mobster mash

Athena hadn’t been to the races since she broke up with Justin six months ago. On the drive there, she realized she had sort of missed going. There was always a lot of energy and excitement at the track, though she was more concerned with finding Rudy at the moment. If Max said that Rudy could help them find Fletcher then she trusted him. She was bouncing her foot a lot on the drive, feeling anxious but also a little excited. She reached up to adjust her ponytail and caught sight of Max glancing over at her and tried not to smile like a dumbass. Leering looks from creepy guys at the club were gross, but she didn’t mind when Max snuck looks at her. She really hadn’t been thinking about Justin when she picked her outfit.

They pulled up at the track and Max picked a place to park that was a little ways away from the racer lineup. Athena swung her legs out of the car and followed Max.

“Rudy has an office back this way,” he explained. He seemed to do his best to skirt around the crowd that was already forming for the race tonight, as if he didn’t want people to see him there. She remembered he had said he didn’t always feel like dealing with the people at the races. She was curious about why, but didn’t ask in case she seemed nosy.

As they got closer to Rudy’s “office;” which was a tiny building situated more or less away from the noise and chaos of the track; Athena realized her heart was beating faster. If Rudy knew where to find Darwin Fletcher, then she’d be a lot closer to finding her dad. She hoped this wasn’t another dead end. Max knocked loudly on the office door.

“Who is it?” A cranky sounding voice was slightly muffled behind the door.

“It’s Max.”

The door swung open abruptly and revealed an old man with a shiny bald head and bushy white eyebrows behind thick glasses.

“Max,” he said cheerfully. “Haven’t seen you around in a while. You here to race?”

“Um, no. Not today. Sorry, Rudy.”

Rudy made a “hmph” noise, looking disappointed.

“We actually need to ask you for some help,” Max went on, practically shouting to be sure Rudy could hear him.

“We?” Rudy glanced over and finally noticed Athena.

“Ah,” he said. “I’m sorry, my dear. I didn’t notice you hiding over there. Don’t worry, I look scary but I don’t bite.”

Athena smiled a little, edging out from behind Max.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” she said politely.

“Sir,” Rudy chuckled. “What a nice young lady. You said you needed some kind of help? Well, come on in. I can see why Max is too busy to race lately; who wouldn’t rather help a pretty girl like you?”

“That’s very nice of you,” Athena said, laughing slightly. “I’m Athena.”

“We were wondering if you might know where to find a man named Darwin Fletcher,” Max said.

“Fletcher,” Rudy repeated, furrowing his brow thoughtfully. For a moment Athena’s heart sank, thinking he was going to say he had no idea.

“Ah, yes. Fletcher. He’s big into gambling, so I see him here fairly often placing bets. I haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks, which is a bit odd. But I heard he’s been slinking around near the east edge of The Bleak, over by Black Dragon territory. Staying at some seedy motel and hitting up the dingy casino. The Starlight I think it’s called. That’s the last I heard anyway. If he’s not still there I’m sure someone there will be able to tell you where he is.”

Athena thought she might cry with relief. She actually hugged Rudy.

“Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

“Well, you’re most welcome,” Rudy said, patting her hand. “Maxwell, I hope you bring this nice girl back to see me when you decide to grace my humble track with your presence again.”

Max flushed slightly. “Uh, yeah. Sure thing, Rudy.”

When they stepped outside the office, Athena spun around and hugged Max, startling him.

“What was that for?”

“We have a lead,” she said. “And I couldn't have found it without you.”

“Oh.” Max looked down self-consciously. “I mean, you’re smart. You’d have found a way. But I’m glad I could help.”

They walked back in the direction of the car, but the crowd had grown a lot while they were talking to Rudy. Someone spotted Max and called out to him. Max grimaced faintly as several people detached from the crowd and came to crowd around him, asking if he was racing today. Athena edged a ways away, getting the distinct impression that Max was pretty well known here. She didn’t want to get in the way, and a couple of girls were giving her mild dagger eyes. Athena hung back, waiting for Max to get away from the eager little swarm.

“Well, well. Athena Winters, in the glorious flesh.”

