Turbulence [𝗠.𝗩.]

Austria, Post-Race

Happy to announce that I will be racing for another year with @JaguarF1! The team have been great to work with, extremely supportive, and I cannot wait to show you the results of all our hard work. - @SchumacherMick

@SchumacherMick @JaguarF1 Best news all week! You deserve it! - @JessicaBond57

⸻

AUSTRIA
AFTER THE RACE
JULY

I knew George was talking out of his arse. Mick's the one with the contract renewal, not me. I'm not sour about it. Not at all. Mick deserves it. He's been working so hard to fight the pack, and when left to his own devices, he has made some pretty good strategy calls.

"Oliver said your renewal is all but guaranteed." Mick starts, breaking my mind out of the zoning state it had been in.

I look around, seeing deep blue walls, dark wooden furniture, and remember I'm in my hotel room. Right. My hands grip the white duvet beneath me as I give Mick my best huh look.

"He's worried you might ask for more than they can afford. And he's still deciding if it's one or two years."

"Mick, I normally believe you, but just because I've hit the podium twice, doesn't mean I'm getting a renewal. There are other contracts potentially ending soon, and some drivers have a get-out clause that means they're still poachable." I don't want to give into false hope. I need to keep racing like my life depends on it.

Georgie (boyfriend?);
I'm still not wrong.

Jessie (side piece?) (Me);
You are, George. Lmao

I chuck my phone at the black pillows, sighing for no real reason. Maybe I'm just shattered after that race. I certainly feel like the adrenaline is crashing out of me at last. Mick starts making himself a coffee as I reluctantly crawl over to my buzzing phone, swearing at it.

"Do you say that when I text you?"

"I tell my phone to fuck off every time it goes, nobody gets a special insult. Why, do you want one?"

"No thanks." Mick laughs, his back turned to me as I read the text.

Logan;
Why do you want my advice?

I frown. My plan isn't working instantly. Time to appeal to him in the right way.

Jessica (Me);
Because I don't trust anyone else
to not make me choose something
god awful. I want someone who isn't
going to give me a biased opinion as
well.

Logan;
I can try

Jessica (Me);
You're a lifesaver, Logan. Pls don't tell
James or the others. I don't want them
teasing me over this.

"Finally!" I exclaim as Logan reacts to the message with a thumbs-up emoji. I'd tried asking him at first under the guise of others being too busy to take the time, since we're packing four races into five weeks, but he kept suggesting other people like Max and Mick and so on. I'd then appealed to him being a car nut, but he rightly pointed out others that were the same. Appealing to friendship and trust has finally worked, apparently. I should have started with that.

"Finally?" Mick asks, turning around with a white mug in his hands.

"Oh, nothing important. Just trying to get people to commit to plans—" I groan as my phone goes again. I groan harder when I realise it's Cassandra. For the past week or so, I've been trying to convince her to not do a Daniel and corner Max about the dinner she caught us having. In her mind, I'm practically Max's girlfriend already and she wants all the details of what hasn't been going on, but she's sure that there has been something going on.

Cassy;
OMG JUST SEEN PHOTOS
FROM AFTER THE RACE!
You two look SO CUTE

Mick sits down on the light blue sofa to the left of the large double bed that I'm laying on. "What's wrong?"

"Cassandra thinks she knows some hot gossip." My response, vague by choice, get a laugh from him as he pulls his own phone out of his pocket. "She doesn't, but... well, you know Cass."

"She still thinks I'm dating Izzy."

Jessy (Me);
We aren't dating Cass.

Cassy;
BULLSHIT!
LOOK AT THIS PHOTO
FROM THE COOLDOWN
ROOM

I do my best not to react at all as an image pops up. It's a screenshot from the F1TV feed, right when Max and I were talking in the room earlier. Even I can't pretend the way he's looking at me... Or how I'm looking at him. It's practically there for any to see. He smiles at me with such warmth, that it reaches his eyes, making them seem brighter. My usually guarded body language isn't there. I'm relaxed, shoulders not tensed, body positioned slightly towards him. My smile looks soft; deep green eyes are making contact with bright blue ones.

Fuck.

Cassy;
Your silence validates me.

Jessy (Me);
No it doesn't.
We're just friends right now.
We are NOT dating.

Cassy;
Then it is my goal to change that.

I groan as I read the message. I know Mick's probably looking up from his phone, so I guess I have to come up with a cover story.

"Cassandra is trying to set me up with people." It's not a lie, I'm just not willing to tell him who she's intent on setting me up with when it'll mess with the plans Max and I have. But then again, if I tell her about the plans, she'll still try to bulldoze through them. "I might need to start fake dating George for real."

"Thank god, I thought you were going to say me."

My mouth falls open in an overdramatic expression of shock. Mick starts laughing as I yank one of the pillows off the bed and throw it in his direction. He catches it with ease, hurling it back at my head.

"I'll have you know I am a low-maintenance girlfriend! Just give me a video game setup and I'll be happy!"

"You know how expensive those are, right?"

"It's a one-off payment! And I like paying for dinner, so you save money in the long run!" I move the pillow so I can rest my head on it, giving Mick a dead stare. "You're missing out!"

"However will I cope..." Mick puts the back of a hand to his forehead; his dramatic gesture is enough to make our fake argument fall apart into a giggle fit.