The Racing Line | M.V.

42. Affection

The news of Olivia's signing with Mercedes blew up completely. And so did the news of her new secret relationship. Which made her incredibly annoyed. After all, she had worked for one of those two outcomes for more than half her life. 

To get back at the media and the press, Max and Liv walked into the paddock in Russia with their arms around each other. Hiding in plain sight. They really didn't care about hiding anymore, but they did feel like it was a way of making the press look dumb as hell. They were so used to seeing her be this close to Max, that they couldn't see he was the secret boyfriend. Terrible journalism skills, she thought as the press started asking her if her boyfriend got jealous of her closeness with Max and the rest of the drivers. 

"No, I don't think he has a problem with my relationship with Max" she shrugged, making Max laugh when he saw the interview later on that day. 

They were now spending most of the nights in each other's suites, not caring to be seen in the morning and even keeping a change of clothes in each other's rooms. 

"So when are you making this public anyway?" asked Checo one day as they all had breakfast together. 

Max and Olivia looked at each other and shrugged "I don't know" said Max.

"I do like watching them squirm" admitted Liv "Why do they ask me more questions about this than about Mercedes? It's annoying as hell".

"If you think they're going crazy now, just wait until they find out it's Max. It will be madness" said Checo with an amused smile. 

Max rolled his eyes "Oh my god, I can already imagine it" he said "I wished they just left us alone. It's none of their business".

So they didn't make it their business. During all of Russia the press didn't suspect a thing. Lewis won Russia, with Max in P2 and Liv in P4. Then they headed off back to Monaco, just in time for Max's birthday. 

"What do you mean you don't want to do anything for your birthday? We always go out or something" said Olivia as she stroked Jimmy's fur absentmindedly at Max's apartment. 

"Yeah but I just wanna spend time with you. We can have dinner or something" Max shrugged like it was nothing. 

Olivia frowned slightly and after a moment of thinking she said "Alright fine, I'll make a reservation".

So the next day, on the morning of Max's birthday, he woke up to the smell of something delicious. He got up and walked to the kitchen to find Olivia unpacking restaurant-made waffles, eggs, bacon and fruit. 

"Here I was thinking you were cooking for my birthday" he joked with a smile as he walked over to her. 

She smiled brightly at him "Oh no, I love you too much. I wouldn't do that to you, I don't want you to suffer"

Max laughed as he reached her and she immediately placed her arms around his neck and kissed him "Happy birthday mijn lief". 

After spending the day and afternoon relaxing at Max's apartment, they got dressed up to catch the dinner reservation Olivia had made. They arrived to one of Max's favorite restaurants, and were guided to a reserved area just for them. 

Max wasn't expecting the moment when the lights turned on and his friends jumped to their feet "Surprise!" their yelling was heard around the room as Max took a step back startled. He turned to Olivia with a smile to find her laughing brightly. 

"You did this" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Guilty" she smiled brightly as she pulled his arm to her and kissed his cheek. "I just couldn't keep you just to myself on your day, it seemed quite selfish".