Friends (Rimba Racer Story)

CHAPTER 8: THE END OF A BEGINNING

After almost an hour at the pub, Tamira and Axle were finally done with their drinks and chat. They exited through the front entrance and walked back side by side towards her bike. Axle checked his watch on his wrist and it was nearly 2.30AM. It was quite late for him to be out at this time of night, but he managed to stay awake until now. It was only after stepping out of the pub that his body caught up with the exhaustion and he started to feel his eyes drooping.

"They're not closing yet?" He asked, referring to the pub as he fought off a yawn when they reached her bike.

"Nah, most places that open at night here stay open until morning," Tamira answered as she opened the seat compartment and took out her helmet.

She looked over to Axle who was staring at the ground and noticed that he looked excruciatingly tired, with his eyes half closed and looking drained of any light. She decided that they should really just end their day there.

"So, you want a lift back home?" She offered. He suddenly looked a little more alive. Although inside his mind, he was feeling more dread rather than relief.

"I'd rather be anywhere else, to be honest," he told her, with a sigh but there was a smile on his face as well, strangely.

Tamira stared at him, wondering why he was reluctant to return. But then she remembered the things he mentioned about his family and understood the reason eventually. She shifted her eyes around on the ground, thinking about what she should say. Eventually, an offer popped up in her mind.

"Wanna spend the night at my place?"

It was so unexpected that it woke Axle up temporarily and he looked at her, stunned. Tamira realized a second later what she just said and felt a rush of embarrassment. But she felt it was a little too late to retract it and decided to just wait for his answer. She half expected him to just brush it off with a joke.

"I guess that would be okay, if you don't mind," to her surprise, Axle accepted the offer. To be fair, he answered slowly, as if unsure with the decision himself.

"No, not at all," she shook her head and felt a little hazy over the exchange.

They stared at each other's eyes for a while, trying to process what had just happened. Eventually, she smiled at him, feeling both shy and smug and got on the bike, putting her helmet on. Axle followed suit and got on the back seat, wrapping his arms around her waist and they rode off.

__________

Present day...

"WHAT? That's it?!"

Tag's loud, hyper voice can be heard echoing throughout the garage. His eyes looked wild and he was unsatisfied with the conclusion of the story. Miles was closing his ears with his palms after hearing him yell and got irritated. Riq was on the other side of the screen, raising his eyebrows in bemusement over Tag's reaction.