It feels like forever since I've participated in the Wednesday Brief but I had some inspiration this past weekend and got my writing hat on, so to speak.
Here's this weeks prompts:
use a safe word in your story
The alternate prompts are:
cherry, innocence, scarf or
"I thought you were .... but you really aren't,
you're.... "
or use any Beatle title in your story or
use: independence, master, control
or make a 50 Shades of Grey reference
As always I'll leave the links to my fellow briefers. Nothing better than a free read to brighten up your day.
Have and excellent week and happy reading!!!
And The Race Is On Part 1
“So, Andrew, are you packed and ready to go?”
Andy turned to look at his boss, Leon Walsh aka editor and
chief of Sports Craze magazine, standing in the doorway to his office. Leon was
the only person who used his given name.
Andy thought it annoying that the man just couldn’t call him by the name
he liked. Andrew seemed so official, like when his mother would yell at him when
he was in trouble. Andy was more laid back, a likeable person’s name.
“Yes, sir,” Andy said as he finished typing an email, then
closed his laptop and stood up. “This time tomorrow I’ll be sitting in the
stands in Charlotte watching some NASCAR.”
Andy was a journalist for a sports magazine. He travelled to
several different locations writing about what current sporting event was all
the rage. And that was the reason he was heading to Charlotte, North Carolina
for a sporting profession he just couldn’t grasp the purpose of. Men driving
cars at high rates of speed around a circle track over and over again. It
reminded Andy of a hamster on a wheel. In constant motion but never going
anywhere.
“Good, good, good. This race car driving has really gained popularity
so I trust you’ll bring me back a great story,” Leon said with a smile.
“You bet.” Andy gritted out as he stood from his chair.
“Well I better be off so I don’t miss my flight.”
“Yeah, right you better get a move on it. Traffic this time
of day can be a bear.” Leon followed him out. “Have a safe flight Andrew.”
Andy nodded his thanks and headed toward the elevator. When
the door dinged and opened wide he stepped inside the decorative metal box. He pushed
P for the parking garage and leaned back against the cool reflective wall at
his back.
Being a sports journalist wasn’t his dream job but it was a
start and if he had to admit he wasn’t half bad at it. Especially for a man who
couldn’t catch let alone throw a ball to save his life.
His dream was to write meaningful news articles for Time
magazine or Newsweek. To write about stories that would change people’s lives,
maybe even make a difference. But getting his foot in those doors took
experience and time. So that left Andy writing about organized sporting events.
He wasn’t bitter about that. It was a start after all.
The elevator doors pulled apart and opened into the parking
garage. He walked over to his little black Jetta and popped the lock. Carefully he stowed
his bag in the backseat and climb into the driver’s side and turned on the car.
The drive to the airport was pretty uneventful. No accidents
or road construction causing him to run late. He took the exit for the San
Francisco Airport and followed the signs to the long term parking. Andy grabbed
his laptop case and his one carryon. He learned to pack efficiently from past
experiences. The trip was only to last about a week but he never knew when he
would be called to another location to cover a different story.
After checking in and getting situated at the gate for his
flight, with an hour and half left until take off, Andy pulled out his laptop
and took another look at the material he had gathered. NASCAR was a popular
sport that had really picked up steam in the last few years. People had their
favorite drivers they rooted for and followed the circuit around in RVs. Some serious
die hard fan’s even tattooed their bodies with their favorite driver’s race car
numbers. Now that was some serious commitment.
Andy pulled up the email that had all the info on the racing
team he was being sent to interview. A new driver by the name of Luc Royston
was having a really good year. His points standings were high for a newbie, or
so the information the guys team manger sent him.
The research Andy had done so far pulled up nothing negative
pertaining to Luc. The guy seemed squeaky clean almost too much so. It wasn’t
that Andy was looking for the bad in him but most people had either skeletons
in their closets they wanted to hide or a flurry of good stuff going on like
charity work or some shit people liked to brag about. But this guy had nothing,
zilch. All it did confirm was that Luc was having an amazing year behind the
wheel.
Scrolling down the email there was picture of Luc from the
last race he had won. Andy’s heart did a flutter at the photo. Luc’s high cheek bones were flushed from excitement
of the win and his squared masculine jaw line was less harsh from the huge
smile Luc wore across his face. He looked to be of average height with brown
hair and bright blue eyes. Luc’s hair was messy from the helmet he had to wear
while racing. Andy wished he could reach his hand through the computer screen
and straighten the mused locks.
Luc wore his racing suit in the picture so Andy couldn’t get
a good visual on the man’s body but assumed it was like the rest of the
package, perfect. He understood the Beatles meaning for the song Drive My Car, because he would let Luc
drive anything he wanted.
One of the perks of Andy’s job was being around hot, sweaty,
and sexy as sin men the majority of the time. He was a gay man invited into the
locker rooms of some of the most well sought after, prime specimens, men in the
world.
Yep, sometimes life was good.
To Be Continued
