It's not true

#2

The next day, Charles and Max walk downstairs.

"Good morning." Charles says and his mother looks up and smiles. "Good morning Honey. How did you sleep?" she asks and Charles shrugs. "Fine." he says while Pascale rubs his cheek. "It's going to be okay, honey, really. Everything will be okay in the end. And sometimes not in the way you want, but it will be okay." she says and Charles nods softly. "Have a seat, breakfast is almost ready. I already have something on the table. Lorenz and Art are already sitting." "Thank you Maman." "Sweet, thank you." smiles Max. They walk to the room where the table is.

"But he didn't answer either Lo, all that's online is heav- hey good morning." Arthur says as they walk in. "Hey, good morning. You don't have to stop talking." says Max. "It's okay." says Arthur.

“It was about Lando wasn't it?” Charles asks and Arthur nods softly. "Sorry, I know you guys would rather not talk about it." "It's okay. Have you spoken to him?" he asks, but Arthur shakes his head. "He's not answering. But what's online makes me worry." he says, wriggling his fingers. "Is there much online? We haven't looked." says Max. "Don't do that either." Lorenzo says and they both look at him. "Is it that bad?" Charles asks. "Not really for you two. A lot has your back." Lorenzo says and Charles looks at Max who also looks at him. "Is it bad for Lando?" Max asks cautiously, afraid to hear the answer. "Let's just say that I hope McLaren will arrange security for Lando." Arthur says and Max and Charles' eyes widen. "What?"

"It's Austria, your fans Max. I think you understand which way I want to go. They protect you to the core." Lorenzo says and Max looks down and then at Charles. "They're protecting Max, of course." Charles mutters. "But now it's gone too far. Lando is being threatened and it doesn't look like it's a joke to some." says Arthur. "What!" Charles says immediately. "Art why do you say that." sighs Lorenzo. "They already knew anyway." Arthur says as Max and Charles look at each other.

"Maybe it's best to talk to your team about putting something online. For Lando's safety in particular." Lorenzo says and Charles bites his lip and nods. "Then we'll do that later." Max says and Charles nods again.

"What time do we fly to Austria?" Arthur asks. "Around 3 o'clock this afternoon." Max says and looks at the clock. It was now 11 o'clock. "And do you happen to know if you have the same hotel as Lando?" "I have no idea. Usually the three of us have one." says Charles, looking down again. "Oh okay."

Pascale comes in with eggs and then they start having breakfast.

Lando's name was no longer mentioned in the many conversations they had.

They sit on the bed upstairs. Max has just spoken to Red Bull about what to do with this situation. Sophia, who arranges all this, would first call Hannah from Ferrari to discuss what is best. They will be called back shortly.

"I hope Lando has someone with him. George or something." Charles sighs and Max looks at him. "I hope so too." despite the anger they feel, they will always be concerned about Lando.

“What are we going to do if we run into Lando?” "I have no idea Charles. We better can talk when the weekend is over." "But if they realize in the media that we are not talking, everything will become even worse." "It's already bad. This weekend there will be even more cameras on us. Luckily we have Sunday where we go in different cars instead of the truck." "Good thing, too." "Let's see what we do. Maybe we want to talk to him and we'll do that. We'll see." says Max. "Okay."

Half an hour later they receive a call back from Sophia.

"Hey guys, I talked to Hannah. We don't think it would be useful to post anything online. We think the fuss will become even bigger. Yes, you are out to the world, but you don't have to share these things online, don't forget that. You have to think about yourself and not about what is said online." "But we have heard terrible things being said about Lando." "Mclaren has to solve that itself. If you put something online now, it will be even bigger. What I do know is that Oscar posted in his story that the photo is not true and that they are working on who edited the photo so that this can all be resolved. Lando hasn't said anything online." "Okay, thank you." "Take it easy guys. I'll see you tomorrow." "See you tomorrow Sophia, thank you." Max says before hanging up.