THE END | Oscar Piastri

28. always an angel

Sav's pov

I went to preseason testing with Lando. I joked about going as emotional support, but I don't think that's even a joke anymore.

"Why can't I just get it?" He asks quietly, more to himself than to me. His head is hung low in his hands while he sits on the floor of the garage. I tried to get him to sit in an actual chair, but he didn't budge.

It's not like he was doing absolutely terrible. His lap times are only half a second down from Max, and he's acting like they're triple that.

I sat on the floor beside him, despite my choice of white pants. "Don't compare yourself to Max too much. He's been in Red Bull forever, he's more used to the car than you. Once you get the hang of it, I know you'll be challenging him." I try to reassure him, my hand running up and down the length of his back in an attempt to provide extra comfort.

He shakes his head, a frustrated sigh following the motion. "I'm driving like a fucking rookie, Vannah. I'm just so shit." His face is still covered, but his voice is broken into fragments, making me wonder if he's crying into his hands.

I shake my head, though he can't see it. "No you're not. You're getting into your own head, Lan." He doesn't say anything back.

He stands up abruptly, still no words leave him. Not even when he walks off, I assume to his drivers room. I don't call after him, but I want to. I don't stand to go catch him, but I want to. I watch him disappear around a corner. I'll leave him alone, if that's what he wants.

Max appears in front of me, offering a hand to help me off the floor. I take it, pulling myself up while he also pulls me off the floor. He definitely did more work than I did. "Thanks." I give him a short smile, dusting myself off.

Max had already been a friend of Lando's prior to the change. Because of that, and the fact I'm almost always around him, the two of us have also become quite familiar with each other.

"Is he okay?" Max asks, genuine concern shown about his face. I turn back to look at the corner where the Brit had disappeared, just staring at it. Maybe if I stared hard enough, a confident and happy Lando would appear.

It doesn't happen. I look back to Max, who had followed my line of sight. "I don't know. I don't think so." I shake my head.

His eyes find mine again. "You should go find him." Max says, sounding a little like a couples therapist right now. "I don't-" I try to object, try to explain to him that I don't think Lando wants any visitors. Max's head tilts toward that same corner cuts me off.

I listen to the Dutch man, trying to remember my way through the new garage until I find the door. Hesitantly, I knock.

After a few seconds, no reply.

"Lan?"

Still nothing.

"Baby, I know you're upset but don't push me away." I don't even care about how desperate I sound.

Nothing.

"Lando I'm going to open this door if you don't."

Unsurprisingly, no answer.

What was surprising, was the scene I saw when I opened the door. Or rather the scene I didn't see.

He's not even in here. His clothes are stacked in a messy pile on the couch. And his silver bracelet is placed strategically in the center of his desk. But no Lando.

"He disappeared." I tell Max when I find him again. He's looking over data, charts and numbers that don't really make sense to me. He looks up at me, brows twisting together in confusion. "He disappeared?" He repeats my words, twisting them into a question.