Ready or Not?

21.

The flight back...

Lando and I met in the hotel lobby where we were last here in a completely different circumstance when we were searching for Max.
"Hey chick" "how do you manage to look good even after a night like ours yesterday?"
He was such a natural flirt but I didn't even administer it in the moment.
"Hey, I just want to say thanks again for last night. You didn't have to help but you did and I appreciate that" I tightly squeezed him into a hug which he wasn't expecting, but his arms wrapped around my hips and down my spine
"It's okay Nat, just be careful okay? Lance is trouble, and looking at what happened last night that's your first taste of it. Did you ask Max what happened?"
"I still haven't spoken to either of them about it, thought I'd save it for the 13 hour flight we've got ahead of us"

A few hours later and we were wheels up and headed back home. There was a short stop in JFK but not enough for a shopping trip so we stayed on board the flight. Max had been avoiding me again since he'd been up, I didn't have the patience like I did before so I headed over to his seat to address the elephant in the aircraft.
"Brother dearest, care to explain what happened last night?"
"Lia can we do this another time?"
"No, we can't. I've had enough of people deflecting my questions"
"Fine" he let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "
You slept with Lance and he was going round boasting about it. He was giving out the nitty gritty details that honestly as your brother I didn't need to hear" "So when he came to me chatting his shit I decided to show him what all that talk deserved"

I can't believe Lance would do that, but seeing what the others have been saying, maybe I should have seen it coming. I was trying to think of the right words to say but Max beat me to it.
"Look I can't tell you who you should or shouldn't sleep with, but can you avoid Lance of all people. He's just not the one to trust"
"Ok" "I can safely say you're like the 5th person to tell me this news so I will stay away from the Stroll family"

We managed to rest for the remainder of our flight. With Max busy playing the onboard games with Lando and Carlos sleeping through the entire thing, the rest of the flight was actually enjoyable. As soon as we landed it was all go because we had to get in, un pack and then pack for Austria. The only difficulty was that with Red bull they take the team out to the Red Bull Ring a week early so that they can have some fun before the serious racing. But now I was planning to move to McLaren I'm not sure the team are really going to want me there

"Lia just relax, I'll call Rachel and she'll be honest about the situation. If she doesn't think it would be right for you to be there then she'll tell me straight okay?" "Now can you please make some real food because I've been on a diet of pizza and eggs for the last week and I'm in need of an actual meal"
"Haha I'm sorry I forgot since I left you there must have been nobody around to make your dinner for you"
"Can you just make some pancakes, the Dutch way that mom would make them" I smiled because this was a meal Max and I would beg our mom to make for us as kids after school and after Karting for  Max. I began cheffing it up I'm our kitchen before a familiar duo came through the doors.
"Hey Nat" Carlos and Lando were in sync as usual. Both still wearing their sunglasses to hide the severe lack of sleep they'd had, but it was bright enough outside not for people to question their look.
"Guys I'm making pancakes are you in?"
Lando was obviously ready to eat but Carlos was more strict with himself.
"Sorry Natalia I have to pass, I will let you cook for me another time under a different circumstance if you'd like to?" His cheeky smile grew wide and I laughed off his comment so my brother wouldn't start to raise any suspicions of his flirty ways 

After breakfast the others headed out for some golf, whilst I could only sit and go through my emails since having a broken ankle means I don't do much, it doesn't mean I can't do my work. McLaren reached out and had replied to my last message, I was beyond eager to open it and see what they had to say but at the same time I was still a little worried that they wouldn't want me working for them especially in my current physical state. 

Dear Miss Verstappen, 

We are delighted to hear you will be joining us at the MTC this year, and we really do hope you enjoy the work-life balance it has to offer you. We are aware of your current injury and we would like to reassure you we have optimised your working location at the office to make it most comfortable. We would encourage you to come and visit us soon before your starting date in the summer, we believe you'll benefit from mixing with some of the team at the factory before heading out on race days with them. 

Once again we thank you for taking us up on the offer and we hope to see you very soon

Take Care 

I was amazed, this team had already taken the time to get to know me before even meeting me physically. I was also relieved they'd taken me on, after all the drama recently, I would've thought they had changed their mind. I have until summer to end things on a good note with the RB team, and with my brother too of course, even though we were on better days I know that boy gained our dad's temper so it's best I leave our working relationship positively otherwise he might ice me out for the rest of my life