Barging into Lewis's room was the only thing Joanna could think of right now, so she did exactly that. What she hadn't expected was a very naked Nico lying on the bed and Lewis, who was just wearing white boxer shorts standing in the middle of the room.
"God, Can't you lock the door when you're doing that what if someone else had come in?!" Joanna shrieked, while she turned around and held her hands over her eyes, which caused Lewis to snicker.
"To be true someone else coming wasn't really my concern right now, darling," Nico said, not amused by Joanna's presence in the first place. Why on earth couldn't she knock on doors before barging into someone else's room.
"Simply gross. Why are you wasting your time with that?" Joanna asked Lewis gesturing at Nico after turning around, her hand was still covering her eyes, or where she thought Nico was sitting on the bed, before turning back around again. The Brit sat down on the bed, while Nico fished for his boxers, before putting them on as well. Sending Lewis a dark glance.
"Alright. We're wearing underwear. You can turn around." Lewis told her an amused grin playing around his lips. Nico was painfully aware that this gaze wasn't directed at him, not anymore. Sometimes he wondered why Joanna and the rest of "the lost kids" aka Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel always seemed to need Lewis for everything. He is surprised that only one of the three has appeared here and not the entire collective.
"I'm pretty sure I still don't want to look at you guys," Joanna muttered as she turned around. Her hand slowly sliding off her face, before she carefully opened one eye and then the other. Lewis was about to ask Joanna what brought her to them as the door swung open again and Sebastian barged into the room. Joanna had told them that she needed a reality check and that he should meet her in Lewis's room.
Looking as horrified as Joanna as she first had entered the room, but Sebastian warily eyed Joanna as well, which caused the Austrian to lift her hands, hoping that would show her innocence. Sebastian crossed his arms in front of his chest and lifted an eyebrow amused.
"So, no threesome then?" Sebastian joked, which caused Joanna to punch his arm. Sebastian and Joanna started to banter in German which Nico followed entertained, but Lewis understood not even one word, so he called for their attention after a few minutes.
"As much as I love you guys but why are you here? I'm kinda busy." Lewis wanted to know, which caused the smile to fall from Joanna's face. Both German-speaking intruders wore dark expressions now.
"Daniel," Joanna told him, which caused Lewis to reach out to the Austrian so she would come over and sit down with them, Sebastian followed close, flopping down on the floor, facing Joanna.
"What happened?" Nico wanted to know, which caused Joanna to look at him. She somehow forgot that he was there, but the question was why. He had told Joanna that it was over with him and Lewis. Maybe it was their goodbye she broke up now or he tried to fuck with her mind.
Joanna didn't see a point in keeping it a secret. Nico would know as soon as it reached the press, which would be soon than later, with the media circling them.
"The dickhead won't stop trying to mess with the babies. Mark got involved but Daniel didn't seem like he wanted to listen" She told them, which caused Lewis to shake his head.
"I'm sure he will see reason. Mark can be scary." He tried to reassure her, but Nico stopped him.
"Are you going to force him to stop?" The other Mercedes driver asked, which caused Lewis to look at him. Ready to argue, that, of course, she would try to speak with him again but never actually do something to hurt their friend, as this time Sebastian stopped him.
The older Ferrari driver didn't look up, just fiddled a little bit with his joined hands. "There is no other way, is there."
He trailed off, not in the mood to actually speak the words they all were thinking. Nico took over for him. Watching Lewis while he spoke.
"If he doesn't stop soon, the rookies will think they can do as they please." Joanna was silent while Nico spoke, playing with her fingers until she stood up.
"They already think that. The last press conference was a disaster. They're calling each other out nonstop. We are no longer a united front and where it's still holding together it's beginning to crack." The Austrian told them, worry clearly written all over her face. Joanna knew that the media would try to use the situation to create drama which could be really dangerous when it escalates.
"So, we're calling for a meeting?" Sebastian concluded, which caused Joanna to nod.
"Alex is here as well. We should do it now." Joanna told the other three drivers, which caused Lewis to nod, before he asked if she meant right now or tomorrow morning before the race, causing Joanna to tell him that she's not calling a meeting at eleven o clock, despite how much Daniel frustrated her right now.
