𝐒 𝐏 𝐑 𝐈 𝐍 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 [max verstappen x oc]

eleven

"Welcome to the Singapore Grand Prix! The crowds are a buzz as the opening of the 2025 Formula One season begins!"

Lena had to admit--it was very cool. As much as she disliked car racing, the whole atmosphere was electric and reminded her very much of her side-job. Except here, it was all legal. At least most of it. 

"Lena!" Peter ran over to her and grabbed her arm. "Come on, you're late."

How was she late? Lena had woken up early because of the jet lag and made sure she was early?

Nevertheless, she let Peter drag her through checkpoints and security and accepted the fact that early meant an hour before you think it did. 

She was practically shoved into a room with, you guessed it, the two RedBull drivers. They were sitting on a couch in casual clothes, talking to a man with a notebook out. 

Checo smiled at her immediately and nodded at her, clearly deep in conversation with the man. 

Max watched her with amused eyes. "Weren't you supposed to be here twenty minutes ago?"

Lena clenched her jaw and practically grinding her molars together. "I got caught up at security."

"Ah, right. You have press credentials. Whoops." His tone was demeaning as ever, and Lena realized that what she had said to him that night at the event drew the line in the sand. 

The man talking to them stood up and shook her hand. "Uh, hello.." His french accent was ridiculously thick. "I am Jean-Paulle. Here to...uh....manage their ev-events. Today."

Lena smiled. "Je parle français, monsieur. Si c'est plus facile, nous pouvons utiliser notre propre langue et je peux traduire pour eux ?"

Jean looked so relieved Lena was scared he would fall over. "Ce serait incroyable. J'ai déjà travaillé avec eux mais RedBull ne fait jamais appel à des Français pour m'aider."

She laughed and ignored Checo and Max's stares. 

Peter piped in. "Yes, Lena speaks fluent French so if it's easier to communicate with her, by all means do. She'll be around all day to photograph the drivers and touch base with me."

"Parfait. Ah, ma journée est devenue tellement meilleure, chérie." Jean kissed her cheek, which would've thrown Lena off if it was custom. 

"Uh, what is he saying?" Checo grimaced. 

Lena turned to the drivers. "I'm just going to help him translate today, he's from France and he doesn't know much English."

"I remember from last time." Max pulled out his phone and ignored Lena. "Took ten minutes for him to explain the activity."

Maybe if you weren't an asshole it would've taken five. She didn't say that, obviously. 

"Today is going to be fun!" Checo's optimistic voice made both Max and Lena groan. 

___________________________________

"This is my job." Lena shook her head in disbelief. "Taking pictures of Formula One drivers playing with quokkas."

Jean had walked them through procedures then brought them to a room full of the native Australian animals. 

"Ne sont-ils pas adorables?" Jean nudged her in the side. Lena smiled and gave him a thumbs up before pulling out her camera. 

"Checo, look up at me with the thing." She nodded at him as he pet the creature. Following her instruction, he gave a thumbs up with one hand still on the quokka, impersonating the iconic smile of the animal. 

Lena couldn't help but giggle. "That's gold, I love it." She snapped a few more shots, making sure to get his RedBull logo in the frame before turning her attention to Max. 

He was sitting down with one of the animals in his lap, while two others were pawing at his waist. Max pet the quokka in his lap, scratching behind its ears like it was a dog. Lena noticed a rather peculiar expression on his face, an endearing one almost. Seizing the opportunity, she took a picture of it, glancing down at the frame to see what the shot looked like. 

Lena smiled at the camera. It was a perfect picture. 

"Max, look at me." She mumbled, catching his attention as he glanced up to where she was crouching, his baby blue eyes glowing in the bright Australian sun. "Smile. You do know how to do that, right?"

Scowling at her comment, Max pulled his lips into a smile, one that seemed genuine but Lena could hardly tell. She snapped a few more pictures, not as good as the first one but usable for the social media page. 

Good boy, Maxie. 

She stood in front of them making sure the landscape behind the drivers was suitable. "Okay, get together now. Closer, so you're almost touching. Checo, can you pull the quokka closer to you? Like how Max has it. Good."

The photos were great, and the job was proving to be surprisingly easier than Lena had originally imagined. It was only her first weekend, though, so she tried not to get ahead of herself. 

"Merci, Jean." Lena kissed him on the cheek as the drivers wiped quokka fur off their pants. "Nous apprécions votre aide."

Jean clasped his hands together and mumbled something in French, kissing her on the cheek as well before waving goodbye to the drivers. 

"Are we done for today?" Max whined. "I have a meeting this afternoon and I need to get a nap in."

"Mate, you slept all morning. How can you still be tired?"

"Winning races requires a good nights sleep. That's why you don't win anything."

Their bickering made Lena was to swallow a bullet. "We're supposed to go back to the paddock now to meet with the media team. Pretty sure they want you guys to do one more thing."

Checo nodded while Max just stared blankly at her. Lena took that as 'yes's'. 

_________________________________________

Lena sat quietly in the corner while Lilah and Aleksander briefed the drivers, snapping a few photos of the room while she waited. She had asked if it was okay she was there, but Peter assured her it was fine and she might as well hang out. 

When the front doors opened, Lena did not expect Christian Horner to walk through them. 

"Afternoon, boys. How are we feeling?" He said in his perfect British accent. Lena could feel his aura as he strolled through the room, clapping Checo and Max on the backs before frowning when he saw her. "Have we met?"

Lena jumped to her feet. "No, sir. Lena Augustine. I'm the new head photographer for Media."

Christan walked over and shook her hand (she'd been doing a lot of that lately). "Christian Horner, a pleasure, I suppose I'll be seeing a lot of you. How are the boys treating you, then? Playing nice?"

Lena couldn't help but glance at Max who wasn't even looking in their direction. "They're great. Absolute gentlemen."

"Don't lay it on too thick, now." Christian tsked with a grin on his lips. "Nice to meet you, Lena. I'm gonna have to ask you to step out, though, so I can brief my drivers very fast. Do you mind?"

"Not at all." She chirped, grabbing her stuff and making her way to the doors. Checo waved goodbye. 

Max's eyes followed her from her seat now, unsettling her as she exited the room. He gave her the creeps.