Chapter 26 #2
She’s wrong, and I know she’s full of shit. Whatever my mum’s issue is, it’s not squarely with me. I’ve had to remind myself of this since I was a teenager. Yet, the creeping loneliness inside of my chest doesn’t allow me to brush away her words entirely.
There’s a hole inside of me that longs to be filled with something, or rather someone who I know is solely on my team. Going out to party with Edwin and our mates won’t satisfy it either.
The moment I have this realization, I peer up from our team huddle to see Annalise strolling past. She’s deep in conversation with one of the administrators from Amato.
I watch her dressed in a cream pencil skirt, a sleeveless black chiffon top tucked at the waist, and a pair of black strappy heels that make her calf muscles appear when she walks.
She’s dressed professionally but I can’t stop my eyes from raking over the span where her top meets her skirt down to her shapely waist. She looks like she belongs here, not as an assistant to her brother—not that it’s not an important job—but as something more.
I’m thrown back to the conversation we had in her flat. When I asked her about becoming an agent. Annalise would make a hell of an agent. My gut tells me so.
I’m reminded of how she swiftly rattled off my statistics to me, a feat not even Edwin could do, along with her brother’s numbers and Sabrina Walters.
I’ve since tested her and she knows the numbers for just about every driver on the grid.
She’s also aware of who their agents are and what brands they’re working with.
Not only does she have a head full of knowledge, but a keen sense of career direction, easily discussing what brands or sponsors would best suit which driver and why.
It makes me wonder why she’s Travis’ assistant and not something more.
As soon as the question pops into my mind, she glances up and our eyes lock. Her gaze softens, or perhaps that’s my hoping that’s what I see in her light green eyes.
She’s so damn beautiful.
It makes my chest ache.
“Did you get that, Max?”
I look over at Drake and nod.
“Right. Hard tires to start out, and if the rain holds out, we’ll finish on the soft,” I recite, not missing a beat of the conversation.
My team principal nods in approval before going back to the clipboard in his hand.
I go to look over to where Annalise was, but instead of meeting her hazels, my gaze collides with her brother’s much darker one. Not necessarily darker in color but darker in emotion.
He glares at me over his sister’s shoulder.
I send a cheeky grin and wink his way, to which he responds with a scowl before going back to listening to his sister.
Once the meeting with my team ends, I seek to grab Annalise for a moment of alone time. A part of me craves to be near her, alone with her.
Who am I kidding?
All of me craves it.
Two days without hanging out in her apartment, watching the movies she loves while she finds time to recite a line either from Shakespeare, Jane Austen, or one of her films in between laughs is too much.
I don’t know how she stuffs all of the knowledge she has inside of her, but it fascinates me and I want to be in her presence more than anyone else’s. This should scare me … but it only draws me to her.
“Hey,” I say, when I finally corner her in one of the hallways of the paddock. She’s alone.
“Hi,” she says in a high-pitched voice, her gaze going over my shoulder.
I glance behind me but find no one standing there.
“I’ve missed you,” I say honestly, low enough only for her to hear me.
Her eyes widen when I take a step closer.
My gaze drops to her parted mouth and the need to kiss it becomes overwhelming.
I think about how it’s been more than two days since I’ve tasted her lips, heard her laugh, held her in my arms as she told me about some random fact her professor told her about Shakespeare in uni, and that’s just too much time.
“I—” She stops. “Mom,” she squeaks out.
I turn to find a petite, beautiful Black woman standing at the end of the hallway, carefully watching us. After years of racing and competing against Travis, I’m aware that this is his and Annalise’s mother, Mrs. Destiny Townsend.
“D-Did you need something?” Annalise asks, slipping past me.
The ache in my chest grows with each step she takes away from me.
“Looking for you so we can grab something to eat,” Mrs. Townsend says, her gaze still moving between her daughter and me. “Have you eaten anything today?”
Annalise shakes her head.
Glancing at the time on my phone, I frown just as her mother does. It’s almost five o’clock in the evening. She should’ve eaten by now.
“How are you, Max?” Mrs. Townsend greets with a warm smile. We’ve been introduced plenty of times over the years.
Save for a handful of times after that collision between Travis and I, she’s always been nothing short of cordial.
“Pretty well, Mrs. Townsend. I hope you’re enjoying Monaco.”
“I certainly am. One of my favorite places outside of home. Mainly because two of my favorite people live here.” Her loving gaze falls on Annalise.
Pure love shines in her eyes for her daughter.
“Mom,” Annalise says, her tone somewhere between a scold and a whine.
“What? You know I hate how far you and your brother live away from home.” She holds her hands up in defense. “I know. I know. You have to be here for your careers. And now with Lucky and Alyssia, our family is growing and you’re all so far away. Maybe your father and I should—”
“Okay, well,” Annalise cuts her mother off, “I have a few more things to do before I can head out to an early dinner with you guys.”
“And you, Max?” Her mother’s gaze skirts over to me. “Would you like to come to dinner with the family?”
“What?” Annalise asks.
“Really?”
Mrs. Townsend throws her a confused look. “He’s your brother’s teammate.”
“Rival,” Annalise corrects.
I spot the tension in Annalise’s voice, and though I want to say yes just to get her reaction, I don’t want to be an added source of tension for her right now.
“Thank you for the invitation but I have plans with my family this evening.”
Mrs. Townsend’s smile widens, and for a second I think she’s going to tell me to invite my family along but she doesn’t.
“Maybe another time?” The invite sounds genuine.
“Definitely,” I agree, ignoring the panicked look Annalise throws my way. Though I plan on asking her about it later.
Someone from Amato calls Annalise, which has her telling her mother she’ll meet her out in a half an hour to leave for the day. Her mother gives me another look before wishing me luck in the race and heading back to the front of the paddock.
A huff of laughter escapes me when I think that Travis’ mother has shown more grace toward me over this race than my own mother. One would think that as the years pass, things like that wouldn’t get to me.
At least that’s what I tell myself as I leave the paddock, cap brought down low on my forehead and a plain white button-up and trousers, with the hope that no one will recognize me.
I’ve always known that the country becomes swarmed with fans, teams, and sponsors and businesspeople looking to connect their brand to one of the F1 teams, among other people during race weekend.
But living here and seeing the difference from the normal day-to-day life to race weekend is eye-opening. I know many who live in Monte-Carlo throughout the year but leave during the Grand Prix to avoid the crowds.
Wish I could.
The thought comes to me as I wind my way around the busy streets, keeping my head tucked to avoid eye contact.
“Excuse me,” I say as I bump shoulders with an older man. I reflexively reach for him when he stumbles.
When he looks up at me, his eyes widen and my stomach plummets.
“Are you—”
“Hotel worker.” I dip my head in the direction of the hotel behind us.
“Right.” He nods. “Right. Thought you were someone else.”
“Happens all of the time.”
After that exchange, I decide to stay off of the main roads and find myself winding my way through the streets that take me to higher ground, walking for hours. It’s not the smartest thing to do the night before qualifying but the last place I want to go is my flat.
I doubt my mother will show up again tonight, but in case she does, I don’t want to see her or the posh friends she’ll have with her. I think about giving Edwin a call to meet up with him and our other friends, but I dismiss that thought almost as soon as it arises.
The last place I want to be right now is on a yacht, partying with God knows who until all hours of the morning. I glance up at the sky, seeing the stars that start to show their beauty, and decide it’s probably best to head back home for the night.