LILY'S POV
1 week after the Singapore Grand Prix, Qatar Grand Prix, Losail.
Finally after a weekend, we were back on track. We were all under a lot of pressure, drivers, engineers and mechanics. We had to remedy
Singapore disaster immediately. I arrived straight away at my hotel, it was morning, I had taken a very early flight to arrive early that Saturday to prepare for qualifying.
I wasn't able to be there the day before due to a last minute unexpected event, but at least for the qualifications and the race, I was there. I got to the hotel, unpacked very quickly and as usual I put on the Redbull t-shirt, but with a white skirt, it was too hot for jeans. Then I ate something quickly and went to the parking lot to get the motorbike, the skirt wasn't going to stop me from using the motorbike. Even though the race would take place late in the afternoon, I arrived at the paddock around 10.30am to check strategies, tires and radios.
As soon as I arrived, I took off my helmet and immediately felt the heat that was that day, I left the motorbike in the parking lot and set off for the Redbulls. The Qatar circuit was an almost new circuit, so there would have been many problems with the asphalt and with the resistance of the tires, also taking into account the temperatures. When I arrived at the entrance to the paddock, I noticed that it was new, they had done it from scratch, and it was really very large and spacious. I arrived at our garages and near us there were the Ferrari garages and the Mercedes ones. I entered the garage and saw my brother Max who was chatting with Charles.
"Hi Maxie, hi Lightning, how are you?" I greeted them
"Hey Lilys, you've finally arrived" my brother greeted me, hugging me, "you're beautiful" he said to me, and I smiled at him.
"Hi Lily, are you okay?" Charles told me
"Everything's fine, I arrived here very early, only then I had to stay at the airport for some checks, but everything else was fine." I replied.
"So what were you talking about?" I asked him
"We're all a little worried about the Grand Prix because the temperatures will be very high and we're worried about not being able to breathe in the car" Charles explained to me.
"Yes, it's a very dangerous circuit, but we'll make it" said Max
"Yes of course, I have to go now because my engineer is calling me, see you later and good luck Max" Charles greeted us
"Bye Char, say hi to Carlos too" said Max, I hadn't thought about Carlos all week and hearing his name reminded me of the wink he gave me in Singapore."Stop it Lily, don't think about it" I thought to myself.
"So shall we go to lunch together?" my brother asked me
"Yes of course, great idea" I told him. When we arrived at the restaurant, we sat down, ordered food and started talking.
"So Lilys how are you?" Max asked me
"Everything is fine, I'm just a little tired from the flight Max." I told him
"Are you sure Lilys?"
"Max, where are you going with this?"
"Nothing, you know I'm just worried about you after what happened with Jake"
I stopped suddenly, Jake was my ex-boyfriend, it was a very long story, why did he want to talk about it?"Max, why do you want to talk about Jake?" I asked him
"You know Lilys, after everything he's done to you, I can't worry about you, you're still my sister after all"
"Maxie, I appreciate that you care about me, but it's been over with Jake for four months now, I don't think it can randomly come back into my life, I'm fine now" I told him smiling. And it was true, I was fine now, I couldn't wait to start the new job and make a new life after everything that had happened with Jake.
"I'm happy you're here, I'm just worried about your health, we both know what you've gotten into Lilys, I want to protect you" he told me
"Thanks Maxie, but now I'm really happy here, I'm happy and I haven't felt like this in a long time, anyway thanks for worrying Maxie" I told him.
After a few minutes lunch arrived, we ate and after we finished eating it was almost 15:30. So we got up and went to the pits to begin the pre-qualifying preparation.
A few hours later
It was time for qualifying. The drivers were getting ready, while I and the other engineers were already in the pits. After a few minutes Horner also arrived, sat down next to me and smiled at me. I smiled back, and soon the drivers entered the cars, qualifying was about to begin.
"And radio check Max" I told him
"Loud and clear sis!" he replied.
"Let's do our best out there, but be careful," I told him
"Yes, of course," he told me.
