"What are you guys doing in the dark?" Robert asked, walking in as if we were the one who disrupted his sanctum. He turned his attention to me. "I thought you had bailed on me again."

With our pizza in hand, we had turned our day into a binge watching sessions turning all the lights off. Though we had initially planned to watch the movie, we had sat talking about our lives, rather than watching.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked, her hands on her waist, ready to hit him if necessary. I could tell that Lily was jealous, thinking that she was being replaced. I had to smile at her protectiveness.

Robert seemed to be calm about the whole shooting daggers situation. He only smiled. "Just because your friend has broken her ankle - "

"Not broken!" I said.

" - doesn't mean that she can stay at home binge watching some series." He continued, ignoring my protests. "We both have work to do."

It was already dark and the weather looked like it might rain heavily while Rob-freaking-Bert wanted me to run errands with him. I didn't want to leave this safe place I had for myself. I wanted to stay home with Lily and gossip some more.

Lily interrogated him with all the questions she had for which Robert promptly answered every single one. I knew he wanted to take me to a race, which err... I had forgotten about, so that I would learn the race ways and the mistakes they often did.

I could tell that with the way Robert was describing about how bright the lights would be, the zooming of the cars, the smell of diesel, the radium bracelets and tiaras, I knew Lily was sold. All her anxieties and fears were forgotten and was replaced by the twinkling lights at the tracks.

"What time does it start?" She asked. Her voice was chipper than before and seemed to didn't mind the intrusion.

"Probably in an hour or so." Robert said, "Which means, we need to get ready soon, Scarlet."

"I don't feel so well." I coughed, pretending to be sick. "Can we skip it? A night's rest should be fine."

Robert only chuckled at that, not buying my bullshit. "Come on, babe. We both know you are just fine. Isn't she Lily?"

"What do you say if I come?" she asked.

I could tell that with all the descriptions that Robert was giving her, she had taken it into her head and wanted to see it for herself if that was what it was. Though I personally liked the idea, I still wasn't sure if Rob will be able to get her a ticket. But, if he made up his mind, I knew it was not that big of a deal for him to crack.

"Lil, I don't think that's a good idea." He said, scratching his head, clearly taken aback. He looked at me for support, but I kept my quite. It was all on him and I was not going to come in the middle and get into a fix. "I have only two tickets."

"Then it's for you and me." Lily shrugged. "She doesn't want to come anyway."

What? I looked at her, my eyes as big as a fish's. She was planning to take my place, ditching me to sit at home alone while she enjoyed?

Robert looked at me with concern, thinking if we had planned this up or if Lily was actually up for the game.

"I understand." Rob started. "But this is not just a race, this is learning." He looked at me. "I would still like Scarlet to come." Then he looked back at Lily so that he didn't offend her. "I would like to take you too, but I've got only two tickets."

They both looked at me, relying on my decision. "I... will it be possible to arrange a ticket for her too?" I asked. I clenched my teeth in guilt and pleaded with my eye. "I promise she will behave, please?"

Robert shook his head as a no. He said that it was already late and if we had to catch the race even before it began we should be hurrying up, let alone to buy a ticket. There was no way she would be sneaking up with us.

"People do that all the time." Lily supplied, not concerned about how Robert would arrange the ticket for her. "Like you said, it's getting late. The faster you work, the better for all of us."

"God, you girls are unbelievable!" Robert gave up after arguing for another ten minutes. Lily was giving him ultimatums telling him that I would miss the session if he didn't arrange for her. Robert finally picked up his phone and before he went out of the house, he commanded at us. "Go get ready. You have ten more minutes left. I don't care if neither of you are coming after that."

Lily ran to my room while I took my sweet time to climb up the stairs. By the time I had reached there, she had already raided my wardrobe, trying on the third dress that I owned. I shook my head and went for the first dress that she had discarded.

Lily had settled on a red dress which was sleeveless and backless. It was one of the dresses she had gifted me on one of my birthdays. Though I tried to tell her that she would be very cold in that, she shushed me telling me that I should let her enjoy a racy night.

I climbed down not waiting for her since I was slower with only one good leg. When I made my way down, I saw Robert typing furiously in his phone.

"What the heck were you thinking, Stone?" He came at me and for a second I was scared that he would hit me on my face for being such a child. "You know it is not a alternate for a party for you girls."

