it going? Thanks for coming. I'll be with ya in a sec. tho, just need to tend to some work.."
