Chapter 19 – Richard #2
“Daniel,” I answer, probably harsher than I meant to. It’s not Daniel’s fault that Dave isn’t really listening to us.
“He’s not in his room again,” Daniel states.
“Gym or pool?” I responded.
“Not sure, the plan was to check on him and then go to breakfast.”
“You check the pool and restaurant. I will get reinforcements, and go check the gym. If I find him, I will let you know.”
“Yeah, I’ll do the same,” Daniel confirms and hangs up the line.
Scrolling through my contacts I find the name that I’m looking for and hit call.
“Jasper,” I state the second the line connects. “He’s missing again. Come and be all Dom with me.”
“Not sure he’s paying any attention to me at the moment, but I will come along.”
“You know if Vincent gets wind of what he has been doing, he will stop him from racing,” I say, even though Jasper is fully aware.
“Maybe that’s what we need to do. He isn’t listening to me, you or Daniel, maybe he will listen to his boss,” Jasper replies.
“Let’s just find him and go from there.”
“I’m guessing that he will be in the gym, and I’m also guessing that he’s been there a while.”
“I have to agree with you. Meet you by the lift in five.”
“See you in five.”
Picking up my room key from the side table, I make my way out of my room, and over to the lifts where Jasper is waiting for me.
He hits the call button. We wait in silence for the lift, and when it dings to let us know it has arrived, I feel relieved that it’s empty.
Means Jasper and I are going to be able to talk freely.
“You know, he wouldn’t keep doing stupid stuff if you just stayed with him,” Jasper says, the moment the lift doors close.
“Yeah, I know, but it’s just…”
“It’s just, the two of you are stubborn shits. You can tell the team without telling the world. You know that, right?”
“Again, I know, but this is what we agreed on. We have three more races, and then everyone will know.”
“I still think this would’ve been easier if you two weren’t hiding.”
“No, this would be easier if Dave fucking did as he was told, and rested,” I counter.
“In his defence, he can do light exercise,” Jasper adds.
“The last time he did the gym vanishing act, when he thought we had all gone to bed, you found him running.”
“True, but he has always been a very active man.”
“I know, but we have four days before practice one. He needs to protect his legs for then.”
“You are preaching to the choir here,” Jasper replies.
“Sorry, he’s just frustrating the crap out of me.”
The lift announces that we have arrived at the basement, and the doors slowly open.
The pair of us step out, and head towards the gym.
Opening the door, we looked in and we thought we were going to find him on the treadmill again, but we didn’t.
Instead, we see him on a bike, earbuds in, his grey t-shirt covered in sweat, pedalling harder than he should be.
Dave is so focused that he doesn’t see us come in at first, but as we move closer, he points to us, and immediately slows down, pulling out an earbud.
“Hey.”
“Do not ‘hey’ me. How long have you been down here?” I demand.
“Not long,” But I know he’s lying, his t-shirt basically giving him away.
“Dave,” Jasper starts, going close to him. “What exercises have you been doing?”
“I did some arm work, and decided to go on the bike to do some gentle leg work.”
“You weren’t doing gentle leg work when we came in,” Jasper states back, and Dave falls silent, knowing that he’s been caught.
“Right, upstairs,” I tell him. “You are going to ice those legs, and then rest.”
“I can think of something else I would rather be doing upstairs,” Dave says, as he finally stops pedalling, and moves off the bike. He tries to hide it, but I catch the wince on his face. He’s in pain again.
“In pain, I see.” I take a deep breath. This is either going to get him to listen, or cause us to have a huge argument, but it might be time to stop acting like his boyfriend, and more like a boss.
“So, you have two options, carry on defying us, I pull you from this race and Otis can have your seat. Or you rest until the race and listen to Daniel and Jasper, and you drive on Friday.”
“What?” Dave says, looking over to me before looking over to Jasper.
“I think you heard me.”
“Jesus, you are sexy when you’re in Dom mode,” Jasper states, and I wonder if he’s trying to lessen the tension that’s brewing.
“Not in Dom mode,” I reply, but never take my eyes off Dave. “I’m being the head of driver training, and looking out for the welfare of my driver.”
“Still fucking hot,” Jasper mumbles.
“You wouldn’t?” Dave asks, and I can hear the surprise in his voice.
“At this moment in time, yes, I would,” I confirm. “If none of those options appeal to you, then we can just tell Vincent what has been going on. I would only pull you for one race, Vincent would pull you from the rest of the season. So, the choice is yours.”
I know he’s pissed at me, but he left me no option. Taking away that one thing I know he loves more than me, would get him to realise how serious this situation is.
“I will rest,” Dave finally states. “But you can stay in your room tonight.”
I had expected him to say something along these lines, so I wasn’t that surprised. “If that’s what you want,” I reply.
“Dave, don’t say anything stupid. Rich is just making sure that you drive,” Jasper adds.
“Jasper, butt out of this.”
“Actually, no, I won’t,” Jasper tells him, and I can hear the change of tone in his voice.
“You have driven us all to distraction this week, and quite frankly, you have been damn lucky. Do you have any idea the position you put Richard in? He isn’t just your boyfriend, and I think that you forgot that. ”
“Actually, I haven’t,” Dave spits back.
“Haven’t you? I think I just heard you tell your boyfriend not to come see you tonight.”
“I…” Dave starts, but he knows what Jasper is saying is right.
“Going out with the boss isn’t going to be fun at times, but you are going to have to learn to suck it up. There are times when he will have to think of the team before you. Does that mean he loves you less? No. So, maybe stop being a shit about it.”
I’m completely lost for words. That was quite a passionate speech from Jasper, but the sentiment was right. I hope that Dave understands. That he can see, that deep down, I’m just thinking about him, and his career. I’m keeping him at the top of his game.
“Fine,” Dave mutters. “I’m going to head back upstairs. Alone.”
“I will send in Daniel with some breakfast and some ice packs for you.”
Dave doesn’t even look at me as he leaves the gym, and I don’t run after him. This is something that he’s going to have to process for himself. He knows that I will be waiting for him.
“I’ll talk to him,” Jasper says, as he turns to follow after him.
“Thanks, but it’s okay. I probably should have done this a week ago.”
“Dave will come around,” Jasper says.
“That will be up to him. He will know where I am.”
“Are you going to tell Vincent what he’s been like?” Jasper asks.
“No.” I had only ever planned on telling Vincent if Dave couldn’t race. “I don’t think he needs to know this. The issue with Lars’s car isn’t resolved, this would just add too much to his plate. Let’s just keep this to us.”
“Good. Coz if you did, you would need to do some major grovelling to get back into Dave’s good books,” Jasper says.
“Oh, but that would have been so much fun,” I reply, thinking about all the punishments Dave would have put me through. I think I can feel the burn on my wrists already, and rub them subconsciously, causing Jasper to burst out laughing.
“Submissives,” Jasper states, as he leaves the gym still chuckling to himself.
“You really love us,” I shout after him, and I think that I hear him laugh louder, at my words.