"You are working, Ms. Summers. Today your job is to partic.i.p.ate in the areal race'."

"The real race? What do you mean?"

"I told you, Hunny, yesterday was only practice."

"If you think you are going to be Mario, then think again."

My head bounced up and down on his chest as he laughed. "We aren't playing the Wii, my love. We are going to drive real go-karts." Oh, Mr. Clark, you are a glutton for punishment.

We had a shower, got dressed, and consumed a quick breakfast of poached eggs and toast, then headed down to the garage.

"Which one, Hunny?" he asked. I looked at him, and at first I thought he was suggesting which one to f.u.c.k on. But I soon figured out he meant, awhich one shall we take'. Alexis, he knows what you are thinking you dirty girl! He raised his eyebrows as though my suggestive thought was better.

"Well, we can't take the Lamborghini, can we?" No certainly not, I swear that dent in the roof is the same shape as my a.r.s.e. I really wanted to suggest the McLaren, but I didn't want to draw too much attention to ourselves. I know he liked the attention, but I was still getting used to it. "Can we take the Charger?"

He smiled. I think he knew how the Charger made me feel. "Of course we can." Yay, cue the happy clap. He opened the door for me and already this car was doing things to my insides. Maybe not a good idea choosing this one, Alexis. You might not actually make it to the track! The engine roared to life and Bryce gave it a rev, making me giggle like a school girl. Alexis, get a grip.

I enjoyed every minute of our drive to the go-kart track forty-five minutes south of Melbourne. There were a few envious glances in our direction, but overall it was not too bad, I could definitely deal with it.

"So, my love, are you ready? You only get one chance, you know."

"Oh, Bryce, you don't know what you are in for. I only need one chance." It was aon like Donkey Kong', and we were both very much in compet.i.tive mode as we entered the building and made our way to the front counter. The young man was busy with the computer and didn't look up when he spoke.

"G'Day mate. Booking in for a session?"

"How much to hire the whole track to ourselves for 20 laps?" Bryce asked casually. That made the guy look up, but he was clearly annoyed with the request.

"We are open to the public today, mate. If you want to book a function you need to ring this number." He handed Bryce a pamphlet.

"I will pay fifty thousand dollars now for a private function." The young man's eyes widened, as he stared dumbfounded at Bryce. He must have thought we were trying to pull the wool over his eyes.

"Are you for real?"

"Yes." Bryce was firm, but I could tell he was hiding his amus.e.m.e.nt. I could only imagine what it felt like to offer such a large sum of money and stop someone in their tracks like that, it must be very empowering. Or obnoxious!

"No, wait a minute." I turned to Bryce. "I don't want a private session. I want to race you with others on the track. That's only if you are not afraid of obstacles?" He deliberated my suggestion for a short while then agreed, paying for 20 laps as general public patrons. We were given helmets and hair nets. I laughed uncontrollably when Bryce put his on, but even with the horrid white shower cap thingy, he still looked incredibly hot.

"Laugh all you want, Hunny. I will be the one laughing when we are done here."

"Pfft, so you think!" We were each seated in a kart, mine was red and Bryce's blue. Red is always faster, take that, Mr. Soon To Be Loser Clark. I had managed to study the large outdoor track before we were called for our race. When I was a teenager and had raced stock cars with Dad, I had always a.n.a.lysed the tracks beforehand to gain an advantage, and today was no different. There was a long straight and two slightly smaller ones, a couple of tight bends, a hairpin, and two really good sweeping corners. Overall, it was a very good track.

I could feel my nerves b.u.t.terflying in my stomach. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing though, as I'd always experienced nerves before the start of a race when I was younger. I would jiggle in my seat-adjust my belts-check my visor-and stretch my neck. But as soon as that green flag went down, the nerves disappeared and my focus took over. So these b.u.t.terflies infiltrating my abdomen were a welcome reminder that I was about to get down and serious.

We sat lined up on the starting grid next to each other, five rows back with approximately thirteen other people ranging in ages from twelve to maybe fifty. He looked over at me, and I could see the thrilled, but compet.i.tive, glint in his eye. He put his hand to his helmet, then pushed it out again, to signal that he blew me a kiss. I, on the other hand, do not fraternise with the enemy and stuck my tongue out at him instead. Um, Alexis, apparently you have a helmet on and he cannot see your tongue. Shaking my head at my own idiocy, I decided to stick my thumb to my helmet and twinkle my fingers, indicating a raspberry instead. I'm almost certain he would have smirked, but I didn't hang around to find out as we were given the green flag and off I went.

