The Secret of Us // Oscar Piastri

38

It was now Sunday the 26th of May and Casey was in Spain, Barcelona to be exact. She'd ended up not cancelling her tour and would be performing tonight.
Right now, she was at lunch with Rowan and Audrey. Her and Audrey weren't back to 100% yet, but they were getting there.

Casey hadn't tried to talk to George yet. She wanted to, she just wasn't sure what to say other than sorry and she felt like that wouldn't be enough. Carmen had reached out to her, to make she that she was okay after presumably hearing from George about what happened. Casey had ignored her the first week after her birthday, but she did message her back earlier this week to let her know that she was okay.

The Spanish sun was shinning down on them as they sat outside of a restaurant. Casey had her sunglasses on and was mid-way through her salad when her phone rang, vibrating the whole table that it was sat on. Her eyes darted to the screen. It was Oscar.

Casey's heart felt like it stopped in her chest for a moment. Rowan and Audrey noticed who it was that was calling and shared a look over the table.
"Are you going to answer it?" Rowan asked and Casey shook her head, making no movement to grab her phone.

"You'd think he'd be too busy to call." Casey said and Audrey checked the time on her phone. "The Monaco Gran Prix doesn't start for an hour and half." Audrey told her.

"I was talking about the model." Casey said, a little bit of venom to her tone. "Ah." Rowan said, leaning back with pursed lips. "It was a bit quick." Audrey added.

"It only took a week for him to find someone else." Casey said, mostly to herself as she racked her salad with her fork. "Is that not what you wanted?" Rowan asked, leaning forward slightly.

"No, it is." Casey said. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." Audrey added and Casey nodded.
"Especially when it's a model whose 100x prettier than you that takes your place." Casey said, making Audrey roll her eyes. "She is not prettier than you." Audrey said, like she already had many times before.

"It's what he deserves anyway." Casey told both of her friends with a shrug. "I'm sure I'll get over it."  She said, brining her glass of water to her lips.

                                               -

Being back on stage was therapeutic for Casey, exactly what she needed. Belting out lyrics of heartbreak, even if they weren't about her current heartbreak, was giving her some kind of out-of-body experience.

She'd been a bit upset before going on stage after having seen that Oscar got P2 in Monaco. She was overjoyed when she'd seen a picture of him on the podium come up on her Instagram feed. But she couldn't tell him how much pride she felt and that was what hurt. Even if she knew it was for the better.

"So I want to do something a bit different tonight," Casey began telling the crowd, making them erupt into a cheer. "I want to cover a song that's lyrics have been really resonating with me lately. It's called Waiting Room by Phoebe Bridgers." Casey said and a smile broke out on her face as the crowd's cheers got even louder. Soon the stage lights darkened again and the music came on.

She'd asked Rowan and Audrey if she could cover the song before they'd went on stage. It was something that they did now and again, covering songs. The song had really been helping Casey get over the whole Oscar thing and she'd felt that singing it on stage would help even more. To her luck, Rowan and Audrey were happy to play something different.

As Casey got near the end of the song, singing the repetitive lyrics of 'know it's for the better', she was really putting all of herself into the song and could even feel tears prickling in her eyes as they threatened to escape.Casey couldn't help but think that it was a bit pathetic that she was almost crying over Oscar on stage to a song she shouldn't even really be singing, while he was out having the time of his life with a model who'd he been photographed holding hands and kissing with. Casey was happy for him, she really was. But a part of her was really hurt and really fucking mad too.

When Casey got off of the stage, the tears began to fall and she was just so grateful that she didn't begin full-on crying in the middle of performing. All of the crew backstage weren't really sure what to do and just kind of looked at her until Audrey and Rowan were off the stage too and rushing over to her. Despite the fact that she was crying, she couldn't resist smiling when she felt both of her friends wrap their arms around her in a group hug. Casey didn't even have to say anything, they knew why she was crying.

                                                   -

Audrey and Rowan were with Casey in her hotel room. They were spending the night so she didn't have to be alone. Casey was sandwiched in-between the two of her friends on the bed with a carton of take-out in her hands. "You could try talking to him." Audrey said as they watched Finding Nemo on the TV, her voice low. Audrey didn't have to say a name, Casey knew which 'him' she was referring to. Casey shook her head. "No, I can't."

"He wants to talk to you." Rowan said, looking at her sympathetically. "Probably to yell at me." Casey played with her food. "Or, because he misses you." Audrey said and Casey scoffed. "Yeah, it looks like it in all those pictures, doesn't it?" Her words dripped in sarcasm, making Audrey roll her eyes at them.
"He's only doing that because he's hurt." Audrey told her. "I bet he hardly knows the girl."

"I don't know if that's true, but I do know that all me being back in his life would do is cause him more hurt." Casey said, stabbing her Thai noddles with her fork. "I know that's what you think, but I've never seen you this upset over a guy before." Audrey said, her face flushed with concern as she put an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"That's because I've never liked a guy like I liked Oscar." Casey told them, her voice barely audible.
"But I'm not the type of girl he should be with." She said, making Rowan groan. "I wish you would stop saying that."

"Why? It's true." Casey asked with the shrug of her shoulders. "It's not, your self-esteem is just on the floor." Audrey said as she took a bite of her food and Rowan nodded. "That's what I was telling you on the yacht." Rowan said. "You always let your low self-esteem get in the way of your relationships."

"Isn't that like exactly why I shouldn't be with Oscar?" Casey asked, looking up at Rowan. "If you were honest with him about it and I mean really honest about it, I think you could make it work." Rowan said, looking at her with a serious expression.

"I also think you could." Audrey told her with a pursed smile. "From the new songs you've wrote about him, it's obvious you love him." She said. "Jeez, how could you tell? Is it because one of them is called 'I Love You, I'm Sorry'." Casey chuckled.

"I don't care if you're upset, mock me and I will hit you." Audrey told her, making Rowan chuckle and a small smile break out on Casey's face. "And I still think you should talk to him." Audrey said, bumping Casey's shoulder with her own. "Yeah, what's the harm in calling him back?" Rowan asked.