As expected we passed Q1 and Q2 easily, even if the tire resistance wasn't the best given the temperature of the pita. Together with us in Q3, the two Ferraris had also arrived, since the Singapore Grand Prix they were doing much better than usual, they were always in the top five. We had to beat them. Charles began his lap.
"Wow Charles Leclerc is going very fast, but will this be possible to beat Verstappen?" said the host Charles finished his lap and soon Max arrived
"And Max Verstappen is on provisional pole, Carlos Sainz is all in your hands, will Sainz be able to beat Verstappen's time?"
"Wow, Carlos Sainz is really flying in that Ferrari, he's the fastest in the first two sectors" said another commentator
Carlos was doing really well but there was no way he would beat us again."And Carlos Sainz also takes pole here in Qatar, and that's two in a row for the Spanish driver!".
It wasn't possible, he had beaten us by a few tenths, no one expected it. So the starting grid saw Carlos in pole, Max in second position, Lando in third, Charles in fourth and then all the other top drivers.
Max went to congratulate Carlos and I went to him to hug him."Well done Maxie, you gave it your all, come on we'll beat them tomorrow" I told him to encourage him
"Thanks Lily" he said to me smiling
I turned and saw Carlos looking at me with his usual smirk
"And congratulations to the first one?" he told me
"Congratulations Sainz" I told him
"Thank you little Verstappen" he replied, he wanted to say something else but we couldn't talk anymore because the journalists arrived and started to ask him a million questions.
So I went to Lando to congratulate him for the third place in the grid."Even though we don't know each other, congratulations," I told him, smiling
"Thank you very much, but who do I have the honor of speaking to?" he told me
"I'm Lily, Max's sister," I told him, introducing myself
"Ah so you're the famous Verstappen, well I like you at first sight, tonight I'm a DJ in a nightclub, if you want to come you're welcome" he said to me smiling
"Thanks, I'll see if I don't have more important things to do" I told him with a grin
"I'm counting on it, Lily," he said, looking me in the eyes
"Sorry to interrupt you, but Lando and I have to go take post-qualifying photos" Carlos interrupted us
"Well then, see you after Verstappen" Lando said looking at me
"Yes of course, believe it Norris"
"Yeah, yeah whatever, can we go now or do you want to stay here and flirt a little longer?" Carlos told us
"Okay, I have to go, see you" I said goodbye and i went back to the pits.
CARLOS'S POV
I looked at Lily as she was walking away and going to the pits.
"So where are you going with little Verstappen?" I asked Lando once Lily was gone
"Ah yes here's what I wanted to tell you, tonight I'm DJing in a nightclub, and I invited her, if you want you can come, so we can celebrate your pole" Lando told me
"I don't know Lando," I told him, the next day we had a race, and we had to focus on it.
"Come on, let's have some fun" he told me
"I'll see later, so why did you even invite little Verstappen?" I asked him
"I don't know, I like her, she seems like a nice girl" he replied
"Oh ok, well let's go take photos, they're calling us" I cut it short. I coudn't believe that he invited that girl after just meeting her, but we're talking about Lando, so it has sense.
After taking photos, I went back to my garage, said goodbye to the team and my engineer and headed back to my hotel. I finally told Lando that I was going to his event, but would be back soon,the next day we'd have a race.
LILY'S POV
After the chat with Lando, I went to the parking lot to get the motorbike, it was my favorite moment of the day, finally some air and adrenaline. I probably would have gone to his event because it's been too long since I went to a disco, so why not I thought.
As soon as I got to the room I immediately went to take a refreshing shower, after which I put on make-up, I didn't do anything too heavy, also because make-up wasn't my strong point, but when I finished I was proud of the eleiner, for once it had come straight to me both eyes.
Once I finished putting on makeup, the most difficult part awaited me, that is, choosing how to dress, even though I wasn't a girl who loved dresses, that evening I wanted to wear one. I had two options, either a black dress, but it had long sleeves, so I was afraid of being hot, or a red one with sparkles everywhere. In the end I opted for the red one. I didn't do anything to my hair, in fact I kept it loose, it was still a little wavy, so I decided it was fine like that. I wrote to Lando to send me the location of the nightclub, after a few minutes he replied with the location.
