Brute

24. Kalki

Two weeks of radio silence. At first it felt like bliss, she could spend time with her family, Razia and May. For the first few days it was fun, Kalki could go on planning and cramming as many events as she wanted in his day without him complaining that the schedule was unrealistic.

But then it got scary, eerily quiet. Raymond couldn't say much because he wasn't in contact with him either, only Max knew what he was up to. Kalki would have her answers in 8 hours, when she would finally see him.

She spent a good portion of her flight thinking about what she could possibly say to Max after he revealed so much about himself, it was a raw moment of vulnerability she wasn't expecting from him at all. Clearly he was going through a lot, all by himself in his mind. Kalki drew up possible ways he could cope with those emotions, she wanted to discuss them with him.

Kalki got off the flight feeling tired and sore all over, she was certain that she was going to sleep on the connecting flight. For that she had to first spot Max in the lounge. A hostess was already waiting to lead her to the charter flight lounge, a luxury she knew would have never been accessible to her without this job.

People in this part of the terminal didn't look exhausted, they looked relaxed, comfortable and their fine clothes didn't have creases. She felt conscious, looking at her sweatshirt and sweatpants that were all wrinkled from the long haul. Kalki tried to find Max but she couldn't find him. Who she did spot, was his father, Jos. Peacefully sitting by the giant glass windows, watching aircrafts being prepared for their passengers.

He looked in her direction, uncertain why she was staring at him. All she could do was politely smile and look away, pretend like she was waiting for someone. The five minutes she'd spent by the lounge's food station felt like forever, Max had finally come sit down opposite to his dad.

"Hope you had a good flight Burman." Max turned in her direction. "Come relax."

"It was fine. Good evening sir." She forced another smile on her face looking at Jos. "How was your flight?"

"Decent, flying charter is much better though." He bragged, she could see the embarrassment on Max's face in the corner of her eyes. He was clearly not enjoying this. "Max never properly introduced us..."

"I'm Kalki Burman. Working with Raymond to make sure Mister Verstappen's brand and image stay excellent."

"Kalki..." he looked at her deep in thought as if he was trying to recall something. "Sounds familiar."

There was no way she was going to bring up her karting career when Max had just spoken about how scarred it had left him, she wanted to talk to him about how he'd been doing since Hasselt. But there just wasn't a way to address the elephant in the room without causing a issues.

It's like the Gods were in her favour, a host came to lead them to their jet. They boarded the plane, Kalki immediately sank into one of the seats. She was more than glad to drift asleep. Max sat opposite his father by one of the windows, the two of them were discussing something Kalki couldn't quite hear and didn't want to either, she just wanted some shut eye.

A few moments after take off she felt gentle taps on her shoulder, waking her up again. Max was hovering over her.

"What's the matter?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"Nothing. You seem exhausted, why don't you get some proper sleep on the sofa bed back there?"

"I'm fine here." She shrugged.

"Okay then at least recline the seat all the way and lay down."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not complaining. Thanks for offering the sofa." She said, leaving her seat.

The sofa bed was ready to have someone come rest on it, the fluffy pillows and soft blanket were calling her name. In no time, she had fallen fast asleep. She requested not to be woken up for dinner, she was enjoying how lush her bed for the next few hours was.

Kalki woke up to knocks on the door, she peeked at her phone. Damn. She'd been out cold for six hours, "give me a second." She said, gathering her hair in a hair tie and just cleaning up her appearance a little.

She was greeted by an air hostess who was here with a tray of food; a big bowl of cut fruits and a tall glass of water. She insisted Kalki eat something, she gave in and accepted the tray with a smile. After eating to her fill she decided to check on what the Verstappens were up to.

His father was still asleep, Max was staring at the clouds outside the window, admiring the orange hue the sky had taken because the sun was rising. "Morning." She greeted him.

"Morning. How are you feeling now?" He asked.

"Much better, I feel rested. How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby." He continued looking outside.

There was no way she could just casually say 'hey let's unpack your trauma and talk about it while the culprit sleeps with a smile on his face'. Besides Max looked deep in thought, maybe it was a good time to ask him if he had discussed the social media thing with Evi.

"Sorry to be nosey, but did you discuss the social media thing?" She spoke up.

"What?"

"I had asked you if you'd be more comfortable sharing about your life off track provided Evi was-"

"Her input won't be necessary, I'll let you know soon."

"Oh. Maybe I should tell Raymond you're not discussing everything with Evi." She chuckled.

"We broke up." He glared at her, she noticed the little twitch in his jaw.

"Oh. Gosh. I'm so sorry." Kalki covered her mouth as if she was trying to take back what had just escaped her mouth. "Every time I open my mouth I keep making things worse. I'll send you your schedule for the week, have it printed and up in your rooms. You don't have to talk to me I do a great job at being invisible."

"That's not necessary." A small smile tugged onto his lips for a second. "I just hope it's not too hectic."

"How about we save the anger for when your dad is not around."

"Burman will I get at least eight hours of sleep in the next five days?"

"If you're clever, yes. And also since Evi isn't here you don't have to stay for long at galas. In fact you can drop as many of them-"

"Wouldn't want to upset sponsors I'll be at all of them, see you at each one of them too dear manager."

This was a direct command, almost like payback for saying so many awkward things to him in one sitting. As much as she wanted to berate him right now for talking to her in that tone, she knew she'd just have to nod and say yes this weekend.