Running From The Flames

Pain

While the rest of Alpine were hard at work trying to fix the issues on Pierre's car, there was nothing more he could do until the final practice session in the morning. They weren't expecting to finish anytime soon so Otmar had to make the call to cancel the team dinner and instead ordered catering to be delivered straight to the pit.

"You guys can head off if you want," Otmar offered after getting off the phone with Sergio's Pizzeria, which had won the vote from the team. "No point in boring Addie by hanging around here."

Addie was hardly bored, she had happily sat at a table with my phone watching Frozen and was oblivious to the action around her, but it would be good to get her out of the busy pit.

"Dad was going to come to the team dinner but should we invite him out instead?" I asked Pierre as he came back to my side after going off to chat with Charles a few minutes ago.

He nodded but nervously scratched his beard. "Let's hope I make a better impression."

I pulled his hand away from his face and combed the wayward hairs of his beard flat again before helping myself to a quick kiss. "He was impressed with your interview today. I'm not sure if he was expecting you to throw hands with Lewis after that photo went viral."

Pierre chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I'm a lover not a fighter, plus, I trust you. I know how close you are to the OG's."

"The OG's?" I laughed.

"That's what we call the drivers that have been around forever, not to their face of course."

"Lewis would probably embrace it, the others not so much. Should we go?"

"In a few minutes, Elsa's about to save Anna." I cocked an eyebrow at his knowledge of the film and he sent me a charming smile back. "What? I can't enjoy a Disney movie too?"

"You won't by the time she's made you rewatch them twenty million times." I pulled out of his embrace and went to pick up the colouring books and crayons Addie had finished with but a hiss of pain slipped through my gritted teeth. A strong arm curled around my waist and took the weight off my leg that had gone stiff while standing still for too long.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Pierre asked as he scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the table where Addie was waiting. He lowered me gently into the seat beside her before packing up the backpack I had brought with things to entertain her. He swung the bag over his shoulders and bent down to pick me up again but I shook my head.

"I'm fine, I just need a couple of ibuprofen," I assured him but it was just as dad walked in and he frowned down at us.

"What's wrong?"

"Your daughter is being stubborn," Pierre said as he ran his hand through his hair, tugging the strands in frustration.

"He's just over reacting," I corrected and tried to prove my point by standing up but the joint wouldn't shift and I fell back into the seat.

"Stubborn woman," Pierre muttered as he ignored my narrowed eyes and lifted me in his arms.

"Bri, if your leg is hurting you need to keep off of it, you know this."

I crossed my arms but then thought better of it and draped them around Pierre's neck in case he dropped me. "If you haven't noticed, but I have a toddler, I can't exactly go and put my feet up with a cuppa."

Dad sighed and I figured he was remembering what I was like at that age. God knows what sort of trouble I would have got into if there wasn't someone chasing after me. "How about I take Addie for the night? You can rest up and hopefully it'll be better in the morning."