Sebastian was the first one to leave after their little meeting in Lewis's room. He had promised he would call home first thing in the morning to see his girls, so he needed a good night's sleep and he needed to let Alex know about the meeting, but Joanna stayed a little bit longer.
She was standing by the window, watching the track by night, as Lewis had decided he needed a shower. Nico had watched her for a moment, trying to figure out what Joanna was thinking about, but in the end, he gave up. He was good at reading people but Joanna's walls were high.
Turning away from the window, Joanna knew what she needed to do. There was no way this meeting tomorrow would happen without a scandal, only maybe if she would go to see him. A hand on her arm stopped her before she could leave the room. Looking up the Austrian was met with Nico's blue eyes looking back at her.
"I can't let you make this mistake again. The mistresses must stick together after all." Nico muttered fully to Joanna's surprise. The young Austrian was never sure if the rumors have been the truth, but apparently, Nico did have an affair with Michael, but the Austrian would never judge him. She knew how hard it could be to be the young and promising gold child of the team. She was Renault's golden child and Nico was Mercedes, the only thing she didn't know was that Nico was stupid enough to fall in bed with his teammate.
Not knowing what it was that had happened between Nico and Michael, Joanna still believed with all her heart that what she and Mark had back then was very different from what Nico and Michael possibly could have had.
"I'm not going to see him," Joanna said, not sure why she felt the need to justify herself in front of the Mercedes driver, she did it anyway, which caused Nico to nod at her, but Joanna saw it in his eyes. He didn't believe one word she muttered. Well, he was clever after all. But surprisingly, Joanna often said the truth. But people just didn't want to believe her.
"Then let me walk you to the elevator at least." The German said, after opening the door. Looking at him expectantly, Nico realized that clothes would be kind of mandatory for the short walk nevertheless. Fastly moving to get into his jeans and throwing a shirt on. Ironically, it was Lewis's.
Stepping out after Nico, Joanna let him lead her to the elevator, but no further. She pushed the button to the Ferrari floor, knowing damn well that Nico was watching her. The Austrian wised him a nice night with Lewis, which caused him to blush and waited until the door was closed. Rolling her eyes at Nico's try to control her she pushed the button which would bring her to the Red Bull floor. Tomorrow the meeting had to go according to plan and there was only one way to make sure of that.
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Opening the door Daniel wasn't surprised as he saw Joanna leaning against the wall opposite his room. Rather unusual for her, she wasn't smiling with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Pushing herself away from the wall, she walked into the room, as Daniel took a step back but made no move to close the door.
Joanna watched Daniel as he walked around the room. Abandoning the shirt he was charring on the bed and the wet towel with which he dried his hair moments before was thrown over one of the chairs in the corner. Joanna didn't pay him much mind. Rather taking in the difference between his room and her own.
His shoes were kicked off messily in the corridor, where Joanna was still standing, not sure how much she should move into his private space. Daniel didn't seem to pay her any mind. Or he was offering her time to accumulate to their current situation. Joanna wouldn't know. Maybe she was giving him too much credit.
"Are you going to talk or are you here to watch me sleep?" Daniel questioned, looking over to where Joanna was still standing. She seemed not very present like coming here took her a lot and Daniel hated it. He wished things would be like they were before Joanna decided to use the power the other drivers gave her for her own advantage.
Letting her gaze wander over Dan's suitcase and the furniture of the room, she felt painfully aware of their situation and how it must seem to an out stander if someone would walk in on them right now. Maybe she should go, but Joanna knew that they needed to talk or things would escalate even more. Daniel wasn't a bad person, he was her friend for many years, so something must have happened for him to turn against her like that. She missed him desperately.
Upon seeing her still standing in the corridor with a closed-off expression, Daniel exhaled a little bit more aggressively than he had intended while walking over to her. Grabbing her hand, before pulling her over to the bed and pushing her down, so she was sitting next to the blue shirt with the white Red Bull logo he had put there.
"Watching you sleep would be creepy." Joanna tried to joke, but upon seeing Daniel's face fall, she understood that the Aussie had hoped they would have a serious conversation for once. Swallowing hard, Joanna lifted her leg onto the bed after kicking off her shoes, so she could rest her arms on her knees.
