With the motorsport world finally putting light on the women of racing, one racer was ready to work her way up to the Formula 1 grid. As a Formula 2 rookie, she struggled, but with Red Bull Racing behind her, she was sure to cause one of hell of a c...
It was an odd concept that Anneli could win the series without finishing it and the chances of that had been so unlikely back when she moved to f1...there had just been so many different winners that it allowed her to stay up top without being there. Jack Doohen had promised his best friend that he'd do everything to keep Pourchaire behind him if he could out-qualify him and Anneli appreciated that.
"Neli, earth to Neli!" Max waved a hand in front of her face. "You spaced out, you okay?"
"Yes," Anneli breathed. "Max...do you think I am a fun person?"
"In your own way," Max chuckled. "Why does it matter?"
"Levi and Joel are here this weekend, remember? When I told them I'd never been to Vegas or gambled nor did I want to, they joked I was 'no fun,'" Anneli stated, looking up at Max.
"Everyone's version of fun is different anyway, Neli, you shouldn't worry too much," Max returned. "When have you ever cared about what people think of you?"
"I care what you think of me."
Max and Anneli locked eyes. Contrary to popular belief, Anneli did let herself show a lot of emotion around Max, even if it looked blunt to outsiders. She trusted him a lot and he'd always earned that trust, but that did not mean Anneli didn't have doubts about herself. She was still human and she had things she didn't like about herself, even if no one else was allowed to see.
"I never want you to feel—"
"You haven't," Anneli assured. "It's...I have never been in love until I met you and now I do not want to mess it up."
"I love you Nel, you can't mess anything up."
⋯⋯⋯⋯⊱🧊⊰⋯⋯⋯⋯
To no surprise, Max won the Vegas Grand Prix. Anneli didn't mind because her car was never going to win against most the cars, let alone a Red Bull, so she might as well support her boyfriend. Besides, it was so funny to see him going from supposedly hating Vegas to singing Viva Las Vegas at the top of his lungs. Anneli didn't do too badly herself, landing in P8 so she brought home points she was happy with.
"Ew you're sweaty!" Joel complained as Anneli walked towards the driver's room.
"I wonder why," Anneli snorted. "Is it because I just drove for an hour and a half in practically a rocket ship?"
"You've gotten sarcastic!" Levi gasped. "Is this what Max is doing to you?"
Anneli rolled her eyes at them. She knew they were joking around down in hospitality while she got showered and changed, not even caring that it was well past ten. She also knew the two of them planned on going out gambling while she was in her meetings.
"Are you sure you don't want us to wait around for you, Nel?" Joel questioned.
"No, I have another meeting after my team meeting so it could be hours," said Anneli. "Go, just don't get too crazy."
Joel and Levi nodded as they allowed Anneli to move past them and into the team meeting. She wasn't in there for very long because there wasn't that much to say. It was more about talking to Yuki and why he didn't get into the points. Anneli's mind was elsewhere.
When it finally finished, she immediately headed to the Red Bull hospitality at a quick rate, avoiding the people around and signing autographs for little kids only. She gathered people who didn't keep an eye on where she was going. Even when she ran into Max, her mind wasn't thinking about conversation starters.
"Neli?" Max questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I thought we were meeting—"
"I am still meeting you in an hour," Anneli assured. "Just got some business to take care off."
"In Red Bull—?"
Anneli had already sneaked past him without replying. Her heart missed no beats as she moved sleekly up the stairs of the Red Bull hospitality and towards the office she needed. As her fist knocked on the door, her mind had no doubts about what she was about to do, even when the door opened and the man spoke.
"Hello, Anneli, you're just on time."
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:O Shock! I appeared to have changed the timeline and given away my plans...
Okay, I'm sorry but the next chapter is the last chapter before the epilogue. I loved this book, I truly did but I feel it's a good place to end it before I just write things for the sake of writing. It also needs major editing since I wrote most of it at 1am...the good news is I have more time to focus on my George Russell book and my Carlos Sainz book!
