Everything Has Changed //Ryan Blaney//

0.5 - Number

Sienna

Late that Sunday evening, I got to work putting laundry away. El and I had been home for a couple of hours after leaving the track. Eleanor had a bath and was asleep in her room while I put things away from the trip. The poor thing had worn herself out from the race and was asleep before I even had her dressed in her pajamas. The flag she had received was lying on my dresser while I thought of somewhere I could put it. I wanted to keep it preserved so she could have it when she was older. It was an awesome memory for her to be told about. I doubt she would remember today but I would hope so.

It wasn't until I was sitting on my bed, folding Eleanor's clothes that my phone went off. I didn't recognize the number but knew it was from the area. With a little doubt, I answered.

"Hello?" I said, forgetting momentarily about the clothes. My face scrunched up, wondering who was calling me at this time of night.

"Hi, is this a Sienna White?" A male voice came over the other side. I knew I didn't recognize the voice so I was being a little cautious to answer. 

"Yes, this is. Who may I ask is calling?" Without skipping a beat the man went into his reason for calling. I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that I answered the call.

"I'm Roger Penske from Team Penske. I know it's a late time to be calling but I had gotten word that you and your daughter received the checkered flag from my driver, Ryan Blaney at the race today. To extend another set of gratitude for being a fan we were wondering if you and your daughter would like to visit the Penske shop here in Mooresville. That is if you are in the area."

With that one phone call, it had landed us standing in the foyer of the large building waiting to be greeted by Ryan and Roger. I didn't mind waiting, it was Eleanor who wasn't having any of it.

Little Miss Sassy had been cranky all morning, I believe she was tired since she had been up early again this morning. It was good practice for her since she would start her schooling adventures soon.

"Crazy coincidence." I heard a familiar voice say. Turning my head, I saw Ryan standing there with a smile on his face. He was sporting a black shirt with the Penske logo on it and an old trucker hat. His light denim jeans had his bright red shoes on display.

"Any more of these meetings and I'm gonna have to put you on the Christmas card list." I joked, standing up with Eleanor attached to my hip. He laughed at it and came back with. "I'll be expecting one this year then."

"Hey there, Eleanor. Thanks for the luck yesterday." Ryan spoke to Eleanor. She offered a smile but stayed quiet. "She's a bit grumpy this morning," I told him. His smile faltered just a bit. I was used to her moods since she most likely got them from me and I was the only one who endured them.

"Ah, well. Let's fix that. Shall we go look around? Roger is meeting up with us later."

After agreeing, Ryan led us down the hallway stopping only to speak of whose office we were going by. We had passed Roger's office and he told us once we were in the shop he'd join us. Walking further down the hallway, Eleanor slides down my hip, wanting to walk and see all of the photos on the walls. Thankfully she started walking too because she was starting to get heavy.

"This is the trophy case for the drivers of Team Penske. My Charlotte Roval one will go over here next to Brad's Darlington trophy." He showed me, the open space they had next to the trophy he said was from Brad.

"There's so many. I never realized that the team was so good." My eyes grew wide, taking in the amount of trophies and how they varied in size and shape. Eleanor stood in front of us. Her fingers and nose pressed against the glass. My first instinct was to tell her to back away since it was causing smudges, but I was told she was fine.

Still, I told her to be careful since someone had to clean the case and we didn't want to make their job any harder than it needed to be.

"Roger is hoping that we can put another Cup championship trophy up." He seemed eager as he said it and for the whole team's sake, I hope they can at the end of the year. They were going above and beyond for El and me, good Karma creates itself.

"That I am. I have three amazing NASCAR drivers in the playoffs this year. I am sure we can get it done." From behind us, Roger spoke proudly. He stood in a white button-up shirt with the Penske logo above the pocket and a big smile on his face. 

"You must be Sienna and Eleanor. It's nice to meet you two. I hope Ryan has treated you well over this weekend. While talking with him last night he spoke about your meeting and talked very highly of you."

I was sure that my whole body was red with embarrassment. I wasn't one to take compliments well, and he just gave me a hell of one.

"He's been more than amazing this last weekend. You surely have a generous man on your team." I spoke, noting that Ryan's cheeks turned a cute shade of light pink. Ha, return the favor for embarrassment.

Eleanor moved beside me after hearing a new voice, showing a bit of shyness towards Roger.

"I'm very proud of Ryan, and the rest of the drivers. Brad, Joey, and Ryan have worked amazingly hard to get to where they are now." He had so much pride in his words that it was hard not to get secondhand pride from him. 

Roger walked us down the hallway until we got to the shop. I hadn't expected it to be this huge. There were lines of cars waiting to be worked on. Eleanor had decided that she wanted to be carried again, I knew it was getting close to time for her nap. Thankfully she hasn't gone into full terror mode. Her head rested against my shoulder only looking up when something caught her attention.

"These are the cars we're going to be running next weekend," Ryan spoke after Roger finished about what they did in the shop. I looked at the yellow car he was pointing to, noticing that it was almost identical to the one beside it. The only difference was the red and yellow numbers on the side and the wheel hubs.

"Guess we wore her out? And we never even got to lunch yet." Ryan chuckled, coming closer to me, seeing that El had fallen asleep. Roger had excused himself from us to answer a few questions one of the workers had asked.

"All of our walking and talking must have made her sleepy. I probably should be getting her home." I hoisted Eleanor up just a bit to hold onto her better. I had forgotten that she wasn't a toddler anymore, and she didn't weigh it either. So I had to be more careful not to wake her. The only thing worse than a child that needs a nap is one that never got one fully out.

Ryan seemed disappointed by my answer but quickly covered it up with a smile. The small action had butterflies going off inside me. Something that hadn't happened in a long while.

"How about I get your number so we can have lunch sometime soon? Or dinner, if you'd like?" He asked, then thought. "Are you in the Charlotte area?" He asked, a hint of nerves peeking through his cool composure. It was cute though, and there was no way that I could tell him no.

I remembered what Mason had said yesterday during the drive back to his and Sophia's place. What if this wasn't a coincidence? Any other person would have just seen if I was okay and that would have been the end. But here we are, and he still wants to see me again after this.

Any sane person would have barely paid any mind to me after seeing I was a single mother. But for some reason, Ryan wanted to get to know me. Even when that included a plus one in my daughter.

"I am, I just live right outside of Mooresville. So grabbing lunch or dinner would be great."

Word Count -1517

Sorry, it's been forever and a day since I updated. Life hit just a little harder than usual lately. I hope you enjoyed this. Trying not to drag this out like I have with my other stories. (I have a few Niall Horan ones (1D), a Michael Clifford story, and an Ashton Irwin fanfic (5SOS). Also a Wesley Stromberg story (Emblem3). Go check them out if you'd like.)

Stay beautiful

-Courtney 🖤🖤