28: Good liar

Max's point of view:

I get out of the car, the P2 board in front of it.

Jesus...

I see Coulthard standing there, god I really don't want to get interviewed today.

I walk towards Horner.

'Verstappen, I'm proud of you!', he pulls me in for a hug.

'Yeah right', I stand there not hugging him back.

'Max, come on. You did great!'.

'Yet she won. So clearly I wasn't great enough', I see Maeve talking to Coulthard.

'I couldn't agree more', I turn around and see my dad standing there.

'Jos', Horner says, his smile fading slowly.

'Christian, I'm sorry for the horrible performance my son did today'.

I stand there, not knowing what to say.

I tried my best, didn't I?

'Jos, I am amazed. It was one of his best races to be fair. Maeve just had the faster car today, next week we'll try again', Horner places his hand on my back.

He has been there for me my whole Red Bull career, the only one who was brave enough to tell my dad that I was doing great.

'Oh Horner, please, don't sell me lies. He races worse than a girl... a girl', Jos laughs.

Horner's face turns white as he looks behind me.

Where is he looking at?

I turn around

Oh fuck...

It's who he is looking at.

'That girl... is pretty good at driving though', Sebastian says who clearly heard my father.

'S-Sebastian, yes she is okay!', my dad's face is bright red.

'Okay? I'd rather say she is... one of the greatest of her time, wouldn't you agree?'.

'Yes of course, yet Max is...', my dad struggles to find the words.

He looks in my direction and for the first time in a long time, he smiles at me.

Clearly fake but still.

'Max is doing amazing', Sebastion places a hand on my shoulder. 'You really are, you were great when you were a little boy and now you're improving so much'.

He smiles at me like a true father would do, without a fake smile.

'Thanks, Sebastian'.

'But please, be careful with my daughter, she is fierce and feisty. Keep her as your friend, not as your enemy'.

Okay well, that might be a little too late but whatever.

She obviously didn't tell her father about our... situation.

'She is one of the greatest friends I have, truly', I smile.

What a great liar I am.

'Max, you are next', Horner points to Coulthard.

I nod and walk off.

I wasn't looking forward to these interviews, but at least me talking to my dad is postponed right now.

'Max Verstappen, p2 again. Are you happy?' David asks.

'Give me the definition of happy,' I laugh.

David looks at the cameraman, did I say something wrong?

'Max are you not happy with p2?'

'I would've been happier with p1 of course,' I say while taking a sip of my water.

'After all these wins you're still not satisfied with being second?', he laughs.

I laugh too, David might be my favorite interviewer.

'Mate I gotta tell you this, Maeve is a great driver, I love to share a car with her and a team and even a team principal... but those titles, those wins... nah they're mine', I laugh.

'So... next week?', David says

'Next week we'll hear the Dutch anthem again',

'Is that a promise?', David asks.

I grab my water, ready to walk away.

'It's a feeling', I walk away.

Luciana's point of view

I run to the ferrari garage, the doors are closing.

'Wait! Let me in!', I yell.

The guy who is closing the garage looks at me and then sighs.

'Sorry please, I am Leclerc's content creator', I say.

'That's what they all say Missy, now go away'.

'Please no! I really am! I'm Luciana Vasseur!', I complained.

'Yeah right, so if I get Mr. Vasseur over here, he'll confirm you're his daughter?', he laughs.

I feel a sudden burst of anger rising inside of me.

'Get out of my fucking way you asshole, I will make sure that you will not work here tomorrow', I point my finger at him.

'Just go away, bitch. Otherwise, I'll call security', the man hisses.

'Is there a problem here?', Charles walks up from behind him.

'No sir, just some fans being lunatics', the man laughs.

'I'm afraid you are the lunatic here', I yell

'Shut the fuck up you bitch', the man rants.

I look at him dead in the eye, then my gaze fades to Charles.

But before I can even process what is going on I see the man falling to the ground.

Charles' fist being the only thing near him.

'Oh mon Dieu!', I scream.

'Charles get him!', I yell.

Then I notice people surrounding us.

'Okay, I should've not said that... uhm... let go of him. Now!', I try to hide my upcoming laughter.

Charles backs up, I see my dad and Carlos running toward us.

'What is happening here?', Carlos yells.

My dad crouches next to the man, who is clearly in pain.

'il l'a harcelée', Charles says to my dad, who is laying the man's head on his lap.

Suddenly my dad pushes the man's head off his lap.

'Thank you Charles for sticking up for her', He turns to the man on the ground. 'You... finito... fired!', my dad yells and walks away.

'Okay can I have some English translation maybe?', Carlos stands there, not knowing what to do.

'He harassed her, called her a bitch', Charles' knuckles are bleeding.

'Yeah so Charles hit the motherfucker, I wanted him to continue but surely that is not good for his reputation nor for mine', I say while dragging Charles with me into the garage.

'Where are you taking me?', Charles asks. 'Ouch! That hurts you doux'.

Carlos is investigating his hand. 'Yeah, bad for his reputation but also bad for his driving, if he hit harder or hit at the wrong angle his hand could've been broken. And guess what? Then he couldn't even finish this season driving.'

'Oh god, I'm so sorry I never thought about that', I say while grabbing an ice pack out of the cooler.

'It's fine', Charles hisses to Carlos.

'Shut up Leclerc, I have a team strategist who fucks everything up, I don't need a teammate like that too', Carlos claims.

I take off my scarf and wrap the ice pack around it.

'Hold this on your knuckles', I order.

'I'm not your bitch', Charles says.

'Shut up for once, now do as I say', I sigh.

'I don't like being commanded', he says.

'Il y a quelques jours tu pensais différemment', I say while looking directly into his eyes.

His eyes turn big, he definitely understands what I said.

Duhu, he's French... no wait... Monegasque.

He places the ice pack on top of his knuckles.

'Wait what did she say?', Carlos asks him.

'She... uhm... she told me she'd cut my balls off if I didn't listen to her this instant', Charles coughs.

Good liar, red flag?

'Oh jeez, you should definitely listen to her then', Carlos laughs.

But that wasn't what I said...

I said: 'A few days ago you thought differently'.