"What was I supposed to do then?" I asked. I was tired of taking it from him. If he was mad, I was mad at him too. "I told you that she was coming over."

"And I had told you that I would be taking you!" He reminded. "I didn't see any problem then. Tell her you have work to do and you will hang out with her in your free time."

"I cannot do that, Hastings." I said back. "She's my friend sticking with me through thick and thin. I just can't turn my back on her."

We had come face to face breathing fire, our noses literally touching each other. He had nothing more to say, he just looked at me, his eyes dangerous.

"Well, shall we move?" The voice was more than enough to break up apart and we looked everywhere but each other. "Oh, sorry. Did I ruin the moment?"

I rolled my eyes and went behind her to lock the doors. As I turned to reach the blue BMW that he had got tonight, I saw that Lily had already made it to the front seat. She smiled sweetly at me. "You can stretch your legs back there."

As I huffed my way to the back, muttering how unfortunate it was to not to drive or sit shotgun in your own vehicle, I saw with the corner of my eyes, Robert smiling at my discomfort. With those two, I didn't know when Robert had become calmer or when Lily turned bitchier.

"You look beautiful Lily." Robert commented, much to my irritation. "Red really is your color."

"Really? Thank you." She beamed, giving him the details of how I had told her not to wear that and should opt for something similar to mine.

"You did a good thing not listening to her." He smiled at her. I wondered how those two had become friends. A minute ago, he was flaming and blaming me for asking her to join our retreat while now, he was sitting next to her, flirting to his heart's content.

I wanted to punch him on the face.

"Do you think James will be okay with this?" I asked Lily reminding both of them that she was taken. "I mean he's pretty protective and possessive of you, right?"

"Who isn't?" She laughed at me and then winked at Robert. "But we trust each other. He knows I will kill him if he if he does something stupid and if he comes to know if there's someone else with me, he will kill them. It's simple."

I rolled my eyes. It was a typical Lily answer.

"I like dangerous." Robert added.

"Oh, God." I cried, putting my hands up, almost touching the car. "Just kill me right now and I won't blame anyone."

The arena was fully crowded by the time we reached. The lights were just as bright as Rob had mentioned. The area had come completely alive at an hour of nine. There was a huge line to the entry, but Robert to the back entry where only VIPs were allowed.

Lily, who had become so chatty in the car was now very conscious about her dress. Big men stood by at every nook and corner, staring and eyeing at every person who were walking the place. She came closer to me, scared that she might get lost on the way.

Looking at Bert, the men asked for the tickets that they could see. He showed his mobile and they nodded and let us go in without another word. We followed silently behind him. He took my left hand while Lily clung to my other one. Like kids in primary school, we moved along, hand in hand.

Once we were seated, Robert looked on either side and came closer to us so that his voice could be heard over the noise of the arena.

"You guys sit, I'll get something to eat." He said a little loudly. "Pizza okay?"

He put his right hand at us, curled all his fingers and gave a thumbs up sign, wagging it a bit. We nodded at him not bothering to tell him that we had eaten the same thing a few hours. After all, who could say no to pizza? 

He smiled and vanished in the same route that we had taken to get our seats. I gave Lily a brief about how she should not be talking to strangers or taking anything from them.

She only rolled her eyes at me, unlike me when I had heard this insight for the first time. "You think I'm a nursery girl?" She said, waving her hands off in the air. "That's like the first thing you learn when you are allowed to go out of the house for the first time in your whole life."

After that, I shut up and watched the tracks shine as the helicopters circled around the black tarred roads. Few men were walking around checking if the roads were evenly paved while others were by the cars, speaking on the big microphones giving interviews. I saw that a lot of men were dressed in the track suits stretching their muscles.

"Did you have the same when you raced?" Lily asked, still looking at the wonderful work those men were doing. They sprayed paint on the already shinning cars with stickers so that the designed remained same. "Wow, it sure looks fancy."

"Yeah," I smiled.

I remember being so awestruck when I had seen the race tracks for the first time. I was mesmerized by it all. They fascinated me and I wanted to see more of it and now, just to be a part of it.

"Here it is." Robert said, handing us a small pizza plate each. "Burgers were also there, but the queue was longer."

"No problem." I said, taking the pizza. I was not so hungry and I kept it aside waiting for my appetite to grow.

"Hey, Bert?" Lily asked from my other side. "Can we get a few drinks from that?"

