All the Way - an F1 story

7

16 May , 2021
📍Monte Carlo, Monaco

The older boy was being absolutely relentless, and Calina wanted to kill him more in that moment than ever before. He ceaselessly sent rally after rally at her, sending the electric yellow ball to various spots of the court, making her work extra just to return it with equal effort.

"Come on, Calì!" Lella had been shouting words of encouragement to her the entirety of the match, and if she hadn't been so focused, Calina would be cursing her out right about now. She knew he was only going all out because Lella was using these two "friendly" matches as Calina's training, and also so he could tease her later about how shit she was at tennis. And with the sun beaming down intensely on them, the temperature absolutely scorching, Calina felt ready to collapse.

With one last final burst of energy, she sent the tennis ball to the far corner of the court, just out of the reach of his racquet.

"That's game point!" Calina let out a massive sigh of relief, letting her body fall onto the court. She was so exhausted from playing for so long, and the heat made it so much worse.

Olivier stood over her, providing her with the smallest bit of shade, but enough to provide her with some relief. Unlike her, her childhood friend looked barely worked out, his chest only heaving lightly, and he held a mischievous grin on his face.

"Je te bats," Calina said, satisfaction coursing through her. "Tu joues professionnellement, et encore, je te bats."

The older boy shook his head at her, letting out a light-hearted laugh. "Je n'essayais pas. Ne sois pas si présomptueuse."

Calina took his hand, allowing him to pull her up to her feet. "Lella, are we done," she asked her trainer, giving the racquet back to Olivier, and sitting on the bench next to her backpack.

"Yeah, but I did have some cardio planned," she said, to which Calina shot her a shocked expression, opening her mouth to protest. "Oh, let me finish! We'll do it tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how you feel. It won't do you any good if you're sore."

Calina nodded thankfully. "What are you going to be doing on your day off?"

A blissful grin broke out on Lella's face. "Not sure. All my husband has told me is that he's taking care of everything today, and that I'm not allowed to think about work."

"Wow. Tell Dario I really appreciate that."

Lella chuckled at her sarcasm. "I'll see you later. Enjoy your day, okay?" Calina nodded, accepting the fist bump from her. "Enjoy your day free from me!"

"So what are we doing today," Olivier asked as they entered the apartment building. They were making their way up to the second-to-the-top floor, Olivier to his apartment, and Calina to her grandmother's, the same one she grew up in before she, the twins, and her uncle and aunt moved to Italy.

"Well, your girlfriend wanted me to remind you that you are meeting for lunch."

"Shit, that's today? She is with your aunt, no? At the boutique?"

Calina nodded. "They were working on something. I think Ivelle is helping her with some design for school."

The elevator doors opened to their floor, and Calina went off to the door on the right, while Olivier went to the left. "I still beat you," she teased one last time, hearing his laugh as she closed the door behind her.

"Well, it's about fucking time you showed up!" Her head shot up to find the source of the voice that definitely did not match that of her grandmother's. When she caught sight of the man sitting at the square dining table, she shot him an unamused look.