The Racing Line | M.V.

19. Max The Mustang

2019

Their second day at Portugal they both had breakfast at a lovely small restaurant near the shore before picking up Olivia's car, which still lacked a name. By 2pm, after placing their bags in the trunk, they started their long journey back to Monaco.

Liv drove the car down the highway, leaving behind the heels of Lisbon.

"I did the math and if we wanna arrive in three days then we have to drive for about six hours each day. Or we can arrive in four days and we'll only have to drive for four hours each day" Max said as he looked at his phone.

"Alright, we should at least start looking for hotels down the road where we can stay. Towns that are on our way back" said Liv.

Max started typing on his phone "Sure, I'll do that".

Olivia loved to drive with loud music on, singing off key to every song. Although with a car as old as hers, all they had was the radio. Max dialed down the volume "Why don't we talk? Instead of listening to music".

"Alright sure, what do you wanna talk about?" she asked.

"Uhm" Max looked out the window. He didn't have anything new to talk about, he was simply getting a headache from Liv's singing. "Did everything work out with Jacob after last night?".

Liv's smile vanished from her face "Ugh, nah I rather listen to music" she said as she turned the volume back up.

After two hours of Olivia's driving with loud music, Max could not stand it any longer "Liv turn the damn music down".

"Max I cannot drive on a highway with no music! I'll fall asleep" she said matter of factly.

"Fine, let me drive then, please just turn it down" said Max clearly annoyed.

"Alright let me find a place to stop" said Liv with a shrug.

After they had switched places and Max had continued driving, he quickly realized that Liv was the worst copilot on planet Earth. She kept completing Dutch Duolingo lessons on her phone instead of looking at the road, she had absolutely no idea of where the next stop was, and without the music she quickly fell asleep.

Max sighed as he looked to his right to see Olivia sleeping soundly on the passenger seat. A small smile escaped him as he shook his head in disbelief. What would she have done if I hadn't come along? He thought. An hour went by and he could tell they were far away from any major city simply by the state of the road. It was now bumpy and full of pot holes here and there. He drove slowly and tried to avoid every hole simply so Liv would sleep alright. Fucking pot holes, he thought, you're gonna wake up Liv.

He sighed in relief when the road cleared and became smooth and even once more. He felt the muscles in his shoulders relax as he finally sped up after a very wobbly drive, which thankfully hadn't woken up Liv.

Another hour went by when it started raining. It was 7pm and the sky was getting darker every second. Max was at least glad that they were driving with the roof of the car on, or Liv would've been woken up by the heavy rain on the convertible.

Still, she did wake up because of the loud thuds of raindrops on the roof. She looked around as she sat up, looking dazed and confused "What's going on? It's night time already?".

It got a smile out of Max "How was your nap? Was it peaceful?"

Liv nodded with wide eyes "Very. Has anybody ever told you, you are quite a decent driver Max?"

He laughed "No I think this is the first time I've been called a decent driver "

Liv chuckled but Max continued talking without taking his eyes off the road "I think we should stop now. This rain is too heavy and it's getting quite dark".