GREENE | CS55

19 - Forget It

MARCH 2020 | MARINA BAY, SINGAPORE

Saying that Pierce was avoiding Carlos would suggest that she had been leaving him entirely in the dark for the past week and a half; which would not be true!

Avoiding someone means not responding to their texts. Ghosting their texts, opening them and not responding intentionally. Leaving them to hang, high and dry.

Which, Pierce was not doing!

Carlos had noticed, however, the way that Pierce initially wouldn't answer his FaceTime calls. When she did, it was nothing more than a quick conversation before something conveniently came up. The lackluster manner at which she'd respond to memes he knew would normally send her over the edge laughing. The edgy material he couldn't send to anyone else. Stuff that would make him snicker under his breath at the very thought of Pierce's wide-eyed and pursed lipped reaction on the other side of the phone.

Sure, she was responding. But it wasn't Pierce responding. Not the same Pierce that he'd seen break down her walls to him that night. Not the same Pierce that had led him out of the bar in Melbourne, her hands always somewhere near him if not on him. His hand grasped tightly around hers, leaving Carlos to think that the events that followed were the only natural progression.

Unless, that kiss made Pierce realize the exact opposite of what it helped Carlos come to realize.

The fear rippled through Carlos like a thousand small papercuts peppering all across his chest. He'd kept his cool, trying his best to keep his mind off Pierce. Trying not to overthink the little things that really could just be chalked up to her busy schedule. Hoping that he'd soon forget the taste of her lip butter, the vanilla and brown sugar still no match to how sweet her body felt pressed against his. The feeling of her jaw, delicate as a crystal and smooth as silk, feathered between his fingers as if she was really there.

He tightened the oxygen mask around his face as tight as he could, running until his head swirled and his lungs felt like they'd cave in. He lifted the heaviest of weights 'till his fingers were calloused. He let Caco rant on to him about numbers with Andrea over the phone, statistics from the simulator that proved the car's efficiency with him behind the wheel. Numbers that logically proved that he was doing something right.

Even in the midst of feeling like everything was wrong. So, so wrong.

A week of not discussing the kiss didn't mean something was wrong. It didn't mean Pierce was avoiding him. Carlos shook off the thought whenever he realized he was spiraling, making the situation into something it surely wasn't.

It couldn't be that way. Carlos knew now, for sure, what these feelings were that he was starting to develop for Pierce. Surely, if she kissed him the way she had in Melbourne, she felt it too.

Pierce had been doing everything she could to keep her mind on the task at hand that was clearly expressed to her by her father; keep up the performance in Melbourne. Do whatever it took to continue on the path she'd started. Make this a points streak as best as she could, instead of deeming it a seasonal fluke.

If her seat was at risk, with her contract coming up at the end of this year, Pierce had to do everything that she could to stay in the game. It was a long shot, but even if that seat wasn't with Haas, Pierce knew that her only chance at making that a reality for her was if she worked herself to the bone.

There couldn't be any screwing around. No messing about. Pierce realized that this could be one of those career preserving moments, and she was grateful that her points finish in Melbourne made her realize that.

Even if Jim didn't want her on the team anymore, there were nine other possible outcomes to keep in mind. Even though Pierce Greene's stint in Formula One to date hasn't been a successful one, that didn't mean she couldn't turn things around now. Showing up a better version of herself to the media pen, for starters. Being more involved in analyzing numbers, in being a part of the team.