ʀᴇᴅ sᴛʀɪɴɢ ᴏғ ғᴀᴛᴇ; ᴍᴀx ᴠᴇʀsᴛᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ

9.

I'm sorry I've been busyyyy:(
—
Grace had taken the liberty to clean the mess Max left behind at his house in Monaco. While he trained and attended simulator sessions , Grace enticed herself to the stash of snacks in the Dutch's pantry and binge watched her favourite shows.

Although staying with the driver had its own perks, she was particularly fond of his cats. Who had also taken a liking towards and refused to leave her side all the while she stayed there.

Max had voiced his concerns about Grace stealing his cats on multiple occasions in the two days that she had been present.Yet both the cats, Jimmy and Sassy, refused to comply with him.

When he returned home on Wednesday, he had expected to find Grace on the couch , watching tv or scrolling through her phone. However he was pleasantly shocked when he found her in the kitchen , dressed in one of his shirts, watching over a sizzling egg.

He cleared his throat , recovering from the initial shock , grabbing her attention.
Her face lights up as she spots Max before looking down at herself.
"I hope you don't mind. All my stuff is packed." She bites her lip , dramatically fluttering her eyelashes.
"It's fine. What are you doing though?" He asks stepping over in the kitchen.
"Oh- iam cooking!" 

As Max gets closer to her, he realises the droplets of sweat on her forehead although the air conditioning is at full blast.
"An egg?" He asks taking the fry pan from her hand and flips it.
"I was getting kind of dizzy so I figured-"
"What?!" Max's head snap towards her.
"It happens sometimes." She tries to gain control of the burning egg but the taller swats her hand away.
"And you thought standing over a hot stove was the best idea?"
He guides her towards one of the kitchen stools, making her forcefully sit down.
She watches as he abandons the egg, tossing her a protein bar from his bag.
"Eat this as you get ready. We are going out."
"But-"
"There's not an ounce of food to eat in this house. Unless you want to starve , I suggest you get ready."

"This is so fancy." Grace acknowledges, looking down at herself.
She had paired her roommates button up with a ripped jeans that she had kept out of the suit case.
"Every single place in Monaco is like this."
Max reasons as they both take a seat in the restaurant.
She pouts , eyeing the menu.

"Oh hey!" Max gets up to greet his ex teammate, Alex Albon and his girlfriend Lily.
He looks back at Grace whose looking at the couple with a crescent eyed smile.
"This is Grace." He gestures towards her.
They exchange greetings before the real couple walks away to one of the far end of the restaurant.

"I can't believe it's so normal to bump into celebrities here." She complains as the waiter walks away after taking their order.
"Wha- Alex isn't a celebrity." Max deadpans making her glare at him.
"Not for you. For me he is." She resists the urge to glance over at his table.
"Iam also a celebrity then?" He asks placing his elbows on the table.
"Yes but you're a celebrity I don't care about." She smiles making Max gasp dramatically.
"I think I forgot to tell the waiter that it's your birthday." He raises his hand up as if to gesture a waiter but Grace catches his hand, laughing.

Max's slumber was abruptly interrupted by a loud thump against his wooden floors.
He squinted his eyes open before pushing the blanket off of him. He rushed towards the lounge - his cats sat unbothered.
"Grace?" He knocked on the door to the guest bedroom, hearing nothing back.
"Gra-"
The door opens to reveal a pale looking Grace. She puts her hand on the door way to balance herself.
"Oh my good you look-"
"Horrible. I'm aware."
Max guides her back to the bed.
"What happened? Is this normal?" He asks checking her wrist , noticing the absence of the watch.
"I guess so. Dr. Smith did say fatigue was a common symptom." She runs a hand through her hair, looking up at him.