Bryan glanced at Marro a second time before moving away with Bernadette. He didn't bother with the guy's assumptions since it was obvious what relationship the two had before.
Bryan sat on his bike at the starting line with Bernadette sitting closely behind him. He took a glance at the other competitors; a total of 10.
The female powerhouse, Ruth, was two places from him. Bryan took a deep breath as he felt the adrenaline coming on. He had never used his bike for racing since he received it back in Wakeville.
"One...two...three...go!" The loud bang sounded and all the racers sped off.
They flew over the course like flashes of light overtaking and being overtaken.
Bryan followed suit but maintained a moderate speed. He wasn't racing like he was in a competition at all.
"Bryan! What are you doing?" Bernadette screamed into his ears. Her voice was almost drowned out by the air.
"Driving, what else?" Bryan shouted back with his eyes still focused on the road.
"Driving to failure, yes I see that!" Bernadette fumed, "we're falling behind, slow snail!"
"But you said this was for fun and also to relieve stress!" Bryan complained.
"Of course I said that, but it wasn't necessarily the truth. Look, Ruth has gone out of eye sight!"
"I was considering you, you know. I can't ride that fast with a princess hugging me so tight!" Bryan retorted.
"You don't have to worry about me too much! Just beat that girl!"
"What if we don't win?" Bryan asked, "She's already halfway through the course."
"If you lose, then consider buying me coffee for two weeks!"
"That won't be such a bad idea!"
Bryan picked up speed. He glanced at the speedometer which was already in the red. He focused back on the track amidst the joyous shouts of the girl behind him.
One...two...three....
Bryan passed by three racers within a minute. He could barely see the undefeated champion up ahead with three other racers following behind her.
Bryan pumped in more speed. He wasn't afraid of the neck breaking speed with which he was driving, but he was much more concerned about the screaming girl behind him.
Marro was also racing like hell; he was the closest to Ruth at the moment. He clenched his teeth as he gripped accelerator tighter. He wanted to beat this woman once and for all and prove that he was way better at bike racing.
As his thoughts churned, he looked everywhere on the track but the undefeated champion was no more in sight.
"Where did she go? How could she move so fast?" He was alarmed and fired in more speed.
He also noticed another threat; that guy with Bernadette was also inching closer. He was in the fourth place and had opened up quite a distance from the fifth guy.
Marro, whose eyes were still on the winding track, rounded the corner and disappeared as well.
He once again caught sight of Ruth who was still racing at a neck breaking speed.
....
Meanwhile, Bryan was now in third place. He had to endure the deafening shouts of the girl who kept squeezing his belly to show her displeasure whenever she thought he was falling behind. He was particularly thankful that the air was louder in his ears, otherwise he would surely have hearing issues.
"You know what? Maybe you should race by yourself next time!" Bryan shouted so she could hear him.
"Keep going we're almost there!" She totally ignored him.
Bryan felt his heart beat faster as the race neared its ending. He, too, anticipated victory but he knew it was just wishful thinking.
The two superior racers were probably closer to crossing the finish line. Right now, Bryan was in complete oblivion about his worries.
The only thing on his mind was race! Race! And race again!!
All the thoughts about his mother, Anna, and the smiling psychopath were drowned by his felling of excitement.
He was thankful that he had accepted to come here and felt lucky to have a colleague who would always push him to brighten up his mood.
He kept up his speed and maintained his position at third spot with the other competitors closely following behind him.
From where he was, Bryan could see the finish line which was just up ahead. He heaved a sigh.
At least it wasn't too disappointing after all.