Brute

38. Kalki

Just three more weekends. Kalki took a deep breath, she reminded herself she only had three more weekends of being around Max before she could return home and not be around him. She was counting days until it was winter break, he would have to spend time at the factory and she could go to the office and not see him on a daily basis for her work week.

What Kalki found funny was how well people thought they worked together, no delays, no fuss and no hitches of any sort. Despite not being able to tolerate each other, they managed to get work done. He had reluctantly given into her idea of sharing more about his life on his social media accounts, his feed was going to be more than sponsored posts and professionally shot photos.

"You've got to talk to Mister Verstappen." Kalki told Raymond on the phone, "he gets drunk, somehow causes trouble and then comes to hide in my hotel room."

"That's really unlike him. He gets loud drunk but owns up to his stupidity, anyway he shouldn't be getting blackout drunk every weekend! I'll have a chat with him don't you worry." He reassured her.

"Once it's alright, but twice? That's crossing the line." She shook her head.

"It seems like both of you are back to square one."

"What?"

"I thought both of you were starting to get along."

Truth be told, they were starting to appreciate each other's company but both of them were to stubborn to admit that to the other. So the best thing to do was put up a front of disliking each other. Kalki thought about it for a second and shook her head.

"I don't even know at this point, I'll talk to you once we make it to Austin." Kalki said.

"Alright, have a safe flight you two!"

"Thanks! Bye bye!" She ended the call.

Kalki gathered all her luggage and had a final look around the hotel room to make sure she hadn't missed packing anything. Max was sitting in the lobby with shades on his face, he was definitely hiding his bloodshot hungover eyes, that made her chuckle.

"Morning." He greeted her.

"Good morning." She responded.

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you once we're in a more private setting." Max said, standing up to leave for the car that was waiting for them.

"I need to ask you something too." Kalki said.

"What's on your mind? You go first then." He answered opening the door for her.

"It's not much, we'll talk about after what you've got to say." She said, taking a seat. "Thanks for getting the door."

"It's nothing." He shrugged getting into the car.

"What are we discussing?" She asked him.

"This isn't a super private setting Burman." He scoffed.

"Fine." She sighed sitting back in the seat.

Max not being straightforward made her anxious. Her mind kept wandering back to what he had to say, she wanted to give him a piece of her mind but how could she possibly yell at him if he didn't even know where he went wrong, she wanted him to apologise. He wasn't one to accept his mistakes easily, maybe he wanted a private setting so he could apologise without feeling like that many people heard him.

The rest of the journey went by quietly, they boarded the plane and were off to Austin. Kalki sent a text on her family group chat letting them all know she was on her way to the USA, almost instantly her dad had already sent her a list of things to do and see in the city. He knew she worked hard, but she needed to learn to appreciate the places she was visiting. She smiled at his sweet gesture and thanked him for the recommendations.

"If you're not too busy let's start." Max said, settling down opposite to her.

"Sure." She put her phone away.

"First of all, thank you so much for tolerating me despite our past. You've handled things quite maturely despite of how much of a tough time I gave you."

"Are you firing me?"

"No! Will you let me finish?"

"Sorry. You started with the thanks for your hard work phrase, it's usually followed by come collect your pink slip. Flashbacks. My bad." She apologised.

"Can we be friendly towards each other? We don't have to be friends. Can we just not be hostile to each other?" He asked.

"I'm the only one whose trying Max. This is not how it works." She shook her head, "do you know how much I've tried to just be cordial to you but you just don't seem to like me. What did I ever do to you?"

"You called me Max." He smiled.

"I did? Sorry slip of tongue-"

"It's nothing to apologise for. That. That's all I want, you can call me Max, I'd like for you to call me Max. In the paddock there's very blurry lines between friends and rivals. When you call me Max it reminds me that you're on my team. You're not against me." He looked at her.

When did his face get so mellow? She thought to herself, his eyes always had a certain coldness to them, they added to his intimidating aura. That aura didn't seem to exist today, it didn't exist right now.

"I'm not against you. I hope you're hearing this right now. I am not your enemy. I'm on your team. Please remember that before you do dumb things."

"I realise how childish and stupid it was of me. I don't hate you, I have unresolved issues. I have no right to take them out on you. I'm sorry for everything you've had to put up with." Max addressed her.

"Thanks for apologising. You don't have some vendetta against me? You promise right?"

"I promise! It was childish of me to hold a grudge against you."

"I'm sorry for that too. I shouldn't have behaved like running into you was the end of the world."

"I'm glad we could talk." He smiled, "if I'm not wrong, you wanted to ask something..."

"...Right." Kalki paused, "I'm afraid it's going to undo everything you accomplished with this civil conversation."

"Now that we've agreed to not hold grudges I don't think it should matter." He said thoughtfully.

"What was yesterday about? I thought we had agreed to stay out of each other's business."

"I was a drunk mess can you tell me what happened?" He scratched his head.

"Have your heart broken then! Cry over some guy who just wanted to use your body and lose your mind over the fact you'll see his face for the rest of your career. That's a very pathetic life." She mimicked his words from last night.

Kalki watched him visibly get uncomfortable, maybe bits and pieces were coming back to his mind. He looked flustered and embarrassed, but at the same time he looked like he was trying to think of something smart to say.

"I didn't mean any of it. Apologies for the ramblings." He said looking visibly red.

"You're lucky I don't take words to heart. Words hurt, don't you ever say such harsh words to anyone ever." She glared at him.

"I swear I won't." He raised his arms as if he was surrendering. "But come on Burman! You can do better than Lando." He rolled his eyes.

"What? He's sweet and respectful!"

"That's not even the whole thing." He sighed.

"You just want to talk smack about him don't you?"

"I'd never talk smack about my friend." He said coolly, "but we're doing a character analysis here."