Found and Lost

Chapter 31: Days of thunder

It was the japanese GP weekend. Third practice, on Saturday, wasn't so good for the Mexican as he had a problem with the fuel tank. Fortunately, the mechanics fixed it in time for the quali session. As usual, the first two parts of the session were a piece of cake for the Mercedes drivers.

-"Amazing job, Checo!"- Totto congratulated Checo through the radio, after obtaining the pole.

-"Thanks to the guys who made the possible to have this great car in time"- he said

Sunday arrived, and with it, a very cloudy day. Heavy rain was expected during the race.

-"Take care, my love. The weather doesn't looks so good"- Sara said, she was nervous.

-"Thanks, you too. See you later". Checo said, kissing her. Both took separate ways, he to the garage to get in his car and she to take a shuttle to the first corner of the track.

The race started later, with Rosberg taking the lead from Checo after an intense battle in the second corner. The Mexican recovered the lead 18 laps later, after taking his first pitstop of the race, and lost it again but now from Verstappen on lap 32, who was getting closer to him a couple of laps ago. Checo managed to pass him 3 laps later, while the Belgian-Dutch was defending of Rosberg. The German also passed Max to keep his second position. Meanwhile, the sky was getting darker, a slight drizzle started to fall, and in 10 minutes, the raindrops increased. Still, the conditions weren't too dangerous to stop the race. There were 8 laps to go, the top 3 -Rosberg, Pérez and Verstappen, were very close to each other. Verstappen was trying hard to pass Checo between turns 8 and 9 when he touched the grass and spun, taking the Mercedes drivers with him.Rosberg ended with a very damaged suspension, while Pérez and Verstappen went to the wall.

-"Damn!"- Sara said, holding her hands praying both drivers were fine.

-"What the heck he was thinking?!"- Checo said furiously over the radio. Moments later, he climbed off of his car, and with some difficulty he made his way to the ambulance.

-------------------

-"Glad you're fine"- Sara said to Checo, when they're back in the hospitality

-"I'm glad it's just a small sprain in the left foot. I'll be better for Austin"- he said. Later, they, Paola and Angie returned back to the hotel and had a quiet night.

A couple of days later, in California...

-"You stay and recover, I can take Angie to the park"- Paola said to his brother, giving him a wink.

-"Ok, thanks for taking her... and giving us some free time"- Sara said to her.

-"Yes, thanks sis. Have fun!"- Checo said

-"No problem, enjoy your time"- she said, and then went out with Angie to Disney.

-"How are we going to spend the day off?"- Sara asked to Checo.

-"I have some plans"- he said, winking. He took her hand and walked her to their room. Slowly, both started to kiss passionately, taking their clothes off. They kissed, touched and moened each other's name, showing how much they loved each other. It was almost 7pm when they decided to order from Red Lobster instead of cooking or going out.

The next week passed by quickly. Sara, Paola and Marilu arrived to Austin on Thursday at noon. Checo and Sara were going to reunite in their hotel room that day, after he finished with his media activities.

-"Love, are you here?"- Checo asked when he closed the door of their room. Suddenly he heard some noises coming from the bathroom. -"Everything ok, love?"- he asked to her, knocking the bathroom door.

-"The custody trial will be in two weeks instead in mid-December"- she came out of the bathroom and said, after a small pause. -"I'm very scared of what might happen"- she continued, starting to cry. Her face was very pale.

-"Everything will be alright, don't worry"- he said to her. He took her to the bed and helped her to lie down. He cuddled her and within minutes, she felt asleep.

..........

-"Are you fine?"- Checo was woken up by Sara, who was in the bathroom throwing up, around 5 am.

-"Don't worry, I'm fine"- she answered a few minutes later. -"It's just a bug I caught in the trip"- she said.

A couple of days later...

-"Great to see you back, Sara"- Toto greeted her after she entered the Mercedes hospitality

-"Hi Toto, thanks. I can't wait to be back on track"- she said. It was the USGP race day and she felt well enough to work. She prepared her things and later, she headed to the track. On her way, she met Checo and gave him his good luck kiss. -"Good luck, hun"- she said to him, after kissing him.

-"Thanks, hun. See you later". He said, and both took separate ways.

Pérez started fourth, he was second after 6 laps. He had an intense but clean battle with Rosberg, with the Mexican taking the lead on lap 10. Rosberg wasn't going to give up early, and a couple of laps later, he recovered his position. And again, both teammates had an intense battle. By lap 30, a slight rain begin to fall. Pérez took advantage of his abilities under rain and regained the leadership two laps later. He'd gotten rid of his teammate, but there was someone else to worry about: Verstappen. The young driver was approaching Rosberg and soon passed him. Now he was getting closer to the Mexican. Meanwhile, it had stopped raining. After a good battle, Max managed to pass Checo by lap 52. Verstappen won followed by Pérez and Rosberg.