Once again I woke up too late, way too late. I never overslept and now I was constantly waking up too late.
I scanned my pass and was literally running through the paddock.
I was late for the briefing meeting, one of the most important things I had to do.
I walked in the meeting room and Zak didn't look happy to say the least.
"I am sorry I-" I started explaining but Zak quickly dismissed me. I sat down next to Lando and quickly opened my laptop.
He leaned a little closer and nudged my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
I quickly nodded, I was fine, I was just dead tired. I might have to steal some Red Bull later.
I explained the strategy for both drivers. They were pretty equal anyways. Everyone was nodding except for Zak.
"Are you sure this strategy will work?" He asked. He was always my biggest doubter, he never really liked me.
If Lando ever decided to go to Red Bull, I'd grab his hand and go with him.
"Yes" I said as I looked straight in his eyes.
"Hmm" is all he mumbled. It was an arrogant move and it made me even more frustrated.
"Are you doubting my strategy? What exactly do you think isn't gonna work?" I asked, leaning a bit closer.
"I don't need to explain myself to you River" he snapped.
"Then I don't need to explain myself to you. You hired me for this, so if you can't give me reasons why you don't agree with my strategy, I don't see the need to question it"
It was quiet, everyone was holding in their breath, probably afraid to make a noise.
Except for Lando, who couldn't hold in his chuckle.
"Meeting dismissed, River you can stay behind" Zak said as he looked at me.
I expected that.
Lando put his hand on my thigh and squeezed it a couple of times, probably to wish me luck.
"What is your problem?" He immediately asked as everyone left.
"Zak, I've been giving you a handful of 1-2 finishes, podiums every damn weekend and you are allowed to question my strategy, you're the boss after all but not without reason"
"I've had my reasons" he shrugged. "But you aren't willing to share them, so your reasons are useless"
"Do you even know who you're talking to?" He raised his eyebrow.
"Yes" I said. Did he expect m to take his shit just because he was the boss? He begged me to come to Mclaren and as soon as I got here, he's been doubting me.
"I'm sorry Zak but I kick ass, I don't kiss it" I said as I walked out.
Sometimes it takes balls to be a woman.
But I was definitely gonna get fired.
————————-
I sat down at the pitwall but for some reason Zak was overruling all my radio's.
The team obviously had to listen to him, he was the big boss after all.
He was changing the strategy, Lando's strategy to be precise.
"We are gonna box" Will told Lando, just as Zak told him. "What plan is this?" Lando asked confused.
Will didn't answer, he probably didn't know how because this wasn't one of my plans.
"This isn't River's idea, right?" Lando asked and the broadcast also picked up on that because they were starting to show me on the screen.
"No" Will answered.
I honestly didn't know what I was still doing here, I should just go home and sleep.
"Then I'm not doing it" Lando simply said.
There was the reason why I stayed here. Because of him.
Zak couldn't do anything else but listen to Lando, it would cause even more drama if he didn't even though I also realized this would already cause a bunch of drama and rumors.
Zak just put his headset down and walked in the garage. What was his plan though?
Didn't he want Lando to win?
The rest of the race went pretty smooth and Lando won the race, Oscar ended on P3 with Max in between them.
"I think it would be better if you take an early summer break" Zak said as we were both standing in front of the podium.
I didn't even look at him, I was looking at Lando.
"Are you firing me?" I asked, still not looking at him.
"No, I'm giving you an early break"
Pathetic. There was only one race left before the summer break and it was Belgium. A difficult track where they definitely needed a good strategy.
But I wasn't gonna fight this. It would be useless anyway.
"Fine" I said as I walked away. I didn't even realize Christian was standing next to us, he probably heard the whole thing.
But I didn't care, I just wanted to get away from Zak before I was gonna say something I would regret.
I sat down in Lando's drivers room until he came back. He was still holding the trophy and champagne in his hands as he walked in.
"What happened?" He asked, putting them down on the table. "Zak told me to go on an early summer break, I honestly don't know what his problem is"
"No, we can't do a race without you" Lando frowned. He was silent for a while, probably thinking about what to do.
And then he grabbed my hand, pulled me with him and walked out. "Let's go"
