Teach Me Something // LH44

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"So what happens now?" I ask Anthony, watching the engineers run out of the garage with a smile on my face. They were screaming like banshees as they shove each other around in victory while also trying to imitate how fast their car has just gone around the track as they get around to the qualifying podium area at the bottom. In fact it wasn't just his engineers, I watched as the entire garage emptied as quickly as it had been filled, a smirk on Toto's face as he winked at me and followed them down at almost the same pace. The smile on my face couldn't be wider because his car had finally slowed down as it now drove towards the track and with most people in the garage now gone, I was able to approach a screen to more closely watch it, his father following me to it.

"Time to go down to the bottom and see his interview," Anthony tells me, his hand on my elbow to quietly urge me to follow him but I shake my head, eyes not moving from the screen as my smile widens and I see his visor is up as he drives, eyes looking around the crowds as he takes his small victory. "Georgina, he will want you there."

"He told me about his dream... and it wasn't about catching me in the crowd at the end of qualifying. He dreams of standing on the top step of the podium, looking down, seeing the team and having me lost in the masses. So, you can tell him... if he wants to see me down there, he will need to find his way to that top step tomorrow," I tell Anthony, resolutely, smiling at him softly as I put my headphones fully back over my ears. It takes everything in me not to look back at him or follow him when he finally does leave, instead I focus my eyes on the screen that shows the general broadcast and I watch and listen to it from in the garage, noticing myself briefly on the screen when the cameras pan to comment on how the entire garage is with Lewis, my lone self standing in the middle, watching with a smile. When the interviews ended and I saw him looking at the number one on his hat proudly, I finally managed to shake the fixation. I carefully take off my headphones, turning all dials to zero as I head towards the exit, finding the wall with the earphones and looking for somewhere to place mine.

I freeze when I see a red hat in the centre of the grid, giving me pause as I realise that there are names beside each of the stands. I look around and sure enough, on the very bottom row, almost hidden second last is my name, in perfectly engraved letters, placed next to Anthony Hamilton's was Georgina Hart.

I crouch down, smiling to myself as I carefully put them in their place, plugging the box into charge before standing up. I stand there, for the first time hearing some quiet in the garage with everyone distracted elsewhere and admire the wall. There's a variety of names and as my eyes dance over them all, I can't help but shake the feeling that they're not just names but people. People that work day in and day out to get Lewis where he's made it today and for the first time in all these months, I think I understand him a little better. I understand the decisions he's made a little better... part of me understands why he keeps his cards so close to his chest. Telling anyone when these people don't know would be a big decision and while I wish I could have known, I understand why this was something he was hesitant to talk about. These people were his family and he likely spends more time with them than anyone else in his life.

I also realise that while I get this insight into him, he doesn't have a wall of headphones to look at that will tell him my story, or explain some of the reasoning behind why I react the way that I do. Or why I feel the way that I do... so big but with so many reserves. All the positive and negative emotions, unfiltered and unfettered. I walk out of the garage when voices get closer and louder, slowly pulling me out of the emotional mess that is in my head and I choose to go and find my friends, all of whom were distinctly unconcerned about where I was given my appearance in the background of some shots taken of the Mercedes garage I found out later.

I urged them to pack up and get ready to leave as there is no point in staying any longer but they fought against me. Their most commonly used reason being that the queue to the bar is finally not too long and there's still a night of fun to be had at the famously fun track. Liam and Lucas also begging me for the  opportunity to walk around the track as a concert happens nearby, wanting to take the chance when they knew it was unlikely to ever happen again. That was how we ended up all drunk and lying on the track at the end of the Hamilton straight, having given up on completing a full lap before we could even really start.