Chasing Lights

Chapter 40: Reminisce

P3 - MCC

Well... This was bound to get interesting.

I grabbed a headset from my chair, putting it on as I made my way over to the pit wall. Chris glanced over at me, and I thanked him with a smile when he adjusted the radio so I could hear what he said. I was pretty damn sure he didn't like me very much, but I was also the head of the mechanical department, and he knew all the info he got could be of interest to me.

"Alright Phoenix, that is P 3 — I repeat, P 3. Fantastic job, mate. Well done." His voice was elated but clinical, a trait all race engineers shared that I'd always adored. It was truly a talent to stay calm and registered amid this chaos. Maybe it was his Australian accent?

"P3?" Phoenix asked, his voice mixed with excitement and anger. "Fuck."

And even though I could tell he was frustrated as hell, his green irises blaring with fury as he opened his visor to wave at the spectators in the stands, I couldn't help but smirk at his response. It was typical Phoenix fashion to be frustrated with a result that was twelve places better than his last one.

He was a race driver, after all. This sport ran in his blood.

"Who's one and two?" His question made my smirk disappear. He'd not be happy about this.

"That would be Williams as P1 and Nyx P2."

Silence.

The screen showed how Phoenix focused back on the track, both hands slapping the steering wheel before he shook his head. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Unfortunately not, mate. You've done brilliantly, though. Don't forget, you're on the clean side of the track, and who knows what'll happen tomorrow." Chris's calm voice even made me feel a little better; despite our differences, he really had a great way of communicating with his driver. I had to respect that. "They got fast cars. But we got a fast driver."

Yeah, okay. Maybe he wasn't that bad after all.

I'd even let his jab at my car slide if his pep talk made Phoenix feel a little better.

"Stop being nice, man. It's weird." Phoenix's comment made me laugh out loud, earning myself a few amused glances from my mechanics. "You're right though. We'll crush them."

"Damn right we will..." I muttered, taking off my headset and hanging it on the pit wall. With a quick wave, I said goodbye to the engineers and Michael before I made my way back into the garage.

My team was already waiting, all twelve of them lined up and staring at me expectantly.

"Boss." Jin approached me with a straight face, standing still beside me.

"Stop calling me that," I hushed, but he shrugged in response.

"What's the plan?" he asked, and the rest of my team looked at me as if they were asking the same.

I stepped closer to them, glancing behind to make sure we were out of earshot for anyone outside of our crew. "Realistically, Phoenix won't be able to hold that position tomorrow."

"Why?" Marius, one of my front-end mechanics, asked with a raised brow.

I shot them a smile, not wanting to hear the answer myself. "'Cause the car isn't good enough."

Some of them nodded, some blinked, some shook their heads... But none of them seemed happy.

That was the fucking worst.

"So what do we do?" Jin inquired, though the smile on his lips told me he already knew the answer.

Glancing over at my team, I knew there was only one thing we could do, one thing we all deserved.