[b][center][h2]Joel Nicolosi[/h2][/center][/b]

Joel scratched at his unshaven face as the Jeep trundled over to the exit lane on the Matthews Bridge and into Western Shore. In the far distance to the north, the glowing skyscrapers of downtown could be seen and the gentle white-caps of the river speckled in the dim light of the evening. It was still cold as hell, but at least not snowing. The sides of the roads were lined by heavy piles of dirty, chemical and sand treated snow that had turned a mostly nasty gray as traffic resumed somewhat normally in the days following the epic blizzard. “What’re you in the mood for?” Joel asked over the steady hum of the heater. As soon as the words came out, he was pretty much anticipating some blatant innuendo from her in relation to the question.

The moment only an hour or so before felt more like a confirmation of the past few weeks and a release of the tension that had built up. Joel knew full well she liked him, but was curious just how long she could hold out before she’d admit it or walk away. Chasing after women was not his style. He tested [i]them[/i] and cared little for how he was evaluated in their eyes. Sio was the first one that he could remember, in a long time, that understood the game and played it back usually as good as himself and he liked the challenge of it. For being nearly ten years younger, she had strong aura about her and a wild nature that he found alluring even when he knew she was talking above what she was capable. 

A few other thoughts crossed his mind as they took the ramp towards one main drags inside Western Shore. He needed to finish writing a thank-you letter to Marlin’s granddad for the gift he’d sent and he wasn’t sure how Sio felt about it. In the course of the last few weeks, she’d become his de facto secretary in a sense and basically knew all of his business and he wasn’t sure how [i]he[/i] felt about that, but it was done. There was nothing wrong with the letter or the gift, but he was not looking to stir up more drama and wouldn’t put it past Marlin or the rest of her nutty family to use as a hook. Joel shook his head slightly at the thought, he did want to keep the old man as a contact and sending a letter back felt like the classy thing to do. 

Then there was the matter of the contract with the rally team. He’d never “worked” for anyone other than himself for somewhere around a decade. They’d certainly gone out of their way to court him and he knew it was the right choice. At thirty-three, he knew he only had, at best, ten to fifteen more decent years in him as a driver. He knew Sio would have kicked him for not taking the deal, but again, she was young he wasn’t sure she knew entirely what it meant from a career standpoint. Joining the team was going to take him away from Sol [i]a lot[/i] more often. The next rally was in Jamaica. Maybe it was a little soon to ask her to come, not really knowing what commitments she had or if they could even tolerate each other for a solid week in another country, but he was going to tell her about it anyway and just let the chips fall. 

He let those burdens pass as they sat at a stoplight when another memory hit him and he thumbed quickly through his phone as they waited for the light to change. “Oh, I meant to show you this before.” He said, suddenly snickering to himself as recalled the night they came up with their little contest entry for the Sol City Zoo. “Remember when we named that rhino at zoo? Yea, read that email.” He handed her the phone with the email from the Zoo’s director and tried his best to contain himself from laughing aloud before she had a chance to read it. 

[@PrinceAlexus][@Almalthia]