Not Your Typical Princess (Liam Lawson X OC)

The incident

I am a little annoyed. For some reason, there is a lot of fuss. I put it down to the fact that I am one of the princesses of Monaco. You wouldn't notice at first glance but I am the oldest daughter of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene. The thing is I may be part of the royal family of Monaco but I am not a typical princess. Yup, I am getting ready for the last race of the karting world championship. The thing is I need to win this race to take the championship away from my teammate. I am lucky that he doesn't know that I am a princess. I need someone with a carefree attitude to remind me that there is more to life than being a royal. Speaking of the devil.

"Celeste, are you ready to go?" My teammate asks.

"And beat you. Yes, I am," I responded. I am glad that my mum is not here, otherwise, she would have told me off with the words 'that's not how a princess conducts herself.' The thing is none of this is what a normal princess would do. Instead, I am left in the capable hands of our family mechanic.

"Well good luck," He teases. I find some relief in the fact that he doesn't know that I am a princess.

"Don't need it. I have the skill," I retort. It will be interesting to see how our friendship will progress once we reach single-seaters. I dismiss the thought as we are approached by my mechanic. He is the one that is creating the most fuss. Unlike my mum and dad, he believes that I should be in the palace preparing for my duties as a princess. Well too bad I am not a normal princess. Normal is overrated anyway. After some quick words, he brings me to the second place grid slot. I just happen to be behind Liam. He sends one last taunt my way in the form of a sarcastic wave. It doesn't take long for the race to start. I am a fraction quicker than Liam. I am quick to cut him off so I can keep the lead. After some back and forth between Liam and I things have gotten interesting. I am about to retake the lead when Liam does the unthinkable. He forces me off track. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but in taking evasive action I lose control. The next thing I know is I have hit the barrier. I must have blacked out because there is a team of medics standing over me.

"Celeste are you all right?" Liam asks.

"No you pushed me off," I muster all of the strength I can but the pounding in my head is too much. Liam mutters something as he leaves. It has been a couple of weeks since the incident and funny enough I prevented Liam from getting his title stripped. Even though he pushed me off the track I am not sure if he did it on purpose. My gut says he did but my head says otherwise. It has been six long years since then. The sad thing is after that incident Liam and I have drifted apart. Well, that is about to change. The preseason testing is about to get underway. I am currently on my way to the Hitech garage. My mind is stuck on the fact that Liam and I will be teammates again.

"Celeste, what are you doing here?" A familiar voice calls out. It sounds like he is only asking because he wants to make sure that it is you.

"Well, I got promoted to F2. Didn't Oliver tell you?" I am bewildered as to why the team boss didn't tell him anything. I put it down to the fact that I have a history with Liam. I can feel the tension build as we continue to the garage. I feel stupid for causing resentment between us. Why am I wrestling with this now? I need to focus on the work ahead. You know what, I am going to sort out the personal drama after the first race. It is the least I can do. I soon notice the telltale sign that Liam is embarrassed. How I could tell is he is pretending to scratch an itch on his neck.

"So..." Liam starts a thought but it is soon interrupted by the awkwardness that my presence has created. Gosh, this is awkward and I hate it. There is a part of me that still wants to be friends with Liam but life has other ideas. We soon part ways so we can get testing underway. I guess that he will continue his thought later. I find myself talking to my lead mechanic under the watchful eye of my handler. Yes, that is what I call the person who was asked to watch me. My father worries too much. Whether it is about me or the or the family's reputation I don't know. What makes me laugh about the situation is the fact that I have already ruined my family's reputation by being in the crazy world of motorsports.

"So Celeste the only thing you need to really worry about is the brakes," My lead mechanic informs me.

"Thank you, Jake. See James you can tell my father that he has nothing to worry about," I responded before getting my balaclava and helmet on. I am confident that the testing will uncover the issues with the brakes. After all, the testing time is good for me to get familiar with the new car. Speaking of the new car I am quick to pull myself into my seat. I am given the thumbs up from my lead mechanic to leave. After leaving the pits I am quick to bring the car up to speed. Well here goes nothing. A rhythm soon develops. In my case that is a good thing as it shows that I am a quick learner. Now for the ultimate test. I carefully apply the brakes to see if they are working. To my surprise, there are no issues. I could have sworn that Jay was talking as if the car was going to have issues.

"It looks like the issue with the brakes has been solved," The voice of my lead engineer confirms my thoughts.

"I would hold your breath. Something might go wrong," I say. I am not perfect when it comes to my driving style. As soon as those words leave my mouth the car is hit by a snap of oversteer however I am able to compensate for it.

"You see what I mean? I think it might be a problem with the bias," I add to the growing list of things to fix. Hey, That's what testing is for. After what feels like an eternity driving the first round of testing has come to an end. I find myself in the hospitality area nibbling on a biscuit while I think about ways that I can make amends with Liam. The thing is our friendship came to an end. That's what drifting apart means. I have no clue as to why I am thinking about this now. Maybe I should tell my mum. I soon notice that James is pacing around with his phone to his ear. That can't be good. It means that my father would have bad news. Even though it is rude to eavesdrop I do so anyway.

"Well, the thing is she has one more day of testing left before she can come home. You should call her yourself sir," James responds to whatever was said on the other side. That means that there is something wrong. As soon as the thought crosses my mind James removes the phone from his ear. An exasperated sigh falls from his mouth. Yup, it is definitely not good. Now it is my turn to receive the bad news. My phone rings.

"Hello dad," I answered the phone.

"Hello, Celeste. I have some bad news. Your mother has fallen ill," My father announces.

"And you want me back home as soon as possible?" I ask.

"Yes. I will organise for you to return tomorrow night," my father responds. At least that will give me a chance to complete the required testing.

"Thank you for letting me know," I say before hanging up. Dammit, my work-life balance just got harder. Something tells me that I am going to have to choose between my royal duties and my motorsports career. Well, let me just say it is the perks of being the firstborn in a royal family. Unfortunately, I am stuck. There is nothing I can do about the family I was born into. Not that I care. Family is family. For some reason, Liam has decided to sit opposite me.

"Celeste, there is something I need to ask," Liam announces.

"Ask the question then," I retorted. I don't see why Liam needs to ask for permission unless he knows that I am a princess.

"Will our past affect us as teammates?" He asks. Hmm, that was not the kind of question that I was expecting.

"No. I want to use the fact that we are teammates to work on rebuilding our friendship," I give him my honest answer. He seems shocked at the nature of my answer. Sure he may have cost me the karting world championship but I am not the kind of person to hold grudges. If I did I would have given up my career ages ago. There were a lot of people that said a princess can't race. Well, look at me now. I have almost reached the top tier. Anyway, I have kickstarted the process of getting some of the drama sorted. I will get the rest sorted when I return home. Right now I need to focus on the testing.