Authors Note: Enjoy! I love hearing you're thoughts. I feel like this will be a therapeutic chapter for some.🥰😉
The following 3 weeks of the F1 race calendar went by quickly for Scarlett. Her first three articles were exactly what her boss wanted and she was doing a good job getting her work done on time. The only big obstacle for Scarlett was her final article about Max.
Kelly was a great friend to have in the paddock during the last few weeks. She somehow convinced Scarlett to set up a social media page to post links to her articles and post behind the scene travel stories. She had started to gain a bit of a following and some of the F1 drivers started to follow her. Max, Charles, Pierre, and even Lando had given her a follow. Yet nothing from Daniel.
She would occasionally see Daniel in press conferences or cross paths while walking down the paddock. Daniel would always give her a small smile. She would return the smile with a quick smile.
It was Sunday of the final week of Scarlett's contract. She scanned her pass to enter the paddock and realized how early she was. Scarlett was early to everything the past three weeks to avoid Liam or Daniel. She didn't need to worry about that. This was a record even for Scarlett. The Hungarian grand prix Paddock was different than the races Scarlett had been to before. So she needed to be early this week to ensure she didn't get lost of end up in the wrong building at the wrong time.
The first thing in the paddock that caught her attention was surprisingly Alex and Liam. They were walking through the paddock both staggering, both with a champagne glass in their hand. Scarlett checked her watch. It was literally 9:30am. It was a race day which meant the party started earlier than the other days, but this seemed a bit too early.
The drunk couple made eye contact with Scarlett and immediately started walking towards her.
"Here we go.." Scarlett muttered as they swerved up to her.
"Look who is it, the little F1 stalker" Alex taunted. "Isn't it almost time for your carriage to turn into a pumpkin?" She retorted.
Scarlett blinked, that was rather clever for Alex to have come up with. "How long have you been waiting to use that line Alex?" Scarlett said straight faced.
"Let's go sexy, she isn't worth our time" Liam slurred.
"You're right, listen to him. He's a very smart man" Scarlett said with her voice dripping with sarcasm.. She had no interest in talking to those two. They were a mess and she knew whatever they would say might get...
Liam turned his attention to her. Crap, Scarlett thought. Things are going to get messy.
"You ungrateful little bitch" he said.
"Woah, uncalled for" Scarlett said as she straightened her posture to face him squarely. She was ready for this, he was trying to intimidate her, but his swaying wasn't selling the intimidation factor.
"You aren't even thankful that I kept Daniel from you" He slurred.
"Kept him from me? Oh okay, I'm sure you did Liam..." Scarlett trailed off.
"No I mean it, I did a great job of it." He boasted as he popped up the collar of his work logoed polo shirt.
"Sure you did..." Scarlett was now confused about how he was acting and what he was saying.
"I'm sure you haven't even figured it out yet..." He continued to brag.
"Whatever Liam, I don't have time for this" She said now with frustration growing in her voice.
"Let's go baby" Liam said, grabbing Alex's butt and squeezing it as they staggered the opposite way down the paddock.
Scarlett shook her head as they walked further away from her. She now focused her thoughts on finding a cup of coffee. After that odd and unprovoked exchange, she needed something to get her through maybe her last day in the paddock.
Scarlett grabbed a coffee and made her way to a picnic bench to go through her notes and work on her max article before the paddock got too overwhelming to get any work done.
Zoning in on her work, Scarlett spent almost two hours working in the paddock before a bit of commotion caught her attention. She looked up from her notebook to see Daniel being trailed by reporters.
The moment she looked up, she caught his eye. Just like the past three weeks, he gave a polite smile. She smiled back and slightly nodded her head in acknowledgement.. Their eyes lingered a little longer than in the weeks previous. Scarlett took a breath and watched him walk by for probably the last time. Her heart filled with a mix of emotions as he walked away.
She checked her watch, realizing that she now needed to find the media area to view the race. She gathered her things and headed down the paddock.
She bumped into a reporter who she had met a couple of times now, Ted Kravitz was wandering around the paddock like usual with his cameraman, headphones and sky sports microphone.
"Sorry Ted '' Scarlett said, stepping around him and his cameraman.
"Scarlett Fisher, the newest addition to the journalists here on the F1 grand prix circuit" Ted announced to the camera.
Scarlett gave a small wave to the camera.
"Scarlett, we are heading the same way, why don't you walk with us. Teach us what you know about the Hungarian grand prix paddock." He said excitedly.
"I guess I might not be the best tour guide. But I will try" she laughed. She had no choice but to go into full teacher mode. "You know Ted, I don't think I told you but this is my last race weekend with F1. In September I will most likely be back in my classroom in Canada." She said casually to a famous TV personality.
"Oh really?" Ted said shocked. "It has been wonderful having you here. But I do hope to see you around in the future." He smiled.
"Thanks," She genuinely smiled at Ted. "Alright, I believe we have made it to the Media area, did the viewers want to see inside?" She asked.
