beyond the grid - max verstappen

prologue

honestly, rebecca was a bit torn about this change of careers.

not because she wasn't excited about her new position. she was. it was all that she could think about for the past month. and not because of the obvious difficulties of another person's life. she was well accustomed to over scheduled work weeks, managing people with poor attitudes, spending hours making them seem polite and admirable in the media. a sense of validation came from devoting to others, attempting to help out where she could, even if it was underappreciated.

she was well aware of how draining the job could be, and yet that was never a worry to her. maybe it was, a little bit, when she would find herself sat in the car unable to work up the motivation to go into her apartment. there was something that held her back, that was until the rent of both; her new apartment in monaco and her apartment in London were taken out of her account. she needed to move out, and with the lack of furniture in her London apartment it needed to be this week. her bestfriend had either sold or shipped all of the furniture out of the London apartment leaving only a lounge and a blow-up mattress.

bella pulled her from her thoughts, "why is it that you don't want to leave this place, when you've obviously been planning this for so long"

rebecca quickly turned to face bella, making the air mattress slightly sink in the middle. they had been laying in the middle of the empty bedroom for hours.

"what.. what if it doesn't work out" it came out not louder than a whisper. she turned back to face the ceiling not wanting to see her best friend's reaction as she spoke about what had been clouding her thoughts.

"then it doesn't work out" bella sat up crossing her legs, getting a better look at her friend. her eyes flicked over the bare walls that were recently littered with photos and artworks. most of them half finished. she reached over and grabbed one of the pillows from the top of the bed placing it in her lap. she watched her friends' eyes flicker over the ceiling, as if there was an intricate painting covering it. but there wasn't even a speck of dirt on the white ceiling. Rebecca couldn't help but let her mind drift to the people she wanted support from the most; her parents

"fuck, you're a dickhead" rebecca groaned as bella hit her with a pillow. she quickly grabbed her own pillow hitting bella across the head. ah, the joys of living with your bestfriend.

"you need to watch that mouth now that you're going to be in the media more"

"ok mum"

"don't mum me. you need to quit smoking too" becky raised an eyebrow at her friend, starting to feel annoyed. she sighed getting up from the mattress and walking towards the door.

"just add that to my ever-growing list of things to do" she huffed exiting the room, heading straight for the small balcony attached to their living room. she sat on the small window ledge pulling her legs against her chest, resting her chin on them. the sound of the door drew becky from her thoughts, she gave a small smile, as bella came out onto the balcony ash tray in hand.

bella sat to her right, mirroring her position. she lit the cigarette holding it off to the left, attempting to keep the smoke away from bella. becky had taken up smoking when she was a teen, and claimed she 'quit' only smoking when she was stressed or drunk. but this was most of the time. she always had a pack and a lighter on her 'just in case'. her job was demanding and often the people she worked for were overbearing, leaving her to have multiple smoke breaks throughout the day.

"you have to tell me where you hide them, now that were leaving." her best friend would often sneak into her room and steal her deck, throwing it away when she left the apartment. but there was always a backup deck hidden somewhere.

"just take a guess" becky let out a small laugh, the smoke coming out in puffs

"your bedside table?"

"I didn't hide those ones" bella rolled her eyes

"at the back of the bookshelf?"

"I left those ones there for you" becky let out a little laugh "I knew you'd go looking and I left them so you'd think it was my spot" she looked over at bella with a small smirk plastered on her face. she was met with a glare, her friend obviously not impressed. she rolled her eyes "okay fine! one of the floorboards in my room lifts up"

"okay as impressed as I am that you found that. im still annoyed at you" bella's eyes narrowed. although she appeared to be making light of the situation becky knew she was being serious.

"ill quit when we get to monaco" she huffed turning back to face the streets below, taking in the cold London weather. it was only a week left before the two moved to Monaco, renting an apartment larger than the one they were currently in. it definetly left a bigger hole in becky's bank account too.

bella nudged her shoulder bringing, making her turn back to face the brunette next to her. she had a fringe that obviously hadn't been cut in a while, just obstructing her eyesight. her schedule was full, moving around projects to be able to work more with clients based in Monaco. bella had graduated as an architect from a university in Australia, she quickly moved into beckys London apartment and got a job at an international architecture firm.

"his name" bella said again

"wait, what?" becky raised

"you never told me the kid's name" becky shook her head still not understanding what bella was saying. "the kid. your pr job"

"oh right" she took a long drag of her cigarette, squishing it in the ash tray. "its lando" she said letting the smoke escape her mouth as she spoke. 

1030 words