Even though my Dad never let me drive a car before, he had always taught me to observe. He used to say that it was the first most important thing in learning—observation. It always showed some characteristics of the person sitting behind the wheel.

Each curve the driver makes, the fraction of a second he takes to change the gear, the millimetre by which he releases the break and a second for which he angles his head to look at the rear-view mirror... everything mattered.

It differentiates a normal driver from a professional.

"Be a professional, sweetheart." My Dad always said, when he took me to his races. "In anything that you choose to be."

I had never understood the actual meaning behind the words when I heard it at seven for the first time. Now, I knew exactly what he meant.

And being professional takes time and practice.

Sitting next to Robert, I knew, he was an expert with the automobiles. Those scars on his forehead said so.

After all, being a professional has its own set of sacrifices.

Even though I wanted to make a keen observation and comment on how he failed to put the gears or didn't look at the mirror before he took a turn, I was exhausted.

Putting your best friend to detention, watching him flirt with a junior, getting into an accident, driving the same path over and over again just to make sure that I wasn't afraid to sit behind the wheel again—all drained my energy out. The fact that I hadn't had any food was no help at all.

My stomach grumbled in response and I let out a long sigh. I turned my face away from the window and looked at him. "Can't you go any faster?"

Robert's lips twisted upwards in a sly smile, his eyes never leaving the road ahead of him. For a moment I thought he never heard me and was smiling idiotically at something running on his head.

Just as I confirmed my assumptions to be true, he opened his mouth. "All in good time, Stone."

I rolled my eyes. Of course it had to be something sarcastic. "Well, I'm hungry." I retorted.

"You don't want another adventure for today." He said, still not looking at me.

"You are just self-boast." I turned back to look at the window again, taking in the lighted town with few shops closed for the day.

Warmth spread across my cold palm as Robert held my hand to get my attention. Whatever happened to calling for attention is still lost in me. When I turned back to look at him, he was looking straight into my eyes.

"Shouldn't you keep your eyes on the road?" I asked, looking alternatively between the road and his face. "I don't want to be making any more trips to the hospital."

He smiled again, not changing his direction of view. "So, you don't trust me?"

"Should I?" I raised one eyebrow at him.

"Well, I'm very trustworthy." He said with a wink, without looking back at the road.

"Seriously, Rob." I laughed, pushing his stubble face towards the road. "I really don't want to die young."

The café which was close to my place, was still open and I was thankful for that. Robert slowed down the car and halted in front of it.

"I won't let that happen, babe."

Robert was too clichéd for his own good and was very good at flirting too. That was always the case with the boys in the track. And I knew that. After all, I had grown up along with them... somehow.

Rob turned the engine off and looked at me. His eyes shone brighter even when it was half past ten while mine were already drooping. I wondered how he did that—staying alert and looking so lively at odd hours.

His curly hairs dangled in front of me, as he pushed it aside. "So take out or having here?" He gestured towards the small café which held only two guys sitting with a beer bottle in their hands.

"Is it okay if we have it here and then go home?" I asked, surprising myself.

I was never the one to spend a day out of the house with someone from the tracks, expect for Dan of course. Not even when my Dad was doing good. I wondered, if going out to race was a bad idea all together.

But now, I was testing boundaries. Trying out new things that were enthralling and daring at the same time. Preferring to stay out as much as possible. Perhaps it was one of the ways to keep myself busy instead of facing the things at home.

"Not at all." He said, smiling the same smile again. "It's not that I have a date every day."

My face turned beet red. "It's not a date." I blurted out.

The whole concepts of testing boundaries were thrown out of the window. It was not enthralling or daring. But it was just plain foolish to even ask this idiotic duffer to drive me home. I felt like face palming myself.

"Ah, sure it is." I couldn't stop the urge to hit him on his head. I gave a fist bump on his shoulders and all he did was laugh. "Alright babe, it's not. Okay?"

"I'm not your babe." I hit him again, harder than before.

"Ouch." He said, moving away from me. Rubbing his shoulders where I had hit him, he got out of the car. "You cannot hit your mentor."

"Can I hit your Maria then?" I asked with puppy eyes. I followed him out of the car and climbed the steps to the café.

Robert's eyes grew a bit larger. There was a wonder in his eye, as if he had never thought I would have brought his Maria into the subject. His curly hairs came back in front of his eyes and there was a shock in his face.

For a whole minute, we stood still. He was on the top of the stairs by two steps while I was nearer to the car, two steps below him. I couldn't hold my laughter back again and let it out.

He relaxed a little, realizing that I was joking. The only fact that he thought I would do it was more than enough for me to tease him further. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, probably telling himself that it was all over and his Maria was safe and sound.

I climbed up the stairs to meet him and squeezed his shoulders, "Come on, cupcake. I'm still hungry."

"You know what? You are so evil." He said a second later, getting his breath back again. "And don't forget mean."

"Thank you." I smirked at him. I pushed the door open and went past him. I was more than hungry and I couldn't wait for him to get to order. "I'm known for it."

