GREENE | CS55

37 - Say My Name

That lingering look that Tatianna left Pierce with at brunch stayed with her as she roped her strength together to leave Monaco and everything that had happened in her rearview.

Pierce held her head high all the way back to North Carolina, where the team allowed themselves to celebrate the most recent results for a quick moment before putting their heads down and figuring out how to replicate those results for the next race in two weeks. Wind-tunnel tests and hours with both drivers in the sim, anything meant to replicate any possible conditions, to put together a plan of action that would continue Haas on the points trajectory.

Pierce was all for it. She worked. And when she wasn't working, she was training. Lifting weights. Boosting her cardio while the mask deprived her of oxygen. Allowing herself to be strapped in to mechanisms she joked looked like medieval torture devices, pulling and tugging her body until her muscles felt like they would snap under the strain. Until she gritted her teeth together and had to clamp her lips to stifle the roaring pain.

She worked, and worked, until Pierce was so spent by the end of the day, she had no choice but to collapse into bed, sending her into a deep sleep, where she remained until the morning— when she'd do it all over again. No time to focus on anything else, much to Tatiannas dismay, who made her worries evident no matter the distance that separated the two.

It wasn't what Pierce necessarily wanted to do; but it was what she had to do. Tatianna understood enough to leave Pierce be.

Judging by his silence, Pierce could only assume that Carlos understood as much as well.

The only other conclusion was that Carlos was having a much easier time brushing Pierce off than Pierce was having, her mind fluttering to thoughts of Carlos whenever it wasn't occupied.

Stupid.

Somehow, rather than soothing the panic that rushed through her mind subliminally, that only made Pierce feel more foolish. Selfish. She only wished at this point to drag him down as much as he'd been dragging her down. To linger and fester in his mind like a leech.

Stupid. Unhealthy. Unproductive. Unnecessary. And most importantly— Pierce felt terrible for thinking that way.

So whatever Sydney was doing with Carlos at the golf course that day, Pierce had to push that aside. That, and any other thoughts of Carlos. The ones that drove her mad, that left her uncharacteristically second-guessing her decision. Was she being dramatic? Should she just give this all up and text Carlos and tell him what a horrible idea it was to end everything? That they could, probably, just go back to being friends?

Do what you have to do.

Whenever the urge to go against what she decided for herself nearly tipped her over the edge, Pierce texted Tatianna instead. Whenever Jim tossed Pierce an indifferent glance leaving her fuse close to detonation, she'd text Tatianna. The week passed with no word from Sydney, which was fine with Pierce. She didn't know what she would do if the blonde's name popped up on her phone.

When Italy rolled around, something in the air told Pierce she'd desperately regret not dragging Tatianna by the earlobe onto the plane with her, despite her friend being tied down at school, understandably buried in exam prep.

Pierce's hunch was right. It was Ferrari-mania. Not just the usual Ferrari-mania, the wave of scarlet that consumed Emilia-Romagna; but multiplied, to Pierce's horror, tenfold.

Because Ferrari had announced that Carlos Sainz would be joining their roster for the 2021 Formula One season. It felt as though the entire country was celebrating, far beyond the reaches of Imola. Celebrating the accession of the rightful king to his throne.