The Bull Prince | Max Verstappen

SEQUEL - Chapter 20

He could still remember the amazement in the fans' eyes, the way they hung on every word which left Joanna's lips. A cold shiver ran down his spine when he thought about it.

Nobody should be so mesmerizing. Nobody should be so luring but didn't feel Max the exact same way all these fans feel as he saw her for the first time. Those intelligent blue eyes, the in the sun glittering golden hair, the secretive smile. Max was so intimidated by her as a little boy, his throat run dry and he didn't even remember how to breathe for a moment already on the best way to being dizzy. Back then, he simply had a crush on her, being fourteen or fifteen, it was only a few years later as he learned what being Joanna Lauda truly meant.

"I can't really explain it. I don't like it. Dan and J love it. It depends, really." Max told Pierre honestly, who gave him a confused look for a moment. The Frenchman knew that Joanna loved the attention in her own way, as did Lewis and Sebastian, even though the German was always a little bit careful about the love and devotion of his fans.

"On what?" He wanted to know as a woman had already come over to them to say that the interview would start soon.

"I guess if you're born for the spotlight, or if you're just enduring it," Max told Pierre honestly.

 The Dutch Red Bull driver might be his father's son, but he wasn't born for the spotlight, he wasn't comfortable with people yelling his name and demanding his signature on their clothes or sometimes even bodies. Max was comfortable around cars, the smell of petrol and rubber eased his mind, the feeling of sitting in a car or the feeling of excitement in his stomach when he took a corner way faster than anybody else, knowing that he would make it, but others would never be able to do so, that was what he was born for. 

Not the media, not the shark tank they called paddock or the driver's market. He was here to drive and win on track. 

So, it was no surprise that Max hated the PR-Day in Austria, it was a whole other level. He was up on a stage with Pierre, Alex and Daniil within moments. People were asking him questions, one after the other, about his performance, the car, the team and also personal questions he tried not to answer as good as possible.

Most of the personal questions were about Joanna, not one about Kelly, so the fans had a clear favourite which caused Max to huff after the third question about Joanna in a row. He had been asked about the pictures people made of them at the airport in France and in Austria, about the question he refused to answer if Joanna was the one he was with if it was over with Kelly, but Max had refused again to answer this question. He didn't answer any of them, just the one about being rivals and fighting each other on track.

They were all just waiting for her, asking him and Pierre questions while waiting for the Austrian, who was already late. He didn't understand why she felt the need to make people wait for her. The effect she had on people was already bad enough.

Max knew for Joanna it was easier if there was an audience to perform for, a role to play. People who would give her their approval, their awe. People who would make her feel loved and overwhelmed with all their admiration. It was addictive. Being looked up to, being cheered for. Being on top of the world. If she was out there in front of a crowd, she was the one people came to see. In these kinds of moments, she could forget all the problems she had, all the things which made her feel claustrophobic.

Joanna could forget the woman she once was, who hated crowds and was afraid of them. They still scared her sometimes because Joanna had seen it happen before. Their admiration can turn into hate so very fast. Either they hate you or they love you. There was no in-between. For them, she was still this brilliantly promising driver, who won and won and won. Letting go of that was something Joanna never wanted to do.