Third Person POV
Ashley's phone was continuously ringing which woke her up. She had a bit of difficulty opening her eyes as they were strained from all the crying last night. She looked at her phone and it was Lando.
Theo walked into the room and looked at her phone checking who it was. "Someone has to take that call right now," Oliver said as he walked groggily into the room. Ashley cut the call immediately when Theo gave her a look.
Last night...
She knocked on their door continuously. There was a swift movement as the door opened. "Jesus!" She heard an annoyed Ollie but his face softened as soon as he noticed his driver.
"Ash, what happened?" he asked worried when Theo came by him too. Tears rolled through her face. Her makeup was all smudged and she looked wrecked.
"I...I didn't wanna go back to my room. I didn't...I called Bella. She didn't pick up. I Didn't know where to go" she said crying. The guys looked at her with a very worried look.
Theo came out and put a hand over her shoulder. "Jesus Ash. You are freezing" he said and walked her inside the room. Oliver immediately wrapped her with a jacket. Theo made her sit down on the couch.
"I...I am not OK. I am not feeling OK. I am...I don't know what I'm doing-" she rambled as she cried.
"Shhh..Shh...Ash, it's OK. It's OK. It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be fine, okay" Oliver tried to calm her down. He looked at Theo as the trainer took his phone and walked away from the room calling Alex to ask him what the hell happened.
"I..Ollie. I don't know what I'm doing. I..I was never this person. I feel like I'm just losing myself" she said burying her face into her legs. Oliver didn't know what to tell her because he didn't know what was wrong. One thing he knows for sure is that it was bad. Very bad because he has never seen her break like this before. He had been her race engineer from her days in F2 and this was the first time he saw her like this after her parents died.
Oliver slowly rubbed her back comforting her. "It's OK Ash. You did nothing wrong. It's OK alright?" he kept on saying to her. Theo walked back into the room and he had a bad look on his face. He looked at Oliver and shook his head in a very annoyed manner.
Theo came and sat in front of her on his knees. "Hey Ash," he said and removed the hands that were covering her face.
"You did nothing wrong okay? Come on. You are better than this. Don't allow them to pull you down like that" he said wiping the tears off her face.
"I...I wanted nothing more than to be in Formula 1. I worked so hard. Why am I the bad guy always? she said in a frustrated tone.
"I make one mistake-"
"Ash, you did nothing wrong. It's not your fault this is happening" Theo said.
"T, they called me a slut. They hate me" She said. Theo sat beside her. "Ashley, since when did they matter? 100s hate you for this. 1000s of girls and women look up to you for what you are doing. Love you for representing them in Formula 1. Don't forget them." he said. Ashley fiddled with her fingers. Oliver stopped her from doing it.
"Ash, you have a meeting tomorrow with FIA along with Susie Wolff. What is it for?" He asked.
"For the F1 Academy," she whimpered.
"And the F1 Academy is about?"
"Women in Motorsport," she said softly again.
"Now Ash. If everything was as smooth as you think for women here. Why are you planning on F1 Academy? Why do you think Susie got you to do the talking when she could have done it herself?" he asked.
Ashley's face was completely dried now. "You are strong Ash. This is not you. You know how difficult it is. Don't give up and make it easy for them" Theo said. Ashley sat straight now looked between the two guys and nodded.
"I'm sorry. I am a mess" she said. "And we are always here to clean up the mess," Oliver said winking at her.
"I have three good guys as friends and the world knows about it. But I have another two for myself" She said taking both their hands.
"Yeah, not planning on making it public though. We don't wanna become competitors for the F1 drivers. Pretty sure they cannot win" Theo said.
"Second that" Oliver added made her give out a laugh. The other two shared it as well.
'I...I need a shirt. I should get outside of this shit" she said laughing.
Present..
"You know they care. Alex told me Lily felt so bad that she was not there for you last night" Theo said as Oliver yawned and sat beside them.
"I'll text her. But-" The doorbell rang continuously. Theo went to check it and came back with a very hyper Bella.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. I'm so sorry" she jumped herself at Ashley.
"Bells" Ash laughed.
"I'm sorry. I had a flight. I couldn't take the call. I landed and had about 100 missed calls and voicemails from Lando, George, Alex, and Lily. I panicked and called Lily. She told me what happened. I didn't know where you were. They didn't know where you were and then T called me and said you were here. I wanted to come. But he said to come in the morning. So I'm here now" she rambled which made others laugh.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry Ash" she said unwrapping herself from her.
"It's Ok. I'm Ok" the driver said with a big smile.
"They all sounded very worried though. Especially Lily" she added. "I will text Lily, but before that, I want your help," she said to Bella.
"Anything"
"No press conferences along with Lando, Alex, and George. I..I feel like I should stay away from them for a few days. For all this to settle" Ashley said.
"Ashley but-"
"No buts. It's best for all of us. Alex and Lily will understand. Let George be happy for once with Carmen and Lando just met a girl. I am not ruining it. Not with Lando" she said firmly.
Bella thought for a second. She knew how difficult it had to be for her, but as a woman herself, she knew what she was going through. She gave a firm nod.
"And you always cover me when they ask you about me. Tell them something. Lie. Tell them I'm at the washroom, meeting room, or the other side of the world, but please don't let them meet me. Not at least for the next few races." she said to Theo. He also nodded.
"And you-"
"I can just punch them," Oliver said. "NO!..you will not. You are gonna help me win that championship" she said.
"Ha! piece of cake," Oliver said.
"Should I tell it?" Theo eyed Bella. "Maybe you should," she said. Oliver and Ash looked between them confused.
"Team 36 for the championship Baby!" Theo shouted. Bella threw her hands up in the air. Oliver jumped up on the bed. Ashley laughed loudly looking at them.
"Yeah, Baby. Team 36!" she shouted too.
