midnight rain [f. colapinto]

s e v e n t y - n i n e

The rest of Friday had gone as smoothly as it could have considering whatever was going on with Franco. Evita was more than pleased when he made it to the second round of sprint qualifying that afternoon, placing him in P14 for the sprint race.

Now, on Saturday morning, Evita was sitting with Genevieve at a table in the Williams hospitality building. The two girls had been joined by Franco and Ollie, but the two drivers had to prepare for the sprint race, leaving the girls alone to chat over coffee and salads.

"So what are you doing during the three weeks off?" asked Genevieve. "Any plans with your man?"

Evita felt her face flush. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, trying to play off her obvious embarrassment.

Genevieve raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "Come on, Ev. You and Franco were stealing glances at each other the entire time. I'm not even going to talk about the obvious soft launching you've been doing since Austin."

"You just brought it up, therefore you're talking about it," noted Evita.

Genevieve rolled her eyes. "That's beside the point. The point is, are you dating him?"

"Yes?" muttered Evita.

"You should have said something!" cried the American. A few heads turned at the loud noise, and Genevieve hung her head, a sheepish grin on her face. "You should have said something," she repeated, much more quietly this time.

Evita giggled. "I haven't seen you. And I haven't even broken the news to Carmen and Logan yet. It's still new-ish, only a few weeks." She didn't know if their first kiss at the museum in Austin counted as the beginning of her and Franco's relationship or if it was at his hotel room in Mexico City, so Evita chose not to specify.

Genevieve nodded, squinting slightly as she looked at the girl sitting across from her. "I see. So are you doing anything with him over the break?"

Evita frowned and shook her head. "I have to go back to England for university. Fran's spending some time at home in Argentina and then Spain for some media projects. I wish I could go with him to keep him in check, but we both know school comes first. What about you? Any plans?"

"I'm going to Rome for a few days, but then I'm heading back to North Carolina to see my grandparents before Vegas," said Genevieve.

Evita's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to Rome alone? Or with that guy you refuse to tell me about?"

The American looked exasperated. "I refuse to tell you about him because we're not together. We're talking, that's it."

"Ugh, that's what you told me in Singapore," complained Evita. "You're still not dating him?"

"I haven't seen him since Baku," said Genevieve. "And I won't until we're in Rome."

"Does he have any association with F1? Or is he just some guy you met in the paddock?" asked Evita. She needed to know who Genevieve was seeing, and she wasn't ashamed to grill her friend with questions until she figured out the truth.

Genevieve paused, frowning as she thought about it. "He's kind of associated, I don't know. Definitely not just some guy, though."

"F2 driver?" assumed Evita.

Based on the wide-eyed look on her friend's face, Evita knew she was correct. She made a mental list of Formula Two drivers, but could only think of Ollie and Luke, and she figured neither of them was the guy Genevieve was talking to. Evita didn't know any other drivers, so she would have to figure it out another time.

"Okay so if you won't tell me who he is, at least tell me why you're going to Rome with him," said Evita.

"His sister is graduating from Uni there, and he invited me to go with his family," explained Genevieve.

"He invited you on vacation with his family and you aren't dating?" asked Evita.

"Hey! We like each other, we just haven't been able to talk about things in person yet," said the curly-haired girl.

"If you say so," said Evita. "Now come on, the sprint race is about to start."

The conversation dwindled after that, their attention fully on one of the screens in the hospitality suite. And once the race ended, with Franco in P12 and Ollie in P14, Evita didn't ask Genevieve any more questions. She wanted to congratulate her boyfriend.