The group made their way down from the top of the bridge. Isla was still blushing red when she got to the bottom. The attendant helped the group get unbuckled and out of the harnesses.
"Thank god" Isla said as soon as the harness was off
Max, Checo and Pierre laughed. They turned to head to the van.
Pierre stopped. "Why don't we walk to the hotel and stop somewhere along the way for dinner?" Pierre suggested to the group of drivers.
Sarah and the Red Bull admin who were already in the van. Sarah stuck her head out of the window "I don't mind, I have to get back to the hotel to edit the great stuff we got today" She smiled at Isla.
"Okay, then let's get going" Isla said as she turned away from the bridge "I can't get away from that bridge fast enough" She laughed. The guys followed her.
Pierre had caught up to her and started walking beside her. Isla leaned in towards him "Can I tell you one thing, but promise to not tell a soul, or I may have to kill you in your sleep" She laughed.
He looked at her intrigued but also hesitant. "Sure?" he said quizzically.
"My favorite TV show as a teenager was filmed right on the other side of the bridge on the piers, so this was a terrifying but fun experience" Isla pointed to the Welsh Bay Piers on the other side of the bridge.
"What TV show is that?" Pierre asked curiously
"I don't think I want to disclose that" She said quickly
"Oh come on, you can't tell me something like that, then not tell me the whole story" He complained
"Fine," Isla said "But you have to promise you won't make fun of me for it" She said looking into Pierre's eyes.
Pierre nodded "You can trust me"
Isla took a deep breath in "Dance Academy" She mumbled as quietly as she could.
Pierre's eyes widened "Did you say dance academy??" He said then paused, then he started howling with laughter.
Isla started to laugh to "Shhh" she said still laughing. "I know it's embarrassing, but hey it was a cute show"
Pierre's laughter caught the attention of Max and Checo who turned around to look at Pierre.
"What's so funny, Pierre?" Max asked
Pierre immediately looked at Isla, his eyes had a playful twinkle. He turned to Max and opened his mouth to speak.
Isla immediately grabbed Pierre and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Nothing, he's fine," She said to Max, speaking for Pierre.
Pierre laughed as Isla removed her hand from his mouth.
Max raised his eyebrows and looked from Isla to Pierre and back, "Something is going on between you two, isn't there?" He questioned
"No," Isla said rather quickly. Pierre looked at her, a little bit hurt in his eyes.
"I bet Charles would know the answer," Max said with a raised eyebrow as he pulled out his phone to call him.
Isla's heart started beating fast, she was panicking "No! Why would Charles know anything?" She said in defense.
Pierre stepped towards Max. "Charles wouldn't know, even if there was anything going on," Pierre said.
Max put his phone back into his pocket.
Isla let out a sigh of relief, a little louder than she intended. Which caused Pierre to give her another side eyed look.
Max laughed "I was just pushing your buttons, especially after that incident with George" He said.
"Oh shit, does everyone know about that?" She said as her face fell.
Checo just nodded sympathetically. "Let's get some food," he said pointing at a restaurant.
The group nodded and Isla's stomach growled audibly. "Apparently my stomach agrees with you" She laughed.
The restaurant was busy, but the group was able to be seated on the Patio by the water overlooking the harbor.
They managed to stay relatively free from fans coming up to their table, but wearing their team shirts out in public was enough for people to come say hi. The group didn't mind, they said hello, took pictures and signed things. Isla wasn't used to this type of attention, it was her first real experience with fans in public. Their food came quickly and the group enjoyed their meals. They paid their bills, said goodbye to some fans sitting close by and left for the hotel.
On the walk back to the hotel, on the way Isla pulled her phone out. She opened Instagram and stopped dead in her tracks. Max, Checo, and Pierre kept walking for a bit before noticing Isla behind them.
Pierre walked back over to her, "Is everything okay?" He asked concerned, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Isla laughed, "Ya it's fine." She looked up at Pierre, who looked confused. "Check your instagram, Sarah is at it again." She chuckled.
Pierre pulled out his phone and looked at the photo dump Sarah had just posted. It consisted of 6 photos:
1- Isla and Pierre riding the wave, the sun glistening off of their wetsuits. A big smile on Isla's face, Pierre looking a little stressed behind her on his board.
2 - Pierre picked her up and swung her around after their victory on the beach. Big smiles on their faces.
3 - Isla and Max mid hop at the zoo, both laughing in the air.
4 - At the zoo, Pierre and Isla looking like proud parents holding their new baby Koala.
5 - Group picture at the top of the Harbor bridge. If you looked close enough you could see Pierre's hand on Isla's waist and Isla's goofy grin.
6 - Picture of Pierre and Isla's silhouette, Pierre's arm wrapped around her shoulder as they looked over the harbor. The sunset on full display.
Pierre chuckled, and Isla was blushing. "These are some great pictures," he said, looking at her in the eyes. He could tell Isla was blushing. He grinned even more looking at her. Was there something happening here, Isla thought to herself.
Max and Checo got closer and they proceeded to pull out their phones. There was also a Red Bull photo dump. Those photos consisted of just them being bros. There was no hidden sexual tension or romance like the Alpha Tauris photos. Max reposted the photo of him and Isla jumping to his story.
Isla was about to put her phone away, she got a text from Charles.
Charles - Care to explain?
Isla quickly responded
Isla - Nothing is needed to explain. Nothing happened.
She didn't have the energy to defend herself, Sarah was just good at capturing the hidden feelings apparently. She shoved her phone back into her back pocket and joined the guys on their walk back to the hotel.
