All the Way - an F1 story

25

18 August , 2021
📍Bergeggi, Italy

"Why is he like this?"

Calina looked up from her breakfast at her two friends, both of which were looking into the living room. Sophie looked concerned, and Elara was shaking her head, almost in disbelief. They had elected to eat their meal outside, seeing as the weather was flawless that morning, and with the beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea from the patio of their rental house, how could they refuse.

Calina turned around to see what they could possibly be looking at, not surprised at all when she did. Through the large doors, she could see Fiorenzo was lying in the living room, half his gangly body falling off the couch he was sleeping on. "He fell asleep there?"

"Oh, leave him be," Olivier sighed, rubbing any evidence of exhaustion from his eyes as he set his plate of eggs, fruit and toast down in the empty spot beside Sophie, followed by pressing a kiss to his girlfriend's cheek. "The guy won a gold. Let him enjoy himself!"

"He's hungover and sleeping very uncomfortably on the couch!" Elara exclaimed. She had arrived later, the previous night. Calina and Sophie, being the only sober ones, had been in the city and picked her up.

"We should wake him up."

"Leave him, El!"

"It's already 9:30! We're not gonna get to go on the boat at this point!"

"I'm waking him up," Calina said, already at the door before Olivier could tell her not to. When she entered the living room, thinking of an appropriate, considerate way to wake Fiorenzo. Wedged behind his back was one of the many plush pillows she recognized from one of the bedrooms.

She brought the pillow down on him, hitting him square on the side of the head, and he woke instantly.

"For fuck sake—o Dio, Calì. Ma che cazzo?" He groaned, launching it right back at her weakly.

"Alzati! E già le nove e mezza!"

"E? Lasciami stare, porca miseria."

"Mate, we want to go out on the boat. You're the only one that can drive it," Calina exclaimed, hitting him again with the pillow. "Dai, Fiore!"

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"Oh, you've gotta be kidding!" Elara was in complete shock, not believing a single word Sophie had just said. She flipped over onto her stomach, gazing up at Calina. "She's joking, right?"

"My God, l can't say shit, can I?"

"Ah, ah, ah! You were the exact same when Oli asked me out," Sophie said (which was only partly true), pulling a seltzer can out of the cooler. "And with Fiore and El. Now we can give you shit."

"An hour and a half? What the hell were you two doing for an hour and a half?"

"It wasn't an hour and a half! An hour, at most, maybe." Calina replied, leaning against the side of the steering console to steady herself against the swaying of the boat. The conditions that day couldn't have been more perfect to spend out on the water. The three girls decided to lounge on the deck for a bit, having just finished swimming, while the boys were still out somewhere. Fiorenzo 's uncle, the owner of the boat and the villa, had left them some scuba gear to use, and when the boys found out, there wasn't a single moment where they weren't in the water. Occasionally, Calina could see a cluster of air bubbles erupt at the surface, showing they weren't too far from the boat.

"No, no, it was an hour and a half, and by the time they got back—"

"We talked, that's it," Calina said, wanting to shut the topic down as soon as possible. "You're telling me you people cannot hold a conversation for an hour?"