The Team // A Formula One AU

Nikita

I decide to go to the cafe too because I'll be bored out of my mind alone in that room. Tom thinks he's giving us freedom with the rest of the day off but really he's just wasting everyone's time. He doesn't know how to entertain us. All the same, I am glad we won't be going to the track every single day this week. I feel like I could just drop dead after that.

I go down the stairs which are completely deserted despite the hotel being packed with people. In the lobby I pass Tom's favourites, including Charles, and I can't help staring at him for a second. He's got me in so much trouble already and it's only been three weeks. I didn't even take his stupid camera.

I push open the heavy cafe door and see Esteban, Valtteri and Lance at a table by the far wall. I don't want people to think we're together so I sit at the table nearest to me and look around. There are no windows in here, the polished bar at one side makes the tiled floor look dusty. It probably is. It's still nicer than the outside, although that's not saying much.

A waitress moves over to Esteban's table as I watch carefully. She's pretty, probably in love with him, with all his designer clothes and hair spray. He flirts with her effortlessly and eventually manages to get a free drink out of it. I roll my eyes. He's even showing off in front of his supposed friends.

I look down at the menu in my hands. Maybe I should make friends. It might make things easier and it would be much less boring. Although, Valtteri seems more like Esteban's boss and Lance his slave. I smirk. I'm my own boss. How can someone allow themselves to be a slave?

I fiddle with the corner of the paper and turn my eyes back to their table. Lance doesn't seem to have ordered anything at all, he just sits in his chair. He isn't slouching but he still looks small. He acts like he's made friends but you can tell he knows their personalities will catch up to him.

I don't want friends.

A different waitress coughs beside me and I look away.

"Are you ready to order?"

She's sultry and bored looking so I take my time and order a cookie. That annoys her. It's fifty cents, so she may as well offer it to me for free. She doesn't. I smirk as she walks away. I'm not jealous.

I look around at the other people in this busy room. I don't know why everyone is hanging around in the middle of the day instead of seeing sights or whatever it is tourists do. They all look slightly strange, all a little too beautiful, a little too bright, like a circus on tour. A boy at a nearby table looks up at me and I look away. Despite being surrounded by teenagers, I'm out of place. I feel like I'm back at the orphanage.

I stand up to leave. I can unpack or something upstairs.

"Sir! Your... Your meal." The waitress huffs behind me, irritated. I turn and pick the cookie off the plate she's holding. I take a bite. 

"I'll have it to go."

I hear her exasperated sigh as I turn away. Being arrogant is easy. It's being shallow as well that Charles' gang pull off perfectly.

Back at the room I put the last of the cookie in my mouth and fiddle with my key card. I open the door to see that Kimi and Lewis have also left to get some food. I grin and take Lewis' Gameboy out from his suitcase, rolling onto my bed and kicking my socks off.

There's a knock at the door.

"Is anyone in there?" It's Tom. "We're going to the track in ten minutes."

"I thought it was our day off?"

"Booking problems. You can have a day off tomorrow."

I sigh heavily. "Okay..." I turn off the Gameboy and pull my socks back on. There's no peace here at all.