Bryan crossed the finish line amidst the cheers of the spectators, most of whom were here to just watch. He had finished third.
"I guess I owe you two weeks coffee, huh?" Bryan said glancing at the lady who had become silent all of a sudden.
"Are you freaking kidding me? You were awesome!!" She almost jumped on Bryan but managed to hold herself back, "I didn't imagine you could make it so far. These guys are too good that I thought you'd come up around 8 or 9."
"So, I won't buy you coffee anymore?" Bryan badly wanted her to say 'no, you don't have to' but then again this girl was unpredictable.
"Of course you will; the punishment still stands." She really didn't take the coffee as a punishment; she just wanted to make him buy coffee for her.
They walked over to the rest of the competitors who had gathered somewhere to chat. The only exception was Ruth who seemed to be a loner.
"Nice job! You almost won this time!" A bald man congratulated Marro and slapped his shoulder playfully.
"I will go again after the next round." Marro took a can of beer from a container that contained many cans of beer.
Bryan and Bernadette joined them and said 'hi' to a few people.
"You're the new guy, right? You did amazingly well. It's quite seldom for newbies to go all the way, unless they were real sport racers, which you're not!" The bald man named Benson shook hands with Bryan.
"How do you know I'm not a pro racer?" Bryan asked adopting the air of a professional.
"It's simple. Pro racers won't bother coming to this amateur evening racing," Benson drank a mouthful of beer and offered, "You care for some beer? It's on the house."
"Thanks!" Bryan received the beer with glee. He liked beer a little too much these days.
Meanwhile, Bernadette stood a little distance from the group. She didn't notice when Marro had crept beside her otherwise she would have moved away.
"How did you see my skills earlier?" Marro asked with a bit of pride in his tone.
"You did pretty good." Bernadette replied perfunctorily not wishing to continue the conversation.
"Too bad your first race ended in third place." Marro drank his beer as he smiled to himself inwardly.
"We lost alright, but he still gets to buy me coffee as compensation." Bernadette said mischievously. She knew what was going through his head now.
"Wait, what sort of deal is that?" Marro found it silly that Bernadette would enjoy losing just to have that guy but her coffee. All those time, she would tell him that if only he won, then she'd "consider" having dinner with him!
"If he had won you'd be bragging right? And now that he lost, you're still so happy?"
"Absolutely!" Bernadette nodded animatedly.
"What did he feed you with?" Marro's voice became softer, filled with pain.
"Oh, come on! Don't be such a cry baby, too bad you couldn't become a pro racer!" Bernadette tactfully delivered the low blow.
Marro's face twisted with anger. He had indeed tried to become a pro racer but his dreams were crashed right before he even began. And then that Ruth girl comes along!
Bernadette was all smiles as she noticed that Marro had suddenly become quiet. The reason she had stopped coming here every evening, when she wasn't on duty, was because of this guy's consistent pestering.
"Are you racing next?" Bryan asked Benson as the duo walked towards Bernadette and Marro.
"Yeah. I like going on the third stage." Benson sipped his beer and asked Marro what was wrong with him; he noticed that his face was as red as a tomato.
"Nothing that you should mind!" He snapped at Benson who raised his hands in surrender.
"He's just annoyed that a lady keeps beating him every time." Bernadette gave him a sympathetic Pat on the shoulder.
This gesture angered him the more as he pushed her hand away.
"Do you want a drink? Benson says it's free." Bryan offered Bernadette.
"No, I'm okay. I'll take water." She said. She remembered what happened the night she went home drunk. She didn't want that to happen again; at least she wanted to face Tracy with a clear head.
"Tch! Let's go, you're up next!" Marro hissed and grabbed Benson pulling him away from those two.
Bernadette and Bryan were left standing in silence. Bryan gulped down more beer before saying in a light voice, "thank you, Bernadette."
"For what?" She asked quite puzzled.
"For bringing me here. This was exactly what I needed for a break."
Bernadette smiled broadly and said, "We could come again next time!"
"As long as I don't have to endure your screaming, then fine."
Bernadette rolled her eyes at him and countered, "That was necessary for the victory."
....
After speaking to a few more people, including Ruth, they decided to end the outing for the day.
Ruth wasn't such a snob after all; Bryan thought she was just someone who liked her own company.
Bryan offered to drive her back, but Bernadette declined pointing out that it wasn't a far distance.
He didn't leave yet. He sat on his bike watching her jog along the street till she disappeared into the darkness.
Bryan sighed and sped away from the brightly lit racing track.
It was an amazing experience for him.