eighteen

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XVIII.            Alpine Hiding

NETHERLANDS: August 2023

TWITTER:

@fan29: oh no what happened??

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@fan29: oh no what happened??

@fan45: I hope he's alright

@fan38: you got this Arthur! Good luck on the race!

            Arthur cannot believe what was happening. He was upset with his team. He cannot believe this was happening to him. He had just heard this happening to celebrities or other drivers. He just didn't realize it would happen to him, of all people.

            He didn't expect and realize that he would be forced to do this. A PR relationship.

            The days prior he arrived for race weekend, he was introduced to the plan. He was entirely against it, knowing fully well what was going on between him and Lettie. But unfortunately for him, the contract was signed. And within a day or two, he was introduced to Blythe Corceiro, a French model, blonde, blue eyes, she was gorgeous and nice but she just wasn't Lettie.

            Despite putting up a fight, Arthur did not win. His PR Manager has signed a contract and he was in a PR relationship. A relationship he did not want to be a part of.

            And despite his pleas to his manager and handler, he still went out to watch the tennis match with Blythe. He still went out to the same karting ring that Pierre and Kiara first met. And he knew they were photographed, it was all over twitter. And that only meant one thing; Lettie saw all of it.

            He didn't try to explain himself, he didn't reach out. Because to him, whatever they had has been ruined by a decision made by people outside whatever they had.

            But there Arthur was now, at his part of the garage in the F2 area. He was suiting up for the sprint race, he was trying to keep focus but ever since the onslaught of posts and questions about him and Blythe, all he could think of was Lettie.

            What did she think about all of it? Was she as affected as he was?

            His thoughts and internal questioning was disturbed by his PR manager. "Arthur." He sighed but turned to the man, "Yes?" he asked and walked around the man as he held his helmet.

            "Blythe is here." The manager informed him. Arthur simply nodded and stood in front of his car, pretending that he was inspecting it with his team.

            The PR manager sighed, "Arthur, I need you to be seen with her-"

            "It's your great idea right?" he cut him off, still not looking at the man. The manager scoffed, "It's for your image."

            "Yeah right." Arthur said as he moved to walk away from him, but the manager was quicker than he thought, "Let me remind you, it's you who started to be so upfront on Twitter. I'm cleaning up your mess Arthur."

TWITTER:

@fan47: she's back!

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@fan47: she's back!

@fan432: she's in Alpine!

@fan12: grid princess meets paddock crush!

            Kiara smiled at her friend excitedly before squealing rushing to her with open arms. "Lettie! You came!" the French woman said.

            Lettie chuckled as she hugged the driver back, "I'm here!" she yelled back. They pulled away from each other and chuckled. Kiara immediately pulled her inside her driver's room.

            "Now tell me." Kiara said with a raised eyebrow. Lettie sighed, "He's dating a model."

            The driver pursed her lips and narrowed, "May I remind you that you are also a model?" she pointed out the obvious.

            The redhead sighed and turned to the mirror, "I know."

            Kiara frowned at her friend, "What's so different between you two?" she asked. The model chuckled, "Well, she's blonde, with pretty blue eyes. She's French."

            The brunette frowned and stood next to her, "And I'm sure she's a nice girl but so are you. You are what makes yourself special. Your red hair, beautiful blue eyes, and that amazing Aussie accent." Kiara said confidently.

            Lettie stood in front of the mirror with a slight frown, "Yeah but he's there with her isn't he?" she asked.

            The driver sighed and wrapped her arms around her friend, "Don't worry Lets, he'll remember what he lost. Show him what he lost." She said and smirked.

            The redhead laughed but nodded, "I will. He won't know what hit him."

            And show him she did.

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