A Chance for Normalcy

CHAPTER 8; incognito

You watch the monitor closely as Max goes around the track, Daniel not far behind. You can hear Gio and Max talking over the headset, but you have no idea what they are talking about. An hour later and you peel your eyes away from the screen as Max pulls the car into the pit lane for his last stop.

"That was so cool," you say to Sara taking your headset off.

"Yeah, it never ceases to amaze me how they do it." She says smiling.

"I'm going to head off to lunch with Charlotte. What time should I be back here for FP2?"

"Starts at 4, so 3:45 if you want to see him get into the car again." Sara says heading towards Max, "sounds good." You say waving bye as you head out through Red Bull hospitality into the paddock. You meet up with Charlotte and the two of you head off to the Paddock Club for lunch.

"So how was watching your first practice?" Charlotte asks sipping on her glass of champagne.

"It's so cool to see up close. I didn't know how many computers were involved."

"Right? It blew my mind the first time I saw the garage." Charlotte says laughing. "Sometimes I wonder how much they actually do."

"Okay, I was thinking the same thing," you say laughing.

"Have you met any of the other drivers yet?" Charlotte asks as the food arrives.

"Yeah, I ugh met Pierre and Declan yesterday." You say taking a bite of the pasta.

"Oh yeah how did that go?" Charlotte asks and you tell her all about your first meeting Declan at lunch then meeting him and Pierre at the end of the day.

"Declan gives me bad vibes." You say taking another bite. "Pierre seems nice though."

"Pierre's a sweetheart. Declan on the other hand is the definition of arrogance incarnated." Charlotte says chuckling. "When he decides he wants something he doesn't stop until he gets it."

You swallow nervously, "really?"

"Yeah and right now he's set on being World Champion."

"I didn't think Alpha Tauri was strong enough to compete for the championship." You say as you finish of your pasta.

"It's not, but Red Bull is. I think he's hoping Christian will see his talent and promote him up from their B team." Charlotte says as she finishes her pasta.

"They can do that?"

"Technically yes, they're all contacted under Red Bull so they could flip at any moment." Charlotte says sighing. "But they won't. Max and Daniel are good, and Declan doesn't have what it takes to move up yet."

"Well, that's only slightly reassuring." You say leaning back into your chair.

"Max has nothing to worry about." Charlotte says more reassuringly.

I somehow doubt that.

"How is Charles feeling after practice? He looked pretty good out there." You say trying to change the subject.

"About as good as he always does, there's always something that needs to be fixed or tweaked. He's overly critical of himself sometimes." She says sighing finishing her champagne.

"That's got to be tough to manage." You say finishing your champagne and waiving the waiter over for the bill.

"I do my best, but support and love can only go so far." She says reaching for her purse.

"Oh don't worry Char, I've got this." You say as the waiter bring the machine over.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," you say tapping your card.