Thee Chase (Eight)

Thee Chase

The engine of his motorcycle roared into life and could hear it reverberate around the underground parking of his apartment building, the headlight coming on and illuminating the wall he was parked in front of as he turned the handlebars and eased the bike around.

The Bike rolled across the parking spaces and he began to slowly climb the short incline that led to the shutter gates he had to exit through, the sensor triggering as he approached and he heard the rumble of the gates as they began to lift.

A moment later he was on the street and picking up speed, he could feel the wind whipping around him and if not for the darkened visor on the helmet he would, he would have been squinting against the powerful street lights.

Was he wasting his time here, he had offered to let Melissa come back to his place, but she insisted that she sort it out and with that, he offered her some money to pick up some clean clothes and they agreed to meet later.

He would not have blamed her if she did not show up, just took the money and ran, it seemed she had enough problems with the drug dealer wanting her to play chemist for him.

He rolled to a stop at a set of traffic lights and turned his head slightly as a dark black sports car rolled alongside where he had stopped, loud music blasting out from whatever stereo had been fitted inside of the vehicle.

From his glance, he saw two people inside the car, a driver and a passenger, the man behind the wheel was in his twenties and dressed in some sort of light blue casual suit and beside him was a blonde in a dark evening dress and plastered in way too much makeup that made it harder to determine her age, early twenties if he had to hazard a guess.

He turned his head back and looked up at the lights as the signal changed to green and he quickly pulled away at speed and across the intersection and left the sports car sitting at the lights.

His thoughts drifted back to this evening and the conversation over the phone with Medieval times, it seemed they had to have a time slot, something to do with the show and they would get their own Knight to cheer for, it all seemed a little to him but it was the ladies choice.

As long as it did not end up like the Jim Carrey movie, he could survive the night with minimal scarring, he thought to himself and could not help but to chuckle to himself as he eased into a turn and up ahead he saw where he was supposed to meet Melissa.

He rolled to a stop and saw the intersection ahead and another alleyway, seemed the woman had a thing for them, the thought instantly regretted as he admonished himself for it.
"Well, that was a stupid thing to think"

He said out loud as he reached up to pull his helmet from his head and brought it down to rest against his lap, one hand pressed on top of it as he turned his head to look around for her.

"I see you made it"

He heard her voice come from the alleyway and he turned his head to see Melissa standing there, she had shed her clothes from earlier and was now dressed in a pair of black jeans and wore a hooded Detroit Lions sweatshirt, the hood was down and he could see her dark hair looked clean and freshly washed.

"I did"

He offered in response and raised his hand to point towards her sweatshirt

"You from Detroit?"

Her hands came up and she gestured to the top she wore before giving a short laugh

"No, I got it from the bargain bin, it was a going-out-of-business offer"

"It is Detroit, so that would make sense, I am surprised they did not pay you for taking it off them"

He said back and he saw her laugh at his comment, he was no closer to learning anything new about her, but it felt good to hear her laugh and be able to banter with her back and forth.

"you mean that was an option?"

She said and started to check her pockets as if searching for something before giving him a wink, and he lifted the helmet from his lap and offered it to her.

"Not if you lost the receipt"

He said as she took the helmet from him and moved to climb onto the bike and sit behind him not saying anything else as he felt her arms go around his waist and lean in a little closer to his back.

He suddenly realised that he did not have another helmet and if he got stopped by a cop he would be in trouble, he cursed silently to himself but the old British special forces motto came to mind "He who dares wins" as he pulled away from the curb.

They traversed the streets in silence, or if not, he doubted he would have been able to hear her between the helmet she wore and the speed at which they were moving, the journey went smoothly and they pulled into the restaurant's parking lot already seemed to be full.

He found an empty parking bay and had to speed up to get into the space ahead of another car, the driver giving him an unpleasant look before pulling his vehicle past the spot and continuing to search for another spot.

He felt her ease herself from the back of the bike and he turned to face her and she handed the helmet back to him, her head turned to look at the other car as it moved away.

"See, you are making friends"

She said and he shrugged as he took the helmet and slipped it under his arm and too turned to watch the car move away before turning down another lane and out of their sight.

"You ready?"

He asked and considered offering her his arm for a moment but thought better of it, he still felt like he was making peace from the other night and did not want to undo anything good he might have achieved.

She gave him a simple nod and was already moving away from him and towards the false large castle walls that helped to lend it that Medival feeling after which it was its namesake and he began to follow her.

She was already several steps ahead of him now and he could feel her excitement at being here, it felt infectious to him. he could not but smile at the happiness that she seemed to be taking from being here.

They reached a line of people waiting to be let inside, he could see staff around the entrance dressed in costumes that he thought would be appropriate to the atmosphere, one he recognised as some clown or Jester and another was a Serf or something like that.

They did not have to wait long before they were let inside, Their reservation was confirmed by a young woman behind a desk with a computer in front of her and they were then escorted into the blue section by another woman.

passing through the doorway, they found themselves in what could have easily passed for an arena, the floor beyond the seating areas covered in sand and dirt, which assumed was to add to the overall effect

They were taken to their seat and a small menu was placed on the table in front of each of their seats the female staff member leaned closer to speak to them, Melissa already picking up the menu to look at it.

"Your knight is going to be the blue Knight, so feel free to cheer him and have a good visit"

She offered with a pleasant tone and a well-practised smile before she moved away from the table and headed back towards the doorway they had been brought through.

The place quickly filled up and he now knew why he had to make a reservation and why the ticket was not cheap and it was not for the limited menu that was on offer. as he saw the lighting around the seating area begin to lower and the area became bathed in several lights as the show began.

Men on horseback dressed in plate mail armour appeared from each side of the arena and trotted slowly into the centre and lined up to present themselves to the gathered crowd.

A tall regal looking man dressed in what he assumed was royal Garb walked to stand before them and face the audience, a golden crown adorned his head and he held his hands out and his voice seemed to be amplified around the arena.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we welcome you to our tourney, cheer for your knight and show these brave warriors your appreciation and let thee chase to glory begin."