Annabelle
"Are you ready?"
George came into the anteroom where I was putting on my thin jacket. After spending the morning on the balcony, it was now just before noon and we wanted to go to the police. Or rather, I still wasn't keen on the idea, but George persuaded me and I was simply too weak to argue against it any further.
He had also told me that Toto had asked about me. Before that, I was particularly afraid of what George's boss would say about all this. After all, he knew about all the allegations, after all, he was the one who made the informative article more or less public.
Of course George had told him about the evening in Spielberg and how it was connected. It was fine with me, after all I got along really well with the Wolffs and especially Toto and so I didn't see any problem with it.
The Mercedes boss then used his connections again and recommended a police officer to us who he knew from before. He was also willing to support me or us as long as Mercedes didn't reflect badly and it didn't affect George's performance.
Our taxi was already waiting outside the door, which would take us into the city to the police station. Throughout the ride, George held my hand and squeezed it in acknowledgment, to which I gave him a grateful smile.
After about half an hour we were there and got out quickly before anyone could recognize us or George. Nothing would be worse than pictures of him in front of a police station in Vienna. Inside we got some surprised looks, after all it wasn't every day that a celebrity like that walked into the police station.
There was a young man sitting behind the reception who, after an initial moment of admiration, asked us our names. Of course he knew George's name, but I was glad he handled the whole thing professionally.
"You have an appointment with David Spart?"
"Yes, that's right," I answered quickly, before I snuggled anxiously into George's arm.
He immediately put his arm around my waist and pulled me even closer to him while the young man motioned for us to wait. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. Since we were standing a little to the side, I couldn't understand what he was saying.
However, after hanging up again, he called us over and stood up.
"He will be here in five minutes."
George nodded in confirmation and the man led us into a small room. We should wait here until David Spart had time. I was still clinging to George's arm because the whole thing was more than uncomfortable for me and I would prefer to be back home in my bed.
A few minutes later the door opened again and a middle-aged man poked his head inside.
"Annabelle Bruck?"
I looked up and confirmed my name, whereupon he told us to follow him. The policeman led us up wide stone stairs to the upper floor and into his office, where we sat on the two armchairs opposite the desk. He politely shook our hands.
"David Saves my name, you are Annabelle Bruck as I already know. And I also know you of course, George Russell. I have to say I am a fan but these circumstances are not exactly pleasant to meet you, but today is all about Mrs. Bruck, isn't it?"
George just nodded and gave me an encouraging smile.
"In which language should we take the statement, should your boyfriend also know what it's about, Ms. Bruck?" the police officer asked me and his calm and polite manner made me relax a little.
"In German, George already knows everything, but I feel more comfortable this way," I answered and looked briefly at George, who nodded at me in agreement and squeezed my hand, which was in his.
(conversation in German)
"Okay, well then I'll start. Mr. Wolff and I know each other from before, from our studies. I also follow Formula 1 privately, especially Mercedes, and so I also heard the whole thing about your past. Of course I didn't know whether It was true and to be honest I didn't look into it any further as it didn't really affect the team. I only noticed that Mr Russell had broken up and just recently I noticed again that you two were together. To be honest, I didn't care and the whole past thing was no longer relevant to me."
He paused and looked at me deeply. I just sat there in silence as he told him all this, but felt myself tensing up more and more as he got closer to the present.
"In any case, Mr. Wolff called me unexpectedly at the beginning of June, before that we had only been in friendly contact from time to time. He told me about the whole thing and how much it would stress his driver, but also him. He said he couldn't imagine that this article from spring was true and I should put out my feelers. He did a lot for me in the past, and I wanted to fulfill his request and, together with the knowledge I had acquired, he then commissioned this article.
You have to know that Mr. Wolff knows a lot of influential people here, so it wasn't that difficult. I thought everything was sorted out and everyone was happy, but then he called me again after the race in Spielberg."
I felt my heart start to beat faster the closer it got to Sunday and I swallowed hard. George looked at me worriedly.
"Can we get a glass of water?"
The police officer immediately got up and disappeared before returning a minute later with a glass of water. He carefully handed it to George, who helped me take a few sips. After I had calmed down a bit, David Spart continued.
"Of course I had read in the media that you were in the hospital, but again I didn't bother with it because I thought it was probably some kind of weakness that the media would hype up again. However, Mr. Wolff said that Mr. Russell said something about your former teacher and all that.
