Racing Love

Chapter 12

Vikki stirred, slowly opening her eyes. She noticed a figure sitting at her leg and made sure not to kick the person. She figured it to be an orange jacket. She rubbed her eyes cleared her vision and looked at the person confused.

"Last time I checked, I still worked for Ferrari," she said. He chuckled. "You still do, Although I wouldn't mind you in Papaya" he replied.

"Stop spoiling her. No one's touching her. She is ours" Charles said when she snuggled into her blanket. "Can I bribe you with something?" Lando asked her when a pillow came flying to his face from Carlos. He came towards her and sat in front of her.

"Why is it so cold?" she said annoyedly. "Let me get the temps up," Lando said standing up and Charles walked into the kitchen.

"You alright?" Carlos said placing his entire palm on her face. She leaned and snuggled into his hand. "Why are you always so warm?" she said closing her eyes. He smiled at her when Charles came back with a glass of water. She slowly sat up.

"Where are we?" she asked. "My hotel room," he answered. "What day is it?"

"Still Monday" he replied.

"And why are you still in Japan?"

"Cause you are here, sick"

"I can take care"

"Yeah, I noticed. If it wasn't for Rupert and Andrea, we would have a funeral for you" Charles replied. When Lando came and sat beside them too.

"Seriously, what are you guys doing here?" she asked taking a sip.

"Carlos wanted to take care of you," Lando said.

"Shut up" Carlos replied.

"Alex wanted to spend time in Japan," Charles said.

"And I just wanted to get to know this woman called Victoria Hunt who everyone seems to love," Lando said. She looked at the three men in front of her raising her eyebrows.

"How did the race go?" She asked. Charles and Carlos looked at each other when Lando looked between the Ferrari employees.

"She doesn't know?" he asked. "No, she was about to die in Carlos's hand before the race started," Charles said. I gave him a straight face.

"We didn't get to finish," Carlos said slowly. She raised her eyebrows at him. "You didn't finish the race?" she asked again.

"I didn't even get to start it. It had a hydraulic failure," Charles said under his breath. "What?" she cried.

" Vikki, It just wasn't our week. We have two weeks break and we can bounce back" Carlos tried to calm her down. She leaned back on the couch covering her face with her palms.

"Vikki, you cannot expect all weeks to go perfectly for us," Charles said. "I know that, Charles. It's just..." she rubbed her forehead.

"What?" Lando asked. She gave out a huff. "Take your phone and look up Ferrari Japanese Grand Prix," she said to the drivers.  They all shared a look.

"Go on" her voice came out more as an order. Lando immediately was on his phone when Charles typed in his too.

"What do you see?" she asked. Carlos craned his neck and looked at his teammate who gave a helpless look. But remained silent.

"What do you see Norris? The first link or the headline?" she asked the McLaren driver. Carlos's attention was now on the Papaya driver.

"Is Victoria Hunt the wrong choice? Was the Maranello team right to choose a woman engineer in Formula 1?" he said softly. Carlos's attention immediately shifted to the woman in front of him, who gave a sad look.

"I know I cannot be perfect all the time. I know I am not perfect. But that is what is expected of me," she said softly.

"Vikki, none of this is your fault," Carlos said, taking her hands. "For the world, it is Carlos," she said. All three drivers felt bad that this was what she had to go through, which was very unfair. She relaxed a bit and sighed.

"Can I take a shower?" she asked the Spanish driver, diverting them. The last thing she wanted was to make them feel guilty.

"Yeah. We can go for breakfast then?" he asked.

"Where are we going?" Lando asked. "I found a sushi spot-"

"NO!" Both Lando and Vikki shouted at once. "You don't like fish?" Lando asked Vikki.

"I hate fish," she said. Lando put his arm around her. "You just became my favorite person," he said

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"That's foul" Vikki shouted.

"No, it's not" Carlos fought back.

"It pitched outside the line" she shouted again.

"No, it did not" He shouted again.

"Is he a sore loser always?" she asked Charles.

"No I am not," he said putting his hands up. "You are the one whining here" he added.

"Cause I obey the rules!" she said panting.

"Ok, how about we calm down a little bit," Charles said.

"Out of breath there Hunt? Told you, you cannot win me" Carlos said with a smirk.

"Carlos-" Lando tried to stop him.

"Really?" She took the paddle that lay beside her and threw it at him. He caught it in a reflex move.

"How about we play one-on-one?" she asked.

"Really? What is in it for me?" he asked standing before her. "What makes you so sure you are beating me?" she asked again.

"Oh I am beating you," he said straight. Vikki thinned her eyes and gave him a grin. "Lando...." she called, her sight still fixed on the Spanish driver.

"What other sports is Carlos good at?" she asked. Carlos was about to open his mouth when she pointed a finger at him. "I asked Lando," she said, looking at the McLaren driver.

"Golf. Carlos is good at Golf" he replied. "Really?" she asked raising her eyebrows. He gave her a proud smile.

"If I win, you are taking me to golf," she said. He raised his eyebrows. "I don't think that is something you will enjoy," Charles said. She gave him a smirk.  "We'll see," she said and turned to Carlos.

"And if you win...." she asked. Carlos took out his phone and dialed a number putting it on speaker. The other three looked at him intently.

"Hey Mate" they heard George's voice. Vic was a bit shocked. "George, what is Vikki bad at?" Carlos asked.

"Are you seri-"

"I asked George the question," he said with the same tone and finger as her. "Um... well..." George seemed to think about it.

"I don't know. She excels in everything," he said. Vikki folded her hand in front of Carlos, looking proud.

"Sim Racing" George said suddenly and Carlos noticed the shift of expression on her face.

"Sim Racing?" Carlos asked with a chuckle. Vikki facepalmed.

"Mate, she sucks at sim racing," George said. Now Carlos smirked at her hanging up the call. "If I win, you are going sim racing with me" he declared. Vikki huffed in response.

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