High Octane Hearts

              Everything happens for a reason. We all know this to be true. We have to work hard and become something for ourselves. We have to be someone our parents can be proud of. We all have responsibilities that we must attend to. We all know these days we must work to pay rent and take care of our families. We have to work to survive and we must uphold our names because that's all we have.

              No one understands that more than Rae Carter. Rae Carter is a twenty-eight-year-old black woman living in a small town in the state of New Jersey. Right now she is running her mother's gas station. Her mother left the gas station to her in her will. Her mother passed away in June. Since her mom has passed, Rae literally eats, sleeps, and breathes work. She doesn't care about anything else.

            Rae has five employees who work underneath her. With her being the owner, it's her job to make sure everything is done and up to date. On Tuesday Rae is in the office working on some paperwork, when her co-worker, Samantha calls her out to the sales floor. Rae is wondering if she got a line unexpectedly. She lifts her head and looks at the camera. She doesn't see a line. Instead, she sees someone she thinks is familiar.

         Rae decides she should just go out and see what is going on. When she goes to the sales floor, she sees none other than Mason Hale. Rae's jaw literally drops. She hasn't seen him in eight years. Mason turns to look at Rae and breaks out a great big smile. Rae is wondering what he is smiling at. Samantha looks at Mason to Rae and goes to speak to Rae.

        She said, "Mr. Hale asked to see you. I told him you were here."

         Rae said, "I see. What did you want to see me about?"

          Mason said, "I am back in town and I wanted to catch up. It's been a while and I just wanted to give you my condolences on your mother's passing."

           Rae gave him the side eye. She started to let the wheels turn in her head. She was wondering what Mason was really up to. She thought about what his showing up could really be about. She stopped mid-thought and looked at Mason and Samantha. Samantha was wondering what to do. She was stunned that Rae was not even responding. Samantha was about to say something and then decided against it.

           Rae said, "Sure. You can meet me back here around five."

          Mason said, "That sounds great. I will see you then."

          He said goodbye and left the store. As soon as he left, Rae took a deep breath. She was so blown away. She had, had a crush on him since they were kids coming up. She just didn't think they would ever see each other again. Samantha saw the look on her face. She came from around the counter and asked the obvious question.

            She said, "So, who was that?"

           Rae said, "Never you mind."

         Samantha said, "Okay, that's why you got those red cheeks and are huffing like you are about to fall out."

         Rae and Samantha started laughing. Throughout the rest of the day, Samantha wanted to ask Rae about him. Every time she went to ask, they kept getting hit with customers. Rae and her would be running back and forth trying to keep the store clean. Samantha and Rae literally changed the music station when the customers left at 12:30. When they left, Rae put on the station 105.5 and they were jamming.

             They were jamming out to all the good R&B and made sure the store was looking good. Samantha took that time to go in for the kill. She was dying to know the deal about Mason. She had never seen Rae so stumped. She just wanted to get the information quickly.

              While Samantha was standing in the middle of the sales floor, she said, " Hey, Rae can you tell me about Mason. I want to know. You are going to have to say something sooner or later. Out of everyone I have known you have been the longest. You've got to tell me."

              Rae said, "That may be true, but there isn't much to tell. I grew up with him. We were truly good friends. We almost dated and it just never happened.  I didn't think I would see him again. After today, I don't know what to think. Yet, as you saw, my body was overwhelmed because I didn't think he would still be drop-dead gorgeous. I was feeling all the old emotions in one shot."

               Samantha said, "Oh yeah. It was all over your face girl."

             "Was it really that bad?"

              "Girl, you were blushing hard."

              "Well, that may be true, but it doesn't mean that he feels the same."

                  As the rest of the day went by,  Samantha and Rae were knocking out the side work and staying dedicated to the customers. When five o'clock came around, Rae was taking her sweet time to get out the door. She figured Mason wasn't going to show up. Samantha knew she was nervous. Before she left she waited for their co-worker Vanity to get on the register. She knew she couldn't leave the store unattended. 

                "Hey Rae, if you don't lock him down, tell him to call me."

                  Rae started laughing. She knew Samantha wasn't joking.

               "If he asks me, then I will speak up. If not, I'm not saying squat."

                 Vanity said, "Who are we talking about?"

                  "Just someone sexy after Rae."

                "Girl, you better go get that. Guys don't come up to every day now."

                  They all started laughing. As soon as the store door opened, they got quiet. Mason walked in.

                 He said, "you told me to come back around five. I'm here. Are you free?"

                Samantha and Vanity started giggling.

               Rae said, "I'm free. We can go."

              "Sounds great. I was thinking about going to that diner downtown we used to all hang out."

             " Alright, sounds good to me."

              Rae said goodbye to the girls and went out the door with Mason.

             Mason said, "Would you mind taking my car? I figured I could just drop you back off here."

            "That's cool with me."

