For Love and maybe Blood

~ > 6 < ~

~Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?~

Trigger Warning. This chapter might have a scene that some people maybe are not able to read. I gonna mark the scene where it will come!

The Qualification in Hungary went quite well for our team. George starts from 12th place and Nicholas from 15th and to be honest it's pretty good for Williams. The team joked that I'm their lucky charm because I'm from Hungary and theoretically it's kind of a home race for me. That's why today George wore the helmet again that I gave him for Christmas. Now I was the lucky charm and I brought rain to Hungary, which was not so great, but my grandfather always said that the good drivers always stand out in the rain, so I tried not to worry because I knew that our two drivers were good. What was less good is that my head was still with Uncle Adam, my accident and this dream.
Somehow the whole thing was strange... And yes, I was still pretty sure I saw those men in Las Vegas, I'm not making this up, I knew it. Somehow it didn't make much sense to me, even if I knew I had seen these men in Vegas, what were they doing in Bristol?
Why were they watching me? And why did Uncle Adam react so strangely when I mentioned them...?
"Lilibeth, we need to talk," Ava came running in a panic, interrupting my thoughts.
Confused, I shook my head, looked at her and gave all my attention to her.
"What's wrong?", I asked confused, but I didn't know if this was from my thoughts or Ava's panicked reaction.
"We have a problem," she replied, still agitated, pacing nervously in front of my chair.
"Ava," I said, as this also made me nervous. "Ava, stop," I instructed her, holding her by her upper arm after I got up from my chair.
"Take a breath, will you? And when you've calmed down, tell me slowly what's going on."
As I told her, she took a few deep breaths in and out and then sat down next to me, looking around as if checking that no one was watching.
"What makes you so nervous? Is something wrong with the engines? Or is it because of the rain?"
"No, no it's not about the race," Ava replied, looking around us again before moving closer to me as if she wanted to tell me a secret. "It's about Claire."
"About Claire?", I repeated, confused.
 "Shh, keep it down," she ordered me, to which I raised my hands innocently.
"I'm sorry, but what do you mean what about Claire?", I asked more quietly this time.
"Well, you know how I told you about Claire and maybe leaving William's?"
I nodded in response. "Yes, I remember. But I also remember that we pretty much agreed that Claire certainly wasn't going to go. Because she's Claire."
Ava looked sadly at the floor and played with the ring around her thumb before looking back up at me. There was a sadness in her eyes and they immediately told me everything without her saying another word.
"We don't quite see eye to eye anymore," Ava said. "Claire is going to leave us."
"WHAT?", I asked far too loudly and I put my hand over my mouth.
"Shh," Ava said again.
This can't be happening!
Claire... no... I was aware that Williams wasn't at his best right now, but Claire leaving us was a rumour only a few months ago... but now... wait a minute.
"Wait, how do you even know that?", I asked. "Has Claire already told you?"
She shook her head. "Not really then..."
"So?", I asked uncertainly.
"As it happens, I found coincidentally some documents..."
"Coincidentally?", I repeated sharply, as she wasn't exactly innocent with those words. "Doesn't sound like it."
"All right, too 25% coincidentally" Ava admitted. "Anyway, there were a few things written about... this subject."
I took a deep breath and just tried to process the information. Maybe Ava has found something, but it's nothing official until she tells us.
"Are you sure, Ava?", I asked slowly.
"I can read, of course, I am," Ava replied a little bitchily. "But you have to shut up, Lilibeth,"
I instructed Ava. "If Claire finds out I know anything I'll be out of a job before she's gone."
"I get it," I agreed. "Who are you bitching about this time?" Claire said suddenly from beside us, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Ava and I gave each other startled looks before clearing our throats and looking to Claire.
How much did she hear?!
"Well... ehm...", I stammered.
"Claire, so Lilibeth has nothing to do with this, just to be clear," Ava said suddenly.
"Ah I see now," Claire laughed, which confused me.
Why was she laughing when we were talking about her leaving Williams just now, which we really shouldn't have known.
"You're talking about the rain. Of course, it's not Lilibeth's fault, even if she is our lucky charm from Hungary," Claire winked.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Ava and I laughed along with Claire so she wouldn't notice us.
"Yes, the rain," Ava said, sounding less than convincing, which not only I but Claire noticed.
"Or was it about something else?" she asked more questioningly this time.
"Well..."
"We also talked about... when it would be best... To get pregnant while you're working," I slowly spoke out what first popped into my head.
 Why the hell being pregnant?!
"You're not pregnant are you?", Claire asked confused this time, causing me to widen my eyes and laugh nervously.
"No" I replied perplexed "Why would I be?"
Then I realised the answer was totally stupid. "Forget the second thing I said," I added quickly. "Well, in any case, I would recommend it not to be now, we don't want to distract our George, right?"
"Exactly," I agreed with her, noticing the temperature rising in my cheeks as I felt a little uncomfortable discussing the subject with my boss.
Just then, George came towards us. Great timing. "Oh hi George," Claire greeted him.
"Hi," he replied, a little confused. "Did I miss a meeting?"
"Oh no, not at all. So at least it wasn't all that important to you," Claire replied, winking at me, which made me put on a smile. This confused George even more and he screwed up his face. "Anyway," Ava cut in again. "We can go now, can't we?"
"You're off duty now," Claire confirmed. "Get some rest, tomorrow will hopefully be a good day".