She pointed at the man who was pushing a small cooler filled with drinks of different kinds. It was at Robert's side. I looked at Robert wondering what he might say to that knowing he didn't drink. I also knew that he didn't forbid anyone from drinking either.

"No." He said, without thinking. "I'm not sure if I can handle any of you girls when you are high." I turned red since I knew he was indirectly mentioning me. "Besides, Lily? This will not be our regular thing, okay?" He said slowly, pulling his glasses down his nose so that he was looking her in the eye. "I will not be able to afford it."

"No drinks is fine." She pouted. "But no more tracks? That's not fair. I mean what if I want to see Scar race?"

"Then make sure that she gets you a ticket." He shrugged, finishing his pizza. He licked all of his five fingers and wiped them on his pants, discarding the pizza cover to the nearest dustbin. He looked back at the tracks putting his glasses in place. "Don't ask me then."

I rolled my eyes.

"Scarlet, babe?" He said, looking at me. "We are here for studying, please finish your dinner before the race beings, okay?"

Though he was telling with the best nice way that he could muster, I knew it was only because we had the company of Lily monitoring his every move. He had always been brutal when it came to me learning the track ways and the way he was clenching his teeth while giving me his sweet commands I could tell that he wanted to shout at me and make me do things the way he wanted it to be done.

"Fine." I said. It was not because I was scared of his anger, but because I wanted to be on his good books.

As the racers took the place, Robert turned towards me. "Ready, sweet pea?"

"I'm not the one to be racing." I said. He only reacted with a roll of his eye.

"Lily, honey?" He turned towards her. "It's going to be business for us now." He pointed his index finger alternately between me and him. "So, you sure you will be fine?"

"Yeah, you guys go ahead." She said. "You won't be disturbed by me."

"You know what," Robert asked me with a unbelievable expression shaking his head sideways. "I really like your friend." Then he turned to her. "I really like you."

She only laughed, clearly struck by his charming abilities. I pulled my woolen cap tighter, covering my ears, getting ready for the show. Robert rubbed his hands together and took his jacket off. Lily took his jacket and used it to keep herself warm. I could only think of how many times he had used it as a tissue to clean his hands.

Ewe.

"You see those cars?" He asked and I only nodded my head. "They are called Toro-Rosso cars. This one demanded to use only them. They don't have much protection as the cars you used in yours last time. So it becomes necessary to use a big helmet for it."

I nodded my head observing the cars he had just mentioned. They were all different colors with same design. If the colors were same, I was sure I would not be able to tell one from another. They had longer body compared to the ones I had raced in before.

"This is endurance racing where many drivers drive to cover a large distance just to win." Robert explained.

In the usual races, the car would be designed according to the height and personality of the driver so that he would be comfortable in making his win, but here it was different. There were many drivers racing the same car and the drivers would change once they went for a top-up after every ten laps. Hence the racers were to be tactfully chosen so that they were of the same physique to fit in the car comfortably.

Endurance races were held in large areas, but here it was limited to a fifteen acre of land. "They are compensating it with a lot of curves." Robert said. "I think they are also making the racers drag in between."

I pointed my hands at the road. "The path is too narrow, right?"

He struck on my hand. "No pointing, Stone." He murmured. He pulled his glasses off and stuck it on his shirt. "This is one of the known legal racing so there will be no one going home dead."

I looked at him. "That was the reason why you got her, right?" I whispered not wanting Lily to hear me. She didn't know how deadly a race could get if they wanted to.

"You are smart." He said putting his hand around my shoulder. "Do you remember the race where I first met you?"

"How could I not?" I asked. "You were the one who were blabbering about the next step that Dad had to take."

"Lets just say that white Toro is ours now." He said. He shifted closer to me and pointed at the white car which was taking a turn. "I want you to give me a commentary about how the ride is going to be."

That was easy. I had seen a lot of cars both live and in the televisions. I knew I could do it. Hearing Dad and Dan scream all these years, I knew it was a piece of cake. "Okay." I agreed.

I was excited now and started blabbering about everything as soon as Rob gave me a go sign. "He needs to slow down and let the red one go by." I said after a few laps. "A few seconds being slow is better than losing a whole second round."

"Yes." Robert agreed with me. "I'm glad that you have got it. This race is only about coordination and keeping calm." Robert added. "If you do the way you had done like last time, then you would be kicked out then and there."

