Lights Out • 1 • Formula One ✔️

Chapter 43

Esteban did everything in his power to cheer me up. This included several tubs of ice cream, a movie (where he would add his own running commentary in an attempt to make me laugh - it worked), a trip down memory lane with a few stories from our past, and to end the evening, Esteban ran me a soothing hot bubble bath. Since I had decided to stay in his hotel room for the evening, Kudzai was also there to cheer me up. Upon hearing the news about Max, she dropped the last few of her press meetings claiming she had a headache so that she could rush back to the hotel to be with me. After telling her the story, she obviously found out that Daniel knew about 'A' but didn't seem to get mad. If anything, Kudzai was relieved that I had someone to help calm Max down.

Even as I sat in the bath, the door locked and Kudzai on the other side, I could still hear her expressing her concerns to Esteban. "Did you not see Max? I want to know how angry he actually seems."

"No, sorry babe," Esteban sighed, "but Daniel did say that he seemed pissed when he came back to the garage. Him and Christian both noticed it."

Kudzai let out a groan of frustration and I pike imagine she was running a hand through her hair. "I swear, when I see that kid-"

"Kudz, babe, he's older than you."

"I don't care. No one hurts my best friend," she replied hastily.

"Trust me, I know," Esteban said. "When Lys told me what happened it took every ounce of me not to walk over the Red Bull and punch that guy in the nose. The only thing stopping me was the fact that she needed me."

"She has the worst of luck sometimes." Kudzai let out a loud exhale which could be heard through the door, followed by Esteban humming in agreement.

Either they moved or decided to end the conversation because I didn't hear any more voices, just the sound of the TV. I continued to sit in the warm water until my fingers shrivelled up and I decided that it would be good to get out. I stood up and moved onto the mat after letting most of the water fall off of my body. The towel hanging over the small metal bar seemed to be large enough to wrap around myself without flashing any of my bits, so I left the bathroom.

My soft feet padded against the cool tiled floor as I moved towards the pile of the clothes that Kudzai had eventually picked out for me out of her own wardrobe. Just as I was about to re-enter the bathroom, her voice spoke out. "Feeling any better?"

"I guess." I shrugged, turning to face her. She was leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom, Esteban just behind her. "I'm just hoping Daniel has managed to calm Max down a bit."

"He'll come around eventually." Kudzai offered a warm smile of reassurance. I let of a deep sigh and nodded my head in agreement, even though there was a small part of me that knew he wouldn't want anything to do with me. I don't blame him, though, since I betrayed the most important thing in a relationship - trust. If anything I want to avoid him as much as possible just so that I don't have to see that look of disappointment ever again. It felt as if a knife had been stuck into my heart and twisted like a corkscrew. Just thinking about it brings back the dull pain.

"I know just the thing to distract you." Esteban moved past Kudzai and grabbed my arm, dragging me into the kitchen area.

"If you say drinking, I'm going to have to stop you there since I had a bottle in the tub."

Esteban shook his head and laughed. "Nope. We're going to bake!"

I sighed. Although I would usually love baking (not cooking, big difference), I didn't feel up to standing in a kitchen for half an hour. "Firstly, do we even have the ingredients?"

"That's why I have Kudz - to run to the shop." Esteban grinned. Kudzai didn't look as enthusiastic as him about the idea, however didn't protest.

"Okay. But secondly," I began as Esteban grabbed a large glass bowl from the cupboard, "I haven't even gotten dressed yet. I'm basically naked."