Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

The red hat

Y/n returned to the Ferrari box and saw Carlos leaving his car. She looked at him from apart while he was taking his helmet off. He was very concentrated on talking to his track engineer, his trainer, Rupert and Caco, his cousin, but he turned his head and saw her. He stopped talking for a second and smiled at her while all his crew understood everything since Caco and Rupert laughed and waved at her. Stupid Carlos. She smiled back and waved at the guys, wanting to disappear. She waited for the quali to finish, watching them from Charles's box since she didn't want to stay too close to Carlos's one. The mechanics were very loud and screamed the whole time, making a lot of gestures, it was kinda funny to her but she could feel a nice atmosphere, like they were a family, a big red family, cheering for their champions. They were professional, of course, but somehow she felt like there was much more passion than in the Red Bull zone. Maybe it was Christian's fault, but there the atmosphere was much more tense and cold, like her father, after all. Charles got the pole and Carlos was second, followed by Max. Charles's mechanics were super happy with his pole and one of them hugged y/n. She laughed and hugged him back. They were a family for real.

When Charles returned to his box, he smiled looking at y/n and she smiled back.
"Congratulations" said y/n while Charles was wiping his sweat away with a white towel.
"Thank you, y/n. But we have to win tomorrow." He smiled at her while his track engineer got closer to him. "Now I have to go, see you tomorrow?" he asked already walking away from her, but still looking back at y/n.
"I don't know, I think so" He winked at her and went away.

She looked around a bit embarrassed, she was alone with all those people working and shouting around her. Everything was the same as Red Bull, but at the same time totally different, she felt a bit lost.

"You okay?" asked a deep voice from behind. She turned around and it was Carlos touching her shoulder. She nodded her head and smiled, her heart was beating very fast. "You enjoyed the Ferrari paddock?" She stayed still while Carlos got closer to her, standing by her right side with his arms crossed, looking away from her, like they were two strangers.
"Oh your mechanics are lovely" she smiled a bit while from afar she saw Mattia Binotto, the Ferrari Team Principal, coming towards them. Immediately Carlos moved to got closer to salute him.

"Congratulations, Carlos! Great job" he was a tall man, with curly air, a pair of black circled glasses and a strong Italian accent. 
"Thank you Mattia, let me introduce you y/n Horner" He took her by surprise and she gasped while Mattia shook her hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Binotto" said y/n looking at him.
 "I'm very happy to have you here, y/n" his Italian accent was stronger with every sentence he said.
"It's an honor for me to be here". She was feeling a bit of pressure talking with Binotto, in fact, her hands were sweating a bit.
"You did a very good job in Red Bull this year, isn't it?" he asked looking at Carlos who nodded his head
"She is a great strategist, we all saw the results" Carlos looked at y/n like a proud boyfriend, but he had to be more careful, so y/n looked at Mattia.
"Thank you, sir. I love my job and I really miss it" In her words, everybody could feel the disappointment, the pain and the anger for herself she was hiding.
"You can join us if you want. Oh and call me Mattia!" his voice sounded very sweet and happy, totally different from her father's one.
"I don't know what to say..." she looked at Carlos. His eyes were glowing and he was slightly nodding his head, hoping she would have said yes.
"Think about it. Tomorrow you can watch the race from here and later we can talk and decide everything" said Mattia, smiling. She couldn't believe this was really happening to her.
Mattia went away, leaving y/n and Carlos alone. They looked at each other wanting to hug so badly, but they didn't. He got  closer to her ear and whispered
"I can't wait to see you dressing red, niña" He took his hat off and put it on her head. "Red suits you much better than blue" She looked at him blushing, while a mechanic called his attention, then he left. 

She went to the hospitality to got a glass of water. She felt like a lot of things were happening all of a sudden and she didn't know how to react. On one hand, it was such a great experience working on Ferrari, on the other, it was like a betrayal on her father, somehow. Yeah, she had to talk with him and rescinding the contract. Moreover, she had to face all the consequences of leaving the team on such short notice. This idea terrified her.

Anyway, she has never worked for other teams except for Alpha Tauri for a year before working for Red Bull and for her father. Was it a good idea to change everything in her life? After all, everything had already changed and in Ferrari she was feeling way more comfortable, even if she hadn't worked there yet. She hated changes, she hated it with all her heart and that kind of change was very huge to her, like she couldn't manage it. Her mother would have known what she had to do, for sure. She went down the pit lane, looking at the sky, it was cloudy and rain was about to come down. The perfect weather to feel the presence of her mum by her side.

