A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay. I stood next to Daniel twice, in two different states, within a week, and all by chance and didn't say a word to him. So I was busy being upset about that.All jokes aside, life was busy I hope y'all enjoy this update! Thank you for reading and let me know what you think with a comment or a vote. Cheers!
Maeve
As if my life wasn't hard enough, I spent the entire day being asked questions about Max's return as if he wouldn't be speaking with them next in media. They would ask the same thing, how I felt about his return and what it meant for me next year. It was mentally and more so physically draining. My body was rigid as I spoke to every interviewer, making sure my body language was nothing but positive despite the negative going through my head. All of the overtime on my muscles left me sore and in need of a nap. Yet, there were still more interviews where they would continue to ask everything unless it had to do with me.
Obviously, I was thrilled to see Max back on the grid. He was one of my closest friends and seeing him hurt was one of the worst experiences of my life. Having Max come back and blow up about Daniel and my rash decision to get married? That made it complicated. It was evident that my answers held an air of questionability to them. Yes I was excited he was back, but it was almost like I wasn't excited to physically see him. The press saw that hesitation through all of the work I put in and were happy to question me about it. I passed it off as exhaustion from a few days of tossing and turning. Max knew though, he always saw weakness. It's part of what made him such a good competitor.
He wasn't exactly turning his nose up at the sight of me. However, he was happy to make a quick exit when we were in a room or near press together. No one else seemed to notice that part of my day, but I knew Max. I joked with him like I did Daniel and none of that had happened since his return. It reminded me of Daniel and I before Baku. Both of us waiting for the other shoe to fall as if there was a catastrophe incoming.
Which left me with one option. To walk up to him as I was doing now at the end of the paddock and ask to speak with him. He was catching up with Lewis of all people outside of the Mercedes' hospitality building. Charles and Pierre were with him as they laughed about something Max had said. I'm sure it was funny, things Max said tended to be funny for reasons none of us could comprehend. My eyes were firmly on Max though, knowing that I had to fix this and soon.
"Ah. Maeve, just who I was looking for." I bit my lip as the tall Austrian stepped into view and blocked my attempt to speak with my friend a mere ten feet from where he was. His voice carried and made a few members from the group look at us.
"Evening Toto. Excited for the race?" He nodded, a brief smile coming to his face.
"Of course. Excited for a win." That made me chuckle, because he was right and because he was proud to be right.
"Not if I have anything to say about it. Daniel might throw his hat in the ring as well." Saying Daniel's name made my chest hurt.
"I'd expect nothing less," his eyes wandered through our surroundings before coming back to me," I did want to apologize for coming on too strongly the other day. Zak and I felt the idea was for the best and I actually have something to add to it." I raised an eyebrow, checking our surroundings as had he had moments before. The boys were close enough that they surely could hear us if we didn't keep our voices down.
"Is Zak aware of your additional request?" He nodded once.
"Yes, very much so." He looked at his watch then. He had his briefcase with him and was clearly readying to leave when he caught me.
"Would you mind walking me to my car? We can discuss along the way if you're comfortable with that?" I looked around, briefly catching Lewis' eye as the older man smiled at me. Charles tried to turn towards us, but Lewis quickly deflected all of their attention back to their conversation.
"Sure. I can't be long though, I actually have to speak with my press officer about my new manager." Toto smiled widely at that, the first step in any contract negotiating we would be doing.
"Ah perfect then," he motioned towards the exit gate with the hand holding his briefcase," send me their information once that is confirmed." I nodded as we walked past the group of men, still dutifully distracted by Lewis.
"Will do. Tell me more about your addition?" He sighed with the shake of his head.
"Always straight to business," a chuckle followed his words before he spoke again," I realized when we were speaking that we never thought about the devaluation of asking a talent like yours to limit their time in the sport. We both know that you have quite a bit more to offer and show on the track." I looked at Toto surprised, it was as if he truly felt bad for even presenting the deal to begin with.
"Wow, I haven't had someone speak so highly of me in years." I chuckled as we walked side by side.
"Well it's easy to speak the truth." He stopped then, with us now far away from anyone that could even hear our conversation or care to hear.
"Not always..." I alluded to my situation, but he sighed.
"Well you deserve it in this situation. So, Zak and I agreed that you could confirm your position with Mclaren four months before that time would come. That way you could decide if you'd like to continue racing." I nodded, the news not seeming as important as he was originally making it out to be.
