Daynight Racer (Completed)

Chapter 30

"You see this?" asked Lyst, pointing to a weird looking CAD component on the computer screen. "The air will flow around here, not here. This isn't going to work."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

As her fellow colleague went on to alter her work, Lyst blew out a breath. Being an aerodynamicist was no easy task. Her job scope simply consisted of designing, testing and analysing aerodynamic bits and pieces the team wanted to put on the cars to make them quicker on track. To be fair though, the job paid well, but she found a lot of excitement stripped away from her life after she moved on from racing.

God, I miss racing...

Nonetheless, terminating her contract had allowed the team to sign Jaymes, so her efforts weren't entirely in vain. In fact, she actually felt proud, like she did something.

"How about this?"

The sudden interruption pulled her out of her reverie, and she jerked her head towards the screen again, seeing a different but still weird looking component shown. "Yes, this is better."

"Great! Thanks, Lyst."

"No problem."

After offering a smile, Lyst glanced at the clock. It was already around 6pm, and people were starting to pack up and head home. With no tasks at hand at the moment, she decided to do the same.

With one foot in front of the other, she stepped out of the building and practically jogged towards the parking lot. Despite having a jacket pulled over her petite figure, she was still very much exposing herself to the frigid winter air. It made her shiver, but she's had worse, and she'll survive.

Nearing her beloved car, she quickly unlocked it remotely and plopped into the driver's seat, closing the door as fast as she could to prevent heat loss from within the greenhouse. Once she was cocooned within her car, she turned the ignition, and the engine roared to life, the therapeutic rhythm of six cylinders firing up bringing her a wave of comfort.

Kicking the car into gear, Lyst rolled out of the parking lot and onto the open roads. The initial roar from the cold start had faded into a purr, and the hum from the tyres and the wind noise filled the cabin. The drive became relaxing, enjoyable even, as she cruised along the freeway.

But that enjoyment soon turned into horror as the check engine light turned on. She threw one arm into the air. "Aw man..." she whined. "What's wrong with it now?"

To be fair, this was an issue she had faced multiple times in the past. Normally it would only be some fault with the car's computer system. Most of the time, she could simply turn off the car, wait a while, turn it back on, and the problem would fix itself. Nonetheless, it was annoying to see the check engine light on the dashboard, regardless of how easy to fix it might be.

As a petrol station came into sight, Lyst indicated to change her lane, before leaving the freeway. Once she found a decent parking spot, she pulled over and shut the engine. She waited a few seconds before turning the car back on, fingers crossing over one another in hopes of solving the issue.

As if the gods above were listening to her prayers, the check engine light was no longer there. Heaving a sigh of relief, she wasted no time in engaging first gear and continuing her journey back home.

But just then, she heard a knock from the passenger side. She paused what she was doing and looked to see what it was. Or rather, who it was.

"Nick?" Lyst was genuinely surprised to see the young boy here. She rolled down the passenger side window. "What are you doing here?"