Chapter 11 #2
Patty stares at me with wide eyes, still leaning on his hands over the table. Shrugging, he bobs his head and pushes up so he’s standing to his full—on the shorter side—height. “Okay, yeah, you hit the nail on the head. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Well that’s too bad because I already told you my answer. No. It’s not happening.”
“Listen. All of this”—he waves a hand over the papers displaying my recent posts and some articles written—“is a good start, but it’s only going to get you so far.”
He points towards the photos of me and Sydney. “But this? This is exactly what you need. Because you’re right, the people love a good bad boy falls for the good girl storyline and like it or not, Sydney Collins is the epitome of good.”
“Exactly. She’s too good. For me and for whatever fucked up plan you’ve concocted in your head. Everyone would see right through this, anyway. There’s no possible way we would be able to convince anyone that we are really in a relationship.”
His lips tilt up. “Oh, but you already have.”
My head drops and I look over the comments on each of the photos. By now, I’m used to fans assuming a lot of things from pictures.
Like what my favorite dessert is from a picture of me eating ice cream after a race.
Or what my music tastes is because of a T-shirt I was spotted wearing while grabbing groceries.
Or that I refuse to wear the color orange because there’s a video of me cringing after I was forced to wear a color-coded shirt for some contest.
Some were spot on and some… well, they are completely out of the realm of possibilities.
And the assumption that me and Sydney could be a couple? As much as I wish it could actually be a reality, it is only a pipe dream of the fans. And of mine.
“You don’t have to give me a definitive answer on this right now—”
“I kind of already did,” I deadpan but he talks over me.
“Take the weekend to think it over. But really think it through, alright? This could be it, Lawson. The last push that gets you back into the good graces of everyone and gets you in that seat for another season. Obviously, you will need to talk with Sydney and see if she’s on board with the idea—”
“Oh, because my denial of it isn’t enough?” I say it mockingly, but I’m nowhere near joking.
Sighing, Patty drops down into his seat and folds his hands together.
“I’m going to level with you, Lawson. The work you’ve put in so far has been good, but that’s it.
This team? It values more than just a few cute dog videos or pictures of delicious looking pastries.
We are family here and we want the people who are our public faces to be the embodiment of it. ”
I drop my head and close my eyes as he continues.
“You are not the same nineteen-year-old driver with a bad attitude anymore; you can’t be that anymore. It’s time to show that you’ve grown up, that there are more meaningful things to you than just driving a fast car.”
I lift my eyes to see him watching me with empathy. “Is that really all anyone thinks of me? That all I care about is racing?”
“It’s the image you have spent years building.
It’s all anyone who doesn’t actually know anything about you thinks.
And I hate to break it to you, kid, but their opinions matter, sometimes more than our own.
That’s just the downside of being a public figure, sometimes you have to bend to their will if it means having the best opportunities for your future. ”
My hands flex and I drop my head back, closing my eyes in defeat. “You’re a bit of a downer, Patty, you know that?”
He chuckles and I peek open an eye as he leans back in his chair. “Someone has to lay the hard shite out there. I’m just the lucky bastard that has to do it.”
“I wouldn’t consider it a lucky position, but yeah, sure.”
“You don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to,” Mitch says, drawing our attention.
“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming?” I grumble.
He smirks. “There isn’t. If you aren’t comfortable, then I’ll shut it down and we can move on to one of the other fifty ideas that were presented.”
Sighing, I look over the various pictures in front of me. There’s no denying the way this all looks. The way she smiles at me or how I watch her when she isn’t looking. It does look like we are a couple. A couple in love.
My jaw ticks and I rub my hand over my face.
Sighing, I glance between the two men and reluctantly nod.
“I’ll talk to her.” Patty grins in victory and I shoot him a hard look.
“I’m not saying I’m okay with this or that I’m doing it.
At least, not without Sydney’s consent. If she doesn’t want to do it, I’m not pressuring her into this. ”
He nods repeatedly. “Of course.”
“But listen when I say this.” I lean forward, making sure he has nowhere else to look but into my cold hard eyes. “She will not be hurt in this. I don’t know what your end game is in all of this, but she will not be any sort of collateral damage. I will not allow it.”
“I understand. When it comes to the break-up, we will keep it amicable, a mutual decision where no one is in the wrong. Deal?”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. “It’s a start.”