GREENE | CS55

40 - A Choice

"Thank you."

Pierce nodded, forcing a polite smile to pair and taking the brick of a key from the rental concierge. A sleek, black sedan with the drivers side door propped open waited for her, her rolling suitcase in the hands of the man trailing behind her the only sound that reached her ears.

She exhaled a breath, battling against the temperature and the wet dew of the morning to try and provide her body some cool relief. But this was California, Pierce knew it like she knew her own name. Eight in the morning, and it was already too warm out for Pierce Greene to bear, especially with the unsettlingly warm temperatures this season. Warmer than usual.

Huffing, Pierce removed her cotton crewneck, throwing it haphazardly into the back before easing into the drivers seat, throwing her glasses onto the bridge of her nose, and driving off the tarmac.

The air conditioning blasted the frilled pieces of her hair from the edge of her face, and Pierce allowed herself to momentarily shut her eyes as she waited for the gate to lift. She sighed in relief. Just a few minutes, and the system would have this whole sedan filled with blisteringly cold air.

The sprawling moonroof allowed a subdued orange beam of California sun through, settling on Pierce's shoulders. However, Pierce found herself admitting she may have felt uncomfortably warm for other reasons. Her clammy palms, leaving prints on the patented black Mercedes leather. The logo, the shining silver star, taunted her from the center of the steering wheel.

It was summer break, and Pierce left the final race in Hungary still unsure whether or not she'd be celebrating by the end of it, or wanting to slam the nose of this rental into the face of a mountain.

Shaking away the thought and peeling onto the freeway, Pierce connected her music to the CarPlay system, rested an elbow on the window that she rolled down in the slightest, and drove the hour-long journey to one of the few places Pierce could call home.

"Greene."

Pierce stated blandly. The first words that left her mouth since thanking the rental concierge. Her own last name vibrated her tongue, realizing then the lack of hydration she'd supplied herself as she let the daze of driving along the familiar highways and side-streets take her hostage. Without removing her eyes from the intercom, through which she could hear the guard paging through the list of approved guests, her hand landed to the full bottle of water in her cupholder.

Shortly after gaining entry into the gated neighborhood, the Scott's sprawling estate welcomed Pierce with open arms, as much as a well-watered lawn and perfectly manicured shrubbery could. It was just as she remembered it, not a blade of grass out of shape. Put together to the point where it was clear Tatianna's mother cared, but never lifeless. Never tasteless. Never cookie-cutter, or cold.

The choice to spend some time here to start her summer break was one that Tatianna offered to Pierce just a week before the final race in Hungary. Tatianna had the summer off from classes at NYU, and Pierce was free to indulge in her original plan: to relax and sprawl on her couch with Punk in New York, to her little heart's desire. But, in expressing those plans to Tatianna, it became clear very quickly that her best friend did not approve to the month of solitary (the Doberman didn't count, Tatianna said, and was welcome to come with!) Pierce was so looking forward to.

Tatianna would not take no for an answer, Pierce realized, raising her brows then on the other side of the phone in shock.

Nor would Sami, who's call followed up his sisters to discuss the fact that Pierce was indeed coming to stay, and in that case, he'd be there too.

As much as a whole week in her home town made a thick coating of goosebumps raise along Pierce's visible skin, it was nice to feel welcomed, like she did instantly as the top of the house came into view. To feel at home. To feel wanted. To let the positive memories of being back home swarm over her, if only to dissolve away the stress that the last few months had brought her.