I looked at him and he only smiled at me teasingly. I gave him a elbow hit on his stomach. "Shut up. That was all because of you."

"What did she do?" Lily asked next to me.

"You swore to silence!" I said.

"Your commentary is better than theirs." She shrugged, taking a sip from one of the coke bottles she had purchased. Since Rob was not letting us buy any alcohol, Lily was assuming the coke to be her drink and faked a loud burp to add more effect.

I laughed and turned my attention back to the racers. It was the forty second lap and there were still two more racers to go. This driver was a little slower than the previous ones and hence he was just going on about in the fourth place, which was not bad if they asked me.

"I'm guessing the blue wins." I said out loud.

Robert turned to look at me, with a small smile on his face. The helicopter flew by us, throwing us a glimpse of light and then disappearing behind the cars once again. 

The light accentuated Rob's features and I noticed that his brown eyes looked as if they could use some good sleep. I knew Rob was a hard worker and he would do anything to make sure that his line was steady. But he gambled with his healthy lifestyles to make sure he achieved what he wanted. 

"How do you say that?" Robert asked. His smile was still there, as if he knew what I was about to say to him. "The green is on the lead."

"But the blue is just behind them." I said. "And I've been calculating." I smirked. I could tell that Rob's eyes popped up a little with my confession. "Though blue one takes a boost up break every lap, he has maintained his speed while green hasn't."

Robert only raised his eyebrows clearly impressed. With the bashful look on his face, it was quite impossible to miss it. "Not bad."

"You are impressed." I stated, satisfied. It was very hard to meet up the deadly demands of a master when Robert was concerned with it. "Good."

I put my right leg on top on my left and looked ahead. I was sure that Rob was still looking at me, wanting me to explain further but I kept my head straight, staring at the zooming cars. I could tell that he was smiling, shaking his head, not believing that I had said it out loud.

My phone buzzed indicating a call. "Why is James calling me?" I turned towards Lily, my face twisted into a question.

"Because I'm not picking his call." Lily said, looking at the cars. It was the final lap and my intuitions were coming true. "I've told him several times that I was going to be fine and I had you guys to take care of me." Lily grumbled. She was clearly sleep deprived and was grumpy because of it. "I'm not picking his calls anymore."

"Lil, he's just worried about you." I said. "You have never been out of the house this late except with him."

The race had come to an end and it was already two in the night. Race enthusiasts were returning back home and I looked at Lily who was still stubborn to move. James called me again asking for her whereabouts and demanded to get her to his place in the next twenty minutes.

As I ended the call, I looked at Robert who only nodded his head in understanding. We had become a team and we worked in getting Lily into the car and then to her boyfriend's house. It was not that easy though.

I took control of the matters when we reached the car. "Lily take back." I said, taking the front seat. I didn't want James to see her sit next to Robert and assume things.

"I want to sit in front." She wined and stomped her feet like a twelve year old.

"Don't act drunk, Lil." I said rolling my eyes. "Take back, it's my turn to sit front in my own freaking car."

Without waiting for her, I took the front seat as Robert started the engine.

"Come on, sweetheart." Robert said. "It's getting late and I'm too tired."

With a lot of persuasion, Lily finally came in and we started to drive. I told Robert that he had to race to James place in another fifteen minutes. Robert for once, obliged my words and concentrated on driving.

I removed my jacket and handed it over to Lily asking for Robert's jacket. We put the radiator on full blast to keep ourselves from the cold. The radio was shut off and the only thing that we could hear was our own steady breathing. 

Robert drove quickly making sure that he followed all the traffic signals while he tried to reach the goal in fifteen minutes. When I told him to think this as a race, he was more than determined to prove himself to me.

We reached our destination as promised and Robert lifted his eyebrows as if to tell me that he had done it. James was at the front gate, waiting for his girl. When Lily got down, without another word she went in, not waiting for James.

"Thanks man." James did an informal bro-hug to Robert and then a slight nod to me. He went behind Lily. We waited till the door was closed. The sky had gotten colder and the clouds looked as if they would cry the next minute.

I wondered if Lily would be okay or if it was a big mistake to send her to his house at two in the night.

---

A/N: We saw that Lily and James are the happy-go-lucky couple who trusted each other. Would it change now? Is Scarlet held responsible for it?