Chapter 16 – Jasper #2
“Lizzie, please. I already hate that I have to watch my boyfriend hurtle around corners at stupid miles per hour,” I say.
“You know that he lives for this, right? We are sitting here witnessing him achieve something he has wanted since he was a kid,” Lizzie says.
“I know, but my heart still doesn’t like it,” I tell her.
“You love him don’t you?” Lizzie suddenly asks.
“Yeah. I didn’t mean to fall so quickly, but Otis is…” But as usual I’m not sure how to finish the sentence.
“Otis has a way of getting under your skin. But he’s different with you. I knew that from the second he started talking about you, even before I knew it was you.”
“You still don’t care that I’m a man? That Otis is gay? Or maybe queer is the best label.” Needing to have Lizzie’s point of view.
“No, I don’t care. Any parent should want their child to be happy.”
“Mine don’t. They tried their best, but my sexuality was too much for them,” I tell her.
“Otis mentioned something to me, but you are close to your sister. Well, you have to be to work with her like you did.”
“We are close. I think that she knows me better than I know myself.”
“She approves of Otis?” Lizzie asks.
“Kimber adores Otis. Actually, I think that she might love him more than me. Can you believe that Otis was giving her tips on the business when we were staying there?”
“Sounds like my Otis,” Lizzie says. “But now no more talking. It’s race day and we’re missing it.”
I tried to watch. I really did. I used to love race days.
It’s how I followed David’s career, but I couldn’t.
I ended up doing stuff on my phone and only looking up if Lizzie made a noise.
Otis was doing well, and the commentators were loving it.
At the moment he was ten seconds ahead of the field, with Lars in second place.
There was no way that Otis wasn’t going to win this race.
“Are you doing okay?” Lizzie asks over to me.
“I’m so proud of him,” I mumble to my phone. “But watching is just too hard.”
Looking up at the screen I realise that we’re down to ten laps remaining. Shit. I needed to get Lizzie to the race track.
“Lizzie we need to get going, I was supposed to get you to the track by now.”
“Can’t I wait till the end of the race?”
“No. Sorry. If we go now we’ll get to the garage in time to watch the last few laps, but we need to get moving.”
Lizzie jumps into action and within a few minutes we’re racing out of the hotel and heading to the paddock. I manage to call Vincent to tell him we’re on the way, and someone is waiting for us at the security gate with Lizzie’s pass.
With two laps to go, we get to the pit garage, but we’re directed into a room at the back. There is a huge TV mounted on the wall and Lizzie just keeps staring at it as we watch Otis cross the finish line in first place. He did it. A podium at his debut race.
Lizzie and I are still hugging when there is a knock on the door and Vincent comes in.
“Mrs. Young,” Vincent starts, reaching his hand out to her, “I’m Vincent Montague.”
“Pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard a lot about you from Otis,” Lizzie says.
“This meeting is a long time overdue,” Vincent confirms.
“Maybe if you spent more time with your lower teams, it wouldn’t be overdue,” Lizzie responds, and I’m biting my lip.
“I think you might be right there,” Vincent replies. “I hope that Jasper has been looking after you.”
“Jasper has been the perfect gentleman. But I would like to see my son, please?”
“Of course. He has just pulled up into the parc fermè,” Vincent says.
“The parc what?” Lizzie counters.
“The place where they park the cars at the end of the race,” I explained. “Otis will have to do an interview and then will be taken up to the podium.”
“Are you coming?” Lizzie asks.
“No, I will stay with the team and watch from below.”
Lizzie goes to open her mouth but I nod my head in Vincent’s direction slightly and mouth ‘no’, hoping that this conveys that Vincent doesn’t know about me and Otis, and she catches on.
“I will make sure that Otis is aware that you helped make all this happen. I’m sure that he will want to thank you later,” Lizzie says, before turning to Vincent, “Shall we get going?”
“This way,” Vincent says, as he opens the door, but Lizzie turns on the spot and pulls me into a hug.
“Be gentle with him tonight? But have fun,” Lizzie whispers, and is smiling as she steps back and gives me a wink.
Even though I know that I should go out into the garage, that I need to be with the lads, I stay in this office and watch as Otis gets out of the car.
He stands just at the front of the halo and looks up to the sky, and I think I see him mouth the words, ‘thanks Dad’ before he’s jumping off the car and running over to the team.
The smile on Otis’s face is the biggest I have ever seen, and it’s heartwarming to witness firsthand him achieving one of his dreams. I watch as he looks around the team, and I know that he’s looking for me, and for the first time I watch that smile dim slightly, before he’s being called away for the interviews.
Otis’s face fills the TV screen in the room, and he’s smiling and waving at the crowd, when a familiar figure appears with the microphone.
Nicky. He used to be David’s racing partner but left, and then last year he had conducted an exclusive with David after the crash but had gone off script. Vincent and Richard had been so angry.
“Otis. Congratulations on a phenomenal drive. Pole on your debut race. How are you feeling?” Nicky asks.
“Can you pinch me? I have to be dreaming, right?”
Nicky chuckles. “Not a dream. You are the Australian Grand Prix winner.”
“Oh, that does sound good. But it’s not just me.This is a great track. I won a few times here at F2. Winning at F1 just feels amazing. I could feel the crowd behind me all the way.”
“Lars was quite a ways behind you. What gave you the edge on him? I didn’t think anyone could beat Lars. Was there a different setup with the cars?” Nicky asks.
“Lars is a great driver and teammate. I think today I just wanted this more. To win on your debut is not something many drivers can say,” Otis replies, and I have to admire just how good he is in interviews. He would have been better at my PR training than Charmaine.
“Congratulations on a great race. I’m looking forward to seeing you drive. Think you and Lars are going to be impressive this year,” Nicky adds, ending the interview, and I watch the screen as Otis leaves and Lars comes on.
Nicky seems to ask all the same questions to Lars as he did Otis, but just like Otis, Lars says it was a team effort. That on the day Otis was the better driver, but that he was looking forward to China and trying to beat Otis.
A knock on the door pulls me away from the screen and I see Marcus walk in, and he doesn’t look happy.
“Hey,” I say over to him.
“Where the hell have you been?” Marcus demands.
“I had to organize a surprise for Otis, but I heard that you were trying to steal him from me.” And give him a look.
“Yeah, I tried but it was no good,” Marcus states, but there is something else bothering him.
“Marcus, what’s going on?”
“Otis’s bitch of an ex is here. I don’t think she’s managed to get onto the paddock, but the moment Otis crossed the line, she was sending out messages on social media. Using the hashtag ‘reconciliation’.” And Marcus hands me an iPad. There on the screen is a picture of her and Otis.
“This photo was taken months ago. Look, he has a goatee,” I tell Marcus. “He shaved it off the night before Richard and David’s party.”
“So she’s using old photos to try and make the media think that something is going on,” Marcus adds. “We need to see Charmaine. If the press sees this, then it will cause a frenzy.”
“Yeah, we need to warn Otis too, but after the podium. Come on, let’s go outside, I need to see his face firsthand.”
“So it wasn’t nipple clamps you got him?” Marcus asks with a grin.
“No, I brought over his mum,” I state.
“Oh shit. You are so getting laid tonight. Fucking jammie bastard. Otis is good, isn’t he.”
And just because I need a distraction, “You have no fucking idea. His arse is round and firm, and so tight.”
And I am still chuckling to myself as I leave the room and head out to join the others under the podium.