Qualifying did not end well. Pierre ended up finishing in thirteen in what was considered a disgrace for the drivers who had a fast car. Pierre had a fast car. He had been pissed for a little but plastered on a smile when Anthoine and Sara stood in front of his hotel to go to dinner together.
"You'll get them tomorrow Pi. The points weren't earned today."
"But starting from the midfield is going to make it all the harder." He shook his head. "We're not going to talk about it now. This is the first time in years we are going to have dinner together, I am going to enjoy it despite the day I've had." He walked ahead of Sara and Anthoine towards the restaurant they had decided to go to earlier.
"It looks adorable!" They stood at the entrance. "Goodness me. Is that a photo booth?!" She dragged them with her to the photobooth. Sara loved photo booths. They clambered in – they barely fit in together – and Sara put in the money. "Okay guys, smile!" They smiled for the first one. The second one was a silly one. On the third one, both boys kissed Sara's cheeks and on the fourth, she squeezed their cheeks together.
"Ow." Pierre rubbed his cheeks. "Did you need to squeeze them so hard?" Sara laughed.
"They are cute though." She looked at the photos and smiled. "Do you guys want one of these?" Both shook their heads.
"You keep them. It was your idea and you seem to really like them." Sara clutched them to her chest before carefully placing them in her purse.
"Now let's eat!" They sat down and ordered their food. "So, I brought this little thing..." Sara pulled out one of her favourite card games. It was a Dutch game that she had bought somewhere over the years.
"Oh my goodness no." They all were competitive as hell and sometimes they got a little loud whenever they'd play a game. "Please don't tell me you were planning to do this in a restaurant?" Anthoine looked at her.
"Ah, come on Tonio." Pierre was grinning. "It's just a game. Besides, you were the one who used to scream the loudest." Sara high-fived Pierre and laughed.
"I did-" Anthoine yelled, but when everyone turned to look at them, he turned it down. "not"
"We can see that." Sara was grinning and started to shuffle the cards. "Now, don't turn these cards around, but keep them face down on the table." Sara started to explain the game.
"So basically, it is strategy mixed with a lot of good luck and guessing." Sara nodded excitedly. "That's going to go down well with us." Anthoine shook his head. He took a deep breath. "Let's go then."
They laughed as they played the game. People kept looking at them, but somewhere along the line, Anthoine let his guard down as well and just joined his two other friends in wreaking havoc.
"Stop!"
"No!" Both Anthoine and Pierre yelled making Sara laugh. She was going to win the round, or she could have been bluffing. Either way, it stressed the two boys out.
"Okay, that's all?" She turned around her cards.
"Seriously?! One?!" Both boys turned their cards around as well. They showed eleven and seven points. Seeing the point of the game was to get as few points as possible in the process of a couple of rounds, Sara was going well.
"I am so done with this game." Pierre sighed. "I hate this game." Sara laughed.
"Don't hate on the game."
"You're right." Anthoine grinned. "We should hate the player." Pierre nodded.
"So that's not a word from us to Sara, Tonio. It's her own fault." Anthoine nodded and they turned away from Sara.
"Guys!" They didn't respond. "Pi! Thoine!" Still nothing. "Quinquins!" Both groaned.
"You were going to stop calling us that," Pierre whined. "We are not little kids." Quinquin, the word used for little kids in the north of France and the name both Anthoine and Pierre received whenever they were so annoying Sara felt no other escape route was available.
"It got you to talk to me again." Pierre squinted his eyes at her and Sara stuck her tongue out to him before sipping her glass of wine.
"Should you really be having three glasses of wine?" Anthoine asked with a frown.
"Come on Thoine, I'm basically a Paris local now. I live on wine."
"Generalisation at its best." Sara rolled her eyes at them.
"I am totally fine." Her phone buzzed.
"Safed by the bell." The banter was still the same, only the topics had slightly changed.
Carlos: hi, I was wondering if you'd have any time tomorrow?"
You: Depends on the time you were thinking about?
Carlos: Around seven?
You: Sorry, I'm already on a plane by then?
Carlos: Short weekend then?
You: I've got to be back for work Monday morning. It's a shame really. I would have loved to get the whole experience. I do love all the glamour around here.
"Earth to Sara!" Pierre waved a hand in front of Sara's face. "Who are you texting. You have a smile that betrays a lot." Sara raised an eyebrow.
"Like what?"
"It's a guy. You like him. He's either being sweet or setting up a date." Sara scrunched up her nose.
"I hate you. But the joke is on you, I like him as a friend, absolutely nothing more. I've just gotten out of a marriage and thank you very much, but I am done with men for a while." Both looked offended. "As far as relationships go. You idiots." She shook her head and looked back at her phone.
Carlos: What about tonight?
Carlos: If you are busy, we can do it in Barcelona.
You: I'm afraid that is going to have to be the case. I'm with Anthoine and Pierre and can't ditch them. They are some of my best friends.
Carlos: Then have a lot of fun! It's a shame we can't meet up, but we will schedule something in Barcelona. I'm not going to let another opportunity slip.
You: Sure 😊 But I'm going to focus on my friends now before they smash my phone.
Carlos: Might see you tomorrow then?
You: Who knows 😉
Sara put her phone into her purse.
"From now on I am all ears and eyes." Anthoine smiled as Pierre rolled his eyes.
"I already thought you were, but it seems someone can divert those eyes and ears." Anthoine was grinning. He had been sitting with Carlos and Sara and he had noticed the immediate click the two had had. "What are you grinning at?" Pierre looked from Anthoine to Sara and back. "He knows who you were texting with. Why don't I? Who were you texting with." Sara huffed.
"I'm pretty sure he does not know who I was texting."
"Oh really." Anthoine raised an eyebrow. "So it wasn't someone related to formula one?" Sara's eyes widened. "Or from Spain?" Her mouth dropped. "Working at McLaren?" She bit her lip. He knew exactly who she was texting to. In the meantime, Pierre was trying to solve the riddle.
"A Spaniard at McLaren? I can just come up with Carlos Sainz." Anthoine winked at Sara, which didn't go unnoticed by Pierre. "It is Carlos Sainz?!" He exclaimed. "When did you meet him?!"
"When we went to the McLaren Technology Centre. She tried to sneak me in, failed and then managed to talk to both of their drivers somehow." Pierre stared at Sara.
"Sure, good luck with 'just friends'." With his fingers, he made two quotation marks when he said, 'just friends' to stress the fact Sara had just said it and he didn't believe a word of it. "Honestly woman, you're naïve."
"I'm not!" Sara looked at Anthoine for back up.
"Don't look at me! I'm not going to risk my neck for that one!" Sara looked at him with a look that said 'excuse me'.
"Right, what friends are for." She shook her head and finished her glass of wine. "Either way, it's nine o'clock, shouldn't we be heading back, seeing both of you have to race?" Reluctantly, both Anthoine and Pierre agreed. They did need their sleep to be fit and knowing Sara, a few stops would be made for pictures.
At ten, they arrived back at the hotel Sara was staying in. The boys had refused to let her walk through the city alone and therefore walked with her to her hotel.
"I had a lot of fun guys." She smiled hugging first Anthoine and then Pierre. "Besides forgetting how much fun it could be with you two, I also forgot how annoying you could be but how well it balances out. It's a mystery to me how you do it." Anthoine and Pierre laughed.
"To us, it's a mystery how you work altogether. It has been so long and we are not one step closer to understanding you." Sara huffed but could see the fun in it as well.
"Either way guys, sleep well and make sure you are ready to kick ass tomorrow." She turned around and walked into the hotel, a smile still lingering on her face.