Ready or Not?

19.

Sunday Race Day

Max crossed the finish line 1st again, he was on a great streak and kept proving how much he deserved his top spot position in RB. Whilst he was dealing with the media pen with Rachel, I opted to sit back up on the terrace and get back to some important emails. One of my last email replies was for the McLaren team, this was the hardest one because there was still a part of me wanting to stay here with RB and help the team forward whilst working with Max, but I know I need to move on for the both of us.

Dear Media Team,

I want to firstly apologise for the delay in response, but I needed to think it over before getting back to you. I am happy to take up this opportunity if it is still available for me, I would love the chance to work with the team and gain some invaluable experience. Feel free to reach me by email or mobile or you can probably find me lurking in the paddock somewhere too.

Kind Regards

Natalia Verstappen

I didn't even hesitate to send them the message, I knew this was the right thing for both Max and I. I headed back with him to the hotel so we could change and go to the after party together

"Lia are you sure you're fit enough to go out tonight, I can stay with you, these parties get repetitive after a while"

"No way, I am bored of not seeing everyone, and it's fine I'll stay in the booth and won't dare to touch the dance floor" We pinky promised and I got myself up and out to get ready. I had saved myself that one outfit just for tonight, it was this sparkly mini dress which shockingly matched my boot, I wore my silver sandal on my other foot and got into the car with Max and some of his team. We arrived to the party and bottles were flowing, I couldn't drink because of the painkillers I was on so it was diet coke for me all night so I would stay awake. Max had a booth for our little group and some of the other drivers slowly joined and made their way over. Lance arrived with his sister and her partner, but when he saw me his eyes stayed glued onto me like some laser beam. He naturally pushed his way through the crowd and congratulated my brother on his most recent win, before seating himself right next to me on the edge of the sofa.

"Why didn't you wear this little number when we went out together, I could've saved you from breaking your ankle, because if you looked this hot I wouldn't have left you out my sight" His flattery made me flustered, but his words comforted me at the same time. His soft breaths in my ear when he spoke gave me a tingling feeling similar to what I felt when I was in his bed.

"Stop flirting or I'll get my brother onto you" I laughed as he poured himself another drink and sat further back in his seat. He spread his legs, almost to make it clear that there was space for no more, just us. "I'm just gonna grab another drink, I'll be back okay"

"No you're not, I'll get it for you, same as last time?"

"I won't argue if you're paying, I'll have a full sugar coke this time, bring some ice as well please" Lance pushed himself up and made his way back to the bar, and in his place came Carlos. He hadn't spoke to me much since the dinner we had the other day, but seeing his soft waves fall onto his face made me realise it was always dangerous speaking to him if my brother was around.

"Natalia, can I sit here?" His big brown eyes fixed upon my face, I think he could probably see me begin to sweat when he approached.

"Yes of course, Lance said he'll get the drinks in so you could stay till then"

"Lance huh? I didn't take you for a billionaire type" He was speaking into my ear so he knew it was safe to speak like this

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I thought we had something special going on but I guess you just wanted to work your way to the top of the Forbes Richest List"

"Don't be salty Mr Sainz" "It wasn't the money that got me to Lance, it was something more fulfilling" His eyes dart to mine as he lifts his head when I said that last word, was this man really jealous of Lance Stroll, he had nothing on him looks wise so why would he be so weird about him.

"Look, I'm not telling you who you should or shouldn't hook up with, but Stroll isn't the guy. That man has money, but the rest of him is a work in progress, just be careful" We both turned around as Sainz's hand left mine to find Lance peeking over with a tray heavy with drinks and snacks for us all to share. Looking at Carlos, he might be right about Stroll, something about how lonely his bedroom was and all the articles I've seen before about him made me worried but I always say I don't want to judge a book by its cover.

"Lia, I got all the snacks they had since I don't really know which ones your favourite." His gaze dropped to Carlos who was still sat in his seat "Dude can you find someone else to gossip with, Nat and I were having a good time"

"Yeah sure dude" Carlos nodded to me before he headed off and his words stuck with me for the rest of the night. He clearly knew something about Lance that I had not known, and maybe if I had spoken to him sooner I wouldn't have slept with Lance the other night. I spent the rest of the evening catching up with some of the other members of the team and we all had some great laughs especially when Joe found his way onto the dance floor.

I headed back to the hotel with some of the girls including Rachel who had brought her work laptop with her since she still seemed to have tasks to complete in the middle of the night. When I got in I crashed into my bed, I made myself a pillow mountain to drop my ankle onto since it needed to be raised and the rest of my body sunk deeper into bed and I drifted off to sleep with no issues at all. I was woken by some banging and clattering noises around the 7am mark which could only be Max and his buddies making their way back in. I didn't expect them to be so loud but I guess I underestimated how much they'd actually drank. I came out of my room and headed to Max's door to find Lando fumbling over his friends dragging them into their rooms.

"Hey Nat, did you need something? You can sit I'll bring it to you" Lando was clearly just as sober as me and was helping the rest of their crew get in and go to sleep.

"Uh no I'm okay actually, just checking on my brother, was he okay?"

"Um Max is actually still out"

"What do you mean he is still out?" "He told me before I left he would come back with you" I was beginning to panic, because Max always knows to keep his word when he's on a night out, the last thing we need is a missing formula one driver on the streets of Montreal.