"Sure!" he said excitedly and he waved over the camera man.
Scarlett faced two doors side by side. She knew one of them was the entrance to the media room. The other one was a janitorial closet. She found that out the hard way earlier in the week when she was running late to a press briefing.
She opened the door on the left, to her, Ted, the cameraman, and probably the viewers at home surprised. The janitorial closet that Scarlett walked into earlier in the week was now occupied by Liam and Alex.
Liam had his pants down around his ankles, Alex had her dress hiked up and they were having sex. They were so drunk they didn't even notice the door open.
Ted coughed causing Liam to spin around. His Work logo as well as his small penis, in full view of the camera man. Liam's face turned red in anger and embarrassment.
Scarlett slammed the door quickly to avoid Liam's blow up. Her eyes wide, she looked at Ted. "I'm so sorry, that was not the media room. Here it is, she quickly opened the door on the right to reveal a room full of reporters standing and chatting.
Liam burst through the door, with pants on this time. "YOU BITCH" he yelled at Scarlett. Liam continued to scream and yell at Scarlett, who just stood there and didn't flinch, she let him yell and berate her, she didn't care, she did nothing wrong. Liam was just upset that he was caught, and on camera no less.
Ted had now stepped away, but the cameraman seemed to keep filming.
With the second minute of Liam's tirade. A very angry man in a fancy suit showed up with the same security guard from Scarletts 'track walk with Daniel a couple weeks before.
The man in the suit stepped forward. "Liam" he said loudly and in a very serious tone.
Liam looked at him and stopped his rant mid sentence. "Hi Mr. Yokogawa Sir" He said quickly and obediently.
"Your behaviour over the last 5 race weekends has been erratic and dangerous for my family's financing company. You are fired Liam. Our security guard will escort you and your girlfriend off the premises immediately." He said sternly.
The security guard quickly took their arms, and started to walk them to his golf cart.
Liam swung around to yell at Scarlett one last time. "Aren't you glad I blocked.." The security guard had pushed him into the cart, causing Liam to lose his train of thought.
What in the hell is he going on about, Scarlett thought as she apologetically looked at Ted, who still seemed a bit shell shocked about what just happened.
Scarlett was shocked at the sight. She was more than a little happy seeing the two get carted off together and Liam getting fired on national tv. She composed herself, gave Ted a quick nod and headed into the media area.
She slung her bag off her shoulder and her phone started to go crazy with notifications. Mia sent her just three facepalm emojis. Thomas sent a couple of skulls. She quickly silenced her phone and focused on the race that was about to start.
The race was a whirlwind and Scarlett took in as much as she could, before the final lap, with Max crossing the finish line first. She went down to the pit lane to watch the podium celebration. After that it was time to head and check in with Max before her flight home to Canada.
She entered the red bull motorhome and made her way to his driver's room. A quick knock on the door and a smiling face greeted her.
"Kelly!" Scarlett exclaimed. "Glad you made it!" She gave her a quick hug.
"I'm glad I did as well" She smiled and welcomed Scarlett into the room.
Max was sitting on the couch in the room, looking freshly showered. She sat down next to him and showed him the article she had drafted. Max smiled and looked at her. "Thank you Scarlett, this is the most authentic article I could have asked for''. He patted her on the back then pulled her in for a quick hug.
"I'm so happy you are excited about it. I have some small edits to do before sending it in. But nothing will change, besides grammar and syntax." She laughed while closing her laptop. "I have a plane to catch," She said as she stood up.
"Oh, back to Montreal?" Max asked.
"For a day, then I'm heading to Mia's cabin. I am meeting Thomas and Mia there for our annual friends summer holiday." She smiled as she slipped her laptop back into her messenger bag. "This might be the last time I see you guys. It has been a pleasure. I am excited to see your success in F1." She smiled at Max and gratefully looked at Kelly. "Thank you for your friendship these past couple weeks. You really don't know how much I needed it," she said. Scarlett quickly hugged the two of them. "I have only half an hour to get my bag from the hotel and get to the airport. So I have to run." She said her final goodbyes and quickly exited the room.
She was hurrying through the motorhome, she turned a corner as she rushed to the front door. She opened it and ran right into someone. They stumbled back, thankfully he caught himself, she thought. The man stood up, Daniel let out an exasperated laugh at Scarlett. "Of course, you had to do that one last time, didn't you?" he said. A hint of laughter in his voice.
"Sorry!" She said quickly. As she walked around him to try to get to the airport.
"You can't keep running into people like this." He said as he raised an eyebrow. And took a couple steps in her direction.
"I'm sorry I have to go. I have to be at the airport in half an hour. Canada awaits." Scarlett said over her shoulder with a heavy sadness in her voice. She stopped a couple of feet away from him and turned to face him . "Bye Daniel '' she said with a polite nod, then ran off down the paddock.