Shot In the Dark

While You're At It

What? Really? No way? 

Eyes lay barren of emotion cold defensive a man who had once held so much hope sat isolated thinking over the last 3 minutes in his roaring brain as if they had stretched one's entire lifespan he tried and tried nothing worked this was not fair. The one place where he had always been able to go to work without anyone being able to abuse and use him had been ripped from under his nose the sport, he once loved had just stabbed a dagger right through his gut how could this have happened it was all there laid out in front of him this was on him not anyone else maybe he really had lost it...

Hands shakily undid the belt that held him in as he pulled with great effort his legs that felt like weights out of the cockpit and climbed over the halo he stepped onto the ground and under the helmet eyes coating over they did not come here to see Lewis they came here to see 'Lewis Hamilton' so that was who he would have to be a tap on the shoulder signaled him to move on from the scale and as he did the eyes of Angela found him and there it was pity so many people expecting soo much and here he stood empty handed he had really lost it...

Two hours passed by he was on autopilot the composed face never once faltering he could not afford it there was too much at risk too many people had too much power while the ones that truly deserved it were stuck in economic pits the world was dark so very dark. maybe the lights being off in his room contributed to the overwhelming sense of isolation he felt but the most concerning thing that happened within that four walled room was the fire that had been burning bright for over twenty years started to flicker and he knew why all those hours days years that he sacrificed were pointless it was lost the championship he had really lost it...

Toto stood on the balcony of his hotel at 5:00am in the morning trying not to disturb Susie as she slept while speaking quickly and trying to establish where Lewis had gone after receiving a message from his manager. saying he had asked her to organize a jet for him but Toto after partying for the constructor's championship and also to destroy the images of Christian celebrating out of his head as that was enough to make the Austrian consider violent courses of action that really should not be wasted on the tiny British man. However, the know incoherent man was in fact mumbling down the phone to his old housekeeper Mariana who was most confused as to why Toto wanted her to meet the 7x world champion well 8x in her opinion but that is a conversation for another day. Toto started mumbling about a code to get on to the airport tarmac with her car so she could drive Lewis to the Wolff's house in Austria which originally would not have been inhabited at winter as the Wolff's remained in Monaco. With one last remark about the spare keys hiding place Toto hung up as Mariana tried to interject for the twelfth time but was met with the beep signaling toto was long gone.

Drearily walking down, the driveway towards the mansion that lay at the end of her street Mariana started smiling after graduating from university and getting a full-time job she had let the housekeeping hustle go she had tried to get in touch with Toto the day before hence why he must have called her after five years everything still looked the same and she remembered the warm atmosphere that always encompassed her. she had two hours before she needed to be at the airport scurrying round the house lighting the fires and checking what she needed to buy from the shop as she passed it to fill up the fridge and bathrooms for the champion fulfillment started to warm her from the inside something which she had not felt in a year. As she walked down the drive and hopped into her car, she was definite on one thing she had not lost it...

The drive to the airport took 40 minutes but with the quick trip to the shop that should have been 10 minutes turning into a 25-minute trip after her autistic tendencies made her walk up and down each aisle twice even though she had ticked everything on her list meant Mariana now had her foot to the floor trying to not make a bad impression by being late to pick up her ex-bosses (hopefully to be reinstated soon) star employee. The code was etched into her head after she linked it to psychological research theories so as she came to a stop at the gate it was brief as she soon pressed the code in and rolled out onto the tarmac of the small airport and towards a waiting private jet remember Mariana breathe, she repeated to herself. Shutting of the car and grabbing her phone she made her way towards one of the groundworkers calling out a feeble excuse me confidence had never been her gift, but she tried the men explained to her that Mr. Hamilton wanted the car brought up to the steps so no cameras can see him. Marian pretended to understand but deep down she was confused this was rural Austria surely there was no paparazzi around, but she did not question it and returned to the car before stopping neatly in front of the steps.

Jogging down the steps as if the weight of the world came crushing down on him was the silhouette of who she assumed to be Lewis the car door was quickly opened, and he slipped into the passenger seat as his suitcase was placed in the boot by one of the men from earlier. taking a deep breath Mariana turned to her side...