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Trudy adorned her racing gloves, mentally preparing for today’s race. The waiting room was full of her teammates and competitors visiting with friends and looking for their wives and children in the stands. No one had come to visit Trudy, as usual, but she brushed that off as she decided to check on her car.
One day this track was going to have more than just one woman on it, she would make sure of it.
As Trudy moved to leave the chatter of the waiting room, she heard a feminine voice behind her. Women never tended to enter the room, so who could it be? She turned to see a man and a woman looking at her, beckoning her toward them.
Trudy hesitated. When men waved her over to them in the stadium, it was usually for salacious reasons- but the kind-looking woman beside the man threw her off. She was taller than Trudy, something that Trudy hadn’t gotten the opportunity to see often. The pair seemed to be similar ages, both a few years older than Trudy. It wouldn’t hurt to greet them, would it?
“Hello,” she started, walking over to the two visitors.
“Hello!” said the woman cheerily. She bumped the man with her arm and gave him a look, prompting him to stick out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, I’m John Grammar and this is my sister Kelsey,” he said with a smile on his face, nodding to the woman next to him.
He seemed polite enough. “Trudy Trout,” she introduced, giving a firm shake to John’s hand.
“We’re here to visit John’s friend Jack McGrath, but it’s wonderful to run into the best female driver this track has to offer as well,” Kelsey said, sticking out her hand to shake.
Trudy was pleasantly surprised. Women didn’t usually shake hands, let alone with her, but she gladly shook Kelsey’s hand as well. “That’s very kind of you,” Trudy said politely. “Jack should be out soon.”
“You know him?” asked John casually.
Trudy clasped her hands together behind her back. “We’re teammates. He seems like a good friend.” She and Jack hadn’t spoken too much in the past, but he had a good attitude during their races.
“He sure is!” Kelsey added, face brightening. Just her air of optimism made Trudy’s attitude change positively. What a fascinating woman! “He’s helping me take John to his basic training next weekend. Oh- and here he comes now!”
Trudy turned to see Jack emerge from the doors of the shop. He waved briefly at Trudy before noticing the pair next to her. John tipped his hat to Trudy and walked over to his friend, immediately striking up a conversation.
Kelsey lightly elbowed Trudy, gesturing to Jack with her eyes. “What d’you think about him?” Kelsey said, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.
What an interesting question. What did Trudy think of him? He wasn’t rude to her, unlike some of the other drivers. Trudy often noticed he would stand with her in the shop whenever she was alone with the men from other teams, which she appreciated since it kept away the gross flirting. He wasn’t a standout driver on the team, but she felt mildly safe with him.Trudy shrugged. “He’s a very nice man,” she summarized.
Kelsey gave her a flat look, like she hadn’t said what Kelsey expected her to. “And?” she prompted.
“And…” Trudy continued. She studied the back of Jack’s head as he spoke with John, trying to find what Kelsey wanted her to say about the man. “...he drives well?” She finished halfheartedly. He drives well enough to compete.
“And??" Kelsey said, gesturing up and down his body. Thankfully, the two men were deep in conversation and far enough away to not notice Kelsey pointing to him so obviously. Kelsey looked to Trudy with a look of anticipation.
Trudy swallowed and fought to come up with something else about the driver. “And, uh.” Just then, she caught sight of the newly installed plaque on the wall in the direction Kelsey was gesturing. “Oh! They put up a plaque with our names on it, since we’re both new!” That’s what she meant, right?
Kelsey cringed, like her strategy was not working properly. “And… dear, Jack!”
Trudy huffed. Incorrect as always. “Right, Jack. Um.” Trudy glanced into Kelsey’s determined eyes and looked back toward the two men speaking. Jack was a few inches taller than Kelsey’s brother, maybe that’s what she meant. “Well, he’s tall.”
“Is that all?” Kelsey said with a sigh, clearly giving up. “C’mon, does he flirt with you? Is he as suave as he seems? I need to live vicariously through you, dear, my prospects are lacking.” Kelsey rested a hand on Trudy’s lower back. Her heart started beating faster. How Trudy loved the gentle friendship of women!
“We haven’t flirted. He’s been very kind and sweet to me,” Trudy said. Her face felt flush from the talk of romance.
Kelsey laughed a strong, feminine chuckle. “Well if he’s been so kind and sweet, he must have been flirting!”
Huh? But kindness nor sweetness had anything to do with flirting in Trudy’s experience. Tucker was always quite vulgar and forceful when he made moves on Trudy at the beginning of their relationship. It was why her parents loved him so much, since he was so protective. She knew it became too much than was okay, obviously, but wasn’t that fierceness in flirting a sign of confidence? Isn’t that supposed to be attractive?
Trudy stared out to the open entrance to the track, the bright sky making her eyes water slightly. “He must have been flirting then, I guess,” she deduced out loud.
Kelsey’s hand smoothed itself along Trudy’s torso into her upper back. “You guess? Dear, you’re the ideal woman, who wouldn’t want a piece of you?”
A shy smile appeared on Trudy’s face. She remembered the multitude of things Tucker said were wrong with her before she left. How she wasn’t close enough with his mom, how she wasn’t vocal enough during sex, how she didn’t get enough satisfaction by just being a mother. “If you say so,” Trudy responded.
A sincere look appeared in Kelsey’s eyes and she turned her whole body towards Trudy, warmth from her hand slipping away from her back. “Of course I say so. Every woman deserves to feel special.” Kelsey lifted one of Trudy’s gloved hands. Her gentle touch seemed to permeate her skin despite the gloves.
With the full focus of Kelsey’s attention on her, Trudy felt she owed her some sincerity. “Well, you see, I’m not often flirted with,” she admitted.
“How is that possible? You are just gorgeous, Trudy, and it’s important you know that. Inside and out. I’d never thought I’d see the day that a woman is on the racetrack, facing off against male peers and beating them . So many women wish they could be you. It’s clear you know what you want and who you are. These men who are sweet and kind to you, they know what they want too. And that’s you, Trudy Trout.”
Trudy stood still, eyes far away and misty, while Kelsey held her hand tightly and reassuringly. Her words, her voice, her conviction: they were all making Trudy feel strange things. Feelings she had never felt before, let alone put a name to. Something deep inside her twisted back into shape- something she didn’t even know was twisted out of shape in the first place.
Trudy rooted herself enough to speak. “But you’re wrong,” she started, eyes flickering to Kelsey’s lips for a half second. “I don’t know what I want.” Trudy deliberately looked past Kelsey, catching the eye of Jack. He was sweet and kind with her. He had been flirting with her. He wanted her. Catching his eye knowing that made her feel sick.
She looked back at Kelsey, but her intense stare had left Trudy’s gaze. Kelsey was looking down at their hands, gently caressing the tip of her gloved finger. She heaved a deep sigh before pulling back and stepping to stand at Trudy’s side. “When you know you can’t have what you want,” she started, resting her hand once again on Trudy’s lower back, “what’s the profit in wishing?”
Trudy pursed her lips. She just turned her whole world around a few months prior, and now this random woman was flipping it inside out. In a moment of bravery, Trudy rested her head on Kelsey’s shoulder.
Kelsey stiffened slightly before squeezing Trudy’s waist. The two reveled in the contact before Kelsey moved her hand back to Trudy’s back. They were in public, after all.
“He’s a very nice man,” Kelsey said quietly.
“He is.”