Raging Bulls || Max Verstappen MV

15. Burning Bridges

"I could tell you the truth but you'd call me a liar

Tried to wave a white flag but you set it on fire."

⁂

I have no idea what made me leave my hotel room in Australia. The crash against my wall shook me from an already restless sleep and suddenly I was frozen in the hallway outside his door.

Should I knock? What would I say? Why did I even care?

The bottom line was I didn't care. It didn't matter if he'd thrown a vase or even himself at the wall. What my teammate did after races was none of my concern.

"Mati, are you alive back there?" Sebastian's voice brought me back to reality. We weren't in Australia anymore, it was time for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"Can someone tell me why Charles gets the front seat?" I smiled sweetly as the monegasque just grinned.

"Seb, I think she's alive." Both men began laughing and I tried to repress the urge to join them. Since Sebastian joined the team, Charles had been hanging around a lot. I didn't mind, it was nice for the most part. But, the Ferrari driver seemed to think that we were going to be friends.

"Alright Mati, talk to me when you're past your own pride."

I hadn't forgotten his words to me on the plane. The way he'd glimpsed past the carefully crafted attitude I'd developed, even for a second. The fix was simple, I'd just have to reinforce the walls a little stronger around him.

As we pulled into the hotel lot, Sebastian hurried to park.

"Alright schatzi, we have a team PR meeting in five minutes so let's hurry." Charles split off from us with a wave once inside the lobby.

Seb pulled open the conference room door and a cold burst of air greeted us. Christian, Daniel, Allie and my teammate all sat waiting. His eyes immediately turned to me as the temperature in the room dropped even lower.

"They're here!" Daniel brought the energy up immediately with his bright smile.

"How was the flight?" Allie chimed in.

"Fine, it was definitely nice to have some down time." Sebastian answered for the both of us.

"Nice of you to finally show up." My teammate muttered as silence fell.

"We're perfectly on time, thank you for worrying though." I responded quickly. 

"We've been here for fifteen minutes...just waiting for you to show up." That air of superiority made my heart race with anger.

"Christian said to be here at four, we are here at four." I matched the ice in his voice.

"Well if you're not early you're late." He spoke again without meeting my gaze. Even the way he sat in the chair was infuriating. His back was ramrod straight and both feet were planted firmly on the ground.

"Well just because you have a dick doesn't mean you have to act like one." All eyes turned to me, even my teammate's as he turned. Cold fury danced in his gaze and I smiled at the burst of emotion.

"Max...sit down." Christian spoke with quiet fury. "You too Mati," both of us slowly sat. "Well I guess it is a good thing we're doing this."

"Doing what?" My teammate snapped.

"Well, Sebastian recommended that we do our briefings as a team. So we can all be on the same page especially heading into the first sprint weekend.

"So now we're just supposed to all listen to what he says?" My teammate gestured to Seb and the little remaining warmth drained from my body.