"It seems like I'm making a lot of mistakes lately, so please Daniel, just tell me what I did." She pleased with him, which caused Daniel to snort. A few mistakes was the understatement of the year.
"You don't even know." He muttered in disbelieve, which caused Joanna to look at him. Her expression plank and Daniel couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.
"All these rules we have, you and Seb made these rules after Jules and you simply break them. Nobody ever holds you accounted for it, because it's you. I can't watch you do that, not any longer." Daniel started which caused Joanna to lift her eyebrow in confusion. So this whole thing was something personal after all.
"Why haven't you said something before?" Joanna asked Daniel, not sure how to react to his statement. She knew how important their rules were and she was playing by them as far as she could, but at the end of the day, it was her job to keep everybody in check, and sometimes fear can help you lead. It can help you keep control.
"What was I supposed to say? Stop playing with Fernando, it killed Jules."
"Me trying to control these games hasn't killed Jules, you know that," Joanna argued which caused Daniel to look at her again. the pain in his eyes visible and she wondered how she hadn't noticed what was happening before.
"Jules wasn't healthy Daniel. I know he played us all and let us believe that he was doing better and that we turned a blind eye to signs because we wanted to believe him but that doesn't mean that what happened was our fault. You have to finally let go of your guilt. Punishing me for trying to hold everything together won't bring Jules back." Joanna told him softly, as she put her hand down of his.
The Austrian knew that Daniel missed Jules desperately. She missed him as well, but she and Jules never had the connection Daniel shared with him. They were special for each other, doing everything together until one day, Jules died. Joanna understood that Jules had let Daniel broken after what happened.
The Australian tried to blame someone other than himself, but when he found no one, he took all the blame. He blamed himself for not seeing what happened to Jules. He blamed himself for not being able to stop him that day in Japan.
"I miss him." Daniel looked up at Joanna, who smiled weakly at him. He wondered if she understood why he had to stand up to her. She could not defile Jules' reputation. He was no longer there, but the rules that came into force because of him were, so Jules was always with them, but if Joanna didn't follow the rules, they would soon be forgotten, just like Jules, and Daniel couldn't let that happen. Maybe at the beginning in Monaco this year he was angry with Joanna for bending the rules a bit, but now he is just tired. He wanted an end to their fight, he wanted his friend back and he wanted things to go back to normal again. Fighting Joanna was so fucking exhausting. Riling her up wasn't fun.
"I know and we will always miss him." The Austrian whispered into his ear before pulling the Red Bull driver into a tight hug. She wouldn't let go, not like she let go of Jules as he asked her to, but she would never tell Daniel that. Some secrets were meant to be taken to the grave.
Brushing over his cheek while Daniel cried in her arms for his lost friend, she knew it was weak to use this situation but she needed to pull Daniel back in line, she needed him to listen to her.
"I need you to promise me no more waving at the straight, no more overtaking in qualifying, and no more antagonizing the juniors. Swear it Daniel and I swear that Jules will never be forgotten." Looking at her, he didn't know where things stood at the moment. He wanted to believe her, he wanted her not to lie or cheat, he wanted her to play by the rules, but Joanna was not one to learn without consequences. She had to feel in order to learn. Harmless words did not work with her. It had to hurt her first.
"You are lying." The Aussie simply said before sitting up again.
"I'm not," Joanna exclaimed then, standing up from the bed after swatting his hands away, causing Daniel to turn around, so he could see her walking up and down in his room.
Realizing he should have been more patient with her, not too pushy, Daniel exhaled while flopping down on the floor at the end of the bed. he couldn't sit on his bed any longer, no after sitting there with her and having her arms around him while he cried. He felt stupid for trusting Joanna to have good intentions for once.
"Is that how it will be until the end of our days? You are my friend Daniel and I want you back. I want everything to be normal again. Fuck this shit."
"I can't simply trust you again after you showed me that it's foolish to do so."
"What do you want me to do, huh? Tell me what you want, what you need to trust me again!" Joanna felt the tears on her cheeks, but she didn't acknowledge them. Not once did she move her hand to wipe them away. Daniel could see her cry, she thought. He deserved to feel guilty.
"Step back as GPDA - director?" He asked back, but the look Joanna was giving him told him, that she wasn't up for jokes by any means, so he exhaled softly. He wasn't joking which Joanna realized at exactly that moment. He wanted her to step back. He was punishing her with something which would hurt her.
