Drive to Survive

Chapter Twenty

"Thanks for the tip, Charles." She said, "That actually helped."

He shrugged, "Any time, ma chérie."

They waited for Pierre to finish his walk and then the group headed inside the hotel. The actual event was being held inside a ginormous ballroom and Dylan quickly noted that Netflix had spared no expense. The room was already packed with media personnel, current drivers, digniatries, and a bunch of motorsport legends. She spotted past drivers from Indycar, F2, and Formula E, as well as some from Moto GP. The guest list was absolutely stacked.

Dylan wondered if now was a good time to try and speak to Carlos again. She turned to grab his arm but he was already walking away with Charles and she noticed they were being called over by Mattia, their team principal.

"Do you want a drink?" Pierre asked.

"Absolutely."

Together, they headed over the bar and Pierre ordered her some champagne and a rum and coke for himself. They stayed there, sipping their drinks and chatting.

"Pierre, I just want to apologise again for all the media drama. I'm really sorry. It's so unfair you keep having your media sessions derailed for something so stupid. I've tried to not make it worse online but they don't seem to care."

"Honestly, Dee, it's completely fine. You're the one who should be receiving apologies because the headlines are actually helping me."

She looked at him curiously, "Really?"

"Yeah, I-um hadn't mentioned this to anyone." He shifted awkwardly, "But I've actually started seeing someone, and amazingly the media hasn't picked up on it. I think they're too caught up with putting me with you."

"Oh!" The news surprised Dylan, "Well, I guess I'm glad to help then?"

"I'm sorry it's drawing negative attention to you, though. When the time's right, I'll set the record straight. It's just all really new right now and I don't want to mess anything up."

She could tell he felt guilty that he'd basically been benefitting from her name being somewhat trashed in the media but truthfully, she didn't really mind. It's not like he'd orchestrated it. The journalists were going to say those things anyway.

"Take all the time you need, it makes no difference to me."

He smiled gratefully and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick hug.

"So..." Dylan grinned mischievously, "Tell me all about this mystery person!"

Pierre groaned, but after a bit more teasing he started to tell her about the girl he'd met at one of the races earlier in the season. He wouldn't give her a name yet but she was a model and apparently they'd bonded over their interest in travel. Dylan could tell that Pierre was serious about it, this wasn't a hook-up and he was trying to make sure everything went okay. For his sake, she was suddenly glad that the media rumours were there, because they'd provided him the cover to spend time with his mystery girl without the intrusive speculations of the media.

Eventually, Carlos and Charles rejoined them and the rest of their friends arrived. 

"God, this is a bit fancier than I expected." Lando frowned, looking around the room, "I never know the right fork to use at these events."

"A fork is a fork, mate." Alex shrugged.

"But it's not! They get touchy about it."

Dylan couldn't help but laugh at him. Lando was so out of place in any sort of formal situation.

George came to his rescue, "Start on the outside and work your way in." 

"Of course you would know." Lando grumbled, "They probably had you on three course meals at your pre-school."