Bryce shot out quick, following his inside lane behind the young man in front. Both of them had to go around the lady ahead of them who apparently hadn't noticed the race had started. I moved out of formation almost instantly, as the young child in front of me had not yet figured out his accelerator from his brake. Poor kid. I wanted to stop and help him but my inner bloodthirsty racing alter ego took over, forcing me to speed off in pursuit. I slotted in just behind Bryce, putting me in fourth place. Bryce was third, the young man he followed in second and a mystery person in first. I knew I had to stay with him to have any chance of winning. From past experience, I knew these karts became heavy as your arms became tired, so if the size comparison of Bryce and my biceps was anything to go by, I was pretty sure my arms were bound to feel tired well before his.

Bryce showed signs of impatience as he swerved from side to side behind the young man in front. I smiled, because I got the sense this would lead to an opportunity to pa.s.s him, so I stayed close and waited. He b.u.mped the young man ever so slightly which allowed me to take the outside lane into one of the smaller straights. I pressed my foot down, accelerating past him and his young nuisance, putting me into second place. Unfortunately, my lead did not last long, as he made up ground when I underestimated the large sweeping corner. s.h.i.t. c.r.a.p. b.a.l.l.s. I had not yet managed to get a good feel for the kart, and had swung the back end out slightly, allowing him to come up the inside and stay there abreast with me down the long straight.

The second sweeping bend approached as we rocketed along. Bryce had the inside lane which gave me a choice to either fall in behind him or stay in the hope he would not slide out too much and push me off the track. I opted to keep my composure as it was too early in the race to try anything brash, so, I did the right thing and slotted in behind him as we entered the corner.

One lap down and 19 to go, my adrenalin was pumping and I felt good. Nineteen laps was a long time, though, and if I were to have any chance of beating him, I needed to formulate a strategy. There are times when racing where you need to be aggressive, a.s.sert your dominance, and intimidate your opponents, but there are also times where you need to be submissive, follow the leader and lay dormant like a sleeping volcano. The thing about sleeping volcanos are, they explode, fire away, and become quite lethal. My strategy was going to be the latter; follow the leader and quietly wait for the right opportunity. Sort of like a snake in the gra.s.s, waiting for its chance to strike.

I followed him quite closely for the next 15 laps, weaving in and out and around the majority of the rest of the field. My co-driver habit of looking past the racers ahead of me, and into the field beyond, was not lost on me as a driver. Doing this proved to be handy when there was crash or a youngster accidently going the wrong way. Poor kid! My motherly instincts kicked in again, and I desperately wanted to help the little guy, but I couldn't. Not now. I had to beat Bryce, there was no other alternative.

He kept turning his head round to see if I was still there, I think he was trying to entice me to make a move. I'm not stupid, Mr. Clark, I know what you're doing. This snake is not going to take the bait. The mystery person was also still out in front, and I would catch glimpses of him momentarily when we entered the straights. With three laps to go, and my arms holding their own, I decided I would pick up the pace. I didn't want to try and overtake Bryce just yet, my plan had been to do that with just under two laps remaining, but he locked up the brakes going into the hairpin, allowing me to gain better momentum, therefore putting me in the lead now whether I liked it or not. I had no choice but to floor it, with my heart pounding and my adrenalin levels increasing as I sped off.

I took every corner as tightly as I possibly could, making my arms feel the weight of the kart as I held it together. I couldn't look back, I knew he would not be far behind, and as I turned onto the straight, the white flag was dropped indicating it was the final lap. Mystery guy was only a couple of kart lengths ahead now. Either he got held up or I had made up a lot of ground. I narrowed my sights on him and kept a kart length between us. As we entered the hairpin, I could hear the engine of Bryce's kart close behind. He gave me a little alove' tap, b.u.mping me forward, and letting me know he was there. Oh that's how it's going to be is it?

I kept a firm grip on the steering wheel and came as close as I could to the mystery person in front. Bryce was right up my backside now, and I had to make the executive decision as to which side he would try and pa.s.s me on. I guessed he would be his c.o.c.ky self and pa.s.s on the outside, so swung out to the right then gently nudged my front left hand wheel into the mystery person's back right one. This sent him slightly to the right, blocking Bryce's attempted pa.s.s route and slowing them both down. I turned hard to the left and floored it across the finish line. I won! I freaking won! I let go of the steering wheel, and put both hands in the air. Take that, Mr. I-Never-Lose Clark.

The race steward directed me into the pits where I came to a stop. Bryce pulled up alongside of me, and we stepped out of our karts at the same time. Although I was over the moon, I was still a little nervous about beating him and felt a bit reluctant in removing my helmet. Don't be silly Alexis. Take it off and boast your little heart out. I removed my helmet and the awful hair net along with it, and watched hesitantly as Bryce did the same. He smiled from ear to ear, and as I looked at him, I mouthed the words aI win'. He smirked and flashed his burning approval which settled any nerves I had about how he would react.

