Racing For Love

Chapter Eighty Three

I gave Jono a kiss before he left for the track whilst I stayed back at the hotel and waited for my meeting with Mr Bingham. The video call connected and I saw his familiar face filling the screen.

"Annie. How are you?" he began, his tone friendly.

"Very well, thank you. I appreciate you making time for me this...afternoon" I said, remembering the time difference between us.

"Not at all. As you know, I've been chasing you for a little while to come up with a plan for your property portfolio," Mr Bingham lightly chastised me.

"Yes, sorry it's taken me so long. Everything has been a little...overwhelming, but this opportunity, this proposal was given to me yesterday, and made me realise that I need to make a choice. I'd love to know your thoughts and whether it's actually possible." I replied, seeing him shuffle some paperwork on his desk.

"To be honest, Annie - it is a good, interesting proposal, but it will require substantial liquidation of your assets, and this will need to be done quickly if you are to meet the deadline. Did you receive the list of properties I sent through earlier? You need to make a choice of which you want to keep - by my calculations, you can retain two, possibly three, in your ownership?" he asked as he made a couple more notes.

I looked down at my own list. One property was simple - Joe's house was my home and I wasn't going to give that up - there was nothing else in Joe's portfolio I had a desire to retain, so I could let them go easily. The other choice was harder because my parents property portfolio was extensive and spanned several continents. I had spent time in a few of them, but none held the same memories. My parents were more transient, not spending much time in one location as they travelled following fashion weeks and Formula One. I thought about them, finding memories and thinking about where they were happiest.

"My house, and the apartment in Monaco are the ones I want to keep. I can keep those two can't I?" I asked, watching as he scribbled a little more, calculating the figures in front of him and confirming that worked with the numbers. Saying it out loud, I knew this was the right choice - keeping a piece of where they were happiest, and somewhere I felt like I could visit again after the Grand Prix this year.

"Along with 86% of your inheritance from Joe, you have the funds required, assuming the sale of the properties at the calculated values. The property management company were interested in many of them, but I still don't think you will have all of the monies cleared by the deadline, Annie. We can use your inheritance to bridge the gap, but this is more risky."

"I'll go back to the consortium - maybe they will allow instalments?" I said hopefully, thinking about the conversation I needed to have with Pete and Sylvie now that I was another step closer in my decision.

"So, Annie - are you going ahead? Do you want me to get the wheels in motion?" He asked, pen poised to make more notes no doubt.

"I'll let you know by the end of the weekend. I just need to get my head clear before I make it final," I told him, before he wished me luck and logged out of our call.

Rather than heading to the track for FP3, I stayed at the hotel, ordering room service and pouring over the proposal from Pete. I started by researching the other investors in the group whose names I'd been given. Including me, there would be 5 people or companies represented. Sylvie would be the majority shareholder - I had thought that it would be Pete, but Sylvie's Italian heritage was an important factor to consider with the fans and our Italian supporters. A shrewd move from the pair, which I had come to realise, wasn't out of the ordinary for them.

I hadn't heard the name of the other main investor, Maria Delgado, but when I researched her, I realised I knew all about her company - Optimove. The company specialised in IT services, including consulting, technology, and digital solutions. They were well known and rumoured to have been trying to break into F1 for several years.