Running From The Flames

Qualifiers

The air was thick with the fumes of high octane fuel and the smoke from burnt rubber tyres. The high keening of the engines reached deafening levels as the race cars left the pits and took to the track. Flags of all colours waved from the stands in support of the drivers from a dozen nations.

It was an absolute assault on the senses.

I couldn't believe it had been five years since I last submerged myself in the chaotic atmosphere, but there had been more important things to worry about and I had been to the off-track events now and again to keep in touch.

Fresh off from graduating with my degree, I was ready to take some time out and have a bit of fun before starting my next adventure. Though the job I had lined up wouldn't wait forever, they had given me the summer to enjoy. And enjoy it I would, I deserved it.

These weekends used to be what I lived for. Uncle Otmar would set me up with my own chair and headset along the pit wall of his team while my dad worked behind the scenes in the FIA. The team was my family and the paddock was a home away from home.

Sometimes I regretted leaving and going to college but I had been envious of the other young adults having a normal life. Then I realised that no matter how hard those years had been I was given the greatest gift that I wouldn't change for the world, she was worth the pain and suffering I endured.

I grinned at my daughter perched on my hip but she was too absorbed in the action around us to see. The tiny pair of earmuffs looked huge on her but the roar of the engines was too loud to go without the safety gear and I couldn't wait to reach the pits and get my own set.

"Bri!" Kelly called out as I was passing the door to Red Bull and I barely had time to greet her before she was pulling Adelaide from my arms. "Look how big you are getting, belíssimo," she cooed as Addie clapped excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"To be honest, I hadn't really planned on it," I answered as I gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her daughter Penelope. "Coming back though, I really missed this."

"Good, then you'll keep coming and I can get my smooches from this gorgeous wee girl. Yes, you'll be a Red Bull girl won't you?"

"Otmar won't get you any Christmas presents if he hears that." Adelaide has no idea what either of us were talking about but at two years old she was just happy to get all the attention. "Speaking of, I should hurry up and find where he is."

"I can look after Addie," Kelly offered, unwilling to hand her back just yet. "Then you can catch up without a distraction."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to be a burden.

"Can she play with my dolls, please?" Penelope begged and Kelly nodded with a smile that eased my concern.

I tucked a long strand of hair behind Penelope's ear and said, "Of course she can."

My steps away were slow and I looked back twice after saying goodbye to Addie but, aside from a short wave, her attention was on Penelope and the Barbie doll she was offering. If anything changed Kelly had my number and she would be able to find Alpine's pit stop easy enough.

"Brianna, there you are." Otmar's voice was barely audible over the noise in the pit lane but I found his hand waving from where he sat at the Control Centre along the pit wall.

It had only been a few weeks since I last saw my uncle, though it was a loose term when we were not related by blood. Otmar was my father's best friend and a constant in my life until I left for college. The two had grown up together, practically like brothers, and I had been raised with Otmar's kids - homeschooled on the road during race season.