kathryn claire put her head down as she entered the shop, trying to put as much distance between she and chase, hoping to avoid the stares and whispers.
"kc!" alek motioned for her to join him by the car, studying the tablet in his hand.
kathryn claire made a beeline for him. "what can i do for you?" she asked, hopeful that he was going to let her do something more than a coffee run.
"do you know how to code by chance?" he asked. "there's no power to the dash and i think there might be a bug in our computer program. i really don't want to have to call a programmer..." he trailed off, looking at kathryn claire expectantly.
kathryn claire smiled at alek, thankful for her academic advisor who had insisted she take coding classes. "i can code." she smiled sweetly as she took the tablet from alek. this was her chance to show all of them that she was useful, that she was qualified -- that she was more than chase's whatever she was. "do you mind if i just climb into the car so i can troubleshoot with the code?"
kathryn claire couldn't help but notice alek's eyes widen for a second. but he quickly recovered so she thought nothing of it.
"sure." he shrugged. "whatever you need to do but if you can figure this out so i don't have to deal with the programmer, you will be my favorite intern."
kathryn claire chuckled as she climbed into the cockpit, "i'm your only intern but i'll take what i can get." she pulled up the program, scanning the lines of code.
"what are you seeing?" alek asked, anxiously. "not to rush you but we should be loading the car now."
"okay." kathryn claire scanned faster, looking for whatever error that was causing the malfunction. "i'm going to work as fast as i can but there's a lot of code."
alek nodded slowly, stepping back without saying another word.
kathryn claire scanned through the code until she found the mistake. thankfully it had been a blatant bug that didn't require troubleshooting. "there it is!" she tapped on the tablet, fixing the mistake. she leaned over, flipping a switch, the dash lighting up as it should. pride washed over her.
she had done it. she had been useful. she had shown her worth to them.
"what the hell are you doing in my car?" chase hissed, his face mere inches from hers.
kathryn claire jumped, startled by chase. she hadn't heard him approach. she smiled up at him. "just thinking about taking your job." she was so proud of her herself that she had let herself forget her residual anger towards chase.
"get out." chase demanded, his nostrils flaring, his eyes wide with anger. "you fucked my dash up, didn't you?"
kathryn claire eyes widened, "what? no, i was --"
"get out of my car." chase demanded again, not listening to a word she was saying. "and don't fucking get in my car again."
kathryn claire's eyes narrowed at chase. "move so i can get out then." anger pulsed through her. who did he think he was to talk to somebody like that? much less her the woman he was supposed to be in love with.
chase stepped back, his eyes dark as he watched kathryn claire climb out of the car. "what did you do to my dash?" he asked, an edge to his voice that she didn't recognize.
"i didn't do anything to your dash but fix it," kathryn claire hissed. "who do you think you are to talk to me like that?" her hands found her hips as she stared at chase defiantly. "because honestly, you're being an ass right now. i know you get perks because you're chase elliott but that doesn't give you the right to speak to me or anybody like that."
an audible gasp reminded kathryn claire that they were not alone. her cheeks heated up as her eyes found alek who had an amused look on his face. she didn't even wait for chase to answer, she stepped towards alek, handing the tablet to him.
"you're good to go for the day." alek gave her a small smile. "you've got balls, kid. i think you're going to do just fine here."
kathryn claire couldn't help but return the smile. she had managed to accomplish the one thing she had desperately wanted to. but her stomach twisted at what the cost might be. her stomach churning at the fall out that was sure to follow this confrontation. but a tiny realization washed over her, calming her a little.
in the end, a successful career, her dream career will be forever but being in love with chase elliott might not be.
YOU ARE READING
Not Alone Any More {Chase Elliott || Sequel to Only the Lonely} ✔️
Fanfiction"a sinking feeling hit him as his eyes fluttered shut. he was going to die in this car." a story in which we find out if chase makes it out of his car alive. a story in which we find out if kathryn claire gets a happy ending. a story in which the...
