🏁 𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐂 | formula one

#007

"THAT WAS A GOOD TIME YOU PUT in earlier. what was it - 2, 3 seconds faster than the record?"

i turned away from kaylea to meet the voice straight in and was greeted my a redbull racing suit. tilting my head slightly to reach the driver's gaze i came to see none other than red bull's golden boy himself, max verstappen.

"yeah, something like that" i squinted my eyes slightly, the setting melbourne sun coming in on an angle from where i was standing.

he noticed my discomfort as he shifted his body, which made me have to turn away from the sun to still be facing him.

"you're lennox, right? you drive for cadillac?"

i nodded before looking down at my racing suit - which i forgot had been pulled down and wrapped around my waist, leaving me to be liking at my blank white fire suit. i was going to refer to the cadillac logo on it but realized there was now nothing to show for it as it hung folded on my lower half.

my attention was brought back up when i felt a tap on my hat - the one i also completely forgot i had been wearing. the hat with a cadillac racing logo.

he laughed, "took a wild guess"

i smiled, although a bit confused as to why i had heard so many things about "mad max" when he seems to be such a nice person in real life.

"uh, how are you liking the paddock? i know it's not much different from formula two but..."

i momentarily froze on the inside, not realizing when he had first approached me that he was wanting to have a full on conversation, "it's nice - especially the catering. i mean, yes we got catering in formula two but not at this level. and because this is the main event i feel much less stress out. before it always felt rushed because a majority of the fans were really only coming for the f1 race and our races were kind of 'entrees' for their meal— i think i'm hungry, i keep talking about food..."

i hadn't noticed i was rambling until i caught sight of kaylea just a few feet behind max. she was pointing between me be the boy in front of me, making funny faces and wiggling her eyebrows before finally mouthing the words, "someone's got a crush"

my face fell upon seeing this, immediately stopping myself from rambling on even more.

i have a feeling he felt kaylea's presence behind him as he turned in her direction. it would have been fine, had she not seen he looked her way and walked up to the two of us.

"lennox, i see you've met max!" she acted as if our silent, one ended interaction didn't just happen.

kaylea turned to me specifically when she spoke, "you remember i used to work for redbull before joining cadillac, right?"

i nodded, the piece of information having left my brain till just now.

max was still facing kaylea, "and how is cadillac treating you?"

she smiled at him, "really, really well. i'm glad i made the switch. not only am i closer to this little munchkin,"

she brought her hand up to my cheek and gently pinched it; she knew what she was doing, and i could feel the effects of the embarrassment reaching my cheeks in a very obvious manner.

i tried to ignore max's laughter, it being one of the things that would make me even more embarrassed in a situation like this.

"but i also hit it off with one of the mechanics and safe to say — i could see myself with a ring on my finger in the next few years" she joked, but i knew all too well she was praying to herself at night that the man she met was the one she would spend the rest of her life with.

max laughed along with her, and part of me was relieved she had brought up her boyfriend.

for some odd reason i liked that he knew she was taken and was therefore "off limits".

i grew quiet as the two of them caught up with each other, laughing when it was appropriate as i half heartedly listened to the conversation. my mind was elsewhere.

i hadn't known what came over me. i had just met him and was glad he couldn't try to make any advances on my manager? not to mention he's 3 years older than me and drives for one of my teams top competitors.

when i woke up this morning and knew i was going to have a chaotic day, this is not what i had in mind.