Hearts on the track

Cap. Seven

I could compare my mind at this moment to a TV series that you just finished watching, but you can't get it out of your thoughts. You refuse to believe it's over, and you keep replaying in your mind how good the plot and characters were. You even try to find a similar series, search for spin-offs, and even peek at their Instagram accounts because it's impossible for the main actors not to be dating in real life with the chemistry you felt through the screen.
That's exactly how my mind is: restlessness, frustration, and a hint of sadness.
We were 9 days away from the first race of the season: the Bahrain Grand Prix. A circuit with a total length of 5.412 meters, where each race consists of 57 laps, totalling 308.232 km. Strategically, the circuit promises to be challenging due to high-speed straights, challenging curves, and the race being held at night.After our moment in Italy, it's been a week since I've faced the blue-green-eyed driver. I wouldn't know what to say to him if I had him in front of me, let alone how to behave.

At the moment, I was in a small room at the Ferrari base in Monte Carlo, working for the first Grand Prix. The best thing I could do for my sanity was to immerse myself in work and pretend that none of what happened. I couldn't allow myself to think about how his fingers wrapped around my arm, how the scent of his perfume invaded my nostrils, as he was so close, or even how I felt the movement of his whisper in my ear.

I couldn't. I refused to.

After everything he had said to me, I couldn't let him win. That was his goal: to finally prove that I wasn't capable of doing the job I was hired to do. He believed that his inappropriate and rude behaviour would be enough to make me give up. That man invaded my thoughts, making me feel so frustrated. He deliberately tried to irritate me by calling me nicknames in the same sentence as he tried to provoke me.

So, my goal was to continue ignoring him when I saw him passing in the hallways, hiding in the nearest room, changing my mind about wanting coffee when I saw him in the cafeteria, and definitely spending as little time as possible in the training areas of the base. I knew that eventually, I would have to talk to him, but I wanted to extend the time of abstinence for as long as I could.

Today, I would be permanently moving into my new apartment when the moving team delivered my boxes and other belongings in the afternoon.Carlos, a few days ago, talked to me about the scene "I drank too much champagne, and you had to carry me to my room" a few days ago. Despite telling him 50 times that he didn't have to apologize and promising him that I would never mention the incident again, he insisted on compensating me. As such, he would come to my apartment today to help me pack and collect the paella I mentioned on the day of the event.After packing my belongings in my suitcase and saying goodbye to my team, I headed to the supermarket to buy the ingredients I needed for tonight's dinner.

It was a hot day, and I thanked myself for wearing shorts this morning. On the way back home, I decided to stop by the small bakery 50 meters from the apartment to buy a cake for dessert. It had almost become a routine for me to have breakfast here. The staff were always friendly, and this morning when the smell of freshly baked cakes entered my nose, I didn't hesitate to order one for later. I was getting ready to leave the place, already holding a large box in my hand when I heard my name from afar.

"Sophia! Sophia!"I looked around to identify the source of that voice and found Carlos waving at me from the terrace. I made my way there, where he was sitting comfortably in one of the chairs in front of another person.

"Hello, Carlos! Resting before lifting boxes?" I said cheerfully.

"Should I be scared by the meaning of that sentence?" his companion asked, turning his body towards me and looking directly into my eyes. An instant shiver ran through my body.