GREENE | CS55

17 - Right In Front Of You

tw; mention of alcoholism and parental troubles (beginning and end marked with a 🏁)

While the bar inside was beating with life, its lights pulsing out from every window and the music emanating from its speakers thudding the block for yards on end, the outer patio tucked away on the side of the bar remained untouched. Dark. Veiled by the shadows cast down by the nearest streetlight against the hard brick wall it paralleled.

The sharp change in scenery took Carlos a blink or two to get used to. The absence of hot bodies around him, of loud metal music swirling through the air, drowning out his thoughts. Which, quickly came to the forefront, a flooding panic. For a moment, not having noticed the small fenced-in outdoor area that she'd pranced off to, Carlos thought he lost her.

But as the familiar chirp of her laugh rang through the air, his head whipped around to find she'd vaulted her way over the chained gate that kept the patio enclosed. Whether or not Pierce and Carlos were supposed to be using the patio, Carlos was unsure. The stacked chairs on top of tables and the rust that had overgrown the chained gate told him that these tables weren't assigned to any servers inside, perhaps they hadn't been all summer. For multiple summers prior, even.

"Perfect," Pierce sighed under her breath, crossed her arms, and leaned her thighs against the railing, of course after feeling it was dry with a swift swipe of her hand. "It's stuffy in there."

Carlos swallowed as he nodded. "You're having fun though, si?"

"Si. I am now," Pierce's shoulders shrugged inward as she laughed. "Yeah, tonight has been fun. It's been a good day in general, I guess." She paused, eyes setting on Carlos, trying to tame her obvious smile.

Carlos shivered, crossing his arms in front of him. Pierce did the same, darting her eyes to the wind, squinting into it as if she was threatening it to cease its fire. Like she was squaring up to tell it off, straightening her back and building herself up nice and tall. Stacking her spine on top of her core, bracing for the chill to bring on the best it had.

"What kept you from dinner?" The thought had been eating at Carlos all night, as much as he wished it wasn't. As much as he wished he could have just gone the rest of the night accepting that she could have been doing something else. Something better.

"I got a call from Jim." She responded, pausing to allow Carlos to take in the information. It wasn't the answer he expected. Far from it. He could only imagine how Pierce felt.

All Carlos could think now was how badly he hoped the explanation that followed was a good one. He didn't know what he'd do with himself if it wasn't. If he'd said something that upset his own daughter, and that was why she didn't make it to dinner.

Pierce's fingertips ran across the goosebumps on her biceps, her arms forming an 'X' that bundled her conserved warmth from the inside as best as she could. It wasn't working. Maybe a jacket would have been warranted tonight.  "He... he wanted to congratulate me for today."

"He did?!" Carlos' body jolted forward at the hip, his eyes widening.

"He did!" She confirmed with a nod. "In his own way."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

An awkward laugh slipped from her lips, making Carlos even more doubtful. She remained silent, scanning Carlos' face for any hint that his question was actually rhetorical. Through the haze, through the relaxed way his body swayed before her, all she saw was all that Carlos ever was. Caring. Genuine. Earnest. Warm.

"He said, 'That took the unexpected turn. Wish car number 8 didn't have to suffer the consequences, but at least you got the car in the points,' and then he asked me some stuff about the car and the team and those pit stops..."