Chapter 25 Jealous
"I-I? Got carried away?"
I laughed awkwardly. The question was like a bull's-eye arrow. My mouth was still hanging open as I thought of the right words to answer the question.
Come on, it's just a matter of 'yes' or 'no' but why would the hesitation in answering be this big?
"Of course not. Fool, please don't be narcissistic Chris. You're ridiculous."
I shuddered and looked at him sarcastically, but my response looked very funny in his eyes. Maybe. So much so that he laughed out loud because of it.
"Hey, I'm serious. You're so ridiculous when you're being narcissistic. It reminds me of that sour-smelling hard sandwich left on the garage table during last week's race."
"Oh yeah? But when I'm not being narcissistic, you like it, right?"
Oh no, stop it! This face is hot.
I could die of embarrassment. Don't let Chris see the blush on my face.
He'll act up even further.
But what I'm even more afraid of is...
Chris realises there are signs that I, indeed, have started liking him lately.
Tsk, even my inner voice shrank at that last sentence. It's as if I'm afraid that Chris could actually hear my inner voice just now.
"Don't you realise you just did something narcissistic?"
Chris choked and laughed. "I'm not being narcissistic, fat girl. I was showing my confidence."
I patted my forehead lightly while pouting at him, then we continued our eating session with other small jokes.
Time seemed to fly by. All I felt was like five minutes had passed, but it had already been three hours.
We then decided to head home, after yesterday's qualifying session, Chris had to really prepare himself for tomorrow's race session. He has to go to bed early, because everything has to be ready and in the Paddock garage at an early time.
Today's event in the Paddock was quite funny. Before the race actually got underway, there was a mini race game that all the drivers participated in.
The drivers use remote toy cars that children usually play with, and they drive the cars around the whole circuit together. The atmosphere was hilarious, and I could see Chris laughing along with his teammates during the game.
"Huft, I wish the race could always be like this. No tension, and no conflict."
I documented the moment, some will be uploaded to social media. And some I'll save to tease Chris, I managed to capture a funny picture of Chris's excited expression, enough for a joke tonight with him.
"Hey, alone?"
I was planning to walk Chris straight to the Mercodya garage to talk about some sponsorship info that he needed to know. However, before I got to Mercodya's garage, someone intercepted me.
His face is familiar.
Dark blonde hair, hazelnut eyes, fairly wavy hair with pale skin. I immediately glanced at the Jersey she was wearing. Bright red with orange mixed in.
Oh, he's from the Nexus team. And after a moment I realise, he's Owen Stark.
Gosh, how could I almost forget a great driver like Owen? He was one of the highest point holders in last year's wdc cup race.
Now he was standing right in front of me, smiling kindly, showing off his rows of white and neat teeth. I just smiled tentatively, awkwardly, I'm not the kind of person who gets close easily once you meet.
"Yeah... I want to go to Mercodya's garage," I replied curtly.
Did that sound rude? unfriendly? I don't know, I'm still questioning my way of speaking. I honestly didn't mean to be unfriendly, it's just that I wasn't in social butterfly mode.
"Oh, our garages are next door to each other. One way from here. Let's go together."
"Eh? But..."
"No need. She has a boyfriend who can accompany her anywhere."
I turned my head. Chris was already standing between the two of us, the air felt from him was really unpleasant. There was a look of dislike in his eyes.
Chris seemed to divide the space between the two of us, becoming a huge barrier that separated me and Owen. There was no need to speak directly, people already knew that Chris was showing Owen that he wasn't happy with Owenn's friendly behaviour towards me.
"Hey mate, take it easy. I just happened to see Rachel was alone. She looked confused, and I wanted to help her," Owen said trying to be friendly.
Chris's hand immediately brushed off Owen's rough embrace. I broke out in a cold sweat, Chris never lied about what he was thinking. Too honest, too blunt. And that makes me 1000 per cent worried. There shouldn't be any new conflicts here.
"Chris, let's go to the garage. Didn't you guys have a briefing? There needs to be some checking, right?"
Owen was still smiling, while Chris already had a sour expression that was completely unfriendly. What a contrast. Several times I pulled Chris' hand to get out of there.
At least if you can't pretend to be friendly, don't let any fists fly here.
After some coaxing, Chris finally softened, letting me pull him away from there. While Chris had his back to Owen, I tried to apologise through the gesture that I could give to Owen.
Owen returned my apology with a wide, relaxed smile. There was guilt creeping into my chest.
Owen seemed nice, trying to be friendly to me, but because of a misunderstanding it ended up like this.
I'll try to talk to him later to make things right.
Meanwhile, as we walked towards the pit garage, Chris kept frowning. Should he be that angry? or....
"Hey, never mind, there's no need to put on an act. People aren't paying attention to us anymore."
Chris was still silent.
I frowned, looking up to Chris' face. And sure enough, he still had an unhappy expression.
"Hey, trust me. There's no need to continue your act... wait, are you really mad?"
"Think if you have a brain," he replied curtly.
I'm surprised, why is he really angry? Is it because there's a problem? What kind of problem would arise if I hang out with Owen for a while? I know the public is sensitive even with trivial things, but there's no way that after the incident just now there would be a slanted news about the two of us.
"Then why are you angry? Explain it to me. Tsk, so annoying. You're more complicated than a woman." I glared. "Are you really jealous of me?"
Suddenly Chris stopped, he watched me silently, his face changed. I was as confused as he was, why was he looking at me like that?