Adrenaline: A Lestappen Story

𝟐𝟒 - 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

As she left, she found the keys for it in the pocket of the pants Max had left thrown on the floor of the bathroom and quietly made her way out of the house unnoticed.

Upon arriving at the said location, the reality of the situation finally fell onto her shoulders. During her drive to the Verstappen family cottage, she had hoped it had all been a misunderstanding, her hope still lingering. Yet, when she saw an additional car she did not know parked by the entrance, she knew her worst fears had come into reality.

Hesitating to leave the car, Kelly tried to hold in her tears as she stared at the cottage, "whoever is inside it is the woman he's leaving me for," she told herself. After a few minutes collecting her courage, Kelly stepped out of the car and headed to the main door, ready to face her replacement.

With the key in the knob, the door was soon pushed open, and Charles walked over, ready to embrace the other man.

To his complete shock, it was not blond hair that poked in through the entrance. The dark, straight hair was on a shorter frame and the piercing blue eyes that held nothing but anger in them could not be mistaken for anyone but Kelly.

Occasionally, Charles would contemplate the excuses he would give if he and Max were to get caught together. However, usually, he envisioned such scenarios in the context of secret hotel meetings, which he could play off as quick hangouts. The expression on the woman's face and the display of breakfast waiting for Max made it abundantly clear that Charles was not there as a fellow driver hoping to catch up.

"I can explain," he lied, the sentence itself incriminating him. Kelly's face changed from one of anger to one of confusion, and momentarily, Charles could even pinpoint some disgust on it.

"That's rich," she spoke with a menacing laugh, taking in Charles's shocked appearance, "this must be some kind of joke."

Kelly walked past the driver, looking further into the house as if she was trying to find someone else, "where is she? I've never judged Max as someone who would be into threesomes, and especially not with you." She commented as she opened the door to the main room, finding it empty.

It was only when she had inspected the whole house that she finally came into the realization that there was no one else there but the two of them, "hah.." she scoffed, eyeing the breakfast table. "There isn't anyone else in here, is there?" she spoke, her jaw dropping in disbelief, "are you two...fucking?"

There was no answer that Charles could come up with that would be a plausible explanation for him to be at his rival's familial cottage, having made breakfast and expecting his swift return. It was a moment of shock, and in the panic of the moment, his body froze, contrary to the instincts he would display on a track. Charles was selfishly afraid of what this could mean for their careers. If the woman was upset enough, which most people would be under the circumstances, there was nothing stopping her from screaming it out to the world that they're together. Coming from Max's partner, there would be enough credibility to have people run the story for months to come. Their teams would have to face the repercussions of it, potentially leading to the end of their contracts, as there are laws forbidding homosexuals from racing in certain countries in which Formula One is present.

Charles was a good bit taller than Kelly, but her presence was demanding and took control of the room. Her stare made him feel as if he wasn't anyone aside from some sort of mistress.

"I can leave," Charles avoided the question, walking around her to look for his keys.

"You're not going anywhere," she stated, stepping back to take a seat at the table. "If you leave, I'm going to tell everyone you two have an affair," she said, a bluff she hoped would go through, "and trust me, I'd gladly ruin both of your careers," she spoke, pouring herself some coffee.