Silver Lining [Mick Schumacher]

Clockwork

"I'll guilt myself and the pain
Until there's nothin' left
The air's gettin' grey now
I see it on the way down
It's pickin' up the pace now
It's quicker on the way down."
Clockwork; Alessia Cara

-

"Are you ready to get crushed?" Mick asked Hestia, his today's chess opponent, while they finished placing all the pieces on the board. Words swiftly turned into actions, and the next day, Hestia was at Schumacher's again. She felt less of an intruder, yet it was weird for her to be inside the house of a family that valued privacy above everything. Hestia felt honored that they trusted her enough to let her in their safe space. She knew how difficult it is to open your heart to someone, especially after a terrible experience.

"I wanted to say something confident but because I didn't lie about not winning a single game in chess yet, I have to say: Yes, I am ready to get crushed," Hestia laughed before starting the game by placing one of her front pawns close to the middle of the board, "although, you should never underestimate your opponent," she added cheekily as Mick moved one of his white pawns closer to the middle too.

"I wonder if you are really telling the truth about this or if you are just pulling my leg as some sort of mind games," Mick looked at Hestia with arched eyebrows, while one of her black pawns unintentionally exposed the most precious piece of each chess player: the king. Mick immediately knew what he was to play next.

"You'll have to find out on your own," Hestia smirked, not noticing a major blunder she had performed, she wasn't focusing too much on the game.

"I think I already did," Mick said nonchalantly as he trapped Hestia's king with his white queen, achieving a checkmate. Hestia's eyes ran across the situation on the board quickly. When she realized the game was lost in just two moves, the smile that had decorated her face completely vanished.

"How?" She asked dumbfounded, feeling the embarrassment of getting beaten this fast. What if he was going to laugh at her and call her stupid, not wanting to play with her anymore? What if this would change his somewhat positive outlook on her? Would he judge her?

"Easily," Mick shrugged, "you gave me the win on the silver plate," he pointed at the clear way to the king Hestia created, "the golden rule is to always protect your king. No matter what."

"That was just a warm-up," Hestia waved her hand, shaking off the stupid suspicions bubbling inside. Mick wouldn't do such a thing, would he? All pieces were put in their starting position, a new game was ready to begin. This time it was Mick who started by covering the middle of the board with a pawn, a book move. Hestia instantly copied his move with her pawn, not even thinking about it, "the next race is in Spain, right?" as Mick stuck one of his bishops out, Hestia decided to start a conversation, being intimidated by the silence. She hated the silence, it was the loudest of noise for her.

"It is," he hummed, watching Hestia use the right knight to actively join the game. He was fascinated by the way she played, it said a lot about her. It was hasty, all over the place. As if she was scared to pause for a minute and let her mind do the magic.

"Are you excited?" Hestia's eyebrows furrowed while Mick decided to waste no time and send the queen into the action.

"I am excited for every race," Mick was doing his best to suppress the smile as his opponent, once again, prepared a nice path for him with her bishop.

"Even if you are driving a lawn mower? Wait, even a lawn mower would be quicker than what you have to deal with," Hestia laughed at her own joke, causing Mick to giggle too. He liked how unapologetic she was in private. If someone who knew her only from their screens got a chance to take a glimpse beyond the surface, they would be surprised to see how different Hestia Schmidt and Hestia Schmidt could be, "isn't it just weird that they made a relatively alright car last year but now they messed up everything they could?" Mick decided to let Hestia talk, not going for the deadly move just yet. However, she was completely oblivious to her major mistake, "How can something get wrong out of a sudden? One would think that they have enough experience to avoid this," Hestia leaned her chin against her fist, bluntly staring at the board, no super-smart strategy forming in her mind, "sure, the season before wasn't ideal with scoring only three points, but still, there was someone behind them," she kept on rambling, not sparing a second to think it over. Mick, who never failed to pay close attention to what he was told, watched the girl in front of him with great curiosity. She wasn't a fan of Formula 1 before, at least that was what she told him. Then how did she know such a detail?