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Chapter 10: AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway

May 2016 – Race #12

Greenlee walks into the garage, smile on her face, clipboard held tightly close to her. She walks by some of the guys, taking a seat in what had become her usual spot already in just a couple weeks as she opened up the board.

She was getting herself in a good habit.

She would bring the notes from the last meeting containing the set-up they planned to start the weekend with, along with some details on the current weather conditions. That way through morning conversation in the hauler, she'd just have to make notes about small adjustments made to the plan.

She also was already developing her own short hand to use in the book so she could write things quicker, catching everything mentioned by the guys. Then later on, she'd expand it into long form so when reading back the notes were understandable by everybody.

Seeing how close competition was in the garage, there were times she wondered whether it'd be a good idea to actually teach the team the short hand so that way if anybody snagged a peak they'd never understand what was there. Shaking her head, she had to let out a small laugh as she was already turning into one of them looking for an advantage.

She used to trying to find advantages, though. She did with her business in always being on the cutting edge in fragrance and make-up so they'd remain on top. She continued that form when she did street race, keeping the second bottle of NOS hidden to where it couldn't be seen if somebody peaked in the car.

"Already here working?" She hears, glancing up at Chad with a smile. It also nice they had a good rep together, despite the thought about rocky beginnings.

"I wanted to make sure everything was in perfect order," she answers as he simply smiles in return. It seemed with each passing week, he was removing more reservations about her. Maybe this was a good idea to trust Ron and Jimmie. Maybe Dom was right about a good second chance.

"I like your thinking. Maybe we can turn things around this week and actually have a good finish." He then was about to walk away, but stopped and looked back towards her. He wanted to stay focused, but he couldn't help but wonder about another separate pressing issue. "Has Ron mentioned anything since his panic episode at Dega?" She shakes her head no.

"He told me he'd talk when he was good and ready. I've been just offering comfort and steadiness, while reminding him everything will be okay no matter the thoughts." Chad shakes his head, accepting. It was a start, but certainly not what he was expecting to see by this point.

"I told him he could come to me whenever he felt right about doing so, if needed to. I just worry sometimes..." Greenlee smiles, seeing the concerning side of Chad that Ron had mentioned last week. It was actually sweet to get to know the man behind the hard exterior she'd grown used to.

"When you go through something traumatic, some people just get over it easy while others it takes time. Some people can talk to somebody about it immediately, while others just need to do so in due time. I'm sure he'll come around and handle it like we both want him to. Patience. All you can do right now is just assure him that everything is okay." He shakes his head, accepting. He knew her advice was worth listening to after what he had learned from Dom.

"What did you do? Did you always talk about it, or avoid it?" She then looks on puzzled. "Look, I'm always super conscious about this team and everybody. I may have ran a background on you and found out everything that I could know about your past to make sure things were legit."

"I can understand that based on how I entered the picture, and Ron's past himself. But to answer your question, I always could talk to Ryan no matter what. We just had that special connection that I can't even begin to describe, Chad. It's why it hurts so much knowing he's gone. However, I admit there were times that I held it in and even tried running from it. That never did me any good, as you probably learned." He shakes his head in agreement, having heard a couple of those tales from Dom. He knew they left other questions, part of him wanted to ask, but he didn't want to ruin what they were growing together.