Brute

43. Kalki

Max had practically spent the whole day by her side, not letting her do even small tasks by herself. If she needed her phone, he'll get it. If she needed to get work done on her laptop it could wait. An urgent email? He wasn't illiterate he could write a basic response, she just had to tell him what she wanted it to say.

At first Kalki found it annoying, but now she realised she had herself a bellboy. She made him run up and down the place gathering snacks and things she didn't even need. At some point he caught on but he didn't complain, fair compensation for calling her hair greasy she thought.

"What about you give yourself a break from eating and actually sleep? You know not sleep deprive yourself further?" Max said.

"You can just say you're tired." She said, pushing the thick blanket off of her, "I'm fine really, thanks for taking care of me." She said gingerly standing up.

"What do you need?" Max instantly got out of the chair to hold her hand, just in case. "Sit down I'll get it for you."

"I need to pee." She said.

"Oh." He looked flustered, "I'll um..."

"Yeah it's alright." She laughed as he let go of her hand.

"I'm going to my room for a second, I need to grab something I'll be leaving your room's door open okay?" He said.

"It's alright! Please just go I feel awful for making you babysit me like this."

"Stop being so stubborn. It's okay to need help." He rolled his eyes.

"You do know that applies to you too right?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Why don't you go use the restroom?" He walked out of the hotel room.

Kalki didn't just need to pee, she wanted to clean up. She was still in her night clothes and it was pretty much evening by now. She washed her face and washed up, only to change into a nicer pair of pyjamas. She still felt exhausted, so she lied down in bed again, looking for something to watch.

Max was still not back, maybe he'd taken her word and gone for good. She felt a little bad that her errand boy had left her side, she would actually have to stand up to fetch a glass of water now. She checked her phone, she remembered she still had her parents and friends to call after yesterday's race.

They'd figure out just from her voice that she wasn't in the best of her health, so instead she chose to lie. To lie to all of them that things had gotten very busy and she was sorry she could only talk to Anika, she'd call them all as soon as she could. Just then her phone buzzed again, she had a text from Pierre.

Pierre: Are you okay? I ran into Max he told me you fainted!

You: I'm fine! I was just really tired 😶

Pierre: if you're free can I just come see you?

You: that's if you're not busy...

Pierre: nah I've got time to kill before we head to the airport.

You: aren't we all flying out tomorrow morning?

Pierre: yeah! So I'm free until then!

You: come over then😂

In a few minutes she heard knocks on her door that was already open, she knew who it was so asked him to come on in. Pierre first came in and gave her a bone crushing hug, relived to see she was alright and then plopped into bed beside her.

"What are you watching?"

"Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gamm." Kalki said, "It's probably the most iconic Bollywood movie ever."

"Really? Put on subtitles. I want to understand what's going on."

"Okay." She smiled.

Kalki was glad to see his enthusiasm, he asked her about the actors, about if what they were portraying in the movie was actually realistic or not. He was invested very much.

"We're here and we have food!" Kalki heard a feminine voice announce. She peered to see who was at the door that was wide open, it was Max and his mother.

"You didn't have to!" Kalki got out of the bed to help them in.

"How are you doing now?" Sophie asked Kalki.

"I'm much better."

"Tell me if Max is giving you a hard time I'll straighten him out." She said.

"Yes of course." Kalki laughed.

She noticed Max hadn't said a word, he was just glaring at Pierre who was sprawled out on the bed, and now very self aware of everyone's presence.

"Oh! I hope we didn't interrupt anything-"

"Nothing like that!" Pierre shook his head. "Kalki and I were just watching a movie."

"That sounds like fun! It's good to see you have friends in the paddock, it can get very isolating." Sophie said.

"I'm really glad to be able to reconnect with all of them." Kalki beamed.

"Let's eat before it gets cold." Max grumbled.

Everyone helped themselves to the salads and sandwiches, the atmosphere was generally fun, Kalki felt good and except for Max, who had a scowl plastered on his face. He was so mellow and kind the entire time, she couldn't believe how childish he was behaving just because Pierre was here.

After a good meal and conversation that had no contribution from Max, Pierre called it a day and was the first to leave. The more Kalki spoke to Sophie the more she missed her mother, she spoke kindly, had the most gentle smile on her face and called Kalki Dear multiple times.

"I've got to go pack my suitcases, I'll get going now." Sophie announced.

"Please let me hug you goodbye I feel so very homesick right now." Kalki said.

"Of course dear!" She hugged her, "we may have met because you're Max's manager but please drop the formalities with me, we're friends!" She beamed.

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Kalki bade farewell.

Now it was once again just her and Max, the air in the room felt thick. He wasn't speaking, he didn't seem interested for he was on his phone but his jaw was twitching from the tension he'd clamped it shut with.

"If you've got something to say just say it." Kalki sighed plopping back into bed.

"I was the one who found you unconscious. I was the one who looked after you for hours. I was the one whose been doing every little errand for you. I tied your hair-"

"You called it stinky and greasy but moving on."

"I didn't call it stinky!" He frowned, "you're distracting me from what the point of this conversation was."

"You did everything for me today..."

"And you're still not comfortable around me?"

"I'm honestly very thankful for everything you did today, I don't know how things would have been if you didn't find me. I'm really grateful-"

"You're not answering my question." He said.

"It's weird okay? When I'm talking care of business for you it's professional but when it's things like this I don't know how to behave."

"Like I'm an old acquaintance... just like how you are with Pierre."

"I'm seriously very thankful to you but I don't know how to say this to you in a kind way."

"You don't have to be kind to me. You've never been."

"You will never be what Pierre is to me." She sighed.

Max took a deep breathe, he mumbled something about having to pick up laundry and needing to pack his suitcases and left the room. Kalki wasn't a fool, he was hurt. She knew that. But when it came to explaining what she exactly meant, she was a coward.