Racing Love

Chapter 4

Both Carlos and Vic got in his car and he started the car. It was a silent trip. Both didn't dare to start the conversation. Vic suddenly shifted swiftly in her seat, as if something was below her.

"What? What happened?" Carlos asked. She moved left, right, and finally but her hand was in her back pocket only to pull out her car keys. Carlos gave her a grin. "Sorry," she whispered.

"That is a lot of sorrys' you say, Vikki," he said. She just hunched her shoulders. "Speaking of sorrys', I owe you one. We should have said something. I should have said something today morning" he said. She shook her head.

"It's alright. I am used to it. It's not new when people doubt my decision because I am a woman" she said.

"No. I swear. It was not because you are a woman. At least not by me" he said with sincere eyes which he locked with hers. "It's just..." he tried to choose the right words.

"In Ferrari..there is always an order things are done. Here, Me or Charles or even Fred is not big. But the name Ferrari is. They are just passionate men who want their team to win. Which they will eventually understand, can be done by you on our side" he said. She thinned her lips understanding what he was telling.

"Never think you should stop saying something just because you are a woman," he said. She chuckled a bit. "You..you sound like my father," she said. She said as her childhood memories came in.

"Close with your father?" he asked. "Oh! you have no idea. He..." Carlos noticed how her eyes lit up when she spoke about him. "He wanted to work in Formula 1. So passionate about sport. Sadly he couldn't do it" he listened closely.

"He used to take me to Karting. To races. Made me fall in love with the sport. And..now I am here. In one of the top teams. Going to my hotel room with one of the drivers." she said contemplating what was happening.

"Feels a bit surreal" she finished. Carlos listened keenly. He wanted this. Wanted to know more about her. "You were in Mercedes before this. Seems Lewis adores you" he said. Again her face lit up.

"Lewis made sure I get heard in the team. Even Toto and James too. George was in Williams back then and we were of the same age. So we used to have lunch together always. I had so much fun with that team" she said smiling largely. And her smile went small again. The sense of her again debating to open up was clear on her face.

They had reached the hotel and parked the car.  She was about to get out when he called her out. "Vic," he said in a very soft tone. She stopped, turned, and looked at him.

"If you ever feel lonely, you know where to find me," he said in the most sincere tone. Heart fluttered inside Vic. She knew it. She knew he had somehow figured out what she was going through. And somehow he put the right words that made her feel good.

"It means a lot, Carlos. Thank you" she said with a grateful tone. He gave a big nod. Both got out and got inside the hotel. They reached their floor and Vic scrambled through her bag for the room keys. Carlos just knocked on his and Rebecca walked outside. She wrapped her hands around him kissing him and pulled him inside.

Vic opened her door and kind of slammed it shut behind her and leaned on it. She closed her eyes giving out a sigh. She put her hand to the heart. "Don't go there, Vikki. Please don't go there" she whispered to herself.

Two rooms apart Carlos heard the door slam from Vic and his heart beat so fast in his chest. "You alright there? You seem stressed" Rebecca asked him. He just gave a nod and sat on the bed. 

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It was quali time. Vic was back in her comms room inside the garage. She felt comfortable there. No cameras. Also didn't have a lot of people around. It was just other engineers around but they were also busy with communication with the factory so no one bothered her.

She settled in. Still, people were not there yet. She was looking at the screen there was still time for it to start. She sat in her chair and put on the headphones. She picked up her phone and went through her Instagram.

She could see a red figure walk past the room and within seconds she noticed it entered the room so she looked up.

"All good?" she asked him worried if he wanted anything with the setup. "Not until you wish me good," he said. She grinned at him.

"I don't think you want my bad luck-"

"Viccccc!" he sang in his thick Spanish accent. She sighed and looked at him and she was pretty sure he was not moving until he got in done. She looked around and took a marker from the table. She walked towards him and raised his arm which held onto his helmet.

She took his helmet and drew a small star beneath his visor. She pushed the helmet towards its owners. "There. Now go and get that pole" she said. Carlos looked at her with a big smile.

"If I get pole will you wish me luck on race tomorrow?" he asked with thin eyes. "If you get pole you will get those stars every weekend" she replied.

"Consider it done," he said walking out. Vic's smile only grew more. She wanted nothing but for him to get pole.

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Quali was on and Monza was electric. Vic could hear the crowd from the room. That's how loud it was. Q1 and Q2 were done and both the cars were through Q3.

She paced in her room as the cars went for their final runs. Blood rushed through her heart as it pumped with strain. Charles was the first to cross a line. She waited till he finished the lap. He was fast. Very fast. He crossed the lines and she looked at the screen. Pole.

The garage cheered for their driver. Everyone around her pumped the air. Max in the Red Bull crossed the line and he was fast too. Just as he finished sector 2 it was clear he was faster. And he stole the pole from Charles in 3 tenths of a second.

Carlos was the last one to go. She held onto her chair as he drove his lap. She tightened her grip and closed her eyes.

"Come on Carlos" she whispered and there was a roar. The garage, the crowd everybody cheered. HE WAS ON THE POLE. CARLOS WAS ON THE POLE.

The commentator cried through the speaker yet she couldn't hear it. The cheer was that big. People around her jumped and rushed outside. She removed her earphones and was about to go out when she looked at the screens.

Carlos jumped out of his car and ran to his mechanic. He jumped onto them as they congratulated him fondly. Then he moved towards his girlfriend. He removed his helmet and she immediately pulled him for a kiss.

Vic only watched it on tele and what was clear to her was she could never have a straight face if that happened in front of her again. She meant no hate to Rebecca, she doesn't even know her. But this ick she felt when she had all her arms around Carlos was something and Vic adamantly chose not to dive more into what she was feeling.

She walked outside the room and turned around. Turned around and walked to the other side of the track. She chose to. Her work on to worry about the car. Feel happy that it hit the top. Not about the person driving it.

Carlos finished his celebration, gave the interview, got weighed in, and was about to go into the media pen. Through all this, his eyes searched for that one person and she was nowhere to be seen. He did all his duties and was finally back in the paddock. Still searching for a particular engineer, still couldn't find her.

"Rupert, have you seen Vikki?" he asked his trainer. "Oh she left" he replied. "Left?" he asked again.

"Yeah, said she had to go through the data for setup changes. So she left early" he explained. A sense of disappointment hit Carlos. He wanted to celebrate with her. It was only a pole. The points were tomorrow. But still, he felt she had to be a part of it. And he was very disappointed that it did not happen.