Race to a Happy Ending

Chapter 7

Over the course of the next several weeks, things began to settle into a routine for Kate. She was finished with her training at the main office in downtown Charlotte. Now she was making her rounds to three different branches in six weeks for some on the job training. She was enjoying the challenge that a new job brought, but would be thankful when she was settled at her home branch in Mooresville. She had made one weekend visit home, so far, to visit her parents. She was so thankful for such loving and giving parents who were willing to sacrifice a big part of their life to help her out.

Kate and Cameron also fell into somewhat of a routine. They spent several evenings together during the week. In fact, every Monday night it had become their ritual for him to come to her apartment and they would share a take out meal and a movie rental. They also found each other to be good running partners, they ran together about two times each week. Cameron was actually a better runner than she was, but he kept her motivated to push harder and run faster.

As November came to a close, the race season had finally ended for Cameron and he was starting to prepare for next year with a new team. Kate thought his busy schedule would lighten up, but it seemed to only get busier. Kate had also stayed fairly busy herself. She was beginning to train at her own branch, which was nice because she was finally meeting the people she would actually be working with full time. Over Thanksgiving weekend, she made a trip to visit her family for the holiday. As for Cameron, weekends that he used to spend away at a race, were now spent away testing at a track. Appearances and ride alongs just increased. The two definitely had chemistry and they bantered playfully back and forth a lot. But, the one thing that bothered Kate the most was that it had been over two months since they met and they had spent so much time together and yet he still had not shared his phone number, taken her to his home, or introduced her to more than a handful of his friends or family. In a way, Kate felt like he was using her, but for what she didn't know. Not once had they spent the night together. Not for lack of want on either side, but it just never worked out. She honestly didn't think that was the kind of person he was, waiting for her to give in to satisfy his lust, but it was always in the back of her mind. She had tried to gently confront him with her insecurities a few times, but he brushed her off and it made Kate feel like things were uncomfortable between them, so she just dropped it and hoped for the best. They continued with their routines together and Cameron even came to her work several times to take her to lunch. Kate held on to the hope that that was a good sign. A few times she felt as if he was being distant, but she chalked that up to the fact that he was working on learning things with his new team and trying to keep up with his own shop, as well.

When Christmas came, things definitely changed for the worse. Cameron went out of town on a vacation. He barely even mentioned it to Kate, he actually sprung it on her the night before he left.

"I can't believe I didn't mention it to you before," he apologized. "I guess I just assumed you'd know I'd go on vacation at some point."

Kate was truly hurt. It was as if he was pushing her away gently, as not to hurt her. She felt like a high school girl whose boyfriend had just dumped her. At this point, Kate began to be totally confused as to what their relationship was. They had never actually said out loud, to each other, that they were exclusively dating. But she knew brush offs when she saw them. Granted, it had been a long time since she had dated, but she was pretty sure this is how brush offs worked. But it still hurt. She felt like he had been lying all along. It shouldn't matter if he is 'famous' or not. When you spend every free moment with a person for months at a time, you don't just suddenly take off with no warning. Kate took this as a sign that he was done with her and he was moving on to better things. She had always felt in the back of her mind that she was not good enough for him. She certianly didn't fit the stereotypical NASCAR girlfriend type. She had hoped that he would be different. And she thought they were open enough in their friendship for him to express any doubts or feeling to her.