Elise was rendering with markers on the dining room table for an assignment when her dad Roland came down the stairs to eat last night's leftovers. "Hey dad!"
"Sup!" Roland says, popping last night's chicken, steamed in cooking wine into the microwave. "Your renders are looking good!"
"Thanks! But realistically, no one designs with pen and markers anymore. Everyone uses computers these days."
"True true, but the pen and markers are basics. You'll use the computers better if you understand them."
She was reminded of Zack once again, she had seen his portfolio and his work through the stuff he sends her dad. He was her senior, and now an actual designer by profession, so of course he would be much better than her. "How's that Isaac guy from Mr. Fizz's cafe? Is his stuff good?"
Roland looked perplex as he got his food from the microwave. "What makes you suddenly ask about that guy?"
"No reason, he's my senior from the same uni."
"Well his stuff is really good, I been speaking to Mr. Helmut, the product art director of the place he's currently working at. We used to be batchmates. We both agree that he's not ready for cars just yet."
"When will you know when he's ready? I thought his stuff is good already."
"Skill wise, he's good. But being a designer is so much more than skill." Roland begins eating on the kitchen counter so he wouldn't disturb his daughters work. "Being a designer is also about attitude, you need to know how and when to take feedback, and when to fight for your design. It's a tough act to balance!"
Elise looks down at her renders. It looks good to her, so she can be proud of what she's done, but looks basic compared to Zack's stuff. She's learned from an early age not to compare though. Rather she sees his stuff as a level she'll reach, so it encourages her that she'll be at least close to that by the time she graduates.
"But his renders aren't the reason I'm shortlisting him." Her dad adds. She perks back up at him to show that she's listening. "Techniques can be taught. Ideas though, you can't just train someone to get good ideas. With all the stuff he sends me, it's the stuff that he doesn't send me that gets my attention." Roland scrolls through his phone to bring up Zack's online portfolio and shows it to her. She has to be honest with herself, she doesn't know what's so impressive about his hyper car pencil drawing. The shading is nice, but nothing that she couldn't do. Roland catches his daughters confused look. "Again, don't pay attention to the technique, look at the idea." Again, she has to admit she doesn't really get what she's supposed to see. There is a bunch of arrows showing airflow over the body, but she never was an aerodynamic nerd, besides, he can't know that's exactly how the air would behave right?
"It's fine if you don't get it. Not every industrial designer pays this much attention to function on form. But look how the curved bodywork over the venturi tunnel channels air to the beam wing, which lines up with the wing above and diffuser below. Of course, it's just an aero strategy that will need to be tweaked in a wind tunnel, but his concept is not something you'd see from any other guy who sketches cars as a hobby. And that's just one aspect of one of his designs."
Elise didn't know what else to say. She likes cars because of her dad, but not as much as that. But if he puts it that way, she can't help but be a little impressed. Roland acknowledges her slow nodding. "Yeah, otherwise we usually wouldn't consider fresh grads at all."
She left her dad alone so he could finally eat. Besides, she was done with her assignments, and headed to her room. Bullet was there, sitting by her PC. She pet the magical cat. "You know, Zack is just like your dad." Bullet says.
"What?"
"Zack likes cars too, he talks about it on and on to his friends about cars and nerds out about small details, just like your dad just did to you!"
She giggled. "I guess they have to be similar enough for dad to have understood his drawings."
...
Being reminded of Zack, Roland figured that he might as well build more than the cold relationship that he established when they met. Afterall, if he's planning on hiring the kid, it would help if he's not terrified of his boss. He dials Fizz's number. "Woi, why take so long to pickup wan?"
"Wah, you think I so excited to talk to you ah?"
The two men chuckled. "How you been man? How's Not Coffee?"
"Not dead yet, thinking of spawning another branch, how bout you?"
"Actually, thinking about that Zack kid, he come by Not Coffee often?"
"Hmmm, not recently no, must have gotten busy."
"I see, hey you free anytime soon? Feeling a bit competitive lately, wanna go Pinnacle Kart, invite the kid also, I'll pay for him no worries."
"Next weekend I'm free, you wanna invite Zack also ah? I'll pay half of his entry, no worries."
"Thanks Fizz, don't die by then!"
"You going karting? Can I come?" Elise asks, overhearing the conversation from above.
"Of course! I thought you didn't want to kart with old uncles though."
She couldn't tell her dad that she paired that guy up with her friend who broke his heart and now she feels guilty about it and wants to find a way to be his friend. She'd sound insane! "You've poisoned me with your love for cars, so I just wanna race!"
"Yes!" Roland exclaimed. "It didn't work for your elder sister!" He chuckles.
...
Zack sat down on the train station floor after work. He was in no rush to get home any earlier. Usually he would so that he can finish his chores and hang out with Ashley online, before that he would want maximum gaming time, or time to write his books. But lately he has lost motivation for any of those, he just feels so tired every day and wants to go to bed. Cantek the station cat walked up to him and plopped herself onto his lap as he sat. "Could you feel my distress? Or do you just want food?" He asks. Cantek just looked up at him and purred. So he pet her. "I guess you just want attention."
Suddenly, Mr. Fizz called him. "Ello? Mr. Fizz?"
"Zack! How are you?"
"Good, what's up?" An obvious lie.
"I was thinking of going karting next weekend, wanna come? I'll pay for you, no worries!"
He always wanted to try karting, so the excitement made him forget about his sorrows for a while. "Really? Wow thanks! What's the occasion?"