Athena rolled her eyes and turned to find none other than Justin swaggering up to her. His sandy blond hair was carefully smoothed back and he was practically strutting.

“I thought that was you,” he said, shamelessly looking her up and down. “Did you get all dolled up and come down here because you realized you missed me?”

“I missed you the way a cancer patient misses a tumor,” Athena said flatly. “Go away, Justin.”

“Ah c’mon, Athena. You came all the way here, and now you’re gonna play hard to get?”

“I’m not here for you,” Athena said, exasperated. “I’m here with someone.”

“Oh yeah?” he smirked.

“Yeah.”

“Where is he then?”

Athena was about to answer when Max finally escaped the people who’d been surrounding him and walked over to her.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Wait, you’re here with Max?” Justin looked both shocked and outraged by this, and in the moment Athena decided to roll with it.

“What does it look like?” she said coolly, linking her arm through Max’s for good measure. She took some very petty satisfaction in the disgruntled look that replaced his annoying smirk. Max just blinked in confusion.

“Um. Yes. Yeah, she’s with me,” he said.

“How did you even meet Max?” he demanded.

“What business is it of yours?”

“You just show up here out of the blue with another racer?”

Athena scoffed. “Maybe I just wanted to try dating someone who could do better than fifth place.”

Some people had overheard the conversation and wandered over; now a few of them snickered and Justin’s jaw clenched.

“Oh. You must be Justin,” Max said, looking unimpressed.

“What do you mean, I must be Justin? You’ve raced me before.”

“I have?”

Athena thought Justin might have an aneurysm, he looked so insulted. She had to swallow back a snort of laughter.

“It’s been very not fun catching up, Justin, but we were just on our way out,” she said, still holding onto Max.

“What, your boyfriend isn’t racing tonight?”

“Some people do have a life off this track,” Athena replied.

“He hasn’t been around much,” Justin said. “Maybe he’s lost his edge.”

Athena grit her teeth and glared at him. He was clearly trying to recover some semblance of his pride by making digs at Max, especially since they had an audience.

“His edge is fine,” she said, staring Justin down. “We just have other plans today.”

“Yeah I’ll bet,” Justin smirked. “I guess that’s what that little outfit of yours is for. Something easy to take off in the backseat, since slutting around with racers is apparently your thing. Hope Huxley doesn’t mind not crossing that finish line first.”

Athena froze, her face flushing. She was about to march over and stomp on Justin’s toes with her boot, but she noticed Max had tensed ever so slightly. He’d looked almost bored while Justin tried to mock him, but there was a shift in his demeanor. He leveled his gaze at Justin.

“You know what, our plans can wait,” he said calmly. “I think I will actually race tonight.”

Athena looked up at him, startled. Justin had gone a little pale and looked like he’d sucked on a lemon, but the people gathered around them looked excited and started eagerly spreading the word that Max was racing.

“You really don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Athena said quietly as they went to get Valerie.

“Ah, it’s fine,” Max assured her. “You were right, that guy is the worst.”

She laughed slightly. “Yeah, he is.”

Max drove Valerie over to where the other racers were parked, and was swarmed with people again almost as soon as he’d gotten out of the car. Athena came around to stand next to him, earning more than a few once overs and some more envious side eye from a lot of girls. She saw Justin down the row with his garishly green car. He didn’t look happy, which made her a bit smug. Then she turned her attention back to Max and his adoring fans; he was clearly like a celebrity here. He seemed self-conscious with all the attention instead of soaking it in. Athena realized he must have been avoiding the race scene because he was too shy to deal with all the attention, which she found incredibly charming. He could’ve been an arrogant jerk like Justin but he wasn’t even close.

The race was going to start soon, so most of the crowd had to clear out to get off the track and out of the way. Athena hovered back for a moment, turning to Max.

“Racers are supposed to get a token of good luck from their ‘girlfriends,’ right?” she said, smiling slightly. She reached up and pulled the scrunchie from her hair. It was silky and pale blue, to match the color of her crop top. She handed it to Max and then flashed him a smile before going to join the amped up crowd.