As if | Max Verstappen

58

we were back in Monaco and somehow George had agreed that Max could come along. I didn't know what his plan was because he refused to tell me anything. I had come close to canceling because I couldn't forgive him. our parents had talked to me and said that I should forgive him because he was my brother, but just because you are related by blood you shouldn't forgive someone if they have done something wrong.

we got ready to go to the address George had sent and when I looked it up it was just a regular road with nothing interesting nearby. George had said I shouldn't wear anything fancy so I put on a pair of tracksuits and a hoodie over it.

Max offered to drive because my thoughts were all over the place. we threw ourselves into the car and Max set the GPS to the address and started driving, Max asked if I should put on music but I said no and he was shocked.

I had no idea about the GPS and just looked out the window and when we drove further I chose to check and then I saw that the address had changed. I was going to ask but I didn't have time until Max stopped the car in an empty parking lot.

I asked what we were doing here and he just said cryptically that we were going to walk a few hundred meters. I couldn't bear to question Max so I followed him. Max told me to put on a blindfold he had brought with him. he saw that I was insecure but he assured that he wouldn't let anything happen to me when he was around. he had proven it to me after we chose to try again so I took it upon myself and held out my hand for him to lead me.

I could hear familiar voices after a while and I began to fear what was to come after I removed the blindfold. after several minutes everything went quiet and I felt Max help me remove the blindfold from my eyes. I had difficulty at first adjusting my eyes to the light after being surrounded by darkness for several minutes. after I could see the surroundings, I saw Max, George, Lando and Carmen standing a few meters away from me and behind them there was a kart track.

"what is this?" I asked.

"Bells, we know how hard you've fought to get to f1 and it's impossible to see that all the hate and the way me and Lando have been behaving has made your love for the sport fade...so...I arranged for us to go back to our roots and do some karting, just like we did when we started. No hate, no pressure. Just pure joy." George said with a nervous smile.

I felt warmth fill my heart and my smile widened. I walked up to George and gave him a hug. then Carmen came over and hugged me.

"I will also drive today JUST for you"

"how honored I feel" I said and bowed teasingly.

we got ready to get into a go kart and once i got into my kart i felt a tension build inside me but i knew what kind of tension it was. that's how I'd felt the first time I'd ever sat in a go-kart from when I was a kid. I started the engine and heard the familiar hum that had been etched in my childhood memory.

I was the first one out on the track and the second I felt the wind in my hair I was reminded of how happy I had been when I got to try George's old karting as a child and how I had fallen in love with the speed, the intensity and the adrenaline. I remembered how I had felt after my first race where it had rained heavily but I had managed to take a podium.