𝑾𝑶𝑾 (𝑴.𝑽)

21. 𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲

12 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 2021

📍𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚,𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲

The weekend had been fairly calm for the little family of three. With less fans at the circuit than at the last two circuits, it was easier for Zara to walk around with Emi. But in terms of driving, well it wasn't going that well. The team had decided not to change Max's power unit to avoid the penalty but with Bottas taking the risk of changing his, it became clear that Mercedes could dominate that weekend. And McLaren also added some pressure onto the team as their cars proved to be perfect for the circuit. And now it seems like all of that pressure finally caused an explosion.

Zara, who'd been watching from the back of the garage, had been pretty disappointed when Redbull performed an unnecessarily long pit stop on Max. She also raised an eyebrow when the same happened to Lewis. Yet when she saw Max and Lewis going side by side into turn one a pit began to form in her stomach. And that pit grew even more as she watched her boyfriend's car bounce off the kerb and climb on top of Lewis' car. A collective gasp was heard throughout the garage. Zara was just happy that Max had been ok yet that quickly turned into anger when she saw Max walk away from the scene without checking if Lewis was fine. Knowing that the cameras would soon focus on her she quickly pushed her daughter's pram towards the back exit and grabbed her bag. She refused to be here when Max returned, otherwise she would snap at him in front of the cameras.

Max was obviously bubbling with anger as he arrived at the garage and it didn't help that Helmut tried to fuel his anger by suggesting that Mercedes had purposely made a slow stop just so Lewis could exit at the same time as he came down the straight. The anger began to bubble over as he realized that Zara had left. She wasn't in his driver's room or the hospitality therefore she had to be at Mercedes with her dad.

8:20 𝐩𝐦

The tension in the room was palpable as Zara and Max glared at each other. They had been ignoring one another since they left the paddock that evening. Knowing that they needed to talk, Toto had offered to look after Emi for the night. And now the couple could scream at each other all they want.

"I don't even know where to begin. You seriously thought that it was a good idea to just walk away from the incident without checking up on him!"

"Well he didn't check up on me after Silverstone -"

"Don't you even dare! He might not have shown up at the hospital with flowers and an apology but he did check up on you via the radio. And didn't you say that if your dad ever saw you do what Lewis did he'd slap you around the head, well I sure hope he does! Maybe then you'll see that not everything is about you! "

"He pushed me onto the kerb! This whole thing is his fault, he probably wanted us to fight!"

"Oh my god! When will it ever end!? This whole thing of its everyone but Max's fault. Singapore, Baku and this are all on you! You constantly expect everyone to make way for you and your aggressive driving and when they don't step aside and decide to actually race you, it's suddenly unfair!? I don't know what ego boosting lies Marko has been feeding you but they're just that, LIES! Because the moment you fail to compete on the same level as Lewis he'll throw you out! "

"Just like how Mercedes threw you out. You're so quick to defend them but you forget that I'm the only one who even cares about you. Your dad didn't speak to you for months and Lewis barely looks at you when you walk past. Oh, maybe you're still in love with him! "