Beyond the limit

start of it

Kiara landed in the pleasantly warm Bahrain for the start of the season, she felt energised and happy. Last season it was a pretty bad torture for her, 21 years old, forced to overcome and endure the cruel side of the motorsport world.

She was wearing her Mercedes t-shirt and some shorts, heading thowards the garage. She was about to meet her new teammate, George Russell. After the 2021 season and the fact Lewis lost the championship, he retired, leaving Kiara all alone. Basically making her the leader of the team. The number one driver.

As she entered the motorhome, Toto greeted her with a smile and a hug, obviously exited for Kiara to meet her new teammate.

"Is he also that exited as you?" She chuckled at the smile of her boss who just shrugged.
"You need to make a good bond with him, make him comfortable." Toto said, little more sternly, making Kiara to chuckle.
"Yeah yeah.. sure. " She mumbled and walked to the meeting room where a tall handsome man, visibly older than her was sitting there talking with her race engineer.

"Starting without me?" She scoffed and sat across them.
"Someone woke up from the wrong side of the bed." James, my race engineer said and George just scoffed too.
"Well, i was in pretty good mood." She crossed her arms. "I'm Kiara, nice to meet you." She extended a hand towards George and he just shook it nodding.
"I'm George." He said in a flat tone.

This was odd, Kiara was always happy with everyone, friendly, always laughing.. but George was.. off. She shrugged her thoughts and just settled on her chair more comfortably.

Toto entered the room and stood in front of everyone, with a smile.

"Hello to everyone, especially our new driver George! We are here to discuss few things then Kiara and George will need to do a video for the media, like every other teammates." He started making Kiara feeling even more off about it.
"As we know, we announced that Kiara will be the first driver, since Lewis sadly left, and that stands for now, but if George show the potential he showed in F2, he will be the first driver." That made Kiara scoff, feeling slightly betrayed.
"Seriously? A rookie to become the first driver? What kind of disrespect is that?" She rolled her eyes.
"Kiara, please be nice. It's just the team rules." Toto said sternly making Kiara chuckle.
"Or just sexism!" Kiara stood up and left the room.

She walked out of the motorhome, walking to her driver room, settling on her small couch with a sigh. It wasn't fair to her. How come a rookie can take her first place in the team? She fought for it!

Kiara went outside, walking around the paddock, it was still pretty empty, the only teams that were in Bahrain were Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

She was scrolling through her playlist trying to find a song to distract her, suddenly she bumped into someone, almost falling backwards. She quickly looked up, spotting Charles.

"Sorry, i didn't watched where I'm going." Her tone was distant and cold, she didn't wanted to talk or be with someone.
"Oh it's okay. Tough day?" He reached to give her a pat on her shoulder, making her flinch.
"Oh.. yeah.. something like that." She murmured and looked away.
"Are you in mood for some drinks tonight? Me, Max and Carlos are going out.. Also i think George is coming. We are including him too so he can settle fastly."
"Almost yes, but no. This George guy is an asshole."
"Your own teammate is an asshole?" He chuckled at her words.
"Believe me! He got all the team under some kind of magic! Even Toto! He said that he can be the first driver!" Kiara was frustrated, pissed, and definitely felt betrayed.
"Come on Ki, it won't be so bad, and you look like you could use a drink." He softly rubbed her shoulder. She loosen up, and nodded.
"Okay... i will.."
"Good, i will come and pick you up, okay?" He looked at her softly, making her crack a smile.