Baku, April 2019
Pia was quite happy when she sat by herself at a hotel breakfast. It was half-past eight, and she was enjoying her breakfast while quickly typing in her MacBook. The Italian tried to squeeze as many events as she could into Sebastian's calendar. From time to time, she helped Britta with that.
"Good morning. I thought you said you don't work here." Pia recognised the voice of the young Briton right away. Lando stood right behind her, staring at her screen over her shoulder.
Pia wanted to point out that it wasn't such a good morning for her. Sebastian yelled at her for dating Daniel when the truth was that she didn't date him. Pia caught Joanna sneaking from Max's room, meaning she left some mess behind as always. And she didn't even want to think about what would happen once she arrived at the circuit. The press would eat her alive. So, yeah, not exactly a perfect morning.
"Good morning. Well, I don't," the Italian greeted him back and closed her laptop. She didn't really like it when someone was looking over her shoulder.
"Well, it looked like you're creating a calendar for someone," Lando pointed out the obvious.
"I just help someone from time to time," Pia admitted. It was the truth anyway. She didn't sign an employment contract with anybody. She just helped her friend from time to time.
"Maybe you could help me create one with the date of our dinner in it," Lando winked at her. He wasn't really good with courtship, but he felt like this pick-up line was one of his best. Lando felt relieved when Pia started giggling. This dinner invitation could actually be successful.
"Alright." Pia pulled her phone out of her pocket. She opened the calendar app and created a new event. She clicked in a field that said: invitees. "Put there your phone number. I will send you an invite," Pia said as she handed Lando her phone. He quickly typed his phone number and returned the phone. "Is tomorrow evening okay with you?"
Lando blinked a few times before he was able to respond. He didn't really think he would succeed. "Of course. It sounds lovely," he agreed to the plans of the Italian. It didn't take long, and his phone rang, announcing the new message. It was the invitation from Pia.
"Well, now you have my number. Text me if you would like to reschedule it, or just text me if you want," Pia smiled at the Briton who was currently sitting in front of her. Lando wasn't really Pia's type, but he was trying, so Pia decided to give it a shot. There wasn't anything wrong with wanting to make a comeback to the dating life.
"Thank you. I'm fairly sure I'll text you," Lando smiled at her while putting his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.
"Lando?" Pia hesitated, but she knew she had to tell him before he would read it by himself and then he wouldn't believe her. "Ehm, well, there are a few articles claiming that I'm dating Daniel. I just wanted to tell you before you would eventually find out yourself. I just want to say that those claims are not real. We see each other just like friends," she said. She actually felt a bit relieved after she told him. Lando was glad that she came forward with it. It showed him she cared about whatever was between them. He needed someone honest and loyal next to his side, and Pia seemed to be just like that.
---
"Pia, are those rumours true?"
"How is your relationship with Daniel?"
"Are you really dating Ricciardo?"
Pia's worries that the way through the paddock would be just like this were correct. Journalists were all around her. She felt trapped since she couldn't find a way how to get out of it. The Italian instinctively put her hand in front of her face and looked down. She had never struggled with crowds, but this was too much even for her.
Pia tried to fight her way down the paddock, but she managed to walk just about three meters. The crowd just got so big that it was impossible to move in any direction. The cameras were in her face, and everyone was shouting their questions at the petite Italian. She looked around her desperately to find someone who would save her. Her breath stuck in her throat when her eyes met the ones of a young Ferrari driver. His eyebrows were furrowed, and a worried look resided on his face.
She was well aware that he could just simply walk away, leaving her to deal with the press herself, but Charles wasn't like that. Pia was so relieved when she saw that his steps headed toward her.
Charles forced his way into the middle of the crowd where Pia was. He quickly wrapped his arm around her waist. "Would you please let us walkthrough? You're violating our personal space." The threat was clearly hearable in Charles' voice. All the journalists knew that they had to be careful around the drivers anyway because their teams could sue them, so they just had to let them leave.
"Are you alright? Daniel should have known this would happen. Why did he let you go alone?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks," Pia said while catching her breath. "Me and Daniel... It's not. We're not," she managed to get out of her. It's not how it seems. Of course. It is such a cliche, and even if it seemed like that, why would Pia care?
"Even if it's not, you're not... it doesn't matter, Pia. It's your life. You're entitled to do whatever you want." It was hard for Pia to hear that sentence. It sounded almost like: I don't care what you do. Well, it should've been like that. It just showed that Charles perhaps moved on.
"Alright," she sighed. "Thank you so much for saving me. I'm fully aware that you could just ignore the situation and leave."
"Yeah, that's the thing. I'm not the one who leaves," the Monegasque said, and Pia immediately realised that he wasn't talking about today. Charles was talking about things that happened years ago. It showed that he still cared.
The Italian was hurt by his words. She didn't want to leave him either, but she wanted the best for him. "I didn't want to-" she started the sentence, but the woman's voice disrupted her.
"Charles, are you coming?" That voice belonged to Charlotte. She was smiling at her lover, waiting for him in front of the Ferrari facility. Pia doubted Charlotte was aware that Pia had a history with Charles. Maybe it was better that way.
As soon as Charlotte called for him, he left the side of the Italian without a single glance. Why did she feel so hurt when this was what she wanted? She wanted Charles to be happy, and he seemed to be, so why wasn't she?
---
Young Vettel wasn't in the best mood ever since that conversation with Charles that morning. She was just sad and upset that he looked so moved on. She was angry at herself for caring about it when it was her who left.
A smile resided on her face when she heard her phone announce a new message. She found out with delight that it was the Briton texting her.
"Oh, who's texting you?" Max asked while trying to look over Pia's shoulder. Pia just quickly read the text before locking her phone again. "I'm sure it's Charles anyway. It seems like you cannot be without each other." Max was clearly talking about that little conversation she had with Charles after Bahrain Grand Prix.
"Oh, shut up, Max. Are you really trying to teach me something? You're the one who sleeps with your ex-girlfriend," Pia lashed out. She wasn't that much angry about the fact that he slept with the Austrian. She understood that love made you do crazy things. Pia was just annoyed he didn't tell her, or maybe that he kept saying how Joanna hurt him and then he was fucking her.
"How do you-" Pia didn't even let the Dutchman finish that sentence.
"I saw Joanna sneaking out of your hotel room this morning." She shook her head and looked up, so Max could see her disbelieve and perhaps a judgement.
"Ohh." The realisation hit Max.
"Yeah, ohh." Pia tried to mimic the sound Max made. "You're really not doing an excellent job with keeping those secret rendezvous secret." Pia realised she said this sentence years ago to Mark. "I just can't believe that you keep telling me how Joanna hurt you, and yet, you fuck her."
"It's not like you get it. Do you think I would voluntarily choose that? Do you really think that?" Max went through his hair with his hand out of utter frustration. "Do you even know how many nights I have spent wishing I wouldn't love her?" Pia would swear she saw tears forming in Max's eyes. He was so desperate and vulnerable just because of the Austrian. "I hate myself for wondering where she is and what she's doing when she's not with me. I hate myself for still having feelings for her." It was probably the first time Pia saw Max so broken. That made her realise how much he suffered.
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Happy Friday!