"That's certainly helpful, but-" he held up his hand with a deep breath.
"There's more," he continued," I will treat you as an equal to Lewis. You are both given the go ahead to race as individuals regardless of status. Based on your performance after two years, I'd be more than happy to reassess your contract for an extension if you'd like to continue driving." My jaw dropped as I stared at him, unsure if he was serious or not.
He was sweetening the deal, trying to make it impossible to turn down.
Because they wanted me and my abilities.
They wanted me.
"It wasn't fair of us to limit your time here. We don't get to make that call if you're performing above expectations. I wanted to make it clear that that is a stance we hold above all else." He waved his hand between us, emphasizing the point he was trying to make. In my shocked state, I could only follow the movement of his hand before looking back at his face.
"That's... wow..." I finally spoke, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared at him.
"Obviously we are still looking for an answer sooner than later. Valtteri has asked that we announce in Japan that he is retiring," his eyes wandered again to make sure no one was listening in," we don't want to let speculation fly once that happens." I nodded.
"No of course..." I looked back and saw Seb and Lewis walking towards the exit together with their teams. I realized that I needed to talk to someone about this and one of them would be perfect.
"Do you have any questions for me?" I looked back at Toto, shaking my head immediately.
"No. I just have someone to talk to, but I'll send over the info for my manager as soon as I have it. Thank you, genuinely for everything." I gave him a soft smile.
"Of course. My door is always open and you're more than welcome to speak with me whenever you need me." He patted my shoulder before walking past as if he hadn't just dropped the craziest deal in my lap just now.
A chance to continue driving if I wanted it? That was huge. It made the decision easier than expected. I wanted to drive. I needed it. First I had to figure out my relationship though.
"Trading secrets? I thought you were above that." Lewis joked.
"As if. You know me better than that." We all laughed before I set my sights on the older German.
"Can I talk to you real quick? Alone..." Lewis looked at me and Seb just nodded.
"I'll meet you at the car." He told his team before everyone left us.
"Is everything ok? This seems serious..." I sighed, looking around before rubbing my hands together.
"It is serious. I have a what if question to pose to you." He crossed his arms and nodded for me to continue.
"How do you think the FIA would handle two drivers dating?" He took a deep breath, looking around and thinking.
"Honestly, not well. There's a lot of weird intricacies that come into play. Ultimately I think it's up to the teams as well though. What the team principal would say..." I sighed. I don't know what Toto or Cyril would say.
"Right..." was the only answer I could give. I wasn't sure what to say or do. E gave me the answer I thought I would get. It made me wonder what we could do.
"Not to pry, but is that why you and Max were so weird today? He was very into avoiding you..." I wanted to laugh, but it hit too close to home. Tears welled in my eyes and I was torn over what to do.
"Hey, hey," he stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on my arm," you don't have to tell me. I understand if you want your privacy." I just smiled sadly and wiped my eyes.
"It's just a lot right now. Do you think things would change if said drivers were married?" He seemed taken aback by that.
"Well that's something I'm not sure about. You really would have to pose the question to the boss first." He looked more upset that I was upset than anything. I could see it on his face, but I know that it wasn't the time to say anything. Daniel and I had to be smart about who we told next. If we had another blow up or someone found out before-
"Max should be the one to talk to them maybe?" Seb interrupted my inner monologue. And in the moment. All I could do was stare.
Max? He seriously thought that it was Max of all people? That would be perfect though.... A lovers reunion would be sweet enough that no driver would say anything. We were all affected by what happened in Australia and they wouldn't tell a single soul if that was the case. Hell they'd probably support and protect it.
So I ran with it.
"Please don't tell anyone or say anything...." I looked away, upset that I was lying to Seb.
"I would never. Just be careful," he pulled me in for a hug then," You're both talented, but we know what this place would do to a woman that showed any interest in anyone here."
No additional words were exchanged, just a polite nod of the head from us both as we parted. Now I had to talk to Max. If people thought he and I were dating, it would surely get messy when he started saying we never would. Plus I had to tell Daniel that people thought he and I were dating. He also had to know about the deal with Toto. Despite knowing that I needed my space, that meant having to talk to Daniel tonight.
I rushed back to hospo to catch up with Angela first. She had been helping me look for a manager for a few weeks in secret. When Steven Delgado's resume came to her forks. Friend she knew he would be the right one and I couldn't help but agree. He had several former clients under his belt that had gone into bigger and brighter things. Including a few racers on the grid currently. They all had great things to say about him. His specialty was getting a racer started and up to speed for the big league and then handing them off to a manager that could sustain those deals. However, he was actively looking to open and diversify the sport. I was his perfect client and he was the perfect manager.
