The bet | Charles Leclerc

• Eight •

Sunday

The paddock is empty, and suddenly seems depressing to me. Once the winner is found, this place becomes a ghost town.

Saying I can't wait to get to my hotel bed, would be an understatement. All I want right now is to lay down on the pillow and simply sleep.

But walking through the paddock, I already know that isn't going to be possible. I have a big day ahead of me, with an important shoot.

More worryingly, I can't stop thinking about Leclerc. Can't stop seeing his disappointed face as I took a distance.

I don't even know why I did it, everything just became too much too quickly.

The redbull building approaches on my left. I chuckle to myself staring at it. My brother and father are probably still in there, and yet they haven't spoken a word to me since Jos approached me.

But I wouldn't expect any different from them. As I leaned quickly as a child; Verstappen's often forget that a phone works two ways.

The wide door opens in the dark blue building. Out steps my brother, Max Verstappen. Dressed in Redbull merch, he looks just as shocked as me.

So here we stand, staring wide eyed at each other.

Two siblings, two sides of the family.

"Hello." Max firmly says with a strained voice.

"Hey." I reply, scared to even look him in the eye.

My feet start carrying me once again, but my steps trail off as Max's feet carry him in the exact same direction.

"We live at the same hotel.." He mumbles awkwardly under his breath, catching up to me.

I stare confusingly at him, as we walk side by side. "I've seen you there a couple of times" He explains, rubbing the back of his neck, refusing my gaze.

My feet continue to move, but the rest of my body feels frozen. He's seen me, and not said a word? "Oh." I manage to get out.

After all he's my brother, my blood, I'd accept even an annoyed hello.

We walk in silence, our footsteps the only sound filling the air. I've never wanted to disappear so badly before.

"You never told me you were becoming a journalist" Max speaks up, breaking the horrid silence.

I bite down on my lip. "I knew you'd try to stop me" I respond, desperately trying to push away all of the emotions suddenly rushing to me.

I can feel Max's eyes on me, as I stare down at my feet.

"I wouldn't have." He mutters. "It's always been your dream" He adds, now being the one to gaze down at the ground.

My heart skips a beat, a sharp pain filling my chest.

He remembered. He remembered my dream.

"How do you know that?" I ask gently, unable to stop the tiny smile that curls up on my lip. Max smiles softly himself, still refusing to look at me.

"You and Mam always talked about it while we waited for Vater to pick me up" Max explains, sending me back to the time when Max constantly moved between our mom and dad.

Back to the time a little girl had to watch her father invest all his time in her brother, but never spent a minute with her.

I swallow hardly. "I'm sorry" I apologize, my voice almost an whisper. I should've told him, should've at least warned him.

"No don't." Max argues back, his voice suddenly stronger. "I'm the one who should apologize." He says, determination in his voice.

His eyes find mine. We both stare tensely at each other. Brother to sister, Verstappen to Verstappen.

"I've been a dick." Max admits, his voice thick. He has a point there. He takes a deep breath, his gaze trailing away once again, as he hesitates.

"I've been too much like Vater, I'm sorry."

Max Verstappen. The son of Jos Verstappen. The so called monster of a champion that Jos Verstappen created...

And yet sometimes, even he hates his own father.

The hotel approaches in the horizon, the sunset right behind it. I look at Max, look at the man I spend every day getting compared to.

"That isn't your fault, that's what you've always been taught to be" I reply, truthfully. Jos' words always meant more to Max.

Even as a grown man, Jos could convince Max to do anything if he felt like it. He always had that fucked up power over him.

Max stares at the ground intensely, a world wind of emotions rumbling behind those cold eyes.

Then he stares at me. For a moment I think I see tears glaze in his eyes, but they disappear as quickly as they came.

I try to smile at him.

A brother and a sister. One older, one younger. A success and a failure. One raised by Vater, one raised by Mam.

"I'm heading this way" Max suddenly speaks up, and I suddenly notice that we're just outside the hotel. He points in the opposite direction I'm heading.

Towards the suites. I'm heading toward the cheapest room at the hotel. That's another difference between us. One has Daddy's money, the other has Mommy's.

"Max?" I ask, as he begins to turn around.

I can't just let him leave. Can't just allow us to stay away from each other like we always do.

His gaze snaps to me, caught off guard.

"A phone works two ways, you know?"

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YOU CAN CALL ME UUUP, A PHONE WORKS TWO WAYS YOU KNOW!!

God. Such an amazing song.