SHAMELESS, lewis hamilton¹

43

Mirabella and Lewis had been called into Toto's office and to say she felt stressed would be an understatement.

The last time they were here was in Imola and Toto was pissed. And now they got called into his office a few days after telling the world they were together. She couldn't help but have a bad feeling about it.

Lewis held the door open for her after she knocked and received a 'come in', letting her walk inside before he followed after her. They both sat down on the two chairs in front of their team principal's desk and the room was silent as they waited for him to speak first. You know, just in case he was angry.

"So, I think both of you are intelligent enough to figure out why I called you here today," Toto started whilst he was leaning back in his chair, staring at the two of them. "Am I right?"

They nodded in unison.

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the surface of his desk, intertwining his fingers and placing his chin on them. "By all technicalities, we have policies against having relationships inside the team."

Mirabella slowly looked over at Lewis, barely turning her head towards him, and their eyes met, sharing a silent look before they turned back to Toto.

"But you two together is better than the bullshit you have been doing for the past two years," he sighed and then nodded firmly like he had come to a decision. "So... I'm going to make an exception for you. Okay? So, try not to mess up anything. And I hope you don't, but if you do end up breaking up at some point, please, for the love of god, don't do it when you're on the same team."

"I don't think we can really control that, Toto," Lewis answered, making her kick his shin sharply. She heard him winch, but when she glanced at him she saw the amused smirk.

Toto's eyes narrowed on him.

"But," Lewis spoke again, his voice softer and more genuine, no amusement there anymore. "I honestly wasn't planning on it, if I'm being honest with you."

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she bit back the smile that threatened to spread across her lips. She did however make herself add, "I wasn't planning on it either."

They both heard him practically sigh in relief. "That's good to hear," he said, nodding his head. Then he clasped his hands together, ending up emitting a clapping sound because of it, "Well, that was all. I'll see you in the briefing."

With a smile and a nod, they both rose from their chairs and moved to leave, but then Toto's voice interrupted their movement, "Can I talk to you for a minute, Bella?"

She stopped and looked over at Lewis, slowly and reluctantly turning away from him. She nodded to Toto's question when she looked at him, "Of course."

Lewis didn't move, looking between the two and they turned towards him. She nodded at him and only then did he leave.

Mirabella watched as he closed the door behind him and sighed, turning back towards Toto and asking him, "What's up?"

He looked a lot more relaxed now, the other theme probably stressing him more than whatever he wanted to talk to her about now. "I was just curious about your plan for this week. Do you think you'll be coming back?"

"That was my plan," she told him, "Maybe do a test drive on Friday, then see how that goes. But I hope I'm ready to come back properly."

"That's good to hear," he smiled. "And I was just curious, how do you feel about joining one of the press conferences on Thursday? Only if you want to. It's understandable if you don't want to just yet."