Do you belive in forever? (Max Verstappen)

Chapter 14

I had just arrived at the airport in Bahrain and just wanted to go to the Sky Hotel. Nine hours on a plane made you more tired than running a marathon. Unfortunately, the baggage claim had to put a spanner in the works. As if they were deliberately slowing down because they wanted to torment me, it took half an hour for the bags to arrive. As it always had to be, my suitcase was one of the last.

Tired, I just wanted to call a taxi when a voice stopped me: "Can I help the lady?" Terrified, I saw behind me where Max stood with sunglasses and a cap. He smiled at me broadly.

Because of my tiredness, it took me a moment to understand what he had asked me: "Hey, I just have to go to my hotel. I can do that but thank you. Where's your team, shouldn't they be here?" I looked around searching for a group of people wearing Red Bull shirts, but there were none.

"I'm driving you and my team is in the hotel," Max took my suitcase. Perplexed, I had stopped while Max had already gone to the exit of the airport. When he realized I hadn't followed him, he turned around and looked at me. Only now did a switch turn in my head and I went to him.

Nice I walked beside him, although there were big question marks in my head: "What do you do here when your team is in the hotel?"I had a mental block, because I really didn't understand what was going on. Not that I had anything against him driving me to my hotel, but I definitely didn't expect it.

"Have been waiting for your plane to land," he concluded to Ashton Martin. My brain was as fast as a snail, so I really didn't understand why he was waiting for my plane. Above all, how did he know when I was going to be here, I hadn't told him.

While he had stowed the suitcase, I just stared at it: "Why?" More did not bring my overwhelmed brain achieved. After a long flight, you shouldn't surprise me or want anything else from me, as I just realized myself.

Max, on the other hand, seemed to amuse it a lot, because he leaned on the car smiling and looked at me. Unlike me, he seemed to have got enough sleep on the plane. That's why his brain worked much better than mine, but I didn't get an answer. Instead, we both stood opposite each other in the car park and just looked at each other. I didn't notice that I couldn't really look him in the eye because of the sunglasses, because I remembered his blue eyes. Since Saturday, I had often thought of him but had not become smarter. I had thought I could avoid him, but now he had already surprised me at the airport.

"Because I wanted to see you," he smiled embarrassed. But even this smile was just enchanting, so I smiled back automatically. For the Dutchman's circumstances, this was probably more than enough romance, which is why he broke away from his position and the passenger door stopped me. With that, I, too, had come back from my thoughts to reality and stepped in.

Quietly in the background, one could The Rose by Bette Funds while I looked at Max from the side: "How did you know when I was going to land?" I had to wait for my answer because he just had to concentrate on taking the right turn. But when he looked at me for a second, it seemed to me like an eternity.

"There was only one flight that came from Switzerland today, and you weren't with your team, they landed pretty much at the same time as us," Max immediately set the blinker to turn into the city. I just kept looking at him and thinking about his words. He must have googled, so he knew this was the only flight from Switzerland. I couldn't describe exactly what I was feeling. It was a mixture of emotion, relief, joy and surprise. To be honest, my own feelings just overwhelmed me, so I just let myself fall back in my seat.

Thanks to the air conditioning in the car, even in my long trousers and T-shirt, I wasn't too warm. I would have liked to have put on shorts and spaghetti straps shirt, but this was not welcome here. There was no official law against exposed shoulders or knees, but in society these were things that were not liked, which is why I didn't wear it. At the meeting, we were also informed about the social rules such as Bahraini laws. So, we women were also told not to travel alone, because the laws were built on Sharia law. In recent years, Bahrain had become a little more liberal, but women were still secondary. I just accepted this; it was their culture. Of course, I didn't like oppression, but I think change has to come from within.

Admiringly I looked out of the car to the houses of the city: "Do we want to eat something or do you want to go directly to the hotel?" Actually, I really just wanted to sleep, but Max had been waiting for me, so I probably owed him a meal.

We went to a restaurant together, it was already after ten o'clock, but that was no problem. Max had to order for both of us, which I accepted without whining. Even though it felt more than weird, it felt like I belonged to him, but I didn't even know what we were.

"What was the ice hockey game like?" I covered my face. When I reacted, Max knew straight away that it probably didn't go as planned. When I explained to him roughly how the game had gone, he also covered his face. Which in turn put a smile on my face, because he looked really sweet. But I always had the question of Gian in my had, was he worth to take the risk. Here in Bahrain, I at least didn't have to be afraid of reporters, because you could hardly take photos outside the track.

When the food came, I tried to relax and asked Max about his two weeks. So, at some point I forgot everything, so that I hadn't noticed the massage from Thomas without the Dutchman. I quickly wrote to him that I was still eating and would probably not be with them until about midnight. After a thumbs up, this was probably not a problem for the recording director, and he took it easy. So, we didn't have to stress with the food.

