Efímero | His Legacy | Formula 1

28. Very Macho Peacock

I always wanted to come to a race in Asia, but I never thought that when I had the opportunity, I would despise being here. The news about me were everywhere that had any anything to dowith motorsport. After two flights, we are in Bahrain, and it is already a nightmare. Charles and I are approaching the airport's exit, and I can already see a bunch of people gathering around with cameras and microphones which I believe are the press waiting for us and possibly the other drivers. I stop my walk and pull Charles back slightly. He turns around and looks at me confused.

I lick my lips nervously. "Can we wait a little? I don't want to go through that." Seeing all the people outside and knowing they know everything about me and are just waiting to eat me alive with their questions is making me too anxious.

"I know, Ax, but they are not going away even if we wait here for six hours. We will just have to deal with it. Come here. You will walk behind me, your front pushed to my back, and you will hold my hand at all times. Don't answer questions and try not to look scared or directly into the cameras. Imagine is you and me only walking at the beach in Sao Paolo alone with no cameras and no people bothering us. There is a car already waiting for us outside, and you will enter the car first. I know I told you that you would embrace everything and keep your head up and not hide, but I was talking about the Grand Prix, not this. You can hide right now because this can be too overwhelming." He takes his cap off and puts it on my head. "I am sorry. I didn't know this would happen. It normally doesn't happen like this. There are a few reporters, but never this amount. I guess we really will be the talk of the paddock this weekend. Now come on, let's get out of here."

He grabs my hand and pulls me with him out of the front door with my front pressed to his back and my head down. There are so many people out here, and my breathing is becoming irregular. I continue walking as I hear my name being called a thousand times. Everything is so overwhelming, and there is a ringing in my ears that is making me panic. We are almost there. I tell myself, trying to calm down. Charles senses my discomfort and tightens his grip on my hand as he walks faster through the crowd with me following his lead. Without me even noticing, he pulls me to the front and shoves me softly to the car, and rapidly afterward, gets in and closes the door.

I can breathe now. I don't know if I will ever get used to this shit. It literally sucks. I look out the window and don't talk through the car drive though Charles tries to make conversation. Once we arrive at the hotel, Charles decides the best we can do is stay in the hotel and relax since tomorrow there is a more stressful day ahead. I head to the pool. Charles offered to accompany me, but I wanted some time alone and knew he was dying to the casino and have some drinks with some of his friends who are also staying at this hotel.

The pool is practically empty except for a few people. I enter the jacuzzi to relax my muscles a bit and think for a while in peace, but, after just a few minutes, my peace is disturbed by someone entering the jacuzzi. Why would they enter this jacuzzi when there are two that minutes ago were empty? I have my eyes close, so I can't see who entered. I continue with my own thing and try to ignore their presence. They accidentally kick my leg which makes my goal of staying calm almost impossible.

"I am sorry," the stranger says quietly as they sit at a distance from me. The voice sounds low and masculine which makes me assume he is a guy. He has a German accent and sounds familiar, but I can't quite place where from. I open my eyes to see him, and I immediately recognize him.

"It's fine," I say as I analyze his face. "I guess you are as clumsy off the track as you are on it," I smirk, and he glares slightly at me.

He frowns. "I am not clumsy on track."

I smirk, "Sure, if you say so, but those three incidents last season in Silverstone, Monza, and Jeddah with Hamilton say the opposite." I do not think Max Verstappen is a clumsy driver quite the opposite. I think he is a great driver and barely makes any mistakes on track nowadays. But I want to push his buttons since he interrupted my relaxation time.