Obviously I would have gone with my motorbike, put my motorbike jacket on top of my car, went down to the car park, got on the motorbike and left. I loved riding my motorbike in the evening, feeling all the lights around me while I was going at 200 km/h, it was one of the most beautiful sensations you could experience.
I arrived at the nightclub, left the motorbike with the valet and went in. I was a little anxious, because I'm not a lover of crowded places, but as soon as I heard the music I calmed down. I went to the bar and had a drink made for me, just to relax a bit. Then I went to the track and saw Charles approaching with a girl. Immediately afterwards I understood who he was.
"CHARLOTTEE!" As soon as I saw her I ran and hugged her
"How long have you been, how have you been?" I asked her
"Lily, how long have I missed you, I'm fine, you my friend?" she asks me with her usual smile
"I'm fine, I'm bothering my brother a bit, I'm his engineer" I told her
"Yes, Charles told me, how nice, keep an eye on me Charles, I trust you" she told me jokingly
"Will do that captain" I told her laughing. We talked a little more and then we headed to the dance floor. I couldn't wait to dance a little, they put a lot of beatiful songs and I let myself go. I was happy and carefree, like I hadn't been in a long time.
But then they played "Sweater Weather," one of my favorite songs. I turned to the stage and saw Lando looking at me and smiling.
"Uhh Lily you impressed someone" Charlotte told me
"Yeah yeah, sure Charlotte" I told her
"There's a certain Lando who's been watching you all evening, but he's not the only one," she told me
"What do you want to say?" I asked her looking at her curiously, she simply tilted her head to the left and I saw Carlos who was leaning against a wall and was staring at me.
He had a white shirt unbuttoned at the top, black pants and those two brown eyes of his that kept staring at me. I turned around and continued dancing undisturbed
"Touch my neck and I'll touch yours
You in those little high waisted shorts, oh"
I danced and turned back towards Carlos thinking he was gone. Instead he was there looking at me undisturbed with those two big eyes of his.
"One love, two mouths
One love, one house
No shirt, no blouse"
and I was captivated by those brown eyes I looked at him back and the same thing happened that happened in Singapore, everything around us disappeared, there were only the disco lights illuminating us.
It was the two of us alone looking at each other. We were as if we were far away but close, as if we were there in front of him and I was looking at him.
"And if I may just take your breath away I don't mind if there's not much to say
Sometimes the silence guides a mind
To move to a place so far away
The goosebumps start to raise
The minute that my left hand meets your waist".
Neither of us had the intention of stopping the eye contact, the two of us were in our bubble like in Singapore. But then someone touched my shoulder and at the same time the song ended. I turned to see Chrlotte and Charles telling me they were leaving, I hugged them both and said goodbye. Then I turned to Carlos again, but he had disappeared.
After a few hours I also left to go back to the hotel, so I headed towards the car park. As I was putting on my helmet I heard someone approaching from behind. He took me by the waist and made me sit on the motorcycle. I was trapped between him and the motorbike. When I opened my eyes, I immediately recognized who it was. He raised the visor of my helmet, came closer and said
"Little girl stay away from me" he said to me in his deep tone
"Carlos?" I had never called him by his name, I immediately regretted it
He came even closer to me, so much so that there was no more space between us
"Don't make me repeat that little Verstappen, okay?" he said, whispering in my ear.
His breath smelled like alcohol, he was probably drunk. I was motionless between his body and my motorcycle. So much so that I could hear his heart beating. He lowered my visor and how he had come and gone. I watched him go, then I took the motorbike and ran off to the hotel, what a night it had been.
When I arrived at the hotel, I washed, put on my pajamas and went to bed, thinking of Carlos and everything that had happened that evening.
Before I fell asleep, I received a message from Lando.
"You looked beautiful tonight, it's a shame we didn't talk much, see you tomorrow", I didn't answer him, I was too tired and upset. I turned off the phone and fell asleep with Carlos' eyes imprinted in my mind.
Luckily there would be summer break soon, I needed it.
And we have also reached the end of this chapter, what do you think? Write all up in the comments!
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