Asher

"Dude, how far is your house?" I speak over the intercom, driving along a silent highway behind Michael.

"I'm not like any other Ace, Ash. I don't follow society's norms." I can hear Michael's tone get angrier by the second as time passes by.

"Ah. Sorry." We head into a pretty desolate town, where very few people seemed to stay.

"This is a certain retreat for me, my publicly known house is somewhere else." Ah. Explains it. I'm sure Michael can't be staying in simple houses like these.

Michael's McLaren parks in a garage of a very, very simple house. I park my Huayra outside on the driveway, as we both turn off the engines and lock our cars. Michael takes his house key from his pocket and unlocks the door, as he enters first and I follow.

With a very simple house, there's bound to be very simple furniture. Indeed.

It was just a simple living room, minimalistic, I should say. The fireplace, chairs, tables... they are not grand. In fact, rather home-like.

"Its what I would call a proper home, actually. Make yourself comfortable." Michael gestures to a seat as he walks upstairs, meaning that he had something to do.

"But... but... hey!" I call him, as I held out my Pagani key, wanting to return it.

I lost to him after all. I don't deserve the key. I don't deserve the car.

"Ah, really... what does he want me to do right now? Explore?" I stand up, holding the key as I explored the whole lower level of his house.

"If this was his actual house, people ain't gonna like it. But if no one knew of his existence, this would be the best home one can ever ask for," I talk to myself, realising this place was truly meant to feel like home. Even I, a complete stranger, seemed to be no stranger to this place.

"Ah, you're exploring? I'm sorry, I was just handling some urgent paperwork that needs to be sent out soon. It just got to me," Michael descends from the upper level swiftly, apologising for the sudden leave earlier.

"Ah. It doesn't matter, really. It's fine. Also, you wanted an introduction?" Michael smiles courteously and nods, curious to hear what I would say.

"I'm Asher Lee. My father left me at an early age, and my mother disappeared when I was very young. I don't know either of them very well - I only knew my father really loved cars, leaving me his legacy to continue. As for me, I also like cars very much. I just finished college not very long ago, but I don't intend to head on to university. Not meant for that place."

"Lee. Jane's surname was... no, I don't think she mentioned it, actually. I'm not very sure." Michael places a finger on his chin, deep in thought.

"That's fine. I'm just really curious about why they say I have such an uncanny resemblance to her." I sit back down on a nearby chair as I lost the mood to stand.

"Water for you?" He dashes to the counter and pours a glass, passing it to me.

"Thank you," I reply, taking a sip of the water before starting to drink more with every second, "and yes, the car key - before I forget."

I held out the Pagani key to him, and he reaches out to take it, but pulls his hand back.

"You know what? I'll give it to ya. You can take that car for the appropriate occasion when it comes, which is very soon." He was chuckling, and smirked at the end which gave me warning bells, "You're meeting the Aces."

"What the fuck, Michael? I am not... into early promotion!"

"Care to disagree?" He says, holding up paperwork signed by an Ace that seemed to be something other than Michael's, "But no, no worries, you're not joining. They're just impressed by your track record, which is literally only two races."

"And within such a short period, they're asking you to get me to meet them? No, you're joking. Things don't work so easily like that. I'm sure of it-" I am cut off by him...

"In the world of Street Racing, Asher, we do everything fast. Everything. Now, the night is pretty young, but I believe you're exhausted. Do you need to return home?"

"I'm not sure if I'll be in the mood, or even have enough energy to even drive home tonight. I'll need to sleep here... sorry for the inconvenience." I was really exhausted by now, and I was almost ready to collapse to the floor to sleep.

"Sure... perhaps you'll be in an even better mood for sleep later though..." He smirks again, as he holds onto me.

"I'm not that bad, I'm just giving you a room to sleep. Take the second bedroom, I'll bring ya there." He leads me up the staircase, and we walk through the hallway to the second room.

"Here, neat enough?" I look around the room, to see that its equally simple as the hall.

Neat, indeed.

"Sounds good," I reply, feeling the wave of sleep about to engulf me.

