Living in someone's shadow is difficult and majority of people know what it's like but not many people learn from their neglection. I went from driving my brothers old kart during the weekends to the first ever female driver in F2 and hopefully one...
The conversation on the table while we were eating was quite dull, me and Charles didn't speak a single word, Max was talking to Arthur about the race while Lando and Pierre giggled amongst themselves talking about something no one else showed interest in.
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Even with the lack of interest he seems to show me, I felt bad about the race in Monaco and I still hadn't spoken to him about it, I know how much he had hoped to win.
I could hear the faint vibration from his phone the second I hit send. He grabbed his phone from his pocket, checking the notification.
For the first time that whole night, his eyes met mine. The corners of his mouth turning up into a small smile showing his dimples.
I reciprocated the small gesture of the smile he gave me before turning back to the food that sat untouched on my plate.
The gap finally closed, his leg resting against mine as he brought his food to his mouth.
After a minute of his focus being on me he realised I hadn't eaten, he leaned towards my ear close enough that I could feel his breath graze my skin, "Tu dois manger Mila. Mange s'il te plait. (You need to eat Mila. Please eat)."
It didn't take long for me to submit to his request, so within 10 minutes my plate was empty, a small grin sitting on his face while he spoke to Max, glancing at me every so often to check that I was completing his request for me to eat.
"Dude, over here," Max joked when he saw Charles revert his gaze to me throughout their conversation gesturing to himself.
"Yeah Charles, pay attention to my brother," I teased, winking in his direction.
His face transformed into a pool of bright pink, his voice stuttering as he tried to respond to both mine and Max's comment. I hadn't seen him that flustered in a long time, and the thought of being able to joke around with him again brought a feeling of comfort to the pit of my stomach.
~
Starting 6th was not the result I ever hoped for, but everyone knows that no matter where you start on the grid, you still have to put in 100% effort at all times whether you are 20 seconds in front of every other driver or getting lapped by the leading cars.
I sat in the car that I had driven in hundreds of times, sat in front of the five lights as they turned red one by one. My nerves were screaming, it was like I was counting down the seconds until I needed my foot to push on the accelerator and the second it happened, I felt my body being pushed back with the amount of power being produced by the car, adrenaline pumping through my blood as I cruised around turn one lining up perfectly for the entrance to turn two.
By the time we got to half way through the race, I sat steadily in P2 trying to push my way to get the top step of the podium, every few laps Xander updated me on the timings, asking how the car felt every so often. Each time I answered I always replied with the same thing, "The pace is steady and the grip is good, It's fine for now,"
When I finally reached the car in front of me, I was informed of us being on the final lap. I was 0.982 seconds behind with one lap to go. I pushed the car to the absolute limit, braking as late as possible on corners, trying to get in the slip stream on the straight. By the time we reached the last corner, we were wheel to wheel. When I could see the chequered flag in front of me, I pushed as hard as I could, faintly faster than the the other driver, I crossed the finish line 0.012 seconds in front of him.
"That's P1, Well done Anika, brilliant finish," Xander yelled down the radio, his voice filled with joy and excitement.
"Let's go guys, we'll done everyone, great race," I laughed barely believing what just happened.
I could hear the fans cheering all around, glowing, is the only word to describe how I felt, I was overcome with happiness and joy as I looked out at the fans cheering, many of them with signs covered in supportive messages, I loved making fans proud.
The second I escaped the confinement of my car, I ran to my engineers jumping into a hug with a couple of them, congratulating messages being whispered in my ear.
"You'll end up beating me in a few years," Max laughed pulling me into a tight embrace.
I smiled at his comment, I felt like laughing but I didn't want to ruin the moment. Having Max at my races was the one thing I needed to make any result feel great, even if he doesn't think so with his own results he still lifts my spirits when any session takes a turn for the worst.
Unlike Monaco, Charles looked up to the podium at which I stood, he had a bright smile on his face and a glow in his eyes that brought a smile to my own face.
"Well done," me mouthed to me as I looked down at him.
I didn't respond verbally as I had thousands of sets of eyes on me instead I turned my head to look straight forward, the sides of my mouth lifting into an even bigger smile that was clearly targeted for him.
Arthur was looking suspiciously at his brother, his gaze alternating between his brother and me. A smug smirk sat on his face, his expression filled with satisfaction as if he was right about something all along.
