And then there was you [Max Verstappen]

Chapter 2 - "Sleep well"

A/N: This is set in 2019 by the way, since we kinda have a lack of racing this year (I swear I'll never complain about 3 months of winter break again). Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 2, and if you like it feel free to vote for it or leave a comment :))

For the rest of the evening I was unsure of what to do with Max' phone number. Would it look desperate if I texted him now already? On the other hands side he gave me his number, so he probably wants me to text him. Dad had fallen asleep next to me on the sofa about halfway through the movie, so when the credits started to roll I switched off the TV and went upstairs into my room.

It all looked like when I left half a year ago. Now I am back here, and to be fair it's pretty much the same situation as back then. I let my gaze rest on the picture of my mom on my desk. The soft smile was her thing, and while I usually loved to remember it, I decided to lay the frame down on the desk. That way I didn't feel like she was watching me anymore. Today was a great day so far, I don't want to risk flooding my brain with negative self-talk.

Deep down I already knew what I'd do to avoid the negative feelings; and before getting ready for bed I decided to send Max a quick text: "Hey, it's Josefien. Are u still up?"

Once I came back into the room after brushing my teeth and plugged in my charger, my phone beeped. A message from Max. "Yeah I'm still up. How are you doing?"

"Quite good. Just got ready for bed. What are you up to?"

While I waited for the reply I took a look at the little icon Max had as his profile picture. It was him in a dark blue overall with a trophy in his hands, being carried on some guys' shoulders. It must be from one of his races, but to be fair I had no clue which exactly, but I also didn't want to ask Max. That's some kind of information I could easily google. Actually I should do it tomorrow, just to get a basic idea of what Max is exactly doing for a living.

Five minutes later he still didn't reply, even though the blue check-marks next to the text message said that he read it. Should I send another message? Or just wait for him to reply?

I chose the first option, and tried to shoot my shot now.

"Do you maybe want to meet up for a coffee some time this week?"

Just seconds after I hit send Max read the second message too, and started to type his answer immediately. I felt a nervous flutter in my stomach when I watched the screen, just waiting for his answer. First I got a reply to the first question, and then it took a few more seconds to know about my coffee date.

"I might reply a little slower, I'm kind of busy with packing my bag"

"Well I have time tomorrow before taking my flight back to Monaco. After that I won't be back here before at least the 11th of June... So if you're in Amsterdam tomorrow, why not?"

For a quick second my thoughts switched to the batch of papers in my backpack, which I still needed to hand in at university. I had them in there for a few weeks already, and always kept pushing the decision away from me. But why shouldn't I just finally hand them in tomorrow? Then I could start working out everything else...

"Actually I still have some business to do there. Do you know the Starbucks at Amsterdam Centraal? Could we meet there?"

"Deal. 3 pm? My flight is going at 7:30"

"Sounds good to me ;)"

I had to put down my phone for a second and process what just had happened. Max actually wanted to go out for coffee with me. I closed my eyes and immediately saw his smile in front of me, and couldn't help but smile too.

Then suddenly the tiredness overcame me, and a quick look on the clock confirmed that it was way past midnight already. But Max was still online on the other end of the conversation, and I tried my best to think about something I could ask him. Mostly because like 90% of the things I was curious about were about his racing career, but I was just unsure of what was appropriate and what wasn't. Probably most of my questions would be answered after some research. So I'd do that tomorrow, and if I wanted a more detailed answer I could still ask Max while having coffee tomorrow, right?

Right before I wanted to switch off my phone I got another message. From Max. And once again I couldn't help but smile. Even though the evening with him started out kind of embarrassing, we could still had some good talks, and I felt like there was some chemistry between the two of us.

"I'm going to sleep now. No idea when you'll go, but I just want to wish you a good night. Slaap Lekker :)"

The butterflies that were flying around in my stomach basically ever since I saw Max were nearly exploding now. I sent him a quick "Thanks, you too xx" back, before turning my phone on do not disturb and put it on my nightstand.

Then I rolled around for a little, trying to find a comfortable position. My thoughts were racing today while trying to make sense of what had happened today, because to be fair it was a lot.

But all of these thoughts came to a halt when I thought about what Max just texted me. And with these messages on my mind I would sleep well for sure.