"Great! I'll be in the other room, just to your left, when you need me. Toilet's to your right," he points to the door in my room for the night.

"Thanks so much for the hospitality. I can't thank you enough."

"Well, I may be a cocky asshole sometimes, Asher, but I'm human - just like anyone else. Good night." He winks at me, before leaving and closing the door.

I mumble back in response, way long after he left... "Good night." With that, I just let myself fall onto the bed and drift off to sleep.

---

I wake up to a bright sun shining in my eyes. Great. Just amazing. The second I wake up, I'm fucking blinded. Amazing.

I rub my eyes really badly as my vision returns from weird sprites to normal, before heading to the toilet for the normal morning routine.

I didn't care to take a shower - I need to get home, sort out some things. Not sure if -

"Morning, Ash! Just wanted to know if you're awake. Breakfast today is pancakes - but once we're done with that we gotta meet the gang. Did you take a shower?" Michael's voice from the door...

And did he just say "meet the gang"? The ACES?

I NEED TO GET A SHOWER, NOW!

"I NEED THE SHOWER! DAMMIT! GIMME FIVE, I'LL BE DOWN FOR THE BREAKFAST. JUST WAIT!" I quickly undress myself as I did a quick wash and dry myself in one of the towels fairly quickly before wearing my clothes again, dashing out the bedroom and sliding down the staircase handrail to the ground level.

"That's fast." Michael laughs heartily as I see the ready-made pancakes on the table.

"You... COOK? Or whats the term, uh... bake? Fry? Stir-fry? Ahhh! College has fried my brain!"

"Girl, what's your age? I'm sure you're younger than what I'm assuming your age is with the mentioning of finishing college yesterday. Also, whatever, its just 'cook'."

"Well, I am 23. I got out of college last year." I take a bite of the pancakes as I reply him, as Michael himself sits down after washing some things at the sink to take his own share of food, his cooking apron tied neatly around him.

"College surely didn't fry your brain if it has left you with insane driving skills. Traffic jams are not considered in the crafting of this statement, though." He replies, wolfing down his food as fast as he sat down, as I laughed at his statement, knowing he was referring to yesterday's race.

"Don't you take some time to... appreciate your food?" I was halfway through when he was taking a tissue paper to wipe his mouth clean, washing his plate at the sink.

"Nope. I live life in the fast lane, remember? Home's just my place to unwind, before I wind up again the next day. Stop this routine, and I'm a mess." He finishes washing his plate, puts it back on the rack, and gestures to my almost finished food plate.

"It's okay, you're a guest, I won't rush you, but the meeting will." He chuckles, as I see the clock tick by.

"Fuck," I curse, as I chomp down the remaining bits and pass the plate to him, getting a tissue for myself.

"Thank you," he sweetly replies, before washing the plate swiftly.

Damn it! He's the epitome of efficiency!

"Stuck in your thoughts or something?" He was out of his apron, and in his usual black jacket, shirt, pants and... the buckles.

WHAT. WITH. THE. BUCKLES?

"Just a style, Asher. Just a style." He read my fucking mind.

Thank you, lord.

"Fine, fine. Where the Aces at?"

"Diana Coast." WHAT? THAT'S...

"No worries, we're not driving there. We got a chopper." He walks me out  of the house into the backyard as a Eurocopter EC145 lands on the massive clearing before us.

"You are fucking. Kidding." I stare down Michael's eyes as he laughs again, in reaction to my own reaction.

"Nope, I'm not kidding, unless you want to swim across to Diana Coast."

That's so far, and I won't survive my trip there anyway.

"Fine. Show me the way." I follow him into the helicopter, where we were lifted off and sent to the Ace's headquarters...

In Diana Coast, an island bloody far off from Corona Bay.

Whoever had the idea to setup the Aces headquarters there, is fucking rich.

That's all I thought of, as the boring ride sent me into another mood conducive enough for sleep, as I decided to switch off from the world.

Time to wait and see what the hell that place is all about, and I'm sure I'm getting PMS... my mood has never been this bad and strange in a while.

Whatever... just sleep.