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

Joel wasn’t in a particularly good mood in the days following Siobhan’s art showing. He wasn’t visibly upset, but he was irritated and he knew Sio could sense it and the fact that she knew it, irritated him further. The painting that she had done for him now hung proudly in his living room above the shop among his other motorsport related pieces. It was definitely the most thoughtful thing anyone had done for him and far and away the best gift any female had [i]ever[/i] given him. No, it was the family attached to the McLaren/Senna F1 steering wheel that hung alongside of the painting that was, again, the source of his irritation. When Sio first told him about the words spoken at the Gallery relating to himself and Marlin he merely pursed his lips in annoyance and let it go. No, it was when the gossip column was published that he was officially pissed and the fact that Sio had attempted to take up for him just made it worse. He seemed to live rent-free in the minds of those people and he was sure that aggravating him had become a source of pleasure for the whole nutty-bunch.

The drive along to the west-side had been mostly quiet as the sound of the GT-R’s engine tended to make a steady conversation difficult. The gauges cast a dim light over Joel’s stoic expression while his right hand rested over the center pillar on Siobhan’s blue-jeaned leg. He glanced at the few sparse changes in the landscape under the floodlights that spotted through the darkness of the night. The landscape south of Old Sol airport was as cold and barren as it ever was, only marked by the occasional shrub or tree line and a couple newly built warehouses. The roads were a long grid that dead-ended in a few places and were straight and flat. In his younger days, when it was much less developed, it was a regular spot for to meet up, hang-out and of course, [i]race[/i]. Being on the far outskirts of Sol-County, the police rarely paid any attention until someone occasionally rolled a car. A few memories popped up as he watched brake-lights blinking in the distance where cars were lined up on the roadside. He hadn’t been back in several years and honestly felt like he had outgrown it. 

Joel checked his watch. He would be due back on the mountain again in the morning for another shakedown as they got the cars ready for Jamaica. Then everything would go on a plane and everyone would fly down for the season opener. If it weren’t so much fun, the rally team might have felt like work he thought as he glanced around unamused. “When I was a kid, this was where everybody came to run,” Joel said with a slight yawn. “I never raced here though, too many people just out to see what ya got.” The sleek, stealth bomber-like lines of the GT-R drew sharp stares and gawks from onlookers in the assembled crowd as they pulled up. Joel had no doubt some, if not [i]all[/i] of the people gathered would recognize him, though they were only there looking for one person in particular. Joel scratched at the significant stubble that had grown across his face and pushed some of his hair back behind his ear as it curled out from under his cap in waves.

One of the smartest pieces of advice anyone had given him after winning the Grand Prix was “market yourself” and just for fun, he decided to have a couple caps made that simply said [b]apex[/b] across the crown in a simple font: one that matched the more subdued blue, white, red and silver of the rally team and the other that matched the bright red, white and blue of his 300ZX. Each sported his regular #75 on the side and either the VW/Rebellion or the Nismo logo. Every time he was in the public-eye he tried to wear one and sure enough the emails and social media requests started rolling in as to where fans could buy one. On this particular night he was wearing the latter along with the matching jacket he brought back from Japan and it was cold enough for jeans to be appropriate. He glanced around at the cars and people gathered around amidst puffs of breath in the night air then over at Sio as he very casually unbuckled his belts watching her do the same unsure of who or for what he was supposed to be looking. “Seen him yet?” He asked.

[@Almalthia][@PrinceAlexus]