GREENE | CS55

13 - The Eyes

MARCH 2020 | THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

It's all in the eyes. They never lie.

By the looks in the buzzing Haas hospitality around her and Romain, it looked like the team was more excited today than they had ever been in Pierce Greene's two years with them. The pressure was off the charts. The dial turned up to high today. Pierce loved it. It means they had a chance.

It meant they had hope.

Greene had qualified in twelfth, placing her three grid spots behind Grosjean in a miraculous ninth. While any other day Romain being ahead of her would get her down, instead she had taken an optimistic turn for the better.

She had felt the car to its full potential during free practice on Saturday, catching the slipstream of Ricciardo's Renault in front of her during her flying lap, catapulting her into the following corner with full control. If it weren't for a misjudgment on the garage's side, she'd have made it into Q3 with Romain. But, no matter. After a good nights rest and an invigorating morning yoga session on the balcony with her trainer Marley, Pierce was armed and ready for battle.

The sun was beating down, warming the tarmac with every passing second. Waves of heat rippled the air to prove it was more than the excitement making her sweat. It was a blue bird day, and a wonderful Sunday to race in Melbourne if there ever was one.

Standing in the paddock with Holden, she saw them first out of the corner of her eye, the two orange and blue specs bobbing as they strolled in her peripheral. It was impossible to miss. Impossible to not see that they were walking in her direction.

Holden had paused mid sentence, realizing that Pierce had turned in their direction and was no longer listening to him. He braced himself for the worst, opting to turn his back and busy himself with the clipboard of empty papers in his hand.

"Hey." Carlos smiled at Pierce, finally close enough to spit out the word that had been sitting on his tongue, tingling with excitement. It felt like every step he had taken since spotting the back of her tied-up red, white, and blue race-suit was in slow motion. When he got his chance, he did it confidently, sly and knowing, as if no one was watching.

As if Lando wasn't right beside him, nor Holden, conveniently occupied with something behind Pierce.

"Good luck today," Carlos slowed, but never stopped, turning his body to face her like a sunflower to the sun as him and Lando walked onwards.

"Yeah. Okay." Pierce stammered through the shock at the now backwards-walking McLaren driver, drawing out her syllables with hesitation. She felt the Melbourne air swirling through her mind as she inhaled, suddenly wishing she had grabbed an extra bottle of water from the motorhome before her and Holden left it's air-conditioned confines. "You too."

Holden's brow furrowed, glancing back at Pierce Greene in shock, only joining the cooperative of jostled emotions around him.

The eyes of Lando Norris, who was still getting used to his best friend and Pierce Greene being on 'friendly' terms. Who was now seeing for the first time an interaction between the two. He shot her a look over his shoulder as if she had borrowed something without his permission; his straw from his water jug never leaving his mouth.

Pierce Greene, who herself was subtly checking the eyes around her for any scornful looks as she ushered the complacent Holden to follow behind her as she rushed into the garage for sufficient hiding (there weren't any, other than Norris. She narrowed her eyes at him in return).

Carlos Sainz, who had stars in his eyes wondering how in the world could he ever move past what almost happened on the hood of Pierce's car that late Barcelona night.