From the restaurant it was only 20 minutes to the hotel, a ride that ended too quickly in the end. My tiredness had disappeared during the meal and I could have spent hours with Max, but we both had to be fit for the media day the next day. So, the Dutchman stopped in front of the hotel and got out with me so he could give me the suitcase.

Thankfully I accepted him: "Come safely to your hotel and sleep beautifully. Until tomorrow and a good night." In another country, I might have kissed him on the cheek, but here in Bahrain I didn't want to risk and just smiled at him. As I walked up the steps to the hotel, I looked down again, where Max was still parked. Even though the discs were darkened, I was sure he was looking at me. That's why I waved briefly before I went to the entrance where Thomas was waiting for me.

"Well eaten?" he asked me, and I nodded. As if all my energy had disappeared with Max, the tiredness was back, and I just wanted to go to bed. Thomas probably had the same wish and just quickly handed me the room key.

In my room I went to take a shower. Before I went to bed and checked my phone again. I couldn't suppress it and asked Max if he had been well-received. But I didn't get an answer until I wanted to put my phone away. He had sent me a thumbs up, which calmed me down.

"Tomorrow after the press conference to the beach?" he immediately pushed back, "The others are sure to come along." I bit my lips because I still had my plan in my head. But I couldn't say no, even if I wanted to, my fingers just tapped in a thumbs up.

Max seemed to think about what to write until I had a new message: "I'm happy. Until tomorrow, you will certainly see yourself on the ground before." So, we both put the phones away, but unlike the Dutchman, I didn't fall asleep right away. Because my thoughts did not want to rest, was he worth it? My heart screamed yes and my mind no. So that I had no idea what I wanted or should do.

Frustrated, screamed I got into my pillow and tried to think of something else. Feverishly, I held on to the memory of the ice hockey game, until I actually fell my eyes and I got my deserved sleep.

"Hanna this is Valtteri Bottas And Valtteri this is Hanna our new commentator," Thomas introduced me. Kindly I gave the Finn the hand and greeted him. Immediately he would drive with me across the track in a racing car while I asked him questions, and I was slightly bad. I fully trusted in his driving skills, but I had no confidence in my stomach.

Before we got into the car, I did a short moderation, which I could have done forever. My hands trembled as I was wearing a helmet on my head in the passenger seat. I wasn't exactly a slow driver by myself, but this would definitely have a different dimension.

After a short check of our cameras and microphones, we went slowly to the start line: "Are you ready? You have two rounds to answer as many questions as possible, in the end a cut is calculated, everything is clear?" The Finn nodded and was allowed to throttle. It pushed me damn hard into the armchair, which surprised me briefly, and I screamed.

"All good?" the Finn asked. I just nodded and asked the first question because I had caught myself. I couldn't judge how honestly, he answered the individual questions, but he seemed to be very honest. In addition, he was also very quick, at the same time he gave quite a lot of Gas and drifted around a curve one or two times. In some cases, I couldn't resist a scream, which made the Finn smile.

The fun had lasted a good 4 minutes, and I was definitely bad. My hands were shaking, and the adrenaline was flowing through my body. Unfortunately, some drivers were at the pit lane when we got there and got out. So, they could see me falling to the floor and kissing him symbolically. It didn't take a second and I had the taste of oil on my mouth and started spitting. But I continued to kneel on the floor, resting my hands on the floor.

I leaned my head on the floor: "I'm still alive! Hallelujah, I thought I had to die." Valtteri Had come around the car and watched me amused as I held on to the ground. Slowly disappeared, the fluffy feeling in my stomach and also the adrenaline decreased. When I felt safe, I looked up again and got up.

Lando Behind the camera, was laughing hard and the other drivers couldn't contain a grin. Luckily Max hadn't been among them, so it was only half as bad for me.

"How many questions did he manage per minute?" I asked Thomas. He and the others in the team had counted the answers and stopped the time. When the recording director raised both hands of me, I knew he had ten questions.

I watched Valtteri: "10 questions per minute, what do you say?" Of course, the other drivers made mocking comments, but they would still have time to prove their skills.

"You should keep the low profile, Lando. You're still coming, just hopefully without me," I laughed again. But this time I had also targeted this effect with my comment. That's why I smiled into the camera myself.

"This was it with the Sky Challenge of Bahrain," I began the moderation, "If you liked it, give a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Cheers." I exhaled with relief when the camera was off.

Thomas came to me: "All good with you? You're still a little white around your nose." I just nodded and said I needed some time. I got it too, because I was done with turning for the time being. That's why I wanted to make myself comfortable in front of the press building, but a certain Englishman probably had something against it and sat down with his friends. Since our joker had given something really clever of itself. He was right, I had to find out if Max was worth the risk to me. Was he worth it to me that I put my career at risk without knowing what was or will be between him and me?