April 25,2000 – “Club E”

Author’s Note: Please note that all characters are currently single in this fictional story unless otherwise noted. (ie: Dale/Teresa Earnhardt, etc)

The music was already blaring when Noelle let herself into the house. The driveway was packed and she had to park on the other side of the house. People were milling around everywhere.  A few faces she recognized, but didn’t know their names.

“You made it.” Junior caught her eye from across the room and went to meet her at the door. He took her jacket from her and threw it on a chair. “Come on, I want to introduce you to my buddies.” He grabbed her hand and led her downstairs to “club e” where the majority of the people were. “Hey guys, this is Noelle.”

“I remember you!” Josh came over and hugged her. “I have pictures to prove it too.” Noelle laughed as David came over and hugged her as well. “I see Junior’s drug you to one of the boy’s nights.”

“I didn’t drag her, she came willingly.” Junior looped his arm around her waist and smiled at everyone. Noelle could smell the beer radiating off him and knew that he had to have had a six pack on his own already. “Harvick get your ass over here. You too Stewart.” Two guys walked toward them. “Kevin, Tony this is my friend Noelle. She works at DEI.”

“Hey.” Tony shook Noelle’s hand and smiled at her. Kevin looked at her and tilted his head. He looked like he was trying to remember if he had seen her somewhere.

“You were at Talladega.” He finally said. Noelle nodded. “I’m Kevin.”

“Hi.” She shook his hand and noticed that he held onto hers longer than he really needed. Junior moved onto talk to some other people, leaving Noelle with the two guys she just met. “You race?” Both of them nodded. “Ahh.” She fidgeted with the rings on her fingers, wishing she knew more than three people in the room.

“You drink?” Kevin asked after Stewart left to go talk to some guy who had just arrived. She nodded. “All he has is Budweiser.”

“That’s fine.” She said before he disappeared and came back with two bottles of beer. They moved over to the bar to sit. Suddenly she felt nervous.

“What do you do for DEI? Other than follow Junior around.”

“I don’t follow him around per se. Teresa just put me on this project with him yesterday. I’m actually working with Jade, his publicist for a few weeks. From what I’ve been told, he’s really busy and needs a contact at DEI. Somehow my name got brought up.” She took a long drink from her bottle. “Otherwise I’m a marketing rep for the Budweiser account.”

“How long have you worked there?”

“Not long at all, under a year.” She couldn’t help but notice that Kevin was looking her over. She felt herself blush and she looked away, glancing to see if she saw Junior. He was leaning against the wall talking to a few guys and laughing. He didn’t even seem to notice she was looking at him.

Kevin and Noelle talked most of the night. Junior would occasionally walk over to see what she was doing or if she needed anything. She also couldn’t help but notice; she was the only female at his party. She found that unusual, but then again, Josh did say it was guy’s night.

“I’m gonna go.” Noelle walked up to Junior who appeared to be three sheets to the wind. He pulled her down on is lap and kissed her quickly. “Junior.”

“Just a good night kiss. Quit freakin’ out.” He stood up, causing her to get up quickly. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

“I’ll do it.” Kevin walked up between them. “You sit down and sober up.” Kevin pushed Junior back down onto the couch. “She’ll be fine.” Junior nodded and watched as Kevin took Noelle by the hand and led her upstairs.

Noelle found her coat and Kevin grabbed his so he could walk her to her car, even though she told him he didn’t have to.

“I want to.” He shut the door behind him and smiled at her. It was late and she couldn’t believe she had to be to work at 7:30. She was going to look like the dead reborn. Kevin stopped her halfway to her car and surprised her by kissing her. “Wanna go to a movie tomorrow night? I leave Thursday for the track.”

“Um…sure.” They finished walking to her car and Noelle dug through her purse and found one of her business cards. She jotted down her phone number and address. “Here, I get off work at 5:30.” She watched as Kevin put it in his pocket and then leaned in to kiss her again. She pulled away slightly, but not enough to avoid him. “I’ll, umm…, see you tomorrow night then.”

“Yep.” Another quick kiss and she was in her car. What could a date hurt? She wasn’t dating Junior. She wouldn’t even admit it to him or even to herself that she liked him. So going to a movie with Junior’s friend wasn’t a bad thing.

Kevin walked back inside, a smile on his face. Junior stood on the front porch, smoking a cigarette. He had seen everything and glared at Kevin as he walked past him.

“You got a problem?” Kevin stopped at the front door. Junior said nothing and exhaled. A puff of smoke settled between the two of them.

“I had her first.”

“She’s not a trophy, Junior. She’s not out to be won.”

“That’s what you think.” Junior flicked the cigarette butt into an empty can on the railing and turned toward Kevin. “Just wait and see.”

******

The next night, Kevin picked Noelle up at seven. He greeted her with a single red rose which she put into a vase and sat on the kitchen table. They drove into town and stopped at a local burger place for dinner before heading to the mall for a movie.

Throughout dinner, he asked her about her family and where she went to school. Then the topic of Junior came up.

“What’s going on with you and Junior?” he asked.

“Nothing. We’re just friends. Why?” Noelle bit into a fry and looked at him.

“Are you sleeping with him?” Kevin’s statement made her choke on her fry and she had to take a drink of soda before she could answer him. “Or have you?”

“Kevin!” Noelle leaned back in her chair and glared at him. “Even if I was, that’s not  any of your business!”

“Well friends don’t kiss as much as he kisses you.”

“He kissed me once last night.” Noelle corrected him. “What is your problem with him anyway?”

“Nothing….just that I want to get to know you better and I don’t want anything standing in the way of that.” He smiled at her. “Hurry and eat, we don’t want to miss the movie.”

After the movie was over, Kevin dropped her off at her house and walked her to the door.

“I had fun.” He said wrapping his arms around her and drawing her against him. He could smell the coconut shampoo that she used and he smiled. “Will you be in California this weekend?”

“Yes. I’m doing something with Jade. So maybe I’ll see you out there.” She pulled away and he leaned down and kissed her. “Night Kevin.”

“Night.” He made sure she got into the house before walking back to his truck and leaving.

Across the street, Junior slammed his fist onto the steering wheel. He waited until Kevin’s truck was out of sight before driving away.

Chapters: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30