"What?" She quizzed.
"Step back and we can be normal again." Daniel clarified.
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Max had never slept that bad before a race. At first, he couldn't find the right position, and afterward, he was way too warm, upon removing the blanket, he was freezing. Cursing softly, Max thought about going back to Joanna and apologizing to her. He could always sleep well with her next to him. it seemed like the better option, but he was too stubborn to go. He was already the one to reach out after their crash, now it was her turn to make sure they made up.
He shouldn't have spent the rest of the evening with Daniel. The Aussie tried his best to subtly make sure Max knew that Mark and Joanna were fucking, which was bullshit, Max knew that, but somehow he still couldn't think about anything else. She wouldn't do such a thing but on the other hand, they weren't together, no label for whatever they had.
Turning around once more, Max cursed under his breath. Telling himself angrily how stupid this whole situation was. Throwing the blanket away, the Dutch sat up, only to reach for this phone. It was the middle of the night and he wasn't even sure if Joanna would open the door for him, but he would try. Sleep was out of the question anyway.
Throwing on a Red Bull hoodie, Max got his room keycard and his phone before he walked to the door. opening the door, he was met with the bright light of the corridor, which took him a few seconds to adust. Rubbing his eyes softly, Max took a few seconds to get used to the light as he heard another door open. Confused he looked to his right, where Daniel's door opened but it wasn't Daniel, who left the room.
The younger Red Bull driver wasn't sure what to do as he saw Joanna, the woman he slept with leave his teammate's room in the middle of the night. Realizing that she wasn't alone as soon as she had closed the door behind her, Joanna looked right at Max and froze. A few seconds passed in which Joanna was starring at Max with fear and surprise, which Max's expression changed to one of hurt until it morphed into hot white anger.
"No," Joanna muttered as she saw Max turn around, about to walk back into his room, she was fast to take the few steps she needed to stand right behind him, grasping his arm to stop the Dutch.
"Max, please. It's not what it looks like." She tried to explain, but Max pulled his arm from her grasp, turning around to stare her down, which caused Joanna to take a step back upon realizing that he was moving forward, but only a step.
"I can't believe I'm so stupid. You even warned me to not trust you. I should have seen it coming. Once a hoe always a hoe, but my teammate of all people. That's low even for you."
"Fucking shut it. I've said it isn't what you think it is." Joanna told Max, angry that he would even think she would sleep with Daniel while having Max and the immature insults. She wasn't twenty any longer and she wouldn't let a boy who had no idea what she went through her whole life call her a hoe, no matter what she felt for him. Having to listen to him accusing her of cheating was worse enough.
"I don't believe you," Max said, about to close the door, which Joanna could have prevented from happening wouldn't she have hesitated for a brief moment. The immature part of her wanted to bound against the closed door until Max would open it again, or Christian or Helmut would wake up and demand to know what was happening but she wasn't that young any longer. She wouldn't allow a teenager to break her heart. She was above such sentimentalities.
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After finally falling asleep Max was woken by a text message, causing him to groan before he moved to get to his phone, looking who was disturbing so early. Upon seeing that it was Alexander Wurz, the GPDA president, who called an emergency meeting, he knew that he couldn't ignore that one.
Letting himself fall back onto the bed, he thought about throttling Daniel for even thinking about Joanna and Joanna for having the audacity to play him like a fool- Like the fool he apparently was. He should have seen it coming. All he was for Joanna was a toyboy for alonely nights. He couldn't believe he was stupid enough to think she would ever settle for him in the end. She was older more mature and needed a man, not a boy.
He wondered how he was ever going to look Daniel in the eye again without wanting to punch him. After all, Joanna belongs to him and Daniel has simply taken what doesn't belong to him. Maybe he was all wrong and Joanna truly belong to Daniel all along and he was the mistress here. Thinking about it, they would make a good couple. Both of them smiled on a day more than Max in a year and they could laugh about everything together. Max wasn't so confident as to joke about as explicit things as Daniel did. He would never be like Daniel but he didn't even want to be like him. He was Max Verstappen and he loved his life. His life with Joanna.
