Acid Rain - [Max Verstappen]

1.6 || last ride

"Hopped on a plane at LAX...". Tuuli started singing as they drove over the highway as the evening fell. "With a dream in my cardigan". Max finished, of course not in tune of the music and it made her laugh, folding her legs from underneath her to stretch herself out. It had been a six hour drive from Phoenix to LA and they did it in one go, with perhaps a small stop here and there to use the bathroom and eat something at a road restaurant. The city was brighter than the others they had visited, clearly showing off the bruising life that actually never stopped. "Why can't they organize a race here?". Tuuli wondered out loud and Max smiled at her. "Miami is quite cool too". He said, referring to the plans that were made to organize a race there in the future. It was already mentioned that Hanoi, Vietnam was on the calendar for 2020.

"I'm actually quite disappointed Sepang was removed from the calendar". Tuuli mentioned. Back in the days she had been working for Sauber as their photographer and she had loved the Malaysian circuit, event though it was one of the hottest races of the year. "Good memories from there". Max smiled as he clearly remembered the battling between him and Daniel and the podiums they had there. "Obviously". She smiled back at him. They had always liked each other, however they became really good friends when she joined Red Bull, who had discovered a talented designer in her and hired her alongside Adrian Newey, which was still an honor to her to this day. Tuuli had designed Max' helmets last year and he had to say he was absolutely proud to wear it.

The helmet he had for this new season was stunning too, something new with a bit more white instead of yellow or orange and he had been hesitant about it as he wanted to tribute to his Dutch fans, but he loved the white now and he couldn't wait to show it off. Still having the Texas disaster in mind, Max had already booked an apartment for them to spend a night in before they'd arrive here, to make sure they had a place to sleep in. It wasn't late in the evening, so they searched for a place to eat at first. Max was glad he didn't stand out anymore. All kinds of supercars were driving around this city, so he wouldn't be the only one and be stared at. He liked blending into the traffic and into the people way better than to be recognized. In the Netherlands it was even harder for him.

Where he could once just spend a day shopping with his sister and his mother was now being guided back home into a car with darkened windows, eat dinner at an expensive restaurant and then leave again. It was much easier when his family flew over to Monaco. Tuuli didn't have a lot of wishes for the evening, she just wanted to spend some time in the city and then they could go back to sleep and catch some rest, especially because they spend a lot of hours in the car and will be again tomorrow night, since they decided to do a night ride to Las Vegas and discover The Strip. Tuuli had her camera around her neck again, a standard sight Max had grown to love as they walked over the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He waited for her as she kneeled to make a picture of the people walking over it and shot some other pictures of stars she admired.

"Hey, there's Michael". She pointed at Michael Jackson's star, as she knew he loved to listen to his music. "Indeed". Max smiled at her and the slowly walked over the other stars. "Can I say something cliche?". He asked suddenly and she stood still to look up at him. "So many stars here, but you're still the brightest one". He grinned and she laughed. "That's cliche indeed, but I love it". Tuuli smiled and held her camera in her hand while she pulled him down to kiss her briefly. Her fingers laced through hers as they continued their walk. They came across an outdoor museum, it was small, but with a dozen of streetlanterns that created such big bulb of light together. "Please, be my model". Tuuli whined and he chuckled, getting between the lanterns to pose for her camera.

She lifted it up in front of her face and she zoomed in on his, capturing the way his eyes reflected the bright light, creating the contrast between the light and the dark. "If you ever get fired by Red Bull, you know what you could do". Tuuli said as she handed him her camera so he could look at the pictures she had taken. "But only if you're going to all my shoots". He flirted as he drew her close and she laughed. "I have cars to make pictures of, Verstappen". She twirled out of his arms and he laughed as well, walking further. By the end of the night, they sat outside an ice cream bar, both having a cone with different flavors of ice cream. They had been out all night and called it a day when they finished their ice creams, or actually when Max finished Tuuli's ice cream because she was so full.