Driven by Ecstasy// Max Verstappen

Chapter 3- The first race

It was Ivory's first ever time going to a Formula 1 race. She was flying out to Belgium for the race weekend. Max had arrived a few days prior, so she was told by Tracey. They hadn't spoken a single word to each other since the day the contract was signed. Ivy would be landing on the Friday and getting collected at the airport by Raymond. She had managed to negotiate her way out of going on Friday, she truly was dreading to see Max. She understood that this wasn't the best situation but it wasn't just him going through it, she was too. The questions raced her mind, 'what if Max is just trying to sabotage this?', 'think about the damage this might cause to my career if they find out', 'they'll think I'm a fraud and a liar'. And just like that, Ivy had created a wormhole of spiralling thoughts, guilt to her fans and distress for the next time she has to lay eyes of Max's face.

♡

Luckily, the room Christian had provided for the pair contained two single beds. Raymond told Ivy that Max wasn't due back to the hotel until 8pm. Ivy arrived to their room at 4pm, unpacking her clothes and choosing the bed she wanted. She was done about 5pm and decided to go a long and relaxing bath to melt away all stresses that had accumulated throughout the day. She got herself comfortable in the deep tub, closed her eyes and let relaxation take over. 

♡

Ivy's eyes shot open, she heard a rattling coming from the door, someone was trying to get into her room. She checked the time, it was only 6pm. The door slowly creaked open. Ivy pulled herself up and out of the bath, her ears were ringing with fear, her heart was about to break her ribs. She wrapped a towel around her and picked up a jar that was sitting beside the sink. She slowly walked over to the door hearing matching footsteps to her on the other side of the door. Just as she reached for the handle the same opposite reaction occurred on the other side of the door. Ivy closed her eyes in a panic and flung the jar in hopes to hit something.

''What the fuck Jones!'' shouted the intruder. In a last attempt of bravery, Ivy opened her eyes to be met with Max Verstappen. Ivory Jones had just hit Max fucking Verstappen on the head with a glass jar.

''Oh my god Max! I'm so sorry! I was just in the bath and I heard someone opening the door and I didn't think you were going to be ba-'' ''Would you just shut up, you've already given me a headache.'' Ivy promptly shut her mouth feeling guilt for her actions even though he was the one back early and creeping around the hotel room, however, she pushed that aside as she didn't want this interaction to get any more tense than it had to be. 

''Who said you could have the bed closest to the window?'' Max snapped growing increasingly agitated by her presence. ''Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just move my stuff'' ''No, just leave it. It doesn't matter.'' Max pushed past her and entered the bathroom. 'Wow, what a lovely start' 

♡

Ivy was restless all night. Tossing and turning while Max slept peacefully, snoring at the other side of the room. Her first alarm rung at 6:30am and she promptly hit the snooze button. Even being very much awake, she still was relishing in the warm comfort that the duvet provided her. However, that was until 6:32am when Max strutted his way over to the curtains, yanked them open and blinded Ivory in the process. Ivy dived under the covers. She could've swore she heard Max laugh.

''Jones!''

''Yes, Max.''

''The drive to the track is about 30 minutes, and I need to be there for nine.''

''So...''

''So, hurry up.''

To say Ivy was nervous to enter the paddock was an understatement. Yes, she was a celebrity and celebrities go into the paddock but nobody really had any reason to be suspicious yet. Mila, her PR manager, had decided that the first seed they were going to plant was leaving the hotel at the same time on the Saturday morning. It was subtle, yes, but Ivy could already envision the rumours swirling around twitter and the news articles that would milk the two minute 'coincidence' for everything it had. The girl was mainly concerned on how well they could play the part, were they able to make it believable or would people see right through them. For the Saturday, in best interest, Ivy was given regular paddock passes as to not overwhelm the rumours just yet.