Away We Go • 2 • Formula One

Chapter 11

The hot water of the shower soothed my aching muscles as it ran down my body. I had been pushing my body hard the few days following the disappointment of Bahrain (in comparison to my teammate's performance). My arms were folded tightly across my chest causing small pools of water to collect at the creases of my elbows. I stood there, consumed by my thoughts.

Pierre and Cate came to visit me at my house in Switzerland for the weekend off, arriving earlier today. I've also had Max for company because he flew straight from Bahrain to Switzerland with me, and occasionally Mick would come over since he didn't live too far away. Max had some spare clothes already at my house upon his request at the beginning of the season. He was always quick to make himself comfortable, but I couldn't complain when I was still feeling down about my performance and craved company. There was plenty of space for everyone, too.

A soft knock rapped on the door of my en-suite, causing me to stand up a little straighter under the running water. "Yeah?" I called out, voice croaky from having not spoken in a while. I don't know exactly how long I had been in the shower for but knew it was a lot longer than a normal shower for me.

"Everything okay?" I recognised Cate's soft voice call back. "You've been in there for half an hour."

I exhaled, resting my forehead against the shower wall. "I'll be out soon." My eyes shut as I focused on the sound of the running water, embracing the final minutes of hot water. The heat, paired with the fact that it was evening, meant that I was feeling a little drowsy.

I shut off the water and grabbed the towel off the hook. After carefully stepping onto the mat on my tiled floor, I wrapped the fluffy white towel around my body and secured it tightly. My hair had been up in a high bun for the entirety of the shower so the only bits that had been exposed to the water were the shorter hairs that framed my face in little curls. I swiped the side of my hand against the mirror to remove the condensation that had formed on the surface to look at my reflection. There were evident bags under my eyes and a dull tint to my skin. An exhaustive few days had taken its toll on my appearance.

Twisting the doorknob, I put all of my weight against the door to help open it. The bottom dragged across the carpet of my bedroom, catching so that I didn't need to hold the door open when I stopped in my tracks. I tightened the towel subconsciously as I spotted Cate still in my room. She was sitting upright with her dressing gown wrapped around her body, most likely because there was a chill in the room.

I took a seat next to her, wordlessly resting my head against her shoulder and closing my eyes.

"You can't put this much pressure on yourself." Cate didn't need to establish a topic of conversation because I knew immediately what she was on about. My mood has been down ever since Bahrain because of my fears that the issues are only going to get worse. If I don't resolve the problems soon, I'm going to slip down the championship rank.

"Everyone else is putting pressure on me," I said with an exhale.

"Still, you shouldn't need to feel the pressure. Lys, I shouldn't need to point out that you're currently leading the championship." Even though my eyes were closed, I just knew that Cate was rolling her eyes. "You're the first woman to ever do so. It's only the second race of the season and even if you finish it low in the championship, you're still carving the way for female drivers everywhere."

"Yeah - absolutely no pressure," I sarcastically replied.

Cate let out a noise of annoyance. "You're really hard to cheer up sometimes, you know that, right?"

"It's my aesthetic."

"Fuck your aesthetic." I furrowed my brow and looked up at Cate. The corners of my lips twitched upwards upon hearing her swear in her accent. She was smiling, too, which made me realise that she wasn't genuinely annoyed. The last thing I want to do is lose her as a friend especially since we've grown so close over the recent months. "The boys ordered dinner twenty minutes ago so it should be here soon. Unless you want to dine naked, I suggest you get dressed."