In which Shelby deals with terrible hindsight.

[shelbycobra]

Shelby is glad to find her door to the Nexus waiting for her. She needs to get the hell out of Indianapolis right now because she feels like the worst person on the planet. Which is an odd feeling when she's just been named four-time IndyCar champion two days ago, but there it is. Her latest victory doesn't mean a whole lot to her at the moment.

That's because she and her best friend have just had a six-year overdue argument. Shelby never claimed to be the most mature person back then but she also had no idea that she had done so much damage to someone that she cared for. Someone who was, if she was honest, the first person she'd ever really loved.

She feels ashamed, and embarrassed, and frightened all over again because she's dealing with this while having to make a huge decision about her future and worry about a physical that will tell her if she even has a future. Any one of those things would make her nervous; all three and she feels like the world's caving in. Which is, again, not what she wants to feel after working her ass off to capture a fourth championship.

So by the time she goes through the door, she's on the verge of tears, and she's just going to sit down in the nearest available corner to take slow, deep breaths until she can compose herself. She isn't going back through that door until she knows she's not going to fall apart and has a clue about what she's supposed to do to make things right.

Does she make amends for what happened six years ago (can she)? Or does she focus on not screwing things up a second time? And is there some way, somehow, that she can just catch her breath and not be thinking about everything else?

"How do you fix hurting your best friend?" she says, talking to herself but this is the Nexus so she's pretty sure everyone will overhear her.

Comments

[callmeles]

"That sounds like a really good fit for you and allows you to stay in the sport," Piper agreed. "Anyone would be lucky to have you as a coach." Someone who has had championship wins and someone who seems to truly care about the people and the sport.

She smiled at the mention of starting a family and going back to school. "Sounds like you have a great plan in place or a trajectory of where you'd like to go. That's great."

For Piper, she had a lot of soul searching to do. Okay, a bit of soul searching at the very least of where she wanted to be and what she wanted to focus on. Everything was different now than she had even imagined when she was younger. One thing was certain, she was starting to rediscover the things she liked from before.

[shelbycobra]

"I'm excited at the idea of coaching," Shelby said. "I've had a lot of great mentors in my career, and with some of the younger drivers who have come up after me, it's been great to help them and get to see them grow. Coaching would just be doing that for a paycheck."

She knew she wouldn't be the driver she was without the advice she'd gotten from people like Sarah Fisher, Scott Dixon, Mario Andretti and many others. The IndyCar community was a real community where they were never shy about welcoming in new people, answering their questions, and encouraging them on.

"You should come visit sometime," she said. "I think you might like it in Indianapolis."

[callmeles]

"That's great! It's important to pay it forward and help train or mentor the next set of young drivers hoping to be in your position one day," Piper agreed with a smile. "Not everyone is geared to be a good coach and if you can do that and have the drive to do that, that's important."

Piper grinned. "It's been a long time since I've been out that way. I'd like to come and check it out again sometime soon. That would be a lot of fun."

[shelbycobra]

"I have a guest room at my house. You're welcome to come and stay with me." Shelby commented. Even if Peter did move in with her, the place still had two more bedrooms. She'd bought it with the express intent of having a guest room for her parents or anyone else who might come to visit. She had no intention of ever moving so the house had to have plenty of space.

She took a deep breath. As much as she'd love to sit there and talk all day, talking about said house reminded her she needed to go back and face Peter. They needed to deal with the issue or the angst would eat the both of them alive. Both of them never liked to see the other one upset.

"I should go talk to him," she said. Now that she'd calmed down maybe they could reach a resolution. "But thank you. And are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?"

[callmeles]

The offer to stay with Shelby threw Piper for a momentary loop if she was being completely honest. Although she'd grown up in New Orleans, she'd always heard about how welcoming people were from the Midwest as well as the South. It was surprising and refreshing in its own way.

"That sounds great, I'd love to see Indianapolis again," she said, nodding.

Piper nodded. "That's a great idea and I truly hope it goes well for you both," she responded, standing from her chair. "No, I'll be fine but thank you. I have a party I'm going to attend tonight and then do something I haven't done in a while." It was Halloween Night or Samhain after all and she was well overdue for her personal observance of it.

[shelbycobra]

Shelby nodded and stood with her. "You're welcome, and thank you for listening to me. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

She had no idea how much her entire life was about to change. All she knew was that she'd hurt her best friend and it was time to make that right. She turned and walked back through the Plaza, finding her door and with a deep breath pushed herself through it. Back to the rest of her life.