RACING HEARTS: trapped between two champions

Chapter 1 //

Mia opened her eyes due to the sound of her alarm ringing. She quickly turned it off and let out a big sigh. It was late march, which only meant one thing... it was the beginning of the new season. It was supposed to be the first season she would attend and watch after the 2013 one. And she was terrified. The thoughts of actually going there and seeing some faces that would only remind her of him, scared the living shit out of her. But her brother's career was getting more and more serious, and she wanted to be there for him, so she decided to face it.

After a few minutes of sinking into her mind, she stood up and headed downstairs. As she entered the kitchen, her brother Max and, father Jos were already there, chatting about something while eating. „Morning." She said with a neutral tone. Their gazes moved to her. Her little brother only repeated what she said with a smile on his face. "Morning Mia." Her father greeted her. Max gestured his head as a 'come here' sign. They went easy on her, because they knew exactly how she felt about going today. The Verstappen family was always so close to the Schumacher family, so it wasn't easy for neither of them after the accident, but they knew that Mia took it a lot harder than anyone else. She approached them, and Max laid his hand over her shoulder. "You know you don't have to go today." Max always treated her nicely and with kindness, he looked up to her and protected her at all costs, so seeing his big sister struggle was heartbreaking to him. "I'll handle it, don't worry." Even Mia herself didn't believe a single word she just said. 

It's been 3 years already. The first one was the most devastating experience of her entire life, each day was marked by her tears or constant reflection on what had happened. The second one was somewhat less difficult. She cut all ties with the Schumacher family, which might seem like a very selfish and rude thing to do, but they fully understood her choice. She realized that staying would only make things worse. Everything would remind her of him and the reality that he would never be the same again. The following one wasn't too difficult. Mia dedicated all her energy and time into her modelling career, which helped her nearly forget about him. However, the past 2 weeks were an absolute nightmare. As the start of the season approached, those thoughts came back. She chose to keep her feelings to herself, but it was evident to everyone how she was struggling, but no one was brave enough to bring it up with her. 

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive, Max. Its time to move on, so just stop talking." She grumbled unpleasantly and got out of his grip. She knew it's not her brother's fault that she's in a bad mood but took it out on him anyway.

"Stop being so rude. Its not our fault so don't take it out on us." Jos wasn't in a good mood either and his daughter being in even worse one always drove him nuts. "It's never anyone's fault, right?" This came across as somewhat harsh, she was aware, spoke up anyway. "See you there." She continued and left without having any breakfast.

"Ill talk to her."  Max was ready to calm his sister down, but Jos stopped him. "No. leave her be and focus on what we were talking about earlier. She can handle it herself." He was never the type of a father who provided comfort to his children, instead he preferred they handle things independently. That's why the siblings share such a strong bond, they always stick together. However, this time Max heeded his fathers advice, knowing he needed to concentrate on his upcoming race. As his career advanced and the opportunity to become a successful driver loomed, he accepted that his sister might not value his presence anyway, so he decided to let her go.

Mia entered her room again and looked at herself in the mirror. She clutched the sides of her oversized pyjama shirt and pulled it tightly around her body, completely outlining it. Not only had she changed her hair color and style, but she had also lost a few kilograms. The accident had left her deeply shaken, making it difficult for her to eat. While this contributed to her success in modeling, she had always been slim, so now she appeared a bit unhealthy to others. She knew exactly what he would think. He would likely be a bit disappointed. But since he was no longer around and wasnt the same person anymore, it no longer mattered. After a few minutes of staring at her body, she changed into a RedBull shirt that represented her brother's team and some plain, blue low-rise jeans. Suddenly she heard a small 'beep' from her phone. She looked and saw a message from Kimi Räikkönen, the one person she was really excited to see today. He was an old friend of hers. Kimi never failed to make her laugh so she hoped it wouldn't fail today either.

'Hey kid, you coming today, right?' Even though Mia was already 29 he still continued to call her 'kid', which was kind of comforting to her.

'Yup... just getting ready.' She replied, but the only thing she got back was just a thumbs up emoji... classic Kimi.

Mia spent a few more minutes putting on some natural makeup and doing her hair. She wanted to at least feel a bit pretty during this awful day. It got harder and harder each minute and her chest felt like exploding, but she knew she needed to handle it somehow. Suddenly, 3 knocks on her door got her out of her thoughts. The doors slowly opened, and it was Max. "Just letting you know that we are leaving in a few minutes." He said in a calm voice. Mia nodded, stood up and grabbed her bag. "Hey...it's going to be fine, okay?" Is it? Mia thinks otherwise but she just nodded and left like he was not even there