To fly you only need two wheels

Spain without the s

*Kariss*

I sat, my eyes wide open, in front of the laptop.

In my head only numbers were rushing from right to left. Leo next to me didn't really look any better. We wanted to use the time here. Very urgently, because we knew that Le Mans had only been the beginning. If we really wanted to make a difference, we had to put more work into it. And that's exactly what we did from the moment we landed.

If Marc was on the bike, we sat at the command post and did the math. If he wasn't on the bike, we still sat together and did the math. We ran numbers over, made set ups and discarded them again.

Last night I had skipped the usual four hours of sleep and worked through it. I hadn't noticed how the time had passed and now I was getting the bill for it. Despite the third Red Bull I was drinking, I felt way too tired.

No reason for me to stop, but my eyes were burning and probably my brain was a lot slower than usual.

At least it felt that way.

Meanwhile, Marc was whipping around the track one lap at a time. His feel for the bike was incredible and the feedback he gave us was incredibly helpful. He seemed to feel so many subtleties that I really wondered how he was able to do it.

But I didn't have the energy to think about it.

I just wanted to concentrate on this. Because at least it distracted me from the fact that Robert had hardly contacted me since I left France. I didn't know what was going on and it broke my heart, but as long as I was working, I didn't have to think about it. For that long I had a purpose, a task that required my full concentration. Then I didn't have to think about where he might have been and with whom.

Because there was no doubt in my mind that Kyra was with him. But what they were doing together... Maybe I didn't want to know. It only burdened my head with thoughts for which I had absolutely no time. Not now and best not at all. I just wanted to forget that he hadn't answered my messages for two days.

Or was it three in the meantime? I slowly lost track.

But as if by reflex, my eyes slid to my cell phone.

I tapped the display briefly and saw that still no message had come.

Frustrated, I flipped it over.

"No message from Rob?" asked Leo almost casually.

I just shook my head, but didn't answer. I didn't want to dwell on it now. He seemed to see it differently, though.

"How many days is this now?"

"I don't know," I grumbled.

"You know he's an ass..."

"I don't want to hear it, okay? We should get on the... What's Marc doing?", I looked at the screen in confusion."

"Apparently he decided to come in. I guess something doesn't fit," Leo snorted, I let my head fall forward a little.

Fuck.

I had been sitting on the set up all night, it felt like. That it didn't fit now frustrated me greatly. "Fuck.", I muttered and then pushed myself up from the table with my notepad to jot down what Marc had to say.

His feedback was great, but he was also just very demanding.

Totally understandable, but right now I would have given a lot to have an easier rider.

He rode his bike into the pits. Leo stopped him, then got off and walked over to his chair in that wiggle walk

"Man Kari, you look like shit." he remarked as he took off his helmet.