Suddenly it started sprinkling and she went out, put Carlos' hat off to feel the rain on her face, it was like her mum answered all her questions and suddenly she felt strong enough to got into this new adventure. She put the hat back on her head and when she looked at the Red Bull box, she saw Christian looking straight at her. Her heart was beating fast while her father was walking towards her.
"What are you doing here?" he looked at her hat "what's that hat?" he immediately looked away from her, like he didn't want to see her daughter wearing his enemy's colors.
"I watched the quali from here" she knew what he wanted.
"Why? Dear Lord..." he looked away
"Actually, they offered me a job and I want to accept it" she tried to act as much confident as possible. While she said that, she could feel all her pride, word after word.
"Congrats then. Hope you'll do a better job for them. After the race the team lawyer will give you all the papers needed for the end of your job here" his gaze was like a sword on her.

"Alright, y/n. We need to go now" y/n turned around and saw Carlos standing at her back, holding a red umbrella. He looked at Christian for a couple of seconds, then Christian left.
"You ok? You're all wet." Asked Carlos to y/n. She totally forgot it was raining and her clothes were all drenched.

They went away from the pit wall and entered the hospitality while a girl offered y/n a towel to dry herself out. He looked around and nobody was there anymore. Most of people were waiting for the drivers to got out of the circuit.
"Wait here and in five minutes you have to go to the second entrance of the paddock, it's less crowded. Rupert will rescue you and you'll got to the hotel. I'll be already there, okay?" She nodded her head trying to dry her hair. She followed his instructions and she was inside Rupert's car with no paparazzi or fans around them. As soon as she got inside the car, she introduced herself to him "we have never been introduced" he said laughing "but I saw you on a beach in Miami once" they both laughed.
"I can't wait to have a long shower. Today has been a long day" she put the seatbelt on so the sound of the car stopped.
"Carlos told me you're joining Ferrari, isn't it?" he was driving fast, it was like a trademark there.
 "Yes I am. Actually I'm a bit nervous" she was looking at the highway outside the car.
"It's normal, but you're a great professionist. Tomorrow it will be a good day".

They arrived at the parking lot of the hotel and she saw Carlos' Ferrari already there, as planned. They both got their door key from the reception and got to their own room.
"See you tomorrow, y/n. If you need something, I'm here, okay?" she smiled and Rupert entered his room. The door of the elevator closed and she reached her floor and entered the room. She immediately got into the shower, hoping to not be sick tomorrow. She didn't want to disturb Carlos the day before the race, so she didn't text him and she was about to order something for dinner when somebody knocked on her door. She got up from the bed and opened the door, it was Carlos wearing a white shirt, a blue hoodie with the hood on and a pair of grey gym pants.
 
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay before going to bed" he was leaning his right arm on the border of the door, looking confident, as always.
"Yes, I am. Just a bit nervous" she decided not to show all her feelings, all her fears to him. He had to be concentrated for tomorrow, he didn't need drama.
"I know you aren't telling me everything. I respect it, but you know I'm here" she nodded her head and smiled. He looked at her, waiting for her to start talking but she didn't. He knew she was too reserved but he really wanted to help her. Carlos looked at her and held her chin then he got lower and kissed her lips softly.
"Did you eat?" asked Carlos, ha sounded very caring towards her.
"I was about to order something". She could feel his preoccupation for her.
"Great, me too." he wasn't worried anymore, especially when he's talking about food.
"Do you want to eat here?" she asked pointing to the bed. He nodded his head and after a bit they got the food in her room. Carlos took the food from the waiter outside the room and then he sat on the floor waiting for her to join. She smiled at him and sat next to him, leaning their backs on the border of the bed. They talked about the quali and laughed about Mattia's Italian accent.

It was almost midnight so Carlos got up and helped y/n to do the same. She bumped into Carlos and he caught her, holding her wrists tight. They looked at each other and he kissed her on her cheek.
"I can't wait to work together" he said kissing her again. He went to the door and opened it, then he looked at her. "Good night, niña" he kissed her.
"Good night, Chili" she smiled holding the door handle. He went away and she went straight to bed, the next day it would have been be a strange day for her.