We were going to be meeting him later this week, but Angela wanted to prepare me on what having a full time manager was going to be like. I was used to seeing Blake everywhere because of Daniel, but now I would have a shadow too and someone I was supposed to let into my inner circle. All she kept saying is that he should know anything and everything that's right or wrong so it can be taken care of or celebrated.
Internally, it made me want to bang my head against a wall. It was as if she knew I was hiding something from her and needed to know for work reasons. I had no plans to tell Angela, Pyrita, or Steven about my current predicament though. Externally, I nodded along with every word she said to make it seem like I would though. She didn't need to know anything past what she currently did.
"And with the news of Max returning, the press are obviously swarming for a story," she said from her seat at the desk in my drivers room," your answers have been perfect to those questions, but they'll continue to ask them until they find out what your next move is." She reminded me as I finally groaned on the couch next to where she was sitting.
"Don't do that. You knew this would happen. I'm just giving you a reminder. Do you have plans yet?" I bit my lip. That was something I should tell her, but I didn't want her telling Christian. Not yet at least.
"Kind of? I think Christian wants me. At least I'd hope he does. If not, McLaren will take me as an engineer. But it's be a junior engineer for two years before moving up to lead race engineer for a driver." She pursed her lips.
"Well, I'm sure Steven can start reaching out once we have everything confirmed. You do want to drive next year, right?" I nodded, slouching down on the couch as I was reminded of the issues at hand because Angela didn't know what was going on. I surely couldn't tell her now that I had plans to leave the team we both worked for.
"Ok then just let him know and he can reach out. It's still silly season." I nodded again, but stood this time.
"Alright. Can I head back to the hotel now? I really just want to workout and sleep. It's been mentally exhausting answering questions about everyone today." She agreed with her own nod before we both packed up and headed out for the night.
Pyrita was waiting at the hotel for my evening workout. She could tell I was distracted and did her best to keep me focused, but instead my mind continued to play out scenarios about what would happen if I decided to move to Mercedes.
Seb had confirmed the suspicions that I had about driving and what that meant for my relationship with Daniel. If I was a stronger person, I'd say we could date in secret. being on different teams would make that extremely difficult though. No one would necessarily be shocked by us still hanging out in each other's rooms during race weeks. However, we could be at different hotels and have completely different schedules that would make seeing each other nearly impossible. Would our relationship survive that after being so close to each other for so long? It was a new playing field now that we were really dating. This wasn't a long distance friendship, this was a full blown relationship thriving under the guise of friendship and based on living behind closed doors.
Daniel and I could barely keep our hands off each other as is. What would happen if we went weeks without being in the same room? How would we handle finally seeing each other then, when we can't even be in each other's driver's rooms or near each other in hospo? It felt like a recipe for disaster.
Daniel made me happy though. That's really what I cared about above all else. He deserved us having a chance. He also deserved a chance to talk through all of the issues I was seeing before they even showed up. We agreed to no more secrets and that meant talking to him about how I was feeling at the moment. That meant that the time I needed was up and I needed Daniel now. When I checked my phone, I realized that he needed me too.
Daniel R.
Hey, I know you wanted time, but I miss you... Can I see you before you go to sleep tonight?
I read it a few times as I walked out of the gym with Pyrita. Clearly, she was nice enough not to ask questions about what was going on in my head. Or she was just Finnish and didn't care. Either was a possibility really. She didn't even say anything to me until the elevator stopped on her floor.
"6AM tomorrow in the lobby for a workout. Get some sleep." She waved over her shoulder as she left the elevator.
I waved back before looking back down at my phone. I needed to talk to Daniel, but another night of separation might help me get what I have to say straight. When I made it to my room and noticed how quiet and lonely it was, I changed my mind though.
Maeve D.
I just finished a workout and need to shower. Wanna spend the night?
That alone was proof that we would not do well if we had to keep our relationship a secret and be on different teams. I stayed busy though, making the motions to get ready for the night by showering and tidying up the room. Daniel wouldn't care, his usually looked much less put together than mine. With a possible argument looming though, I wanted some semblance of control and organization. He would understand that. At least I hoped.
I had just slipped my sleep shirt on over my head when there was a knock at the door. All I could do was hope that this would end well, that we would be able to work it out.