Chapter 9

Time was passing by rather quickly for Lewis and Roxanne. The two lovers had now been happily engaged for about a month and they planned to be married in another two weeks before Lewis began the next racing season. Now they just had to get the wedding planned out.

Lewis had already talked to Roxanne about inviting all the racers from the World Grand Prix, including Jeff, to the wedding. She readily agreed to letting Lewis invite them.

"You should ask Jeff to be your best man," Roxanne told Lewis. "He is your best friend after all.

"You're right honey, I should ask him. He'll be back later today, so I'll ask him then," Lewis replied.

A few hours later, Lewis and Roxanne went to meet Jeff at the airport. When Jeff got of the plane, they immediately drove over to greet him.

"Hey guys," Jeff said smiling.

"Hey man," Lewis responded happily.

"Its nice to see you again Jeff," Roxanne answered.

"It feels nice to see you guys again, too," Jeff replied.

After greeting each other, Jeff, Lewis and Roxanne left the airport and went out for lunch. Like before, they went to the little restaurant where Lewis first took Jeff and Roxanne.

The trio went inside the restaurant and found a table beside a window.

"Excuse me guys, I'll be right back," Roxanne said then headed to the lady's room.

Lewis smiled as he watched Roxanne and sighed dreamily.

Jeff looked over at his best friend and smiled. "You're lucky to have her."

"I sure am," Lewis answered, then proceeded to ask Jeff a question. "Hey man, I want to ask you a question."

"You can ask me anything Lewis," replied Jeff.

"I was wondering if you'd be my best man at our wedding. It would mean a lot," Lewis said.

Jeff looked at his best friend with a wide smile. "I'd be honored to be your best man."

Lewis smiled back. "Thanks man."

"Any time," Jeff replied.

After another few minutes, Roxanne came back and the trio enjoyed a nice lunch.

Once they finished their lunch, they left to go take a drive out of town in the country. But what they didn't know was that they were being followed. And it was someone who wanted to get back at Lewis.

Lewis, Roxanne, and Jeff had driven out of town a few miles and stopped at the top of a cliff. It was a beautiful place with lush green grass, flowers that were in bloom, and birds were chirping in the trees. It was the perfect place to escape to if anyone wanted to get out of the city for a while.

"It sure is peaceful up here," Roxanne said with a smile.

Lewis had a wide smile. "Yeah. My dad would always bring me up here when I was a kid. We'd always race each other to see who would get here first. It was because of him that I became a racer. Just like he was." His smile then turned into a frown with a sad look in his eyes.

Roxanne and Jeff looked at Lewis and saw the sadness in his eyes.

"What happened to your dad man?" Jeff asked.

Lewis took a deep breath before saying anything.

"I was 10 years old at the time. My mom and I were at the racetrack to watch my dad race like we always did. The race was going in well and dad wasn't having any trouble. Then on the last lap, it happened."

"What happened?" Roxanne asked.

Lewis let out a shaky breath before continuing, the image of that day replaying in his mind as he talked about what had happened.

"It had finally went into the last lap. Dad was in a duel with his rival for the lead. Then in the final turn, his rival hit him, sending him nose-first into the wall. Then he was sent flying into the air and flipped many times before finally stopping. When he came to a stop, mom and I both raced from the stands onto the track where he was. But when I got to him,... it was too late." Lewis was now choking on his words, with tears spilling from his eyes. "H-he was gone."

Roxanne and Jeff both looked at Lewis with saddened expressions. They never knew that he had that kind of deep psychological scarring.

Roxanne pulled Lewis close to her, letting him cry against her as she tried to console him.

Jeff was at a loss for words and looked at the ground in front of him with sad eyes. He hated seeing his best friend so upset.

Lewis cried a bit longer until his crying ceased to a few sniffles.

"You gonna be okay my love?" Roxanne asked, gently wiping his last few tears away.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," Lewis answered with a small smile.

Jeff looked over at his best friend and smiled a little bit. "Good deal."

"We should be heading back," Roxanne suggested.

"Yeah. Lets go back," Lewis answered.

Lewis, Roxanne, and Jeff turned to leave, but then froze when they heard something. Only it was someone. And it was someone they immediately recognized.

"Well, well. If it isn't Lewis Hamilton."

That someone was Tarquin Gonzalez.