Silver Lining [Mick Schumacher]

Carried Away

"Who smashed whose door?" both turned around abruptly, the man with a distinctive accent startling them. Günther Steiner walked to the table but his whole attention was on one of his drivers, "You?" he pointed at Mick, "I hope not because then I would have to fire you," he joked while putting his arm around Mick's shoulders in a friendly manner.

"I will keep my distance, don't worry," Mick reassured his boss with a tight smile. Hestia eyed them carefully, sensing the weird tension between the team principal and his driver, "Günther, this is my friend, Hestia," now he noticed the blonde covered up in their brand head-to-toes.

"Ah, yes," he quickly outstretched his hand to Hestia with a grin, "sorry, I thought you were a team member."

"What can I say?" Hestia shook his hand, "you have the best clothing. Impossible to resist," Günther laughed, making Mick beam at how Hestia was gaining confidence step by step.

"Glad to hear that. Well, I hope you have fun this weekend," with the same way he appeared, Günther also disappeared. Then, it was time to go to the garage, the start of the first practice session just behind a few corners.

"If he ever hurts you in any way, I'm coming for him," Hestia whispered to Mick, so the other team members walking with them wouldn't overhear.

He turned his head to her with a frown, "Why would something like this happen?" Yes, their characters were clashing a bit. But it was nothing two professionals could not overcome easily for the sake of the team.

Hestia shrugged, "He seems like the type of person to publicly say you are shit when you do something wrong. And I don't want you to go through it," Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tennis ball was thrown in their direction with great speed. Mick was about to catch it, but to his stupefaction, Hestia was faster, trapping it in the palm of her hand effortlessly. Mick stared at her tossing the ball in the air to capture it back, wondering where the hell did she learn those reflexes. Hestia Schmidt again surprised him with her never-ending layers.

Before Mick could investigate the whole situation further, Nikita rushed to the scene, seeing the lost tennis ball in Hestia's hands, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause harm," he outstretched his hand, so Hestia could return the ball. She watched him with suspicious burning in her eyes, she knew very well who he was, "by the way, I'm-"

"The reason why the cars look like a bus of a Russian hockey team, I'm aware," Hestia interrupted him nonchalantly, not watching her mouth for the first time since her arrival. Nikita's pupils dilated as Mick almost burst out laughing, "nice to meet you," she even dared to send a challenging smirk his way. It was refreshing not to be a curled up bundle of nerves for once.

"I prefer Nikita but you can call me whatever you want," Nikita winked, the girl Mick was clearly head over heels with intrigued him. He wasn't planning on stealing her from him, he liked his life way too much to risk it recklessly. But there was something tempting about fierce women, "easy, I was just joking," he lifted his hands and stepped back when he noticed Mick ready to tear his limbs off one by one, "no need to beat me up."

Hestia fearlessly stepped closer to Nikita as her next words were aimed solemnly at him, "Look after your balls, Nikita. You can easily lose them if you don't watch out," she looked him deep in her eyes, making clear that she was not the one to mess up with today. He didn't answer, instead he only gulped. Hestia walked past him, slightly nudging his shoulder as a sign of gained power.

"Try a single thing on her and I will kill you," Mick wagged his finger at the Russian before following Hestia into the garage, doing his best not to let anyone know how seeing Nikita's ego being burned down made his day.

-

It was inviting to be crouched in the garage on Saturday too, but Hestia decided to play it safe for now, choosing to be as much under the radar as possible. She was excited to experience Formula 1 from a grandstand like any other mortal. She had the same plan also for Sunday as she enjoyed herself among the passionate fans with every cell of their bodies breathing for motorsport. It made her fall more in love with the sport. The only stain on a perfect day was Mick's crash in the third free practice that didn't allow him to participate in qualifying, destined him to start last.