Sweet Revenge

“She does, but I don’t really see myself working in that field,” I said. “I was thinking about opening up my own training school for up and coming motocross racers, maybe get into bike sales, do something online with it and capitalize off my name.”

Bonnie’s eyes lit up. “Well, there you go.”

I was actually thinking of doing some of these things if I got bored, which I might after a while, but not before I took a much needed vacation.

“Yeah, like I said, I’ll be fine. Everyone needs to stop worrying about me.”

“Is Leia worried?” Bonnie asked.

I paused before answering to consider the question.

“No, not really. She is concerned, mostly that I’m going to be ok with the adjustment to not racing. I assure you both that I’m already coming to terms with it. Racing was a part of my life, but it’s not all I’m about.”

We chatted a bit longer as we finished lunch and afterwards I went back home. Bonnie had to go meet her parents for something that afternoon and I was glad to be rid of her, though I did appreciate the help in picking out the ring. But every time I looked at it, I felt sick about how much money I spent on it. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was a great investment and soon that money would seem like a penny that rolled under the couch cushion to me.

As I drove my jalopy of a car back to my crummy, little apartment, I felt great. It was like there were just good feelings in the air. When you have the world by the tail and you know that everything you’ve ever wanted is about to be given to you, it is easy to stay in a positive mood. It had been a long period of darkness and struggle; now it was time for me to get what I deserved.

When I got home I had a stack of bills waiting for me. It was business as usual. I grabbed them from my mailbox and headed upstairs to my apartment. I picked up a cold beer from the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table to look at the mail.

It was mostly junk mail with a few bills that were all threatening “Final Notice” and “Disconnect Pending”. I laughed as I swigged on my beer. These people would be lucky to get a dime out of me any time soon. And when they did I would pay them off to go away.

“Nope. I won’t have to worry about you bastards for very long…”

I chuckled to myself as I moved to the couch and turned on a ballgame. Checking my watch, I realized what time it was and decided I would put the ball in motion for Leia and me to get engaged. My goal was that the engagement would be short-lived and that we would be married within a few months, but it was important that I not push the matter or act like I was antsy for it. Things had a certain order that they needed to go in and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t raise any suspicions by being overzealous.

I picked up my phone and called Leia. She was happy to hear from me as always.

We chatted a bit and I listened patiently as she told me about her day. “Hey, honey,” I said. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

We made the dinner plans and I went about making some other reservations. It was going to be quite the special night.

Chapter Nine

Leia

“Well, how do I look?”

My friend Penny put the magazine down she was leafing through and stood beside me at the mirror, first checking me and then checking my reflection. “You look great,” she said.

I smiled. “You are a good friend, but honestly—do I look alright?”

Penny rolled her eyes and groaned at me. “You know you do. Why do you always need my confirmation on stuff like this?”

“Because I trust your keen fashion sense and eye for detail,” I said.

Penny put her arm around me. “I may be a fashion blogger, but that doesn’t make me an expert. I know—it’s shocking! But any idiot can start a blog and call themselves whatever they want. No one has ever checked my credentials or anything like that.”

“Ha, ha,” I said mocking her before breaking into a giggle. “Thanks. And yes, I am aware of the hard fought victories you had to go through to start your own free blog, but it is popular and you do make a pretty good income off the ad revenue, so that kind of paints you as remarkably knowledgeable on the subject.”

“Yeah, I know. I just love talking about my blog.”

“You are crazy, but thanks. I needed the giggles. I’m so nervous tonight.”