Drive to Survive

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Sitting hungover in business class on a direct flight to Maastricht Airport to stay in Max Verstappen's home town was not how Dylan had foreseen her day going when she woke up.

Nevertheless, she'd obediently packed up all her belongings by lunch time and even braved through the conversation with Carlos. As expected, he'd been originally outraged and determined to march down and shout some more warnings at Max. She'd managed to calm him down and explain rationally how she had to perform well in her job otherwise she couldn't travel with him anymore. That had done the job of placating him but she'd not been able to leave without a stream of warnings and promises to call him if she were even the slightest bit upset.

She should have told him there and then that Max had stopped being so awful to her this weekend but she was worried that it would start a bigger conversation than she had time for and she didn't want to incite Carlos' suspicion that she'd not been true to her word about keeping her distance. It was easier to just assure him that she'd stay away and she could continue to figure things out by herself. 

The saving grace of the day had been the discovery that Brad was to accompany them on the week long trip.

She'd found him already seated on the flight when she got on. He'd explained that Max still had training to complete whilst they were away so he'd be on hand the entire time. So, at least she had a friend in her camp, and she'd gladly sat next to him and restarted their in-depth baking debates.

The flight hadn't been too long thankfully, and as they started their descent, Dylan admired the colours in the sky.

Max was sat across from her, headphones in and eyes closed. She wished she could have ignored him but his presence alone set her on edge. Getting through the week would prove to be a challenge but one she was certain to undertake. She wouldn't give him the chance to embarrass her again.

"Attention all crew and passengers. Prepare for landing."

Finally, she thought. 

The landing was fairly smooth and Brad was a complete life-saver, facilitating conversation as they moved through bag collection and the arrivals zone. Max's responses were fairly blunt but it was better than the two of them trying to make conversation alone. 

Maastricht Airport was only about an hour or so from Hasselt so the three of them piled into a taxi and set off for Max's mum's house. To stop them being squished together in the back, Brad had opted to sit up front and make friendly conversation with the driver in broken English. That left Dylan and Max in the backseats together and both were firmly looking out their respective windows, acting like the other did not exist only inches away from them. 

She could feel him near her, the heat from his body almost tangible.

He could feel her near him, the stupid perfume she wore filling the confined space and invading his senses.

Thankfully, traffic was light and they made it there quicker than expected. Brad paid the fare and the driver helped them with their bags out the boot of the car. 

Dylan stood still, looking at Max's childhood home in interest. It was a medium-sized, two-storey house, painted white with brown and grey accents. There was a gravel path lined with various plant pots which lead from the road to the dark-blue front door. For some reason, she was struck by the normalcy of it. Nothing about it screamed millionaire world champion, and she liked it. 

Before they could even make it halfway down the path, the door flew open and an older woman came running to meet them. She almost tackled Max to the ground as she flung her arms around him in a hug. Dylan watched as the smallest of smiles made its way onto his face.