SarahPiastri
The season had officially ended, but so did my chances to see him up close. The paddock was our shield, the only place I could observe him, study his lines, and exist in his periphery without making it weird. But now, seeing him under the bright Abu Dhabi lights as the world champion, he had won my heart all over again.
He had every right to party, to celebrate his achievements even in my absence, but it hurt watching him so carelessly living in the moment without a care in the world. It could have been me standing in his place. I could have enchanted him with my own charisma, captured his full attention by being a champion myself - but the world had other plans. Now, I was just the one left behind, forced to watch from the sidelines. I couldn't help but wonder with a sickening twist in my stomach: could this night be the last of us, or was it the terrifying beginning of something new?