beyond the grid - max verstappen

chapter forty two

half an hour later, max was sat on the counter watching as I attempt to finish the bowl of yoghurt and muesli. although he doesn't think I can see him stealing the odd glance at how much was left in the bowl. in his usual style he continues to talk about random topics, trying to distract me so I eat more than I usually would. I mean it was working up until the point he finished his food and I became painfully aware of his actions.

"I have questions" I blurted out without even thinking about how stupid the sentence sounded. he tilts his head and let out a small chuckle. this is the usual reaction I receive from him when I say something without thinking – the sentences either jumbled, short or generally don't make sense.

"lets make a deal then? one question for one more mouthful" he sticks his hand out for me to shake

"okay fine" I take his hand in mine, shaking it firmly "okay... firstly, the shirt. you have to explain the shirt"

"well that is one mouthful before you get the answer" he waited patiently gesturing for me to continue to eat "daniel got it for me as a gift. the has bought a lot of them for me over the years Ive known him. I guess it was his attempt at getting me out of the redbull uniform."

"you really do need to start wearing things other than teamwear" I cover my mouth as I laughed at the thought of max opening a gift for it to be this tshirt. "honestly if you let me dress you for a week, I am sure your following on socials will reach an all time high"

another laugh makes its way past my lips at the thought of max treating the paddock as a runway – the same way that lewis does. the shock that would be all over the crowd and teams faces. god I would pay money to see that.

"okay question number two" I primitively shoved another mouthful of yoghurt into my mouth "you never actually said. but why were you here in the first place?"

"I came to drop off that nice big box that has been sat at the end of the island" as if he knew I was going to want to find out what is inside, he jumped off the counter and grabbed the box raising it above his head. "you'll have to have another mouthful to get the box"

"pleaseeee" I groaned loudly, darting my eyes between him at the box he was still holding above his head. "fine. fine. fine" I fill the spoon once again and point it towards him – an attempt to stubborn. once I finished the mouthful he offered me his hand, helping me off the counter and leading me towards the lounge to sit down properly.

"look its nothing that special but I thought you'd enjoy" he placed the box down between the two of us.

my brows knitted together as I opened the top of the box only to find it filled with bubble small items wrapped in bubble wrap. mugs. fourteen to be exact. my lips turned up into a smile at the sweet gift. my hands ran over all of them unsure which one to open first.

"max you –" before I could even finish he cut me off

"this one is my favourite" his eyes were filled with excitement. his hands moved over time unwrapping the mug as if he was a child on Christmas day. he placed the plain white mug in my hands. my fingers rubbed over the black writing on the mug, taking my time trying to figure out what it says 'شو هالجسد يا اسد'

"wh-"

"what a body you lion" I cut him off with my words jumbled with laughter. "of course, you would get this one. how did you manage to even find this?"

"I had to get this one made, as you can imagine it would be very hard to just stumble across this." he pulled the next one from the box "the mug from daniel gave me the idea and I thought it could be my mug when I come over"

I couldn't hide the smile that made its way on to my lips at the gift, the way he remembered the mug, and the way he expects to be around here again. the next four mugs had the same kind of somewhat crude sayings on them - another mug in Arabic, two in French, one in Spanish and another language I didn't seem to recognise.

"I got you one from each non-english speaking country we have visited this season. they just didn't seem to have the same impact in English. I thought you could add them to your collection" he rambles his explanation. I could feel the tears start to well in my eyes, at how sweet this all was.

"max this is... I don't even know what to say" I reach my arms out pulling him in for a tight hug. but the realisation quickly rushes over me "you figured out what the mug says? and collection?"

"I really wanted to know so I went to take a picture of it to send to charles. but when I opened the cupboard, I noticed there were more mugs from places I assumed you've travelled to." he gestured toward the kitchen and he laughs again "charles was so confused and couldn't stop laughing at the mug. I am so glad that I didn't ask pierre"

my chest started to shake with laughter at the thought of that text interaction and how much worse it would have been if he had sent it to pierre. I placed all the mugs onto the coffee table before pulling max in for another tight hug. this was honestly one of the sweetest presents that I had ever received. he had paid attention to the small things that nobody else ever realised.

"you've got to open the rest" he continued to hand me the remaining ten mugs. all of them very tacky touristy mugs from each city we visited this season and one from Sydney. the tears finally began to fall. "ace... why are you crying?"

"this is so sweet max. I really appreciate this. I don't think anyone has ever done something like this for me before. how did you even get these? you didn't even see the mug until after Monaco grand prix" I whipped the tears from my eyes, turning my body to face towards him.

"well it helps that im really well connected doesn't it?" he laughed picking up the Monaco mug. it had a picture of a vintage formula one car on it coming around the tabac turn, with the number thirty-three on the front of it. "i got a hold of someone from each of the tracks and got them to send it to my flat. the Sydney one was probably the hardest as there isn't a race there but this one was the easiest and probably my favourite."

"I don't even know how to tell you how much I appreciate this." I wipe the tears from under my eyes again, before looking back over the mugs.

"it was fun finding them all. you have mugs and I have tshirts but you can make it up to me by translating narcos again. i like the voices you do much better than the original" he flicks the remote in my direction, pulling his feet up onto the lounge.

I quickly moved all the mugs onto the coffee table – turning the tv on and making my way to Netflix. once the show was on, I tried to make myself comfortable but couldn't seem to find the right spot. max tapped the lounge next to him, inviting me to lay next to him, pulling me into his side.

each time my eyes flicked between the tv and max, his eyes were already on mine. intently watching me as I translate Spanish to English. his hand wrapped around mine sitting on top of his chest. my eyes started to feel heavy but I made every attempt to keep them open and continuing to translate the show, but I was just too comfortable.