That One Ride

1. The Elevator

If there was anything Ashley hated, it was being confined. She hated feeling trapped. And being stuck behind a desk was feeling trapped. She hated her job. She knew she did. And she knew her parents did too. But, as much as she hated to admit, her mother did have a point. She couldn't just rely on the races. The job did pay most of the bills, and bought
groceries, and the parts on her bike.

But it was so tempting to quit. She works her ass off for five days a week every month to get her paycheck, yet she earns five grand in ten minutes easily at Ravens Point. That is double her salary in no time. She goes, she wins, and comes back with a pocket full of money. What more could she want?

She was a great driver. Everyone who rode a bike knew she was hard, if not impossible to beat. There was only one other person who could match her. But, we'll get to that later. She was subconsciously typing into her computer. After working there for almost a year, it was sadly implanted into her brain how to do what she was doing. Someone knocked on the door of her office, and she looked up.

"Hey." Called out John, a guy she worked with.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Well I would say sky, but it's the ceiling at the moment." She rolled her eyes at his joke and continued to type.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"Just some boring maintenance file that I need to finish. They need it so they can finally fix that elevator, so I don't have to walk 10 stories up every morning and smell like a pig before the day even started. And... there. Done." She pressed enter and it printed the solution to her unnecessary work out every morning. She took it and stood up to take it to her boss to sign it. John followed her.

"Okay, you're following me to Anderson. Which means you really want to ask something, because no one goes to Anderson unless they have to, or they have a death wish." She said as she checked her file for any grammar mistakes which, thank god, she didn't find.

"Listen, I've been meaning to ask you something." He began, but they were already in front of Anderson's office.

"Can you hold that thought for a minute?" She asked as she knocked on the door. A faint 'come in' was heard, and he nodded as she went in. Her heels clicked as she walked over to her boss and put the file on his desk.

"Listen, I'm a reasonable man, but I can't reason with idiots who can't see the sun because their heads are too far up their own asses. Call me when you see the sun." He hung up and sighed, rubbing his bald head in the process. Anderson wasn't a bad man. Nope, he was just a bit, well, lunatic with his business methods. But she didn't question because she knew she'd get fired.

"Damn these people. Doesn't anyone make a fair deal anymore?" He asked, but she didn't know if he was asking her or just speaking out loud.
"How may I help you Hawkins?"

"I just need you to sign the maintenance file sir, so that they can fix the elevator."

"The elevator isn't working?" He asked, and she looked at him like he had an extra head.

"Well, uh, yes sir. For two weeks actually."

"Huh. Guess I haven't noticed. I haven't really left the office. We have to finish that expanding deal so it must have slipped my mind." He took a pen and signed the file before handing it to her.

"Thank you." She replied and made her way to the door.

"You're welcome. Can you please send Frank my way if you see him? I need to have a word."

"Will do sir." With that she left his office and found John where she left him. They started walking, and he was about to continue their previous conversation when she cut him off.