Lights Out

End of Summer

Monday 23rd August.
Max nudged me in the ribs, making me jolt upright.
"I know it's early, Jessie, and we know you're jetlagged, but you cannot go to sleep."
"Sorry, Christian. Won't happen again." I gave him a thin-lipped smile before looking sheepishly to my left at my teammate, whose face mirrored mine in being drawn and sleepy. It was 8am. I was running on four hours of sleep.
What the fuck is wrong with you, Jessie. You should've been fine on no hours sleep if you hadn't gotten weak. Get a  fucking grip.
I zoned back into what Christian was saying.
"...and we're obviously going to want to push as hard as we can. Hamilton is still in the lead, but Max can overtake him easily if we all work together. That means that you, Jessie, have got to be consistent, and you've got to listen to team orders."
I nodded, looking away from his burning glare.
"We are going to win this season, and if we don't we're going to make sure that Mercedes struggle every step of the way. That being said, there are a lot of technical issues we need to iron out, which means you need to keep logging hours on the sim."
I zoned out again, thinking about Harry's parents. I was leaving to meet him there tonight after pulling a few strings, leaving tomorrow and getting a flight back to Monaco before heading straight off to Belgium. It was going to be a tight squeeze, but it was okay. Harry had reassured me that his parents didn't mind me not staying for long. They understood how busy I was. Harry was also leaving at the same time as me, but he was going straight to Belgium. He had to help set up. I was excited to start the second half of the season. I could get back into the car and feel the adrenaline I'd been missing, and I could see my grid friends again, and most importantly, KATIE WAS MY PR MANAGER! I would be seeing one of my best friends for at least four days almost every week.
"Jessie, you still with us?" Max whispered into my ear, once again jolting me back to the present.
"Yeah, thanks."

"Hang on, it's where?"
"You went up Barnfeld Road, aye?"
"Yeah."
"And then you turned left onto Towning Main Street?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, and then you made another left off that road to Yeoman's End, aye?"
"Yeah. You've gone more Scottish again."
"I know, I'm sorry, influence of being back home."
"Oh no, I don't mind it, it's hot."
"Focus, Jess," he chuckled. "Okay you want to carry on until you reach Cobbe Street, turn into there, and then follow the road up until you get to Lower Street, and then you follow that one until you see the gravel track on the right that leads to Allen House. Okay?"
"I've just turned into Cobbe Street, next it's Lower Street, and then I'm almost there."
"Aye."
"Aye," I mimicked, giggling.
"Cheeky."
"You love it."
"I do."
"Just turned onto Lower Street."
"Are you speeding?"
"Uhhhhhhhh, no? Who-, who do you think I am," I said, laughing awkwardly.
"Jessie don't speed down there, the Police will catch you."
"I don't see any-, SLOWING DOWN! FUCK! YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING HIDING THERE! My reaction time is on point, I tell you that. Fuck me that was close. Stop laughing at me. Harry, you're distracti-, why are you laughing so damn loud? You'd better not tell your parents about this."
"I-, I-, I told you not-, I told you not to speed down that road," he wheezed.
"Shut up. I'm turning onto the gravel track, I'll see you in a minute."
"O-, okay. See you."

The crunch of the gravel underneath my tyres was almost deafening, as well as the occasional clunk of a stone hitting the body of my NSX.
Fabulous.
I was just hoping that there weren't any dents. It wasn't as if I was speeding. I was going at a reasonable speed. It was fine. I could see the house growing nearer and nearer, and as I got closer, I could see four figures waiting outside. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to burst out of my chest, or at least get me hospitalised for another heart attack. It was similar to my first race weekend. Maybe it was because the last time I met the parents of a boyfriend, all they talked about was my heart problems and then that boyfriend tried to kill me. Who knows?
Dark humour saving the day again.
I pulled up onto the drive and parked up, the growl of my engine being silenced as I turned it off. I retrieved the keys, pocketed them, grabbed my phone, and turned to see Harry opening the door for me.
"Did you have a nice drive?" he spluttered, evidently having not gotten over my close call with the police and my subsequent reaction.
"Yes," I said through gritted teeth, giving him a glare as he closed the door.
"I'm glad," he replied, his face starting to screw up in an attempt not to laugh. "Anyway, I suppose I'd better introduce you."
We walked over to where his family were waiting, my body seeming so blatantly awkward I wanted to melt into the floor, until a dog bounded out of the open front door and straight towards me, it's front paws landing high on my stomach as it tried to lick my hands.
"Charlie! Down!"
"Hi, darling," I cooed, ignoring the multiple voices telling the dog to go away and dropping to one knee to ruffle the cocker spaniel's white and brown coat. My head tilted back when he went to lick my face, but he seemed to enjoy the attention anyway.
"Charlie, away. Go on!"
"I'm so sorry, Jessie," Harry's mum said to me in a thick Scottish accent after the dog retreated.
"That's okay."
"I'm Matilda. We've heard a lot about you," she chuckled, swooping me in for a hug which I returned even though it surprised me.
"Nice to meet you."
"Jessie," a gruff Scottish voice said before I was pulled into another embrace no later than when I'd been released from the first one. I was let go after a second.
"I'm Angus."
"Nice to meet you."
"Sorry about them," another voice said. "I'm Killian. I won't hug you, I'm sure you've had enough of that from my parents," he laughed, holding out a hand which I shook.
"You got here quicker than expected," Angus said, an almost questioning tone hinting in his voice.
"Yeah, cos she broke the speed limit," Harry retorted, breaking out into a laugh again.
I shot him a glare and he gave me a grin.
"I hope you didn't get caught by police," Killian started, "they have a soft spot for Lower Street."
"Yeah, she found out," Harry said, being sent into fits of giggles again.
"Honestly, so mature of you," Matilda remarked, rolling her eyes at her youngest son.
"Let's go back inside, it's getting a bit cold," Angus said, prompting me to follow the three of them through the dark wooden door with Harry by my side.
"Did you miss me?" he asked cheekily, kissing me quickly on the cheek.
"No."