Oxterionn: Of Love and Fast Cars

Katherine sat in class trying to pay attention. Usually she loved school but right now her environmental science professor was not nearly as interesting as the cute bird sitting outside the open window, or the sound of passing cars on the busy street below. It was almost summer break and she wanted nothing more than to be outside, far away from this hot, stuffy classroom. Class ended slowly and Katherine followed her classmates out the door and down the stairs that led outside. It was raining a little, so Katherine pulled up the hood of her rain jacket and stepped out into the damp, humid air and looked for the familiar black car that waited for her each day. Normally she resented her father's insistence on her having a personal driver and longed to walk home or take public transportation like her classmates, but on days like today she was glad to have a ride. However, today she did not see the black Lincoln waiting at the curb as usual.

She pulled out her phone and texted her dad. *Where's Devers?*

Her dad replied instantly: *I had to replace him, didn't I tell you?*

Katherine rolled her eyes. Typical dad. *Nope.* She replied and put her phone away so it would not get wet.

She stood under a tree to avoid the rain and looked down the one-way street for the old black car.

Whoever this new guy was, she already disliked him. He was late, and making her stand in the rain. Her hair was probably getting frizzy, and her skin felt gross against the humid air, making her skirt cling to her legs. New York City in the late springtime could be quite stifling at times.

Finally, the black car rounded the street corner and practically screeched to a stop a few feet away from Katherine. She walked over to the car and waited for the door to be opened for her as usual, but the driver never got out, so she opened it herself and slid into the back seat. The partition between the front seat and back slowly opened and the driver turned around to face her. He looked slightly tan, like he'd been spending more time in the sun than usual and had gained a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. His slightly reddish light brown hair had a sun kissed look to it too, despite its messy and disheveled appearance due to the rain. It was dark in the car, but his eyes still looked like a calm pond on a summer day, reflecting the emotions of the sky. Today, they were a dull grey.

"Hi Miss Katherine, sorry I'm late, that's not something I'm used to," he said. He smiled sheepishly and she guessed he was young—too young to be a chauffeur—maybe not much older than her.

"Please, call me Kat," she said and nodded for him to turn around and drive as a car honked behind them, waiting to get into the space they were taking up.

"Kat? I like that, that's a nice name. You can call me Red," he smiled, and turned around, leaving the partition down. As soon as he started driving, Kat realized he had most definitely never been a chauffeur before, but he was certainly an experienced driver. As they zipped through the streets of New York City and snapped around corners so fast Kat had to hold onto the door to keep from sliding on the smooth leather seats, she tried to place where his accent might be from as he continuously chattered to her. It was not like the New York accents she was so used to hearing, and very unlike the British accent her last driver had.

Kat was torn out of her thoughts as they lurched to a start as the light turned green. "So, what is Red short for, or is that a nickname for your hair?" She asked once they were driving at a more normal pace. 'Or maybe,' she thought, 'it's for the color of the stop lights and street signs he chooses to ignore.' Kat had never had her life flash before her eyes, but driving with Red was likely to change that.

"It's not that red!" he smiled at her in the rear-view mirror and ran a hand through his 'not-too-red' hair. "It's short for Redington."

"Redington....sounds like some rich guy my dad might know back in London. You don't seem like that type."

"Ha! You got that right." He shook his head as he remembered all the teasing he'd received for his name during his time in the UK. He'd explained this many times, so he did not mind repeating it for Kat: "It was my mother's maiden name."

Kat nodded and noted the way he blushed a little, and could not help a smile from tugging at the corner of his lips: Red was a mama's boy. As long as he was not late anymore, perhaps he would be okay after all.

. . .

"Mam', do you know how fast you were going?" The officer asked.

She shrugged. "Over 100, at least," the blond driver responded, impatiently wringing her hands on the steering wheel.

"And where are you going in such a hurry, Miss..." he glanced down at the license and registration she had handed him and a grin slid over his face as her name registered. "Miss Emmeline Saxon. Well, well, well. Think we were in a Grand Prix, did we?"

"No! Now, I'm actually in quite a hurry, can we get this over with?" She said between gritted teeth.

"Running off to buy some drugs? Isn't that what all professional athletes are into? Or are you off to get yourself into another fight?"

Despite feeling slightly pleased that she was being recognized as a professional athlete for once instead of a rich playgirl from a mafia family, Emme was beyond impatient. She grabbed her wallet and pulled out some cash. "How much do you want? Please, I'm in a hurry; I'm having a baby!"

The police officer laughed. "Sorry, but you look a bit thin to be doing that, miss. Are you on drugs?"

"We have a surrogate, and she's just gone into labor!" Emme protested, but the cop was not having any of it. She held up the couple hundred dollars she had in cash. "I have a lot more money than this, maybe we can forget any of this ever happened?"

"Trying to bribe an officer? I'm going to need you to step out of the car," he said and got his cuffs ready to clasp around her wrists.

"I'm serious! You can do a DNA test, it's my kid!" She screamed as he dragged her out of the car and into the back of his.

"Right," he said sarcastically and slowly drove back to the station, taking his time to call in to all his buddies at the station that he had caught Formula 1 driver Emme Saxon speeding.

And this is how Emmeline Saxon came to be sitting in jail during the birth of her second child.