Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

The alliance

Y/n went to the hotel alone. After that interview, she didn't want to talk with anybody, especially her father. She entered her room, put her backpack on the floor, and jumped into the bed with her face smashed into the pillows. She closed her eyes and fell asleep with her Red Bull uniform on. She stank so badly but was so tired that she didn't care. Y/n woke up four hours later, it was 4 in the morning, and jumped from the bed feeling rested. So she took a long shower and while she was drying her hair she thought about Carlos. She felt very guilty for the word she said so she wanted to fix this somehow.
She brushed her long hair and then opened her backpack looking for her phone. No missing calls, no messages. She thought about how some daughters should feel with caring and loving dads by their side, she will never know.

She unlocked her phone, wanting to apologize to Carlos by sending him a text, even if this wouldn't have been enough and she knew it. She opened their chat but suddenly she saw that he blocked her number. She gasped for a second, she didn't think he would have done something so extreme, but as soon as she thought about her words during the interview, it wasn't hard for her to justify his action. She felt her heart hurting, like she hadn't enough air in her lungs so she sat on the bed, the sun was almost rising and y/n felt like she had to cry. She was thinking of Carlos deciding to stop every connection with her, and she couldn't blame him. She was a complete mess, in life such as in her work life. It was overwhelming.

One week later, y/n took a flight from London to get to the Red Bull headquarters in Austria. She had to meet her father and Max to try to work everything out. She knew there would have been some reproach from her father, she was ready for some complaint about her job, or something like that. She arrived at the headquarters early that morning, not Max nor Christian arrived so she waited for them drinking a long espresso she took from the bar of the building. She was looking  at the Austrian landscape from the enormous glasses of the building, everything was quiet and calm, the grass was moving through the wind and the clouds seemed drawn by a painter. She felt very calm and closed her eyes for a second, thinking about how familiar that place has been to her. She has known that place since she was only nine years old, in 2005, when Christian Horner was hired by Red Bull company. She used to draw the Red Bull cars she saw in the exhibition room downstairs, sitting at her father's desk while he was still working with the engineers. She pretended to be the owner of the whole F1 racing and every time her mum came to pick her up, y/n talked to her about everything she saw there. Her mother smiled at her, telling her that her dreams would become true for sure.
It took only one year before her mother passed away because of cancer and since then, Christian focused only on his job, leaving y/n alone, just like now. Y/n would have wanted her mum by her side the day of her graduation, the day of her master's degree, and the day her father finally hired her for Red Bull company. She would have been very proud of her, not like Christian. It was in moments like this that Y/n missed her mum so much. She would have had the chance to talk to her just once, to tell her how far she has gone but how difficult it is since she had left her with him.
Y/n's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a male voice. She turned back, hiding her tears. It was Max. He was wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of jeans, somehow she thought he looked nice. He smiled and hugged her, so she could smell his perfume and, again, she thought it was very good.

"I'm sorry about last week" was the only thing y/n was able to say to Max. He smiled nicely at her.
"It's okay, we have to learn from this" Max drank the cafe that a secretary brought him and sat in an armchair in the resting room.
"yeah, but I feel like I'm not enough for this job and now my father wants to talk to me about this, I'm sure" y/n has never been so honest to someone, especially to somebody at work. As soon as she said those things, she felt exposed and vulnerable but at the same time, it was liberating. She looked away from Max, she felt like she said too much and her thoughts could have made Max feel uncomfortable but suddenly Max spoke.
"I'll defend you from your father, okay?" his voice was calm, like what she just said was a normal thing to say. Actually, it was, but y/n has never used to open up with people. "You messed up last weekend, I messed up this one. We're good teammates, don't you think?" He smiled at y/n, she smiled back. 

That peaceful moment ended soon, because Christian popped up from the meeting room. His eyes were icy and his smile was fake.
"Good morning guys. I've heard you chatting. We can start the meeting"
They entered the room and took a seat at the big oval table, Max and y/n were sitting while Christian was standing, looking at the sky from the windows.

"It's clear that y/n has to focus more on the races and she can't have any further distractions" his voice was still and authoritarian, like always. He turned looking at Max and y/n in silence.
"It's fine, Christian. It won't happen again, and I'm also talking about myself and the last race" Max's voice sounded very confident to y/n.
"It's not enough for her" Christian rised the tone of his voice, then he sat and opened his laptop "you can leave now, both of you". He started working and Max and y/n went out of the meeting room and moved to the exit of the building. They remained in silence for the whole way down, then they get near their cars.
"did you hear him? He makes me feel like I'm not enough for this job!" Finally, y/n blurt out. Max listened to her in silence, looking at her and nodding his head.
"Okay, listen to me. Tonight I'm gonna cook something for you so you won't think about him, okay?" y/n gasped for a second, she didn't expect this reaction. Today Max was different, but in a better way, y/n couldn't explain it to herself. He looked charming and nice, his blue eyes were more intense than usual and his hair looked golden. Y/n was stunned and confused at the same time, it couldn't be the same Max, he looked totally different and she kinda liked it.

She freeze for a moment after that question, she suddenly thought about Carlos and the fact that he blocked her. All of a sudden, Carlos' reaction seemed too much to her, like she didn't deserve it. After all, she just did her job.

"Okay, I'm in. Don't poison me" answered y/n, then she get in the car and without waiting for Max, she went to the hotel. She took a shower but she hadn't brought any elegant dress, then she thought it was just a dinner at Max's house so she wore a pair of jeans and an oversized shirt. 

Max opened his front door, smiling at y/n. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of grey gym shorts. "Damn it." She immediately thought.
"I figured out I'm very bad at cooking, hope you'll like it the same" he smiled and went back to the kitchen. She smiled and looked at him moving around the stove and the oven.
"Need help?" she said shyly.
"Oh no! Everything is under..." a spoon fell off the pan "...control." he took the spoon and smiled at her.

The dinner was nice but the most incredible thing for y/n was the conversation. They talked about everything and she was very surprised at how many things she had in common with Max. They laughed a lot and at the end of the night they ended up sitting on the couch. Max was sitting on the corner of it, with his left arm on the back and, with the other hand, he was touching y/n cheek. Y/n was lying on the couch, she was a bit tipsy, just like Max and her head was on Max's chest. The way Max was caressing her face was gentle and soft and she liked it a lot.

"You know that Carlos blocked my telephone number?" Y/n had no brakes and started laughing
"I think you should forget him. He doesn't deserve you" Max's voice was much more serious than Y/n and she noticed it, so she turned to look at him.
"You think so?" they were very close to each other.
"You... you know I'm here for you, y/n..." it was the only thing Max was able to say to her.