The café was small and it looked as if it were dying inside. They could have increased the lighting, but then again, it was night and I couldn't complain. It required the customers to go to them and then order, so it usually had a queue.

But for the hour we were in, there were hardly anyone, except for the wasted two men, with half empty bottle in their hands.

"A veg sandwich please." I said, looking at a Chinese guy who stood behind the desk. "And a big bottle of soda."

By the time I was done ordering, Rob came by my side. "Same for me. But cancel the soda and replace it with water, for both of us."

I gave him a look. I thought it was me eating and he was paying. "What?"

"You don't want to drink soda at this time of the day." He said, dismissing me.

"Anything else?" The Chinese guy, smiled politely at us.

"Nothing for now." Robert bet me to it.

"Please pay for the items there." Chinese guy pointed towards the other corner, where a blond sat staring at her phone.

Robert asked me to sit at the table while he would pay the bills. I obliged and went to sit at the seat that faced the abandoned roads.

I settled my school bag and looked at my phone to see if I had any messages. There was only one from Lily reminding me about the assignment I had to submit for tomorrow. Thankfully, I had done that a few days ago, but there was none from Dad.

I turned to see what was taking Robert so long to get us our orders. There were hardly any people there and I wondered if he left me and went home. As I angled my head to look at the counter which took the bills, I wasn't surprised to see him flirt with the girl who was returning the change.

I shook my head to myself when I saw Rob hold her hand with a weak excuse of taking back the change. When he looked my way, an eye roll was all he got back.

He exchanged another few words before he left her to join my supper. He slumped his hair to one side and gave me a big grin. "She's hot right?"

"Thank you, that was very fast." I replied sarcastically.

His grin only widened.

"Awe, babe." He said pinching my cheeks as I grabbed my sandwich from his hold. "You are jealous. But don't worry, I won't go unless she makes a move first."

"Do I look like I give a shit about it?" I asked, taking a bite. "Besides, I've Nick with me."

"Are you sure about that, honey?" He asked, unwrapping his own sandwich. Before he could take a bite, he looked at me, giving me a smirk. "He didn't look interested in you."

"Just tell me who's jealous now?" I asked back. "FYI, he's totally into me. Did you see he was waiting for me at the tracks? If I hadn't told him to go home, he would have been here with me now."

He shook his head with a smile of his own.

"You don't have anything to say to that do you, analyzing young man." I said, confident that I was right.

"May be, maybe not." He said, not looking at me. For once, he thought it was better to look at his half-finished sandwich than me, while he made such statements. "You never know. Besides, I told you I wasn't going to help you win over any guy."

I was now curious. "Why is that?"

"I mean..." he drawled his words. "I shouldn't. You know him better than me, so..."

"Cut the chase, Rob." I said, putting my remaining sandwich on the table. "Spill it out."

"Are you sure about him?" He asked again. This time he was serious and there was no hidden agenda which he always had to put me through.

"You mean...?" I helped him with the words.

"He was talking to a person call Sam and with the conversations I heard, I thought they were pretty close." He said, looking away. "I don't want to gossip and that's totally your department..."

He went on and on. But my mind set still. Sam? Who was this new person that I didn't even know the name of? But Sam did ring a bell somewhere far away.

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate wondering where I had heard the name. Then, like the lamp that shines bright just before it burns out, I had solved the mystery. My heart hurt listening to it.

"It's San not Sam." I said, going back to the library where they were so close. I didn't know he talked with her on phone.

"Huh?"

"It's Sandra. Maybe Nick calls her as San and you heard it as Sam with your great hearing abilities." I said, picking up my sandwich back again. "It's the girl he was dancing with at the party. He claims her to be his new best friend."

"Oh, and you are okay with that?" He asked carefully.

I gave out a nervous laugh. I looked out the window to see the same men puffing out their last of their cigars as they went back to their trucks. The end of the cigar eventually died out, leaving nothing but a pinch of ashes on the footpath.

"You should get him to notice you." He said a minute later.

"He notices me." I said with an eye roll.

"Like a normal friend."

"Whatever."

"You should dress pretty." He said.

I threw my empty sandwich paper at him with a glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He laughed at my poor attempt. "I'll rephrase it, honey." He took the papers and walked towards the exit. "You are always in your work clothes and most of them stink."

I pushed him off the stairs as we made out of the café to reach the car. "I do not!"

All I heard in return was laughter. "Even now. I was just being a gentleman in not telling you."

"You are such a jerk, I tell you." I said, laughing along with him.

I was more than happy with the subtle topic change. Robert was a guy who could insult you and give a shit about how you feel at the same time.

He walked towards the car and opened the passenger door for me. "Buckle up sweetheart, you just need some rest. You hit your head today and you don't even know what you are talking about."

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A/N: So, there you have it. Rob's not going to help her in spicing things with Nick. I mean which guy would? This is just a filler chapter to ease on between the important ones.