We all said goodbye and at the end, Ava and I exchanged relieved glances. That could easily have gone wrong if Claire had heard anything. Now George and I drove back to the hotel and I checked my mobile phone. As I had a business and a private mobile phone, I tended to check my private one less at the weekend, as I was often busy on the route and made the important calls from my business mobile. For this reason, I only now saw that I had received a missed call from someone. But I was surprised that this person called me at all.
"Are you all right?", George asked confusedly when he saw my confused, staring look.
"Yes," I replied. "I'm just confused. My mother called me."
And then he looked confused too. Yes, getting a response from her was something quite rare. We never spoke, really never. We wrote to each other at Christmas, Easter or our birthdays and that was it. And writing to each other in those days was a matter of respect, not love, for the family. "Will you call her back?" George asked.
"Yeah, sure, I have to or she'll get really mad," I replied. "I also don't want to seem like I'm ignoring her," I added.
"When was the last time you even talked to her?" George asked as we drove into the underground car park of the hotel.
"Do you mean talking or writing?"
"I mean really talked," George added.
I thought about it for a moment, but it didn't occur to me. We talked so little, I didn't remember anything like that. "Maybe last year?" I guessed.
George turned off the engine, took out the keys and then looked at me.
"So if you really don't remember when you talked to her, it's about time again."
I was about to open my mouth to say something about it, but he stopped me with a look on his face and I closed my mouth again.
 "I know that in your family respect for others is very important. So you should definitely call them back."
I nodded. "I'll call them as soon as we get upstairs," I promised. The first thing I did when we got upstairs was to take off my shoes and then go straight to the bathroom with my mobile phone so I could call my mother back.
"I'm writing autograph cards," George announced before I disappeared. As I sat down on the edge of the bath, I noticed my nervousness suddenly rising.
After all, it was my mother, no one else...
I dialled her number and put the mobile to my ear, listening to the ringing until less than three seconds later my mother answered.
"Why are you calling two hours later?" was the first thing she asked me and I immediately rolled my eyes. Typical for her again.
"Wasn't it possible earlier?"
"No, sorry I was at work and I don't look at my personal phone that often during that time," I explained as casually as I could. "What was the reason for your call mum?"
I heard her exhale deeply as if something had happened. "Mum?"
"When did you last speak to Adam?" she asked suddenly.
 "On Thursday as soon as I know," I replied. "Why?"
She exhaled deeply again and this time I was completely confused.
"Mum, what's wrong? Is something wrong with Uncle Adam-"
"He's dead"
When those three words rang in my ear, I felt like my heart had stopped.