Walking into the room with a tired sign, Max was surprised by the stoic expressions from the people sitting, where normally the race director was sitting when they held the driver briefing. Alexander Wurz was sitting in between the two GPDA directors they had, which were Sebastian Vettel and unsurprisingly Joanna Lauda. Two Austrians and a German.
He rolled his eyes as he saw Sebastian leaning over, so he could talk to Joanna. Another driver, who most likely had slept with his ... Joanna. Sometimes Max wondered how long this list was, but in the end, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Max had his own list of people he suspected of having slept with Joanna. Lewis Hamilton was number one, he was the only one the Dutch was sure off, well until last night. Last night he added Daniel Ricciardo as number two. The other people on the list were only suspected. Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, maybe also Nico Hülkenberg, but he wasn't sure. Max felt like Joanna owed him an answer but in the end, he knew she didn't. He had no right to get jealous.
Sitting down on the far left, Max tried not to make eye contact with Joanna but she was speaking with Alex in hushed voices anyways, not paying him any mind. Seems like he really wasn't anything but a toy to her. He was one of the last people to arrive, the only other driver who was missing was Daniel and boy, he was keen on a big entry today. Another reason MAx wanted to throttle the Aussie.
Daniel walked into the room like he owned the place. Walking up to the front, he stood right in front of Alex, but the Austrian simply gestured for Daniel to take a seat, so they could start. Daniel huffed with a strange smile on his face, before opening his mouth. "Why the serious faces?"
"Sit down Daniel." The Austrian GPDA director growled, which caused the Aussie to smirk at her, before taking a seat next to Max. The Dutch gazed at his teammate shortly, before giving his phone all his attention, which caused Daniel to lift an eyebrow.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Don't fucking play dumb." Max hissed at him, which caused Daniel to look confused. He was about to ask Max what he was on about, as Alex broke their conversation apart.
"First of all, I want to make clear that we're here today to speak about things, to try and find a solution to the recent problems and not to blame each other for anything. everything which is said here stays in this room. Did I make myself clear?" Alex asked, which caused the drivers to nod and murmur in understanding and affirmation.
"Alright, the first thing we need to disgust is the behavior in press conferences. Under no circumstances is it alright to call out another driver. We need to be a united front, fighting within each other is a no-go." The Austrian started, which caused Checo to raise his hand. Once nodding at him, the Mexican was allowed to speak.
"What do you want us to say about each other then? We can just say that we love each other, nobody will believe us." He started, but Max didn't really care what the other man had to say, he was starring angrily at Joanna. Why didn't she react to him, he wondered, while Daniel shuffled closer to him, with a smirk on his lips.
"She looks even hotter when she's angry, don't you think?" Daniel questioned with a lopsided grin on his face and by god, Max wanted to punch him. The Dutch didn't reply. Never again if he could get away with it.
"All I'm asking for is a decent behavior every mother would be proud of, so no cursing each other out, no arguing in front of the press, no badmouthing. Express your opinion neutral and it will be alright." Alex spoke again, before gesturing at Sebastian to go on.
"The other thing we need to talk about is the mind games. You all know that mind games are strictly prohibited." The older Ferrari driver started, which got him a few unimpressed looks, but Sebastian didn't care.
"Doesn't change that people are using them." Nico Rosberg muttered.
"I know that's an issue and we will work on that. This is a warning. The FIA will no longer let this behavior go unpunished," Alex said again and with that, the problem was taken care of. Warning the drivers was all the GPDA could do.
"So, if that all...." Alex started again, but Joanna stopped him. "Actually, there is one more thing," Joanna said never breaking eye contact with Daniel and by god, if they would declare their undying love for each other, Max would snap.
"I'm stepping back as GPDA-director and recommend Romain Grosjean for the position." She announced. Sebastian was starring at her as if she had lost her mind, while Alex seemed to know about the other Austrian's decision.
Max didn't know how to react. He watched as Daniel nodded once at her, before accepting the piece of paper she was offering him, scribbling a name on it before throwing it into the box which was standing next to Alex at the front. Max held her gaze for a few seconds before she was handing him a piece as well.
"Think about it for a moment. It is important to have all the information before judging someone," Joanna said to Max. In the end, he simply nodded, before moving to the box as well.
Romain Grosjean was selected as the new GPDA director.