Mystery person pulled up behind my kart and leaped out of his seat. He marched right up to me, lifting his visor and displaying an expression which was far from pleased.

"Don't look so f.u.c.king pleased with yourself b.i.t.c.h. That move was a dog's act."

"I beg your pardon?" Who the f.u.c.k are you, dips.h.i.t? I was shocked, how rude, and to act this way in front of children, what a w.a.n.ker.

"It's just a race. You might want to calm down." I stepped aside, in order to get away from this nasty pile of testosterone-fuelled pig s.h.i.t that thought he was G.o.d's gift to go-kart racing.

"Don't tell me to f.u.c.king calm down."

Bryce was standing in between us almost instantly and was now right up in the raging lunatic's face. Go for the Trachea, my love!

"What did you call my girlfriend?" Girlfriend? Sounds very high school! He was beyond furious and staring wildly at the p.r.i.c.k.

"The b.i.t.c.h spun me off the track." b.i.t.c.h? I'll give you b.i.t.c.h, k.n.o.b head.

"I did not. I gave you a gentle nudge. You were holding me up." I turned to leave. "Come on Bryce, let's just go."

Bryce grabbed him by the shirt. "Apologise, now." I swear he was ready to rip his head off.

"f.u.c.k off." Mystery-man leaned forward and head-b.u.t.ted Bryce with his helmet. The knock to Bryce's head stunned him for just a second, but after that second elapsed, Bryce was ready to well and truly take the f.u.c.ker out.

I held his arm back. "No, don't. Bryce stop. There are kids watching. Stop, please, he is not worth it."

He looked up. "He called you a ab.i.t.c.h' Alexis."

"I know, my love. But look." I pointed to four young children who looked terrified along with their parents, who were trying to get them as far away from the fight as possible. Three men came running down to where we were standing, ready to break up the fight.

"What's going on here?" asked a man wearing a manager's badge. Bryce had let go of the Mystery-f.u.c.kers shirt and now had blood dripping from his forehead.

"This b.i.t.c.h spun me off the track. Disqualify her." Mr Pig-s.h.i.t-Mystery-f.u.c.ker was still chucking a tantrum. The guy was a complete nut case. Bryce moved his arm ever so slightly at the mention of the word ab.i.t.c.h' again, and tried to shrug from my grip.

I held his arm tighter and whispered in his ear. "He's not worth it, my love, trust me."

The manager looked to the steward and raised his eyebrows. "The move was perfectly fine, boss."

"f.u.c.king pansies, the lot of you." The guy wrenched off his helmet, threw it at his kart then stormed off, cursing as he went. Parents held there kids close to them and gave him as much room as they possibly could. I couldn't believe it, I had seen some pretty aggravated dummy-spits in my life, but this one topped them all. It was a friggin' harmless go-kart race, for f.u.c.k's sake.

"Are you all right, mate? Your head is bleeding." The manager pointed to Bryce's forehead.

Bryce ignored them and turned to me. "I'm sorry, Hunny, are you okay?" He looked regretful and hurt in my defence. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a tissue. Being a Mum, I made it a habit to have at least one tissue on me at all times. I placed it over the laceration.

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you, that's pretty deep." I blotted the tissue into his head and stared into his sorrow-filled blue eyes. "Really, I'm fine. I'm a big girl. Anyway, I kicked that k.n.o.b head's a.r.s.e, so it's all good." He breathed in and raised his chest, looking above me to the direction the crazy guy had disappeared.

He turned back to the men and complex manager. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Would you like to file a report, or call the police?"

"No, that won't be necessary," He put his arms around me protectively. The manager took a step closer and slapped Bryce's back in an apologetic, manly kind of gesture.

"We are so sorry for this, mate. We'll refund your money." We made our way back up to the office where the parents and children were standing, still a little worried. Bryce walked up to a couple of the kids and bent down.

"Are you okay there? I'm sorry you got a bit frightened. Listen, how would you like to have a few more races just yourselves on the track?"

"Cool." One of the little boys was maybe Charli's age. He smiled.

The younger little boy, maybe aged four, held onto his dad's leg and turned away. Bryce looked remorsefully at their parents.

"I'm so sorry your children had to see that." He got back up and spoke to the manager. "Look, I don't want my money back. Instead, I'll hire out the venue for the rest of the day, and all children and their parents are on me." He handed over his credit card, and I watched him take care of what he thought was his fault. With all the money in the world he could act arrogant and stuck up so to speak. He didn't, he was kind, down to earth, and always wanting to fix things.

The mother of the two young boys walked over to me. "He really does not need to do that, I saw the whole thing and this was not his fault."

