Chapter 27 #2
The humidity hits me the second the door opens and I can only pray that all the time I spent smoothing the frizz from my hair wasn’t in vain.
Adnan extends his hand to help me out of the back seat, murmuring to me that he won’t be far behind us if we need him to escort us in.
I smile gratefully as he passes me off to Zaid, who places my hand in the crook of his elbow as his eyes warmly skim over me.
We pose for the cameras, moving step by slow step down the red carpet, and I do my best not to react to the things the photographers shout at us.
Most of them are instructions – Turn a little to the right, that’s it, show us the bump!
– but some are invasive questions, and others are thinly veiled insults meant to get a reaction out of us.
Zaid’s grip on me tightens when one of them tries to insinuate that I’m too big to be dressed the way I am, and I squeeze him back when I see his lips about to move.
It pulls his attention down to me and I flash him an unconcerned grin, reassuring him that I’m not bothered.
Who cares what some random man thinks about how I look in this dress when the man I love can barely take his eyes off me.
I’ll endure whatever comes my way if it means I get to have him by my side. It’s a perk I didn’t have last time.
The corners of Zaid’s lips tip up in response, his eyes softening in the way I’ve only seen them do for me. The camera flashes increase – the photographers are not about to miss out on a rare Zaid Yousef smile, brought on by something other than a race win or a championship. I’m the prize tonight.
Finally, the carpet ends and we’re swept inside the sparkling venue, immediately greeted by a few members of Mascort’s press and marketing teams, who guide us into conversations with important sponsors.
It’s a long hour of schmoozing and sipping club sodas that Basil is kind enough to fetch me, making sure I’m okay in the moments when Zaid is tied up in conversation.
As far as team principals go, he’s currently my favorite on the grid.
I spotted my father across the room when we arrived, but after receiving a quick wave, I lost him in the crowd and haven’t seen him again.
Since Axel is – shockingly – still here, I can’t imagine Dad would have left already, so he must be around somewhere.
I just don’t know if I want to bother seeking him out.
I am however ready to find a bathroom, since this baby’s lodged herself against my bladder and seems mighty comfortable there. I’m also interested in locating Edith, who never replied to the text I sent her nearly half an hour ago asking where to find her.
During a break in conversation, I put my hand on Zaid’s shoulder and wait for him to bend down so I can murmur in his ear. ‘I’m going to wander for a bit. Will you be okay on your own?’
He nods and then kisses my cheek. ‘Come find me when you’re ready to go.’
I slip away through the crowd toward the restrooms, smiling at the people I recognize and ignoring the sets of curious eyes that follow me.
I’m about to round the corner to the back hallway when my heel catches on a bump in the carpet and I stumble, reaching out to catch myself on the wall.
But my hand lands on someone’s tuxedoed shoulder instead.
‘Careful,’ the man says as he holds my other elbow. ‘You have precious cargo.’
My head snaps up at the familiar voice. ‘Dad,’ I blurt as he rights me. ‘I didn’t – I was meaning to—’ I cut myself off, settling on just saying ‘Hi.’
His smile is cautious, but at least he’s looking at me directly for once. ‘Are you all right? No damage done?’
‘Yeah, I’m – I’m fine.’ I clear my throat, working myself up to ask how he’s doing, but any words stick in my throat when he lifts his hand to my cheek.
‘It’s good to see you, azizam,’ he says softly, thumb stroking over my cheekbone before dropping again. ‘You look lovely.’
I’m still trying to figure out how to speak, but I can at least offer him a small smile.
‘How’s the baby?’ he asks, gaze dropping to my belly, and there’s no missing the way his eyes soften.
‘Currently terrorizing my bladder,’ I joke before sobering again. ‘Zaid and I are really excited to meet her.’
Dad’s eyes lift back to mine at the mention of Zaid, and he’s quiet for a thoughtful beat. ‘I’m glad you two are making things work. I know I warned you away from him, but . . . I just wanted the best for you, Ava. I didn’t think he could give that to you.’
I blink, surprised by how sincere he sounds, and it’s obvious this is merely a precursor to what he really wants to say.
‘I need to apologize for how I spoke to you when you told me you were pregnant,’ he pushes on, like this has honestly been weighing on him and he’s desperate to get the words out.
‘It came from a place of fear. I didn’t want your child to face the same things I put you through.
I was concerned that Zaid would put his career before you and your child, because .
. . most drivers do. But I was wrong about him.
About you two – together.’ His eyes don’t leave mine, driving his admission home. ‘I’m sorry.’
It’s strange to hear those words from my father, because I’ve never heard them said so openly before.
‘I want – I want things to be better between us.’ He takes a shallow breath. ‘And I want to know my granddaughter, if you’ll allow me the privilege.’
With his request, I can feel the wall that’s been built up between us start to crack and crumble.
We still have our issues to work through, undoubtedly, but knowing he wants to make the effort heals a tiny part of my heart that’s been broken for decades.
Our relationship won’t be fixed overnight, but this is a start.
I nod. ‘We can talk about it.’
His smile widens, and he’s about to say something else when a blonde woman pops out of the doorway right behind him, the same one he came out of before nearly running into me.
Edith’s eyes land on Dad first, unsurprised to see him there, but she freezes when she sees me. It takes a moment for Omid to notice what has me speechless, but once he glances over his shoulder, his expression settles into grim acceptance that I’m about to discover what’s going on.
‘You can tell her,’ Dad murmurs to Edith. ‘I trust her.’
With that, he squeezes my arm and then disappears around the corner back to the party.
‘Edith,’ I say slowly, trying to wrap my head around the events of the last minute. ‘What’s going on?’
With a heavy breath, my best friend loops her arm around mine. ‘Come on, then. Time to bring you in on the secret.’
She guides me into what looks like a small conference room, then kicks the door shut behind us. I don’t move when she lets me go and takes a step back so that she can look me in the eyes.
‘Thomas wants to leave McMorris.’
This statement in itself is not shocking.
I’d want to leave a team too if my teammate had tried to sabotage me.
I’d want to leave even more if the team re-signed said driver on a multiyear contract, despite what he’d done.
Thomas has every reason to get the hell out of there, especially since McMorris hasn’t even been fighting for race wins this season and have fallen behind D’Ambrosi in the constructors’ battle.
He’s a fantastic driver who could do better elsewhere if he was given the chance, and there’s plenty of sponsorship money from his family’s company following wherever he goes.
So no, I’m not surprised by that. But what Edith has really said is that Thomas wants to leave McMorris – and wants to go to Specter Energy.
‘You’ve been negotiating with my dad,’ I mumble, unsteady on my feet all over again, but for a different reason this time. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
For a split second, I worry that our years of friendship have been a lie, that she’s been using me to get close to the team and my father in order to advance her brother’s career.
But that idea quickly goes out the window when I remember how she stood by me through my scandal and getting fired.
I wouldn’t have been useful to her at that point, so why would she have stuck around if this wasn’t real?
Besides, it wasn’t until this year that she even had any say in where A.P.
Maxwell International’s sponsorship money went – she never expected to be fighting for the CEO position this soon either.
I never want to believe the worst of someone, so I’m choosing to trust that she wouldn’t do that to me.