Hollow River

62.

"Safety car, what do you want to do?" Bono looked at me. Everyone was looking at me.

There was not much time to think, there was no time to think.

"Box for softs, both of them" I quickly said. Their engineers nodded and put the message through to their drivers.

Almost every driver came in to change their tires, so did Lando. "They put Lando on the hards" Bono said.

Lando was driving in front of Lewis, so with him on the hards, it would be an easy match for Lewis.

Why did they put him on hards? I could do nothing to help him right now. The only thing I could do was believe in him.

C'mon Lando. Defend like crazy.

And he did exactly that. Lewis didn't have a chance, Lando definitely wanted this podium, he wanted that second place.

"The Mclaren is way too quick" Lewis complained over the radio. Bono looked at me but I just shrugged my shoulders.

What did he expect me to do about that?

"Just keep it between the lines Lewis" Bono responded. That's exactly the only thing we could do.

Max unsurprisingly won, Lando got P2 and Lewis ended on the podium as well.
It was the perfect podium, the perfect result, for me at least.

"I will see you all at the podium ceremony" I said as I jumped of my chair and walked in the garage. "Let's go support our driver" I yelled through the garage for everyone to hear.

If they wouldn't turn up at the ceremony now, then I was afraid they would never.
But I did what I could.

I pushed my way through the many Mclaren mechanics. You could see how proud they were, how happy.

"Good seeing you here again River" Zak said as he was standing next to me. "Who are you supporting now?"

"What is the answer you would like to hear?" I looked at him. Why was he so against me? What did I ever do to hurt him like that?

He just chuckled and turned his head back to the podium.

I rolled my eyes as I looked at the podium as well. It was a genuine question though. Who was I rooting for?

Lewis, because he was a Mercedes driver? Max, because we had a thing going on or Lando, the one who fucked with my heart the most?

To be honest Zak, I didn't know either.

I was standing under the podium, looking up at Lewis, but most importantly at Lando. He was looking so happy, so proud.

I looked around and every single Mercedes mechanic was standing here, supporting Lewis.
Well, that's at least one thing I changed around here.

———————

Lando texted me that he would be late, he had to do the debriefing meeting and a lot of pictures.
Which I definitely understood because he just got a podium in his home Grand Prix.

I was so proud - I knew he could do it.

But I had nothing else to do, so I grabbed my stuff and walked out of the paddock.

"River, fancy seeing you here again - alone" Nate was leaning against his car. Why was he everywhere?

"I don't need a ride today, thanks" I tried to shrug him off.

He walked up to me and grabbed my arm. "I am not offering you a ride, but did you do what I asked, Black Cat?"

"You have to give me a little more time" I pushed him away, I didn't want him to touch me.

"You only needed one night before, wasn't that kinda your thing?" He laughed. I absolutely hated that guy.

"Yeah well, I need more than one night now" I turned around and started to walk away.

I started to walk away fast, I didn't want him to follow me.

I was in such deep trouble and I didn't know how to get out of it.