Heard it through the grapevine

Chapter 6

Helena watched qualifying from the screens in the garage. She, along with everyone else had been standing completely silent, following the team radio and praying that nothing would go wrong. 

And thankfully nothing did. Carlos had qualified P4 and Charles P5. Everyone was happy with that, particularly given how the competition had driven. Max had taken pole, Alonso P2 and Perez P3, which had been completely deserved. 

Helena was smiling, happy for Carlos and Charles. She knew that they were probably both beating themselves up a bit, thinking they could've done better, but realistically, their driving had been messier than those that qualified before them. 

Charles had reported lack of control when turning right already at the first corner, and the engine had also suffered occasionally, making it difficult for him to reach top speed. But those were all things which could be blamed on the performance of the car. 

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After qualifying, Helena had been on cloud 9, loving every second of the day. Everyone in the garage were happy about a rare unproblematic day for the team, and the vibe in the garage had been light and fun. 

Carlos and Charles had been greeted with smiles and claps once they were back on Ferrari grounds. Helena had been standing on the sideline, letting the others have their moments, but Charles' eyes had roamed the room until they found Helena's and he'd sent her a smile and wink, which had made her blush slightly, as she leaned against the wall of the garage, feeling slight butterflies in her stomach.  

When she left the garage, she could still feel the pink tint in her cheeks and the pep in her step was likely to stay there all day. She could understand why everyone here was obsessed with the feeling the F1 track provided. The emotions could run very low, and it could feel like there was no coming back from a string of bad results, but one good day, and the tables would turn, the adrenaline rushing through your body, making you crave more. 

Her excitement was however cut short, as she walked through the paddock, on her way to meet the rest of the team in Giulia's office for a debrief and planning of tomorrow. She'd been walking behind two girls, who she could not recognise, and she hadn't thought much of it until she heard one of them mention her name. 

"... you mean that Helena girl? You realise that she's just here because she's fucking a driver right?" 

Helena felt her smile and heart fall, and she suddenly had no idea what to do with herself. She froze in her spot for a few seconds, trying to process what she was hearing. She furrowed her brows and looked around, meeting Pierre's eyes, who she had not noticed before now, but he'd been walking almost parallel with her. The look he was currently sending her, Helena almost wanted to vomit just seeing the pity on his face, aimed at her. 

The other girl laughed and said something along the lines of "yeah well i gotta give it to her, she's really dedicated herself to the job." 

Helena felt the heat rising up on the back of her neck, into her face, as she quickly scanned around the paddock for a place she could go for a quick time out. It was difficult to find somewhere isolated in the paddock, but eventually she located a bench, away from the buzz of the paddock. 

She immediately went to sit down, trying to hide her face, embarrassed by the situation. Her head was between her legs, taking what little privacy the paddock could provide. 

"Ca va Helena? You okay?"  Pierre had followed her, and she'd quickly looked up, wiping a small tear away with the back of her hand to get rid of any proof of crying. She was embarrassed and didn't know how to deal with it, other than letting herself cry. 

"Yeah, yeah, i'm fine, congrats on P7!" She smiled a little to enthusiastically at him, and he didn't look convinced that she was okay. 

"Thank you," he said without a smile and went to sit down next to her anyways. Helena knew that he had also been within earshot of what had happened, and that he'd witnessed everything, which made her even more embarrassed.