I smiled softly at her. "I know, but he wants to do it, so take your kids back out there and go and have some fun, okay?"

She looked down at them and they smiled brightly at her. "Okay, thank you."

We walked out of the complex and headed to the car.

"Show me your head."

"It's fine, Alexis, it's just a scratch."

"Well, in that case, I'll a.s.sume Nurse Summers is not needed then." I picked up my pace as I approached the car. He caught up and hugged me tightly.

"On second thought, it's huge and deep and needs a lot of attention." He pulled the bottom lip and removed the tissue away from his cut. I smiled at his adorable attempt to reverse my decision.

"Oh, yes it does. Poor baby, but you do realise I cannot let you drive a motor vehicle in your current state." I grabbed the keys from his hand and opened the pa.s.senger side door. He smiled, and without a choice, sat in the seat. Already, my body reacted with little tingling sensations as I grasped the steering wheel, and I could feel my face stretching into an uncontrollable smile.

"You won, my love, fair and square."

"I did." I turned on the engine and shuffled in my seat.

"So what do I get for winning, Mr. Clark?" The Charger roared out of the car park, my heart roaring along with it.

"This." He indicated the car. Getting to drive this baby was well worth the win.

"Well, if getting to drive this home is my prize for winning then, I shall challenge you again tomorrow." Oh my G.o.d, this car is just gorgeous.

"No, my love, it's yours." I shot him a awhat the f.u.c.k' look, but he just smiled.

"No. Bryce, I can't accept this." I stated with certainty. I wanted to, really wanted to, but I couldn't possibly accept it.

"It's non-negotiable, Alexis," he replied quite sternly.

"But..."

"It's yours, end of story."

I couldn't help but smile, even though deep down inside I knew I could not accept this gift. I smiled for him, smiled for my victory, and I think I smiled all the way back to the hotel.

With my hand in his, I led him up to his bedroom and directed him to sit on the end of the bed. I disappeared into the walk in stadium, returning moments later wearing the nurse costume he had bought, after I sang him the aBoo Boo Song' a couple of weeks ago. He had requested I dress up for him, and now was the perfect time to do that. The costume was made of white shiny Lycra and barely covered my a.r.s.e and b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It also came with a tie-on hat and red thigh-high PVC boots. He was looking down at his hands when I stopped in the doorway.

"So, Mr. Clark, where does it hurt?" He looked up, and a huge smile crept across his face, displaying absolutely no signs of injury or illness at all.

"Right here." He pointed to his heart.

"I thought you had a boo-boo on your head?"

"Yes, but I think my heart just stopped, Nurse Summers."

I walked over to him very slowly, noticing him swallow quite heavily as I approached. I bent down and put my ear to his chest, then stood back up and put my fingers over his carotid pulse.

"Mr. Clark, your heart is just resting." I moved so that I was now in between his legs Then taking his head in my hands I a.s.sessed the cut on his forehead. It wasn't as deep as I had originally thought, but it still needed a band-aid. "First, Mr Clark, I must see to your wound, then we can look at ways of getting your heart beating faster." I raised an eyebrow at him, in the hope it would have the very same effect on him as his has on me. The slightest involuntary twitch of his eye told me that it did, empowering me to carry on with my little charade.

"Are you going to sing to me, Nurse Summers?"

"Yes, but only if you are a good patient, Mr. Clark." I walked around to the bedside table. My handbag was sitting on top, so I reached inside and pulled out a tissue and band-aid. A sneaky, self-satisfied smirk crept across my face as I realised that my pay back for the arose petal, birds nest look' was about to come to fruition. Yes, good things do come to those who wait Alexis! Placing myself back in between his legs, I seductively licked the tissue. A part of it got stuck on my tongue and I had to spit it out. Bryce laughed hysterically and fell back onto the bed. I too had to fight back my pending laughter if I wished to remain in character. "Mr. Clark, it appears you are well again. Does that mean I am no longer needed?"

"No, Nurse Summers, my head still hurts...BAD!" He shot back up and supressed the laugh he still had within him. I placed the tissue on his head and wiped away the remainder of the dry blood, then started to sing Fix You by Coldplay. My singing was distracting him from looking at the band-aid as I unwrapped it-which was exactly what I wanted. I placed it over his cut and smoothed it out as I sang the last line, telling him I would afix' him.

"There, all fixed." I looked at my handy work, and it took everything within in me not to burst into laughter, because staring back at me was a cute little aDora the Explorer' band-aid, and it was attached to his forehead. Score, Alexis, you little payback devil.

"No, I'm not Nurse Summers, I'm not fixed." He was smiling at me but his eyes were speaking another language.

"Why, Mr. Clark?" I cupped his cheeks in my hands.

"Because now my heart has definitely stopped beating."