"Nothing, just wanna hang out and thought you're a cool kid."
"I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything, just show up!"
He couldn't lie, that instantly improved his mood, as well as revived his dormant hunger for racing. He went back that night and casually booted up Forza Horizon after he was done with chores.
One and a bit weeks later, there he was at Pinnacle Kart with Mr. Fizz, his wife, Mr. Roland, and his daughter Elise. There were a few more people there too, most likely their friends. He didn't expect to see Elise there though, he almost forgot about her existence after dating Ashley. If he was to be honest, Elise was more pleasant to look at than his ex. But that wouldn't have mattered, he chose her, only she didn't choose him. He slapped himself when no one was looking. "What are you thinking about Zack? You're in no state to think about dating again so soon, you'll only hurt her and yourself. Besides, why would she want some loser like you anyways? She most likely already have a boyfriend."
He fully expected her to ignore him, so he only did the usual greetings when he walked up to them. "Hey guys! Hey! Thanks so much for inviting me for real, I've never karted here before so go easy on me!" He shook hands with Mr. Fizz and Mr. Roland, who seems to be a lot warmer with him than their first meeting. He waved at the ladies when Elise approached him to his surprise. "Hey, how are you?"
"I've been good!" An obvious lie. "I stopped feeding the cats Nutribell and started feeding them Royal Canin like you recommended! They look great! How bout you?"
She completely forgot that their first interaction was her criticizing him. It was a pleasant surprise that he took it so well. "Good! Um... I heard a lot about you. Turns out you were my senior in industrial design!"
"Oh!" Zack begins to sweat a bit. "I hope you heard good things!"
"I have actually." She couldn't say that she stalks him via a magical cat, but she has heard good things from the lecturers at uni. "You know Ms Fasehah? Yeah she used your assignment as a benchmark for how to ace it."
Zack breathed a sigh of relief, even felt some pride for the first time in a while. "Which assignment was this?"
"Automotive technology, your mind map was, in her words: 'perfect'"
"Wow." Zack scratches the back of his head. "I'm flattered."
"Well stop being flattered and put your helmet on because I'm about to flatten your lap times!" Mr. Fizz said, slapping the back of Zack's head and handing him a helmet. He gladly took it, and his competitive side awakens.
10 minutes of practice, 10 minutes of qualifying, followed by a 10 lap race was the package they took. Zack took the time to learn how the kart handled. It was rear wheel drive, had a 300cc motorcycle engine, and had a brake line that also connected to the rear axle. He spun out a few times as the fronts were loading and he locked the rear wheels. But after that, he learned roughly where the threshold is and how to get the rears to slip just enough for sharp corners. Everything he knew up to this point was theory and simulation, for the first time, he discovers how hard it is to do them in real life.
At first, he only aimed to beat Elise, because Mr. Fizz and Roland are both Lotus S1 Elise drivers, and Misa, Mr. Fizz's wife, drives a VR6 Golf GTi. And God knows what the others drive, he expects them to have real car experiences too. So imagine his surprise when Elise was way ahead of him on the time sheets. Hell, the father and daughter combo of Roland and Elise were 1 and 2, with Zack dead last out of 8 people there. "Not bad for your first time!" Fizz encourages him. "You were only a second behind me, and I drove this track plenty of times! No worries!"
Zack knew he had more time left in him, he wasn't pushing his kart to the limit yet, so when it came to qualifying, he went all out. Using everything he's learned from his short practice session, he ended qualifying in 5th, beating 3 people. He was pretty happy with himself being able to keep up with the pack this time, but once again, the father daughter duo of Roland and Elise Foo were 1 and 2. "Goddam, where did she learn to drive like that?" Zack asks.
Fizz chuckled. "To be honest, I don't know, she doesn't even have a driver's license yet. But Roland is a real racer, he used to drive Asian and European Le Mans series, don't play play!"
After a short water break, it was finally time to race. Zack lined up in his grid slot and lost positions at the start, dropping down to 7th. He had pace to pass Mr. Fizz and one other guy back to 5th though. Because of his inexperience, he was improving even throughout the race, and found himself catching 4th place before running out of time to overtake him, so he finished 5th where he started. Happy with his performance, he was laughing and joking with Fizz, Misa, and Adam, the guy he battled with to reclaim his 5th place, reminiscing their battle together. "Not bad bro! I wouldn't have guessed it's your first time! You have talent!" Adam compliments.
"Woah! I don't know what to say! This has been one of the best days of my life!" Zack laughs. His eyes accidentally wandered to Elise, and they made eye contact. He figured looking away would be more awkward, so he gave her a thumbs up and looked at the timing screen. She won the race! Wait what? He didn't expect that. He also didn't expect her to come over to him. "Hey not bad for your first time! Some of my dad's friends are regulars here!" She said.
"Yeah but you won! How'd you get so fast?"
She crosses her arms. "Why? Didn't expect a girl to be so fast?"
"No! I didn't say that!" He raises his hands. "It's just, I assumed all these guys here are real sports car owners so they'd be great drivers."
"And yet, you beat some of them too!"
He scratches the back of his head. "Yeah... I didn't expect to."
Roland then walks over and slaps him on the back of his shoulder. "Hey! Not bad for your first time!"
"Still seconds off you every lap!"
"Don't compare yourself to me. You'll get faster."
"I sure hope so!"
"Joining us for lunch?"
"Sure sir!"