Summary: Carlos' fans hate you, Ferrari thinks you're a bad influence on the Spaniard, Carlos needs to step up his game and defend his girlfriend.
Words: 1.3k+
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Dating an athlete was not for the fainthearted. Especially if it was a Formula One driver.
There were many factors which made this a very tough experience. The crazy schedule they have, the amount of traveling and time-zone challenges involved, always having to train one way or the other, having mostly 2-3 months off during the whole year, and not to mention the fans and team management.
Everything together was basically a recipe for chaos.
Even more so when it involved Carlos, a Ferrari driver.
You loved the Tifosi, finding their love for the sport, the team and their drivers to be the most fascinating thing you have ever seen in motorsports.
But there was also another problem. They didn't like you.
Ever since you and Carlos had made your relationship public, his fans have had torn opinions about you. Some of them thought that you were good for Carlos and completely supported your relationship, but the others found you stuck up and unlikable, saying that you were holding Carlos back and causing him not to perform as well as they wanted him to. Some had even gone as far to bash you for not attending every race on the calendar.
Carlos never pressured you to go to any of his races. You also had a very demanding job, so it wasn't that you didn't want to go to all of his races, you simply couldn't because of your tight schedule. But you always made sure to make time for a race every 1-2 months.
However, that apparently wasn't enough for his fans. And his team either.
It was during the Italian Grand Prix in Monza that you had felt some tensions coming from his team.
You always tended to stay out of the way of the engineers and drivers, not wanting to distract anyone. You tried to make yourself invisible and watch the race in peace, supporting your boyfriend.
But making yourself invisible didn't always have the desired effects.
After you had arrived at the hospitality, Carlos had kissed you goodbye before he made his way to the garage to go over some last minute data with his engineers.
To make your time pass by quicker, you had started talking with a PR manager that you had come to get along with really well while grabbing a bite from the buffet.
"Did you see her here?" some whispers had diverted your attention from the conversation you had been having, making you turn around in search for where they were coming from.
You saw two women at a table further away from you, dressed up in Ferrari merch.
Assistants of some kind, you had said to yourself.
"I did. He came here with her and then hurried back to the garage. She can't seem to go anywhere without needing his help to get around" the other one replied, not looking up from the coffee she had been drinking.
You knew you shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but you knew it, deep down, that they were talking about you.
"She just seems like an attention seeker. I mean, she barely comes to races all season, she only comes to the ones with the most media coverage, just like now. You didn't see her at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but here she is when we come to Monza" the discussion continued, making your heart drop in your stomach.