Then of course I pricked up my ears, because after his last request this topic had bothered me a little and I had always wondered why someone would do something like that. Then I started the whole thing again researched and it's about Adam Berger, is this whole thing because of him?"
For a few moments I sat frozen as he said the name, unable to move, let alone say anything. However, I then felt George's thumb gently stroking the back of my hand and I took a deep breath.
"Yes, Adam Berger, my former teacher, the man who started all this," I said, becoming increasingly quiet.
George realized what was going on and put his second hand on mine to signal that he was there for me. Thankful, I gave him a pained smile before I began to describe the afternoon again, from that time. I left out all the details, but the policeman sometimes asked explicitly and wrote everything down neatly on a pad.
In between I also asked why he didn't just take the protocol from back then, but he said that it couldn't be found anywhere and that the colleagues from my home town who had been working on the case at the time didn't know either.
I silently commented on this statement with a timid nod and felt a tear running down my cheek. Of course, George noticed this immediately and brushed it aside before giving me a kiss on the cheek. David Spart allowed us to take a short break and I took a few deep breaths before signaling to the police officer opposite me that we could continue.
"We would then have to go through the Sunday of the race, which constitutes the actual ad. I would like to record this conversation so that it will stand up in court if it comes to that."
He quickly translated the sentences for George so that he wouldn't be surprised by the recording device that was suddenly on the table. I sighed quietly and wiped the last tears from my eyes before I began to speak.
"George had won, I was more than proud of him and so I stood below the podium to cheer him on. I saw Adam Berger in the corner of my eye, but I didn't particularly notice him and I was full of joy and adrenaline. However, I had seen him before that in the paddock, but I convinced myself that it could never be and that I must have been mistaken. While George was in the interviews, I went out of the garage into the paddock and then suddenly he was standing in front of me."
I paused when I felt myself starting to shake a little. However, after taking a sip of water, I continued talking and tried to pull myself together for the rest, which worked somewhat. However, the police officer was satisfied and said it would be enough for now.
"What will you do next, will he be arrested?" asked George, visibly upset, while I hid in his arm, sobbing.
"When we find him we will confront him with that statement, but since no one saw the act he will deny it and then it's statement against statement, there's not much more we can do."
"But you have to do something!" George shouted angrily, jumping up so that I backed into my chair in shock.
He immediately apologized and sat down again.
"I wish I could, your story really touches me, especially as I also have a daughter who is in school and the idea of something like this happening to her is terrifying. But legally Mr. Berger didn't do anything illegal, his paddock pass was real and so he had every right to be there."
"But he had no right to touch my girlfriend," George said in a still loud voice and I just mumbled, "I told you," which he heard and shook his head.
"The only thing is waiting for him to take the next step. Maybe then we'll have more clues and evidence."
"Next step!?" George and I asked in sync, both completely perplexed.
"Yes, I think Mr. Berger will keep trying to harm you. He lost everything and in his eyes you gained everything, the truth came out, you have a, excuse me for saying it like that, a rich, well-known boyfriend who gives you everything and the whole world sees you, in a positive way. He wants all of that and people like him only stop when they get what they want."
As George sat there overwhelmed, not knowing what to say for a moment, something else came to mind.
"Will he try to harm him? Manipulate his car or his reputation?" I deliberately asked in German so that George couldn't understand, as I didn't want to worry him unnecessarily.
However, I already knew the answer and was worried about what the police officer would say.
"It's possible. People like him have followers everywhere and come up with the most absurd ideas."
"But George could die from this."
After this statement there was silence. David Spart sat there frozen and seemed to be thinking and George also clearly understood the last words and immediately wrapped me in his arms while I cried.
"I can't lose you."
"I know honey, you won't. We are strong and we'll get through this together." George murmured into my hair before placing a kiss on it.
The policeman typed a little on his keyboard and wrote something down while I was now sitting on George's lap with my head buried in the crook of his neck. However, something else occurred to me and I carefully raised my head to look at the man behind the desk.
"Should we post something about it?"
"I'm not a social media and celebrity expert but what would be the downside of telling the world? After all, everyone already knows the old story, at least the press version, so maybe people can be warned about false reports and strange things."
George also seemed happy with this idea and also said he would tell the team everything so they would be cautious about new faces and offers. However, we decided to do the whole thing during the summer break so that it wouldn't affect the race this Sunday, which I wouldn't be there anyway.