Brute

33. Max

"I hope you celebrated your birthday well."

"I did, yours is coming up isn't it?" Max asked, trying to continue the awkward conversation before they were called.

"Yeah! Next Sunday." Charles nodded.

"Cool." Max said.

The two of them stood around quietly for a bit, finally they called Charles for his segment. Checo got back to Max and congratulated him for his pole position. They discussed the car, giving each other bits and pieces of information they picked up and how they could use it.

"And finally, it's time to speak to the man on pole, Max Verstappen!" The TV presenter beamed at him. Max took a step forward and stood next to her "congratulations Max!"

"Thank you." He smiled.

"What are your thoughts for tomorrow? Are the track conditions favourable?" She asked.

"We were the fastest out there today, but Ferrari isn't too far behind. Nor are the Mercedes, but we definitely have an advantage when it comes to the straights." He said.

"Thank you Max, is there something you'd like to say your fans here?"

"Oh yeah! During one of the slower laps, I caught sight of a little boy wearing a hat with a DRS flap structure, I hope he has the best weekend ever and Arigatō to all the fans that  are here to support me!"

He thanked the presenter and walked away, he walked back to his garage. Max took a seat with a couple of his mechanics, cooling down and catching his breath before it was time to head to the media pen.

"Arigatō indeed. The fans are going to love it." Vicky beamed giving Max a bottle of water. "Ready for the media pen?"

"Yeah let's go!"

It felt like the questions just wouldn't end, things felt like they were going on forever. Max couldn't help but keep sneaking glances at his watch, it had been far too long. He still had data to discuss with his engineers and Kai to console.

To Max's surprise, the engineers were satisfied with the data they had gathered, they were confident they'd have good strategies ready for tomorrow. The meeting didn't even last a full hour. He made his way to his room, he couldn't find Kalki. He gathered his things and was ready to leave, his trainer Bradley had already got the bags.

"Where's Burman?"

"She's talking to some of the marketing team interns, I'll tell her we're ready."

"Okay."

Max headed to the car park by himself, he bumped into Lando. "You were so good today! Congratulations Max-San." He grinned.

"Never say that ever again." He rolled his eyes.

"Seeing the effect it has on you, no. I will be saying that again." He snickered, suddenly, his eyes looked into the distance. An expression took over Lando's face that Max was too familiar with.

"Oh gosh whose caught your eye now." Max rubbed his forehead.

"Mate just. Just introduce me to her. That's all I'm asking for. I'll take care of the rest."

He turned around to see who he was talking about, and there she was. Dark hair pulled back, dove eyes looking calculating as ever and a polite smiled tugged on those lips as she spoke to Bradley. Max looked back at Lando, who looked infatuated.

"Sorry I disappeared! Anna needed help with planning out your promotional posts for the next week." She apologised walking up to him.

"It's okay. Are you ready to head back?" Max couldn't even finish the whole sentence before feeling a tug on his collar. "Mate!" He glared at Lando.

"Hey. I'm Lando." He smirked at her.

"Hi." She smiled.

"How do you know Max?" He asked. Knowing what the answer was.

She looked puzzled by the question, she thought pretty much everyone knew by now she was his manager. "I'm his manager."

"Are you free later? I could tell you some things you need to know about this strange guy over dinner."

"Thanks for the offer!" She laughed, "I'm afraid I've got a busy weekend ahead of me."

"Then I'll catch you before we're off to Austin." He winked, "see you later." He walked away.

Kalki looked perplexed, even as she got into the car. Max couldn't blame her, that was probably the most awkward interaction he'd ever seen. But he still have props to Lando, for being able to say the bold things he wanted to despite being so socially anxious.

"I'll freshen up and talk to Kai while I grab a bite." Max said.

"Alright, I'll be sorting through sponsor events taking place on Sunday if you need me."