Chapter 12 #2
The way that Marielle had done for him. He knew it hadn’t been her intent, but she’d forced him to see the link between racing and his family. When he stopped and got out of the simulator, he glanced over at Marco.
His boss nodded and gave him a thumbs-up sign.
“Better. Keep doing that. Whatever it is that you did at the end. That is the key for you. My brother needs me back in Milan, so Keke will stay and send reports to me. I like the way you are improving, Inigo. For each driver, the key to winning is something different. It’s not something that I can tell you or even Keke, for all his wisdom, but to me it seems as if you are getting closer to that. ”
He nodded. “I am. I’d like to take a few days off over the weekend to go home. My sister is close to delivering her baby, and I’d like to be there for that.”
Marco took a deep breath and shook his head. “Will it interfere with your driving?”
“Honestly, I think it might help it. I need to keep living. I’ve been too isolated, and it isn’t really helping me to win.”
“Okay. You’re from Texas, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’d like to see you out on a track getting some real-world practice. I’ll have my assistant see if you can get some time at the track in Austin. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect,” he said.
Marco left, and Inigo realized for the first time since he’d started racing, he felt comfortable being a driver. He’d always thought the approach he’d been taking would bring him the results he wanted, but it hadn’t.
Not until now. Not until Marielle.
Two days later Marielle was at a party at Siobahn’s to celebrate the release of her latest single.
Marielle had done a live video and her followers loved it, then she’d taken a break and was sitting in a quiet corner trying not to do a search on Inigo.
She missed him. Yet at the same time, she was trying to remind herself that she didn’t need him.
“Hey. Do you mind if join you?” Scarlet said.
She was in her second trimester and had a cute baby bump but still managed to look like the hellion she’d always been.
“Sure. How are you doing?” she asked as Scarlet sat down next to her.
“I’m good,” she said, rubbing her stomach.
“I wanted to see how you were. I know that things didn’t end so well on New Year’s Day.
I haven’t had time to call...well, that’s not true.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first. Alec and his family see you as some sort of femme fatale and think you should have a big scarlet letter on your chest.”
Hearing what she already knew said out loud was like a little wound to her chest. It hurt, but it also made her angry. “Whatever. It’s not like I want to be in their lives.”
“Well, not all of their lives,” Scarlet said.
She nibbled on her lower lip, turning her head to the side. Yeah, not all their lives. Just Inigo’s. “That’s over.”
“Is it? I saw a photo of you two not that long ago on TMZ. And honestly it was that picture that made me realize that Alec was being stupid. I mean, you two were really into each other. And why shouldn’t you have a chance at that?
Why should I be mad at you for something that happened before either of us knew the Velasquez family? ”
Marielle couldn’t help smiling at the way Scarlet said it.
She put her arm around the other woman, hugging her.
“Thank you. That has to be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. It means more than you know to hear that. I don’t think Inigo and I will ever be together, but still it’s nice to know you had my back. ”
“No problem. As troublemakers, we have to stick together,” she said.
“Plus, Siobahn read me the riot act. Her point was, since when did I let past mistakes define how I look at a friend. I know you regret falling for Jose’s lies, and if Bianca ever met you she’d realize that you beat yourself up for that still. ”
Marielle had to laugh. Siobahn was still down on guys after her ex had married someone else mere weeks after dumping her. “She sees the world from a unique vantage point right now.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s wrong,” Scarlet said.
“Don’t let her hear you say that. It will go to her head.”
“Whose head?” Siobahn asked, coming over and sitting down next to them.
“Yours.”
“My new single rocks, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a revenge song... I think when Mate hears it, he’s going to lose his shit,” Scarlet said. “Wish there was a way to see his reaction.”
“Oh, there will be. He’s doing red carpet for that movie he wrote the soundtrack for. I’m sure it will come up,” Siobahn said.
“How can you know that?”
“I was on a morning radio show this morning and hinted it was about him without saying it,” she said. “Life is good.”
Marielle knew that feeling. It was hard having your heart broken and feeling so low. Though she wasn’t the kind of person who wanted some kind of public humiliation for her exes, she understood why Siobahn did.
“How’s things with the race-car driver?” Siobahn asked. “You could have brought him.”
“We’re not together,” Marielle said. “It was a hot mess when we tried to figure out how it would work, and we both walked away. It’s better.”
“I saw you two—”
“Don’t, Siobahn. I know you mean well, but there’s no way that we can be together. My life is finally not the cray-cray show it always has been,” Marielle said.
“Fair enough. I just know you. You looked like you were starting to fall for him.”
“Probably all the more reason for us not to be together,” Marielle said. “When has love ever ended for any of us in anything but disaster?”
“Uh, excuse me. I’m rocking happily-ever-after,” Scarlet said.
“You are. You’re the exception that proves the rule. Siobahn and I can’t chance it. We might jinx you,” Marielle said.
“You won’t jinx me. But I do like the idea of you getting you right before you add a man to the mix.
For me I had the pregnancy, so I had no choice but to figure out how I could make it work with Alec.
And you know, I’m glad I didn’t have too much time to think about it.
That man might make me crazy sometimes, but I’ve never felt so happy and in love in my entire life. And he actually loves me.”
“Of course he does. He’d be an idiot not to,” Siobahn said.
Marielle hung out with her friends for the rest of the evening, and when she went home, she told herself that the empty apartment didn’t bother her.
She was strong and independent. She didn’t need a man.
In fact, she’d never really needed anyone else.
But that didn’t mean that she didn’t miss Inigo.
He had a way of making her laugh at nothing.
She stood at the window and remembered standing by his, seeing Central Park from the other side.
Tonight, there wasn’t as much snow, but she wasn’t looking at the park.
Instead she tried to see all the way to the other side and the man she was trying to convince herself she didn’t miss.