Brute

5. Max

He couldn't believe his eyes, it was actually her. The encounter earlier was embarrassing to say the least, Max didn't think at all before blurting the words out. Clearly, she didn't like what he said, she pretended to be someone else.

Max was done with his media commitments and heading back, it's when he walked past the Ferrari hospitality centre he saw her again, wearing a big smile and talking to his rival at the moment. He wanted to apologise for what he said, but the timing didn't feel right at all.

He took two steps towards the pair but the minute they locked eyes, her face fell. He saw her say something to Charles and then abruptly leave, clearly somethings never changed.

She was always going to be the scornful girl she was, he hadn't ever seen her without a scowl on her face. He decided to go talk to Charles anyway, they did have history, they were fighting for the title but that didn't mean that they would be bitter towards each other.

"You were on it today!" Charles exclaimed.

"Thanks, but you took the win anyway." Max laughed. "So, who was that?"

"Oh you're going to act like you don't know Sulky Kalki." Charles rolled his eyes.

"Well, I meant what was she doing here?" He asked again.

"Someone is being very nosey today." Charles teased him, "She was telling me about how her mother could care less about Formula One but absolutely adores me."

"You're getting popular among women these days aren't you?"

"I'm not complaining." Charles shrugged.

"Alright, good talk. See you next weekend eat dirt." Max gave him a pat on the back before sprinting off into the distance.

He spotted Evi waiting for him in the garage, she pulled him in for a big hug and let him go only when he said he felt like his ribs hurt. They talked for a while about the race and then she asked him a question.

"Who is Kalki?"

"Someone I used to know, someone I used to compete with and couldn't stand at all." He scoffed.

"And what about now?"

"She's still just as cruel and unpleasant as she used to be."

"You shouldn't make snap judgments about someone." She pointed out.

"Yeah but I can tell, in my bones. That she hasn't changed at all."

"I don't want to fight with you over this." She rolled her eyes. She diverted her attention to gathering her things and saying goodbye to the mechanics and other staff that made this experience pleasant.

"Are you mad?" He asked trying to give her a hug.

"No I'm not." She said visibly annoyed.

"You definitely seem angry, what happened?"

"The way you talk about her. Why do you have to be so disrespectful? I don't like it."

"Fine. I'll be respectful towards that monster." He beamed.

Evi shook her head and let it go, he had already made his mind and there was no changing it. He was probably beating himself up in his head for not winning, the last thing she felt like she needed to do was add more unwanted stress on him.

"I don't feel like partying today." He finally spoke up. The drive to the hotel so far had been eerily quiet.

"I could tell. What do you want to do instead?" She asked.

"Dinner and a long drive." He answered in a flash.

"Good call!" She beamed.

They spent their evening in the laid back way Max wanted to, they had dinner at a small eatery and then drove through the streets with no final destination. There was a lot of questions she wanted to ask him, she wanted to know what was going on in his head.

But sadly he had his walls very up high, he didn't like letting his guard down. Initially she felt insulted that he didn't trust her, but they soon realised it wasn't a trust thing he was just raised that way- discomfort around emotions whether they were positive or negative.

She couldn't do anything so she sat their, next to him hand on his hand and staring at the road ahead. Occasionally catching a glimpse of each other, she could see the expression on his face. He wasn't saying anything, but it didn't mean his mind was quiet. He was probably thinking a million things at once but was definitely not going to talk about them.

He looked at her, he knew she was dying to know what was going on his head. Well, the truth was he didn't know either. This day had made him upset but he didn't know what made him more upset- being so close to the win yet so far or seeing Kalki again. Maybe it was both of them at once.

Either way, a very strange feeling rose inside him. It was like a ghost of the past, this mix of anger and sadness hadn't been dealt with in years and it hadn't chosen the worst time to resurface. He made mental notes of it, wanting to analyse why he felt it and where it came from.

He didn't realise how long it had been, it was when he got a call from his manager he realised they had been gone for hours.

"Yeah we're on our way." He answered.

"Boy you better be responsible! You're taking advantage of the fact I can't travel with you all the time." He scolded Max.

"It was a one time thing." He chided.

"Ah. I see. Take your time to cool down Max, I'll take care of the media business." His manager ended the call.

"You manage to get your way anyway don't you?" Evi laughed.

"I'm just honest. So I get my way." He shrugged.

She part her lips to say something bust almost instantly stopped herself, he knew what she was going to say and he was glad she stopped herself. Because he really didn't have an answer to why he couldn't be honest with her.