            Inside Rae was just starting to let her brain wheel go on full overload. She was playing out different scenarios of what could happen. When they got in the car, Rae was getting antsy. She didn't know what could happen next.

           Mason turned on the stereo. He had 105.5 playing. Rae started to relax. Good music always made her feel better. Mason wanted to ask her about how she felt about him. He didn't want to just jump into it. He didn't want to scare her off. He wanted to have a nice time. As the time went by to get to the restaurant, they finally started talking. They reminisced about the old days. They were laughing and smiling.

           Rae felt at ease. It was like no time had passed. She was enjoying herself. When they got to the diner, Mason held the door for her. When they sat down, Rae had chosen a booth. They were looking at each other with sparks in their eyes. Rae picked up her menu and tried to use it to hide her face. She was enjoying herself and she knew she had to be blushing.

           Mason was looking at his menu and knew exactly what he wanted to get.

           When the waitress Nancy came over to the table, he told her what he wanted without missing a beat. Rae was blown away.

          "May I have a Angus cheeseburger with the curly fries and a strawberry milkshake large please?"

            "I will put your order in. I will get you some water and breadsticks as well."

             Rae and Mason both said thank you.

          When she walked away, Mason spoke up.

        He said, "I'm so glad you agreed to come out with me. I actually wanted to talk to you about something if that's alright?"

        "Well, I'm here so out with it."

        Mason was taken aback. He didn't expect for her to be so direct with it.

"Well, for the longest time now, I have wanted to ask you out on a date. I have always wanted to dare you but we have been friends."

"I must admit we have had a great connection even though it has been years. I'm not going to lie. You got that body going on. I'm just shocked you actually feel the same way."

As she finished her sentence, Nancy came around with their food and drinks. Mason started rubbing his hands together. Rae was smiling all big. She was glad that he felt the same. When she got back to her car, she was definitely going to tell Samantha. She was bursting with joy. The rest of the evening was spent laughing and giving each other googly eyes. They were enjoying themselves and Rae wasn't even thinking about work.

Mason was wondering if she would let him hold her hand across the table. He put his hand out on the table and started whistling. Rae started laughing.

"You are so silly. If you want to hold my hand, just do it."

Mason started laughing.

"You haven't changed one bit. I'm so happy you agreed to come out with me."

Rae gave up on trying to be cute. She was scarfing her food down and enjoying her shake. Mason was watching her with amazement. He loved a woman who could eat. He was feeling thrilled and wanted to see if he could kiss her. He wanted to know how far the night would go. Rae was just in bliss. She was having a good time and she felt like she was in good company.

"So do you want anything else before we head out?"

"Are you sure you should ask me that? I'm not a regular salad kind of girl. I eat everything."

"I don't mind. Will you be my girl?"

" I was wondering when you were going to ask me. Of course I will. Don't think this will be easy though."

Mason got nervous. He was wondering what she had in mind.

"Let me know what I've got to do."

Rae was glad he said that.

"When we get back to my car, I'll have a whole list for you."

Mason's jaw dropped. He had never had someone give them a list to tell them their wants and needs.

When they got up to leave, Mason got her a dessert and left a ten-dollar tip on the table. Once they were in the car, Rae and Mason were back to jamming out and laughing. They actually held hands while he was driving. When they got to a stoplight, Rae actually kissed him. She did it with no hesitation. She didn't want to wait. Mason was thinking they were going to be caught on the camera.

As soon as the light turned green, he took off. When they got to the store, Mason walked Rae to her car. Rae unlocked her car and pulled out the list from where the mirror top was. Mason couldn't believe she wasn't lying. He thought

she was kidding. When he opened the sheet of paper, he saw a long list. As he looked up, Rae was staring him down. Mason wasn't surprised. He knew she was waiting for him to say something.

"I can definitely do this. I will not lose you to someone else."

"Well, you'd better get started."

Mason smiled and they kissed. He helped her get into the car, and watched as she pulled out of the parking lot. Rae had stopped at the end of the parking lot and sent Samantha a text. She didn't want to forget. She knew she would forget by the time she got home. After she was out of the driveway, Mason got in his car and drove off. He was blasting his music and had a big old grin on his face.

When Rae got home she took a nice hot shower and curled up in bed reading a book. All of a sudden her phone started dinging. She leaned over her bed and grabbed her phone. It was Samantha calling her. Rae picked up the phone and answered it.

"So tell me how it went? I want to know."

"Dang right to the point."

"Yes now spill the tea."

"Fine. The man asked me to be his girl. It shocked me. I said yes though."

The two of them started screaming with joy. They talked for a while hour. When they got off the phone, Rae got back into her book. She got to chapter five and put her bookmark in. She closed the book and laid it on the night table. She said a prayer and turned off the lamp. She actually slept for a good eight hours. The circles she had on her eyes were gone. Rae got out of bed and got herself together.

When she got in the car, she was blasting her music enjoying herself. As she pulled into the parking lot, she said a prayer. She wanted to have a good day.