When they arrived at the hotel, Isla noticed that there were Ferrari staff loading carts of Red luggage and boxes into various rooms and using the elevators.
"I guess it's a full house," Isla said to Pierre as she gestured to the bustling of the red shirts around the lobby.
He smiled and turned to her. "It was fun today" He said, this time smiling even more.
"It really was, felt like I was a carefree teenager again" She returned Pierre's smile.
"Well that would mean you would have spent it with George instead of me" He smirked.
"Ah, see that would have ruined today, the company was perfect." She smiled.
"Glad to hear it" Pierre said stepping closer.
"Hey you two, hope I didn't interrupt anything?" Charles said from behind Isla.
She turned around quickly to face him. Charles' face seemed cold. "Nope, just talking about our day" She said plainly to him.
"From the posts I see on instagram, I was worried I would be interrupting some 'team bonding'" He said, shooting a look at Isla. and using air quotes around team bonding.
"Just drop it dude, we are...." Pierre paused and looked at Isla. "just teammates" His face fell.
Charles seemed to perk up when Pierre said that. He smiled "Well it's good to see you two."
Pierre smiled with his jaw clenched and nodded "Good to see you" As he turned around and walked away.
When Pierre walked away. Charles stepped closer to Isla. He smiled and touched her arm. "Happy to see you," He said with a smile.
She nodded "good to see you, we should hang out tomorrow night" She smiled, she needed to spend time with him. She had been so distracted by Pierre and Racing that she seemed to put Charles on the back burner. He deserved to be treated well.
His smile grew. "That sounds amazing" He winked
"A quiet night in?" She asked.
"Nah, I think we should explore" he said
"Risky, but I like the sound of it" She smirked.
"Pick you up around 8, after all of our team meetings?" He suggested
Isla smiled and nodded and turned around to leave.
Charles grabbed her shoulder, turned her around and kissed her on the cheek.
Isla smiled and gave him a hug then headed back to her room.
The next morning arrived and Isla was up bright and early. She rolled over and checked her phone. It was 5am. Her meetings didn't start until 10am. Isla had a lot of time to kill. She sat up in her bed, stretched, then noticed her yoga mat sticking out of her suitcase.
She quickly got out of bed, got changed into bike shorts and a sports bra, she threw a shirt on top. Grabbed her mat and headed out to the beach. Nothing like doing some beach yoga during sunrise. She left her hotel room, headed down to the lobby.
As she exited the elevator she ran into George, who also had a yoga mat in hand.
"Hey" She said with a smile and looked down at his mat.
"Hey, early riser" he smiled.
"Just thought I'd go catch the sunrise and do some yoga" She said looking out the hotel doors.
"Mind if I tag along?" He asked.
"Not at all." She paused and smiled. "Friend," She said.
George smiled and they walked out to the beach. Rolled out their mats onto the soft and warm sand. Isla and George started stretching. When Isla was finished she sat on her mat leaning back with arms supporting her behind her. She looked over at George who was just finishing up his practice. He noticed her looking at him. He stopped and turned to her. "This was nice," he said "I am happy we can spend time together again."
"Me too" Isla said. "After all the drama between us. I think we can agree that we are probably better off as friends, ''she admitted.
George let out a small chuckle as he laid down on his side on the mat with one hand supporting his head. "I think that would be best for both us, and probably my face," He said sarcastically.
"Since I can call you my friend, Can I tell you a secret?" Isla said now, mirroring his pose and laying down on her yoga mat.
'I am seeing someone" She trailed off, now getting nervous to actually tell someone.
"That's great" said George.
"A driver" Isla's eyes flitted to George then away.
"Woah, that changes things a bit," he said as he sat up.
"Ya, I didn't think it would happen, but I couldn't help it" She admitted.
"Let me guess, to make it even more awkward, he's your teammate?" George asked.
"No" Isla responded quickly.
George's eyes widened "Seriously, from the stuff I see on instagram I could have sworn"
Isla's eyes avoided George's gaze. "Ya, Sarah our admin is good at making things out of nothing" she said. "I'm seeing Charles" She blurted out.
"That explains the punch then," George said, connecting the dots in his head.
"Ya, sorry about that, I should have just told you and that whole situation could have been avoided" she said looking sympathetically at George.
"It's all good, I can understand why you would hide it" He said. He looked at her and said, "I'm Happy for you Rowley." He smiled.
"Thanks, Rusty" She winked and stood up and rolled up her yoga mat. George did as well as he laughed.
"You know I haven't heard that name in a while," He said. "It brings back good memories," He said to her as they walked back to the hotel.
"I'm glad" She said, as her phone rang, she looked at it, It was a facetime from her brother Eric. She showed the phone to George who took it from her hand and answered it.
"Hey Eric," George said with a smile.
"Uh, Hey" Eric said with noted confusion in his voice.
Isla walked beside George and stuck her face into view of the camera and waved. "Hey Bro '' she said smiling.
"Well since I have both of you. Would you guys want to come on our F1 podcast?" He asked.
Isla and George looked at each other, and a silent conversation happened between glances. They shrugged. "Sure why not?" they said in unison and then started laughing. It felt back to normal.
"We were planning on doing it tomorrow night?" Eric said.
"Sounds good, it's a day off for us, so we can call you then" Isla said
"Great, this is going to be awesome, greatly appreciate it!!" He smiled. "Got to go though," He said as he waved goodbye and hung up.
George looked at Isla. "This will be fun," he said.
George and Isla then split ways and headed up to their rooms to get ready for a day full of team meetings