The Boss

Italy - Race Weekend

"Where is your owner?" A certain Australian man yelled at me. "You look like a lost puppy."

"Funny Danny, very funny." I smiled at Daniel and hugged him. "What are you up to?" I asked him when he sat down next to me.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I am done for the day but I am waiting for Max to be done, so we can get lunch. Care to join us?"

"That sounds great, but I am going for a grid run with Lewis."

"That sucks, the weather is ass today, take Hammy with you and join us for lunch." Daniel held my hand and gave me the saddest pair of eyes.

"Stop that, that is emotional blackmail!" I laughed and pushed him away. "Join us for a run, and we might get lunch after."

"Hell no, I avoid track walks as it is, I am not joining you all on a track run!" Max joined in on our conversation and I laughed at his exaggerated response.

"Well there is no need, you two would slow me down anyway." I said and hopped off the chair, hugged Daniel and Max goodbye, and told them to send me a photo of the food while I searched for Lewis in the garage. But then I collided with a wall, or just Toto's chest.

"You should watch where you are going, scha-." He coughed and corrected himself. "Romée."

I rolled my eyes and forgot how it triggers Toto, slowly looking up to see his face. His face was unreadable for others but his jaw was locked, his left brow was slightly raised and if I listened carefully, I could hear his teeth grind. For the first time today, I am very happy we decided to keep things professional.

"Sorry boss, I am such a klutz." I chuckled and walked away, gladly seeing Lewis entering the garage. Lewis greeted Toto and we walked away with our arms locked. I didn't dare to look back.

"Okay, you ready? Or do you need to warm up? Or a head start?" Lewis joked and I pushed him before taking off. "That is cheating Miss Pierce! At least a 5-second penalty." He called after me and I just laughed

When Lewis caught up with me, we talked a bit about our karaoke experience and his expectations for the weekend. The track is almost five kilometers so it was a nice stroll, I was glad it stopped raining before we went on a run.

"I think a p10 will be manageable, right?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"The car is so far behind, and the purposing is awful." He sighed. "George is managing the car a bit better, with different setups and all."

"We just have to keep working on the car, everybody knows it's not your fault. And even then, you can not control the way people think about you." I said and Lewis chuckled

"I think the team knows that, but the fans don't. Or maybe some do, but George is doing so much better in the car."

"You should not compare yourself with George. As you said, his car settings are different. They drive with different strategies. You still rise, Lewis." I huffed, because I was out of breath, "I don't normally talk during running." I apologized and Lewis had to stop running because he was laughing so hard.

"Thank you, Romée. I definitely feel better now." He said while we entered the pit lane again. "Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"I would love to, I am going to change." I smiled, heading towards the motor home and telling Toto that I would be having lunch with Lewis

"Great, oh, and Romée?" Lewis asked and I stopped walking.

"Yes?"

"Tell Toto I said hey." Lewis winked and I simply stared at him, not knowing if I should freak the fuck out or just smile.

I decided not to do anything and definitely not go and see Toto. I walked towards the motor home and got changed, the weather was still the same so I took Toto's half zip with me again. Lewis was waiting for me at the door and held out his arm for me to take. We walked towards hospitality and picked out a table. We ordered some drinks and looked over the menu. I thanked the waiter for my drinks and cheered with Lewis his glass

"So..-" Lewis took off his sunglasses. "How long have you and Toto been together?" He asked and I choked on my drink.

"How long have I what now? We are not dating." I could feel the heat of embarrassment cover my face and tried to act somehow normal which only made Lewis giggle.

"Romée, you don't have to be embarrassed, it's not weird to like him." He smiled and held my hand. "He is charming, I guess." Lewis said and I burst out in nervous laughter. "No in all seriousness, he is a good man."

"How did you find out?" That is the only thing I wanted to ask right now.

"Do you want the real answer?" He asked and I nodded in fear. "I saw your clothes in Toto's bedroom in the hotel when I was looking for you."

If it was possible, I turned three more shades of red and slapped my hand against my head. "Great." I mumbled and Lewis just laughed.

"Don't stress about it." Lewis said and I looked up to him.

"But it's weird. And as I said to Toto, I don't want people to think that I am dating him because it's him." I said. "I am dating him for him because I love him." I slapped that hand in front of my mouth really fast. "I just mean that I work very hard and I don't want people to think that I am using him or something." I quickly took another sip of my drink

"I understand, but as you said, you can not control the way people think about you. You are not doing anything wrong, you can not choose who you love."

I took a deep breath and nodded. We changed the subject, thank god, and ate our food. After an hour or so we were on our way back to the garage and when I saw Toto sitting behind his monitor, Lewis hugged me and said his goodbyes. I walked to Toto and tapped him on the back, he tensed and turned around.

"Jesus, Romée. Don't scare me like that." He huffed and I rolled my eyes. "Stop that." He growled and I held up my finger.

"Nope! We are at work, I can roll my eyes." I dramatically rolled my eyes ten times before hurting them. Toto shook his head and got up from the seat.

"Then it is a good thing for me that we are done for today and we can head to our hotel." Toto said and gently dragged me to the car.

———

Practice one wasn't really good for the boys. Russell came in tenth in the first practice and eleventh at the sprint qualifying. Lewis came in eighteenth at the first practice and thirteenth at the sprint qualifying. The team went through all the data and prepared themselves for the sprint race on Saturday.

———

The second practice on Saturday on the other hand, resulted in a fourth place for Lewis and a first place for George! Not to get our hopes up, but it was looking good. Remember when I said to not get our hopes up? I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Lewis finished the sprint in fourteenth place and George in the eleventh.

———

Race day. Toto was in a bad mood and has been for the last few days. He tried not to have it affect him when we were at the hotel, but it is his team, his life. And since Lewis finished thirteenth in the race, his mood was still highly affected. But George finished fourth, which is a good thing! But Toto was tired and wanted to leave Italy fast.

We were on the plane two hours after the race ended, and I couldn't help but think that our days together got really affected by this. But I have to stay professional too, and I know that. We have another week of no racing now and will be racing again in Miami on the sixth of May. So we had to be there on the fourth or fifth, I have to take a look at the schedule when we land in Monaco. Toto was asleep next to me, a deep frown on his forehead. His head was already leaning towards my shoulder so I decided to pull his head on my shoulder. Toto sighed and got a little more comfortable. The frown is no longer there.