Triple Digits

Claire Miles

Was that steak Claire could smell cooking in her kitchen?
And eggs sizzling in a pan that she could hear?
And Officer Strickland cursing as he dropped the pan that had awoken her?
An amused smile on her face, Claire Miles rose from her bed in her apartment and dressed in a simple t-shirt and leggings, entering her kitchen to find Corey dishing up two plates of food, a pan indeed resting in the sink. It was mid-afternoon by now, her stomach growling at the smell, and she leaned over the counter to read the recipe he was making, gasping in delight.
"That's one of my favourites! I'm surprised you found plates to put them on."
Claire's eyes slid toward the sink, only to find it empty, making her blink in surprise.
Now that she thought about it, the rest of the apartment was devoid of mess, too.
"Did you clean?"
Mr. Strickland paused, looking uneasy as he slowly replied, "I hope you don't mind. I'm a bit of a neat freak, so I figured, while you were resting, I owed it to you to help out around here."
Huh.
Claire couldn't exactly be mad about it. She'd been meaning to clean for ages. In fact, Strickland had taken a huge amount of weight off her shoulders.
Grinning at him, she took the plate he held out in offering, cutlery balanced atop it, heading over to the couch and plodding down onto it, Corey following close behind. He took a seat on the floor rather than the couch, beside her legs, Claire nudging him with her ankle and humming, "Why not sit on the couch?"
She went to pick up both knife and fork to cut up the steak on her plate, only to scowl.
The cast kept her fingers in place, since both her hand and wrist was broken, which meant Claire couldn't use both pieces of cutlery at once. Too prideful to ask for help, she opted to trying to tear a piece off by sawing into it with her fork. It only made the steak slide back and forth on the plate.
"I don't want to spill food on it."
"I never cared about that," she hummed in response, Mr. Strickland replying instantly, "Oh, I know. That thing was filthy."
He seemed to realise what he'd said a moment later, the look on his face making Claire cackle with laughter at his embarrassment.
Balancing her untouched plate on her knees, she grabbed the remote, tossing it onto the rug next to Strickland, making the Officer jump in surprise when she offered, "Feel free to choose." Claire doubted Strickland would like her choice of reality TV.
"What do they even play on Mid-City TV?" He asked as he pressed down on the button, the both of them watching the TV begin on the default channel, Mid-City News. He went through the options, pausing long enough only to read the name of the show and what it was about before moving on.
That made her pause.
"Do you not have a TV, Strickland?"
Corey shrugged, looking up at her and mumbling, "I never had enough spare money for one. Do you not like the food? I don't normally cook, so if it isn't any good, I would understand." He changed the subject so easily that Claire was thrown off-guard, and she shook her head, "No, it isn't that! I..." She trailed off, picking up the fork and prodding pathetically at the steak with it, the knife laying uselessly beside it, her broken hand on the couch, and Strickland's eyes widened in understanding. Without a word, placing his own plate aside, Corey rose, taking Claire's plate and heading over to the counter, where she watched, cheeks aflame, as he cut the food up for her, handing it back a moment later. Claire stammered out a 'Thank you' while Strickland took a seat again, finally settling on a movie.
Next to her, Claire's phone buzzed, a message from Helix coming in.
'Monday race cancelled. The other racers have donated their winnings to Quickshift's memorial and funeral costs. Wondering if Triple Digit will do the same?'
Claire had won the grand prize last night, as well as two others. The money would keep her going for months.
But if the other drivers were donating, Triple Digit could hardly say no.
Picking up her phone, she balanced it awkwardly on her knee, tapping out a reply.
'TD will donate.'
Helix read the message, but did not respond.
Switching the phone off, Claire looked to Strickland, saying casually, "The Monday night race has been cancelled. You'll have to find Triple Digit another way."
On the floor, Strickland sighed heavily, cursing on the exhale, shaking his head and mumbling, "Nothing to be done about it, I suppose. Tomorrow, I'll go see that girl Miss Birchson was talking about earlier."
"You can call her Maddy, you know. And you're welcome to call me Claire."
Strickland paused, thinking it over, before nodding, "Very well. You can call me Corey."
And just like that, Mid-City's most notorious street-racer was on a first name basis with an officer of the law...