Double Sided Tracks

garage pt.2

He saw Nora and Angela chatting on his way back from his driver's room. They're laughing at something– Angela is showing something on her phone and Nora lightly slaps Angela's thigh when she laughs and he couldn't help but smile.

"Hey," he greeted them and Nora's laughter died down but she still had the same smile plastered on her face. Angela, on the other hand, looked at him like he was raining on their parade and he couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. Nora was watching the whole thing like it's so entertaining, unaware that they're mid-fighting because Angela thought his intention was just to sleep with her.

But, what is his intention? He's unsure still, he does know that Nora is a breath of fresh air.

Before they could say anything, a woman in a Red Bull polo approached them and the way the harsh red and blue colour stood amongst the sea of black and white polos made them stop. How she ends up in Mercedes garage, Lewis is unsure. But, it's not like they're an actual cult who protects their door from non-Mercedes people.

"Sorry," she started, "I just wanted to ask Nora, if she'll be interested in watching from Red Bull hospitality?" she asked quickly, shame crossed her face like she knows she shouldn't ask someone who's already settled in a different garage that question. "Sorry- I know you're– but just, I was sent–"

Angela had a weird smile on her face like she found all these amusing, Nora just looked confused, and Lewis– Lewis stared at the woman like he's trying to dissect her thoughts.

Who sent you here, would be the first question he wanted to ask. But, somehow he doesn't need the confirmation on something he already knew.

"Oh, is my dad there?" is all Nora asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "He knows I'm watching from–" she continues at the same time the Red Bull personnel said, "it's not your dad, it's–"

Lewis grabbed Angela's wrist that's free from the clipboard, and squeezed it. Angela, despite being a bully earlier, got what he meant and took the offered lanyard from the woman's hand with a smile. "We'll just keep that for now, just in case Nora wants to stop by. Right?" she turned to Nora, who (bless her) still looked very confused by the whole thing, but nodded anyway.

"Thank you, love." she said to the Red Bull lady who also looked slightly confused but didn't push her luck and left.

"That's weird." Nora commented but shrugged when neither Angela or Lewis responded.

"You should get ready." Angela said, "we'll wait here, right?" she turned to Nora, and gave Lewis a look. She's standing beside Nora, looking all smug like she's her–oh! like she's her bodyguard!

"Can I get your help with my hair?" he asked Angela, but didn't wait for her answer and ushered her away from Nora. "I know what you're doing!"

Angela crossed her arms in front of her chest, clipboard tucked in. "What are you doing playing bodyguard, huh?" he asked, when she didn't say anything.

"Making sure you don't do anything stupid."

"Like what!" he exclaimed, louder than he intended to, the way a few heads turned. Including Nora, and he smiled at her quickly. "Like what?" he asked, quieter this time.

"Like asking her to sleep with you." she hissed at him, snatching a hair tie out of his hand and started working on his hair. "That would be really stupid, Hammy."

"You know I'm a grown man who can control himself, right? I'm not going to jump her."

Angela tck-ed at him, "it's not just that– it's." she started, but realised he really should be in the car soon. "We'll talk about this later." she said softly and patted his shoulder.

Lewis nodded, thanked her and jogged to Nora. "wish me luck." he said quickly, Nora nodded quickly with a smile.

"Good luck,"

He could hear the crowd getting slightly louder, it's either the crowd or his adrenaline, or blood seems to be rushing to his head, "can I take you out?" he asked quickly, "dinner." he added when Nora just kind of stood there and looked around like she's unsure.

Maybe he asked it in the wrong way, "I think Red bull is definitely going to beat us so I need to cry with tacos or something," he said quickly and he felt like a 2012 internet persona "but first, tacos."

But, it's worth it when Nora smiled. "I don't think that's a good mindset to have before a race." she said, "we can do tacos, sure. If you win, we can do tacos without the crying part." she added and Lewis lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

Then, I'll win. He'll beat Max with this multi-million euro tractor that Toto told him to just drive.

He said nothing, nodded and jogged back to his car. Angela standing there with unamused look, "I didn't ask her for a fuck, if that's what you're wondering." he said quickly and jump in the car.