Take on the world

Chapter 1- Where it all began

Cassie walked into the factory with Christian, she had her brunette locks tucked under her hood before she took her coat off and she saw the setting sun, it was the only time, she was allowed out once the sky had gone dark, "I wish I could feel the sunlight on my skin, but I know it's impossible." She spoke to the man who had adopted her, after her own father had left, leaving Geri to raise her by herself.

Christian smiled sadly as he kissed her head, before he left to his office, letting Cassie wander around the factory, she soon found herself on the ground, before she heard a Dutch accent and a voice, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." The mystery person spoke as they helped Cassie up, she recognised him as Max Verstappen, her dads latest signing to red bull.

"It's alright, I'm Cassie." She spoke holding her hand out as Max shook it, "I'm Max, do you work here?" he asked as she quickly shook her head, "No, no, I don't work here, but my dad does, my dad's Christian, I just got back from my year abroad, and so, he wanted to show me the factory." She explained as Max nodded his head. She had perfected the art of lying, it was a story, that her and her parents had come up with, to stop any rumours flying, she had avoided being seen in public except for rare occasions, but lately her condition had gotten worse, and the doctors had found a tumour on her brain, she had started chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, but she was slowly losing her hair and energy, which she hated, she wanted to be doing things, not being stuck in bed because she felt too sick to do anything.

She smiled before she said goodbye and left the Dutchman in a daze as he watched her go, watching as she pulled her hood over her head, hiding her brunette locks which cascaded down her shoulders in ringlets, he wondered why she was wearing, leggings, and a thick hoodie during summer, it was still quite warm, but he supposed she must still be adjusting to the climate change from wherever she had been. Max noticed that she was quite pale, which was unusual, unless she struggled to tan, which some people did. Running into Christian's office, she saw the sky changing colours, "Dad, we have to go, we promised mum we wouldn't be too long." She spoke watching him nod, before the pair ran out, passing Max and Daniel Ricciardo who were looking after them confused, it was only a bit of sun, but they just thought that her mum had told her to not let Christian overwork himself, which he usually did.

They had safely made it home, Cassie heading up to her room, which had windows, which allowed her to see the outside world, but stopped the sunlight getting in, this was her only access to the outside world during the day, and she changed into her usual pyjama pants and long sleeved t-shirt as she threw her hair up into a bun, she had started treatment, but she wasn't losing her hair yet, which she was thankful for, she remembered Jade Goody and how the papers had just pitied her, rather than praise her, for showing strength in a frightening time.

Max was still wondering why she had left so urgently, and why she wore thick clothing and sunglasses inside, but he didn't have time to ponder on it, as he had to do his sim training, make sure he had good times before he had to leave for Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.

A few hours had passed, and he wanted to know more, so when Christian walked into the building, Max was quick to walk over to him, "Is everything alright? You both just ran out like you had gotten bad news." Max spoke as Christian nodded his head, "Everything's fine, we promised Geri that we wouldn't stay too late, since she only got in late yesterday. Max, I'm telling you for your own good, don't dig, just leave it alone." The older man warned the Dutchman who nodded his head.

If Christian was warning him against finding out more, it meant that it was serious, and Christian was rarely ever this serious about something, so that meant it was serious, and Max was even more intrigued to know the girl.

The following night, it was the same again, Cassie would come with Christian and then they would leave, quicker than Max could blink. 'What are they hiding?' he thought to himself, but then he remembered the warning Christian had given him.

It was later during the day when Max, had found a bracelet with the letter 'C' on it, and he decided to return it, so later during the day, he turned up at Christian's home, Geri answered the door seeing Max as he smiled, "Hi Geri, I think that Cassie left her bracelet behind at the factory, I thought I should return it, I was also wondering if I could take her out tonight?" He asked as he saw Cassie in the background, Geri nodded as she moved to the kitchen where Christian, Olivia and Bluebell were.

Cassie smiled at Max, "Hey, thanks for bringing this back to me." She said as he placed the bracelet back on her wrist as they were now stood in the foyer, "But I would really like to go out with you tonight, just as long as we're back before the sun comes up." She said as he nodded his head, "We will, we'll be back way before the sun rises." He spoke as Cassie nodded her head. She knew that he didn't know the true reasoning behind her needing to be home before the sun came up, but he had noticed that she seemed to have a different hair colour each week, unaware that she was dying her hair as that was something on her bucket list.

"You had brunette hair when I first met you and now it's blue, indecisive?" He asked as she nodded her head, "Something like that." She spoke as she smiled at him, as they sat in the living room and talked.