Third Person POV
The night was still going on and Ashley was done with it. She was scrolling through her phone when an article caught her eye. It had a poster of George and Carmen and her.
"Looks like Ashley King is in trouble again. George and Carmen, a very loved F1 couple sadly broke up a few weeks ago. Fans were not happy about it and it reached another level when their fellow driver Lando Norris posted a photo of George with Ashley looking cosy. Soon it caused the fans to take sides. While a large group of fans loves the best friends to be a couple, looks like she was the reason the couple broke up"
Ashley closed her fists tightly and her body stiffened. Lance Stroll who was standing beside her noticed her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He noticed what was on her phone and understood.
"Hey, you ok?" he asked. She turned around and looked at him. "Yeah...Yeah. I'm okay" she said and looked at her phone. Stroll knew it was bad but at the same time, he didn't want to get into that business. So he silently made his way away from her. Ashley scrolled more.
"It is noted that the female driver was also linked with Max Verstappen after they looked cozy during a few races. The female driver is going through a breakup right now and seems that she would be getting comfort from a lot of drivers around her. Can't blame her, they are handsome men and it is difficult to control the urges"
Ashley's anger boiled inside her. She scrolled through a few comments.
'Looks like she cannot keep her hands off the men'
'She may be fast in the car but she cannot jump men this fast'
'I like her with George, but it's not right to steal him from his girl'
'Told yah, not to allow female drivers'
'Maybe this is why George was not performing well the last few races. No wonder she is distracting him so she could have the Championship.'
Ashley stood up from her seat and walked towards the washroom. Tears started rolling down her face. Anger boiled inside her at the same time she felt disgusted with herself. Is this what people think of her? Is this what she fought that hard to be in Formula 1? She looked at her mirror and noticed the makeup smudging.
She immediately took a tissue from her purse and corrected her face. She looked one last time in the mirror correcting her hair before she slowly made it outside. She walked outside the building and looked around. An official with a Pirelli uniform approached her.
"Can I help you mam?" he asked. "I need a car now," she said. "Are u sure mam? Looks like the event is still-"
"Please. Now. I have to go." she pleaded. He just couldn't say no. So he arranged a car for her. She waited a few minutes and the car rolled. The driver got out and handed her the keys.
"Drive safe mam," he said with a tint of care in his voice. She started her car and looked at him. "Just...Just don't tell anyone I left" she said. He gave a single nod.
She pressed the paddle and swiftly made her way out.
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"And now we like to honor the drivers and appreciate them. I request all the drivers on stage" the host announced.
19 men around the room moved towards the stage with their tuxedos. It was a very stylish sight and the cameras clicked non-stop. Not soon they noticed one of them was missing. Everyone looked around to see if they could find the female driver.
"Where is Ashley?" Lewis asked Lando who stood beside him.
"No idea," he said and looked at Lui. She looked around and couldn't find her and shook her head at Lando.
Alex did the same with Lily as she came out of the washroom checking if she was there. She also shook her head saying 'no'.
"A round of applause for the drivers please" the host announced and everyone started clapping. "Where is she?" George whispered to Alex.
"I don't know" Alex whispered back when Lance made his way towards the men. "I think she left. She kinda looked a bit down when I last saw her" he said.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked Stroll. "I saw her reading a post about you and Carmen involving her. And-" he stopped.
"It was bad" he finished. Alex and George shared a look. Lando made his way towards them "Where the hell is she?" he asked them and with the look on their faces he understood something had happened.
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"She left without telling us. She never leaves without telling us" Lando said as the drivers with their partners made their way out of the event as it was over.
"I should have stayed with her. She was already upset about it" Lily said sadly. Alex put a hand around her. "I'm sure she is fine Lily. She's just not in the right state of mind" Alex assured her.
Max and Kelly made their way towards them. "Any news?" he asked. All of them shook their head saying 'No'.
"This is so not Ashley-like. I mean I know she gets upset but never seen her react this way. Even on the flight when she shouted at us" Lando said.
"Lando, her boyfriend, who was there at all stages of her life just left her one night. Her brother who was always there for her, started a family that now he has to take care of. What do you expect from her? Guess we should have just been a bit alerted today " George said.
Kelly huffed hearing that. "You guys do know that you all have separate lives other than being her friend. Why does she crave so much attention?" She said.
"Kelly, I think we've had enough of this. You know how those articles write about you" Max said. Lui was on the phone reading the article when another one popped. She opened it and shifted uncomfortably.
"What? What happened?" Lando asked her when she showed the phone. Everybody peeped in.
'Looks like Ashley King couldn't take the sight. The female driver was seen leaving the Pirelli event halfway and it was evident that she looked sad. The event had the Formula 1 drivers attending with their dates, girlfriends, and wives. Ashley King who is just out of a relationship seems like she couldn't digest the sight of her best friends with their girls. It has been noted that she was also upset with her fellow driver George Russell patched back his relationship with his girl Carmen and Ashley just couldn't accept it
"What is the World?" George said. Everyone's face around had a sense of disgust as they read the article.
"No wonder she left," Carmen said in a sarcastic tone that made George so angry. He wanted to react when Alex put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't. We have people clicking on us. The last thing Ash wants is another writeup saying she broke you two" he in a very low tone.
