Start Again | Forbidden Book 2

36. (Alternate) Red Lipstick

Monza was smooth sailings for the bulls, with another 1-2 from Max and Checo.

Checo had been having some difficult races lately, so Olivia was glad to see him back on track. She cheered the loudest at the podium ceremony and he smiled down at her as she stood on the highest spot of the crowd, even though she wasn't photographing for Mercedes at the moment. 

Then came Singapore. This one was a bittersweet race in all senses. For the bulls, this track did not suit them at all. The entire weekend was a mess. During qualifying Max got P11 and Checo got P13. During the race Max managed to make it up to P5 and Checo to P8. 

The strategy was terrible, the car was simply not working in their favor, they did as much as they could. 

For Mercedes,  the strategy was on point. The last 14 laps of the race had Liv's heart pounding on her chest as George followed by Lewis caught up with Lando in P2. Carlos was in P1 but he had old hard tyres like Lando. Meanwhile the two Mercedes had newer and quicker medium tyres. All the predictions pointed to the fact that either George or in any case Lewis would win. Given the fact that they were much quicker than Lando and Carlos. 

Liv could sense Lewis' frustration as he drove incredibly close to George, wanting him to pick up the pace. However, they weren't counting on the star strategist of the grid: Carlos Sainz. Knowing that the Mercedes would catch him eventually, he maintained Lando within DRS range rather than trying to get away. With the DRS, Lando was able to fight back and maintain his position from George. 

"Lando 0.8 behind with DRS" said Carlos' engineer.

"Yeah, it's on purpose" replied Carlos.

Liv laughed loudly as she heard that radio message. 

When they were on the very last lap, all the four cars close together, George hit the wall and ran straight to the barrier. He cursed and banged his car with his fists in frustration as his second career win slipped away. 

Across the finish line were Carlos, Lando and Lewis. It was incredible. They had absolutely no chance of making it through, and yet they had thanks so Carlos' tactics and teamwork between opposing teams. 

Liv was happy to be at that podium ceremony to celebrate her friends. Very few Mercedes staff were there because a lot of the mechanics were taking care of George's car. Still, Lewis was celebrated by the rest of the teams and Liv was front row  smiling at him and hugging him tightly.

After the podium ceremony was over and they were back at the hotel, Liv was getting ready to go out with some of the drivers. 

"I don't really feel like going" said Max. Not surprising Liv at all since she was pretty sure he was already setting up the sim. Then he stood up and walked over to her and placed his arms around her waist, he started kissing her neck and her shoulder "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"Mmmm not really" Olivia shook her head no with a bright smile "I'm going to celebrate Chili's win" she said giving him a small kiss before turning back to the mirror to continue her makeup. 

She wore a short white skirt with a white strapless top, red lipstick and her hair fell on waves over her shoulders. 

"I'm leaving love" she called out as she grabbed her bag from the bed and started walking out of the bedroom. 

Max, who was on the sim, quickly took off his headset and rushed over to her "Woah, woah, where do you think you're going?" he said catching up to her and grabbing her waist.

"Probably to a club" said Liv looking up at him with a smile.

"No, no, you see you have to pay the fine first" he said teasingly.