Chapter 30
Niki
Voices sound outside my office as I review the Saudi race from over a week ago in preparation for the trip to Miami.
I glance through the doorway and catch my parents in consultation with Senna. There’s no Rosie to rescue me. I think she said she had a meeting.
I adjust my cap, knocking my mug. Coffee splashes across my desk, nearly scolding me.
Hastily, I grab my wet wipes from my drawer, which Rosie replenishes every time they get low, while side-eying my potential visitors.
They’re hovering, which means they’re planning something.
Is this another ambush? I drop the dirty wipe in the bin.
There aren’t as many wipes in there as a couple of weeks ago.
I’m less anxious about staying in a new Miami hotel and haven’t checked my temperature in two days. My counsellor is making progress.
“Hey,” Senna says, rubbing her tattoo.
My family strides in, and the air thickens. I rush to open a window to breathe and let everyone’s germs out. I wish Rosie were around to manage this lot.
“There’s my boy,” my mum says, nearing me. I take a step back, and her face falls.
“Sorry, it’s just that…” I trail off.
“Mum, I told you he isn’t hugging yet,” Senna whispers.
“But—”
Connor peeks in my doorway. “Senna, Jacs needs you. She’s texting Billy Nister’s brother, and apparently, my chat-up lines about going down under aren’t the seduction she wants.”
“You’re the worst,” she huffs.
I hide my chuckle as Connor winks at my dad. “All right, Mum and Dad.”
“For the last time, we’re not your parents, and you’re not our son-in-law,” Dad snaps.
“Yet,” Connor replies with a smile.
Dad gives Connor the famous Jim Coulter death stare that enabled him to run a racing team for nearly thirty years until he reluctantly let Senna take the helm.
“Love you, too, Papa Coulter,” Connor adds. “I adore you, Mumma Coulter.”
My body shakes as I try to control my laughter.
My mum’s eyes twinkle. “I love you more, Connor.”
“That’s enough Connor for everyone,” Senna says, kissing my parents. She turns to me. “I’ll catch up with you later about my Miami concerns.”
With Connor and Senna gone, it’s like the joy is sucked from the room.
I resist the urge to itch my neck where curls of my dirty blond hair niggle me. I need a cut, but I’m not ready to show my scars to a stranger, and the last time I shaved it, I was left with weird patches.
My parents sit on the other side of my desk. I can’t avoid my dad’s pinched stare or how my mum’s face drops. I’ve done this to them.
“What are you two doing here?” I attempt breezily, but the scratch of my hair makes it difficult to focus.
“You don’t answer our calls about visiting you at home. Your mum worries about you.”
“We both worry,” Mum qualifies.
“How are you?” I ask.
My mum offers a fake smile. “As long as I get trips out, I’m happy. Your dad’s okay.”
“I’ve taken up golfing, but there’s no adrenaline. I miss the smell of a racing car after it comes off a track to a screaming crowd.” Dad glances at Mum, who raises her eyebrows. “But your mum rightly says I can’t go to all the races anymore due to my heart.”
And just like that, I’m back in the hospital, fighting a virus, as sweat covers my shaking body, and they tell me my dad had a heart attack and could die.
I sit on my hands to stop them from trembling or reaching for the sanitiser. I close my eyes briefly to force away the intrusive thoughts.
“How are you, Niki?” Mum asks. She reaches for a tissue, and I listen for a sneeze or something that reveals her ill health, but instead she dabs briefly at her eyes.
Before my accident, I used to cheek my parents and make them laugh. Now, I’m driving them to tears. And I can’t explain it because they already look ten times worse than they used to. They’ll know I’m broken, and it will destroy them. I wish I was who they want me to be.
I pull my teeth over my lips and reach for my sanitiser.
“Oh my god, Niki, you have to see this,” Rosie shouts, running into my office.
She freezes, the cloth in her hand waggling in mid-air.
My parents stare, but I can’t stop smiling at the sight of her sparkle.
“Sorry, I didn’t realise you had guests. I’ll go.” She turns.
“Rosie, it’s okay. I’d like you to meet my mum. You remember my dad.”
As she turns back, her face reddens, but she forces a smile.
She slides the thing she was holding into her back pocket.
Her arse in those jeans is fucking perfect, and I’ve imagined grabbing it before she sits on my lap too many times today.
It’s a better image than the one about the hospital, so I refuse to extinguish it even though I can’t go there.
“This is my mum, Lorraine.”
Roise spies me over Mum’s shoulder. I wink at her, and her blush travels under her top to where I’m sure my chain sits against her skin. I want that view.
I clear my throat.
“You’ve both raised a wonderful man.”
I smirk at her politeness, especially as I suspect she’s dying inside.
“What was it you wanted to show me?” I ask.
Her eyes widen as if she’s trying to shut me up, and there’s the tiniest shake of her head.
My grin is unrelenting as I ask again, “Rosie, what did you pop in your back pocket?” And will you let me reach in and get it myself?
My mum looks between us as Rosie glares. My dad stares at her like he’s attempting to readjust his previous opinion on her or decipher if she’s good enough for his team.
“Mum, this is Rosie. She’s my assistant. She’s revolutionised my life already, and I’m not sure where I’d be without her.”
“Is that right?” my dad asks suspiciously. “Did you enjoy Saudi Arabia? I presume you went as Niki’s assistant.”
“No, I didn’t. I had other commitments.” She wrings her hands.
“Other commitments? But nothing is as important as working at Coulter. This is the—”
“Rosie helped me find a dog. We’ll pick him up from the shelter next week. She was preparing my house and ensuring I had everything Graham needed rather than just toys, because if it had been left to me, that’s all we’d have.” I chuckle.
“You always were about the fun,” my dad replies.
Rosie mouths, Thank you when they’re not looking. I want to tell her I’m sorry for getting her into the situation.
“He partied hard, but he drove like a jet engine. Niki was the best. It’s a shame he’s not driving, but he will again. You’ll be back to your old ways, driving and getting plastered all over the papers in no time, won’t you, boy?” Dad’s voice booms.
I struggle not to curl in on myself.
Rosie stammers, “Anyway, I wanted to show you what I’d asked marketing to source. It’s a dog bandana with the Coulter Racing branding.” She pulls it out of her back pocket and walks up to me. She holds it out and whispers, “You don’t have to take it. I was going to wash it first.”
I take it from her, relishing the tingle I always get when we touch. “Thank you. Graham will love it. It’s the best present I’ve ever had.”
“Surely not better than the Maserati Clara gave you before your incident. I heard you bumped into her in Australia,” Dad says.
Mum nudges him, but all it does is make him louder.
“You should ask her out again. She could model for the team, if she’s not too busy travelling the world on her modelling assignments. ”
Rosie’s face drops so briefly that if I hadn’t been staring, I wouldn’t have noticed.
“Rosie, you’d best leave us to it. I’ve emailed you a couple of things I need doing this afternoon,” I say.
She nods like she’s been dismissed when I only wanted to rescue her from this situation I got her into.
As she leaves, my dad replies, “I’ve told you before, Niki. At Coulter, we don’t dip our pen in the company ink, especially when they’re that young.”
Her shoulders hunch, and she pulls my office door closed behind her.
I stare at the ground and pray it opens and swallows me up, because I can’t fix this while hiding I’m slowly falling for my assistant.