All The Best Parts

two.

Five Months Later
(January 2021)

ANDIE WAS MAD.

Sebastian Vettel left Ferrari for Aston Martin at the end of the 2020 season. Changes were normal in Formula One, she knew that, but what made her angry was how the Italian team handled the whole affair.

Andie was incredibly loyal to her friend. If she could find an exit clause in her contract with the team, she would've left already. However Seb negotiated her contract very well, so there wasn't an early release clause she could activate. She decided to get on with it. Begrudgingly.

"Miss Lauda. Welcome back to Maranello." Mattia Binotto said, grinning.

Andie curtly nodded her head at him. Speaking to the Ferrari boss wouldn't be the best idea at the moment. She was greatly annoyed by the smile on his face even after he unceremoniously and publicly humiliated Seb.

"Andie," Charles approached her with a tight smile on his face. "Welcome!"

"Charles, how are you?"

"How are you?" He returned the question to her after he kissed her cheeks.

"Angry." She said briefly and unabashedly. Andie did not mind that Binotto stood beside Charles.

"I can bring her to her office, Mattia." Charles said to the Team Principal who nodded his head in reply. The Austrian was still pissed; Binotto didn't want to get the brunt of her rage.

"I get an office?"

"Is that going to cool your head?"

Andie tilted her head to the side. "No," she said. "Of course it isn't."

Charles laughed. He stepped to the side, gestured for her to walk inside.

"Laurent told me he sent you some files about next season's car." He said. They were greeted by Ferrari employees as they passed by. Andie felt their eyes lingered on her.

"Yes. I don't believe anything on paper. I'd like to see it for myself." Andie answered, her tone stern and transactional. It wasn't her usual demeanor: she was always seen smiling and sweet to everyone.

Charles understood why she had been frowning since she arrived in Maranello. She had publicly expressed her disappointment of what she called a 'poor judgement' on Ferrari's part.

"Isn't Mercedes a bit angry that you're working here when you hold your grandfather's shares in their team?"

"I signed two NDAs when I accepted this job. One for Ferrari, one for Mercedes. Toto didn't really mind but I insisted."

"You know, you should meet Carlos while you're here."

"I'll meet him during the simulations."

Charles sighed. "You shouldn't blame him for Seb."

"I'm not," she said, her accent harder than normal.

"C'mon, Andie. We've known each other for so long. You don't have to lie to me."

Andie let out a breath. The hardest thing about lying was always when you lie to a friend. She was introduced to the Ferrari driver by happenstance. Charles was competing in F2 when Nicolas Todt saw her in the crowd as the camera panned to where she and her husband were sitting and went to them in between the sessions with passes to the paddock.

"Carlos is in the factory. Should we take a detour?"

Looking at the younger gent, there was no sign that he would let it go peacefully. She said, "Fine. Only because you insist."