beyond the grid - max verstappen

chapter thirty one.

after picking up max's bag from his place, we headed straight to the airport, boycotting almost all of the security going straight to his jet. there was no way to compare this to commercial flights, let alone economy class. flying like this really did help to ease my fears. we sat either side of the table and I was quick to settle back into pride and prejudice not wanting to see outside the window.

"where are you up to?" max points towards the book in my hand

"ahhh chapter five. where they are talking about the first time meeting mr. darcy" I folded the corner of the page, placing the book down on the table

"keep going. just read it out loud" he hands the book back to me before relaxing back into his seat "read your annotations too"

"I believe, maam, I may safely promis you never to dance with him" I turned the book to the side to read the note written in the margin "this line foreshadows how lizzie is more susceptible to wickhams lies because they align with her prejudice of darcy. this also highlights their pattern of flaws (pride and prejudices that are formed quickly). his pride –"

"I see that in you."

"how do you mean?" I lift my eyes from my book to meet his

"you have prejudices about people. they are usually positive but it leaves you open to believing their lies, to keep what you think of them alive" he shrugged as if he had said something very casual.

a breathless laugh left my lips "that's kind of what I have to do for a living. ignoring the negative statements and have to find a way to turn it to a positive or a way to cover it"

he nodded at my words, encouraging me to continue reading. he watched me intently as I flicked over the pages, turning the book every now and again to read the small inscriptions I had left over the pages. after three chapters I put the book down on the table, my eyes no longer wanting to cooperate and slowly closing. he grabbed the book off the small table between us and started to read where I had left off. it wasn't long before my eyes got too heavy to keep open.

he drops me off at the hotel lando was already settled into, jumping out of the car to help me get the bags out the back of the rental car. he refused to let me put them in our take them out as I was still half asleep. he offered me a small wave before he got back into the car and drove away.

the elevator ride up to the room wasn't long but I was just too tired to keep standing up straight. my eyes opened back up once the door dinged. with a strained effort I dragged my heavy bags from the elevator down to the room number that lando had already texted me. my lips turned up into a smile, as lando stood outside of our door ready to take my bags from me.

"how did you know I was on my way up?" I handed the two bags off to him following him back into the suite.

"max texted that he had dropped you off and that you had slept most of the way."

I immediately dropped my body down onto the lounge ready to just go to bed, but lando had other plans. he yanked hard on my arm, causing me to fall completely flat on the floor. fuck. he let out a loud laugh throwing his head back.

"get ready we are going out"

I rolled my eyes, staying in place on the floor "youre going out. im not"

"acester I will personally get all the guys to come over and drag you out of here. so you can either get up and dressed or we can take you as you are"

reaching up, I grabbed one of the cushions on the lounge throwing it at his face before making my way to my bedroom to get changed. I threw on the only dress that I packed and made my best attempt at appearing like I haven't just got off the flight. light makeup and brushing my hair. I made sure the both of us had id and we were on our way out of the room and to whatever restaurant that the drivers had planned.

these restaurants were still not something I was entirely used to, but not something that I could complain about. the lights were dimmed but it was still easy to spot the table of drivers sat right in the back. they all seemed to have found their seats before we arrived. lando sent me a stern look, having nagged me to get ready quicker as we would be late and we were.

lando sat down right away next to daniel and carlos, as if they had just left the seat specifically for him. it seemed a seat had also been left for me. max to one side, pierre on the other, lewis in front and charles in front of pierre ready to translate anything that we spoke about. all of the guy got up from the table to greet the two of us.

"late as usual you muppet" carlos spoke as he shook landos hand

"it was all her fault" he pouted pointing in my direction.

"what the fuck I just got off a flight and I did offer to stay home" I threw my hands up in the air defensively.

"ace I was on the same flight" max chimed in with a wide smile, seemingly proud he had got here before me. I rolled my eyes sitting down in my seat, knowing there was nothing else to argue about.

"tu as volé avec lui?" pierre turned to face me, eyebrows raised slightly at max's statement.

"Oui. Lando m'a dit de lui envoyer un texto. j'étais censé voler en classe économique mais il a offert son avion" I shrugged my shoulders "As-tu obtenu des informations de Bella?"

"elle restait chez lui mais je n'ai rien eu de plus que ça. elle garde ses cartes près de sa poitrine"

"ce n'est pas la mer à boire" I groaned hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

"les chiens ne font pas des chats. Je demanderais qui restait chez toi Mais je pense que je sais." he glanced between the dutchmen and myself

"Il ne faut pas se fier aux apparences"

he leaned in slightly closer to me "ne mens pas. tu le baiserais"

"jaloux? est-ce un fétiche?"

he let out a loud laugh and I couldn't help but laugh with him. the rest of the table were deep in their own conversations. it was nice seeing them all together like this, especially after the way they are pinned against each other in the media.

"voudriez-vous cependant?" he said once our laughter had died down

"potentiellement" I shrugged "il a l'air de faire du bon boulot"

"ce sera notre petit secret" but just as the words left pierres mouth, charles covered his mouth as if he was about to spit out his water. his eyes were wide and looking around to see if anyone else heard what we had said

"ne le répète à personne" I pointed at his raising my voice slightly. his hands shot up signalling that he wouldn't but the sly smile playing on his lips says otherwise. "you know how big his ego will get, if he knows I said that"

"who's ego?" carlos spoke looking between the three of us

"voyez maintenant vous avez tout le monde impliqué" I laughed knowing that it was in fact my fault for speaking so loudly

"this is one of those times I really wish I could speak a second language" lewis spoke now intrigued by the conversation

"don't worry lewis. you know that we will always get it out of charles" daniel added with a laugh, now drawing in more attention from the other drivers further down the table. they all seemed to nod in agreement.

"flicker op" once the words left my mouth three shocked faces turned towards me.

"Je savais que c'était le Hollandais. il est resté chez toi!" pierre jabbed me in my side, charles nodding along with his words.

"d'accord. donc je connais un peu le néerlandais, mais ça ne veut rien dire"

"since when did you learn dutch?" max drew my attention back to the rest of the table all watching us in curiosity.

"I just learnt some swear words" I laughing not wanting to tell him I know exactly what he says when he mumbles dutch words under his breath.

"I could always teach you more if you wanted?" he smiled lightly at me

"that would be nice" I offered a small smile back, turning my attention back to the food that had arrived just moments before.

bit of a shorter chapter but i wanted to get back into the groove of writing and just not feeling it at the moment. let me know your thoughts