Rush

Chapter 31

The grid was alive in a way Savi had never seen it.

It was full to the brim with journalists, TV crews, drivers, mechanics, engineers, team principals, social media teams, influencers and VIP guests, and it was near-impossible to move around freely.

The Revolution Racing team had formed a huddle and were watching Savi’s brother do an on-camera interview, looking mighty pleased with himself as he talked at length about their relationship and how it had evolved as they’d grown up and grown into themselves.

‘Weston is so proud of you,’ Marco murmured into her ear. ‘He’s practically bursting at the seams. Look at him, can’t stop smiling.’

‘Don’t start, Monaco. I’ll be an ugly, crying mess.’

‘Told you before that’s impossible, but you do look like you’re about to physically melt. Are you feeling alright, Cowgirl?’ He scrutinised her, and it only made her cheeks more red.

While most of the sweat plastering her hair to her forehead was a result of her usual pre-race anxiety combined with the fact they were all in full racing gear bar helmets and the sun was beating down on them, Marco’s hand constantly hovering above her waist or hip was also a contribution.

‘I feel really hot,’ she breathed out, wishing she could shove the sleeves of her racing suit up her arms to allow some relief from the sticky heat.

‘Faith?’ Marco flagged their social media manager down as she whizzed past on her way to shoot yet more content of the car. ‘Sorry, are you able to hunt down a portable fan for us?’

‘Sure! Jules doesn’t look like he’s using his.’ She poked him, ‘Oi, Husband. Give Mars your fan, will you? Savi looks about ready to collapse. We’ve been out here so long, it’s ridiculous.’

‘Take Brett’s, too. He’s an Aussie, used to the heat.’ Julien handed them both over. ‘I don’t know why they made us come out here so early, the band haven’t even made it out yet.’

Right on cue, the drummers started pouring onto the grid and getting in position, all of them dressed in red, white and blue.

Savi had seen this on television over the years; the drummers performed, then someone sang the French national anthem, the French Air Force aerobatic demonstration team performed a flypast over the pit straight and they finished with someone parachuting from a French Army helicopter to deliver the national flag to the official race starter, who was usually a celebrity or ex-racing driver.

This year, they had an NBA player who was a huge endurance racing fan and sponsored an IEC team.

Savi didn’t want her anxiety to ruin this weekend for her, but she was feeling claustrophobic, and she couldn’t leave. This was part of her contract, and she was starting the race. She needed to get it under control before she totally lost it.

‘You’re okay, Savannah…’ Marco turned the fan on and held it up to her face while Kodie placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

She was so glad she’d confided in people about this so she didn’t have to do it alone, but she wished her body had done this back in the trailer instead of waiting until she was on the grid in front of tens of thousands of people and cameras which were broadcasting live to millions and pointing right at her.

She didn’t want to show weakness moments before the biggest race of her life began. ‘I’ve got you.’

‘Is it anything specific worrying you, darling?’ Her mum moved in close, speaking just loud enough for her to hear over the noise of engines, drums and screaming fans.

‘Everything,’ Savi laughed. ‘Having a bit of a delayed reaction today, I think. I felt okay when I woke up this morning, and the autograph session didn’t phase me.

But then the second we walked out here, the anxiety kicked in.

There are just mountains of pressure on us this weekend, you know? I don’t want to screw it up.’

‘You’re not going to screw anything up, Sav,’ her dad added, coming back over with Weston now they were done with interviews. ‘You’re here for a reason, don’t forget it.’

Their words weren’t helping her feel any less overwhelmed, in fact her dad telling her she was here for a reason only added to her stress.

That was half the issue; she was here for a reason.

To help get her team to the finish line, to score points, to give the fans and sponsors and her bosses what they wanted. That was a lot to put on someone.

She looked at Marco, who was still holding a fan to her face, like her very own personal assistant, and silently pleaded with him to help her. She didn’t know how, but she knew Marco would think of something. He always did.

‘Let’s escape for a moment,’ he suggested. ‘We can hide out in the trailer just to give you some relief from the chaos, say you needed a bathroom break or something. If we’re quick, nobody will even notice.’

‘Run, we won’t tell anyone.’ Miko shooed them away and Marco hastily grabbed Savi’s hand, moving her through the crowd with confidence but not in such a rush that people paid them any attention.

‘Mars,’ she cried out from behind him, forcing him to stop as soon as they made it to the back of the garage. ‘Wait, I can’t…’

‘You want to stay here?’ he asked. ‘Sit down quick, nobody can see.’

They were hidden from view behind a temporary wall, near the drivers’ bedrooms, and Savi sank to the floor, doing her best to fight the full-blown anxiety attack.

Marco lowered himself to the ground next to her and didn’t say anything, instead taking her hand in his and raising it to his lips.

She breathed in and out with a purpose, desperately attempting to pay attention to anything except how she was feeling.

Marco’s thigh pressed against hers, his lips on her skin, his shoulder brushing her own.

He was grounding her without even realising.

Savi let her head rest against the wall behind her and closed her eyes, staying put for a few minutes.

It worked. She felt human again, and when she opened her eyes, Marco was looking at her, his brow etched with a mixture of concern and something else she couldn’t quite place.

‘I’m ready,’ she smiled.

‘Are you sure?’ He placed one final kiss across her knuckles and waited patiently for her go-ahead.

Savi nodded, standing up and holding her hands out to him.

He took them and joined her, grabbing her for a quick hug before they made their way back out to the grid.

They bypassed questioning glances from other drivers and reunited with their team, where Jasper shot them a quick thumbs up.

Savi returned it, glad to have his support.

‘Hey, Savi.’ Lucie joined them, her camera pointing down at the ground, but they could tell she was itching to raise it and aim it at them. ‘Are you up to some quick-fire questions? Both of you, ideally. It’s just a fun little segment we’re doing for the channel.’

‘Go for it,’ she smiled, pulling Marco to one side so they could film somewhere a little quieter, which was hard given the environment they were in.

Their new backdrop was the wire fencing next to the track, that faced the grandstands and the thousands of fans who were watching the grid activity from their orange and white plastic seats.

‘Okay. Before we start, it’s a “who’s most likely to” so I’m going to ask you a question, and then I want you to tell me which of the two of you is most likely to do the thing I’m talking about.

It won’t all be motorsport related, either.

This is a fun one.’ Lucie waited for them to agree.

‘Cool, first up, who is more likely to regret a tattoo?’

‘Savannah.’ Marco blurted out with zero hesitation, earning himself a whack on the arm. ‘What?! I know you have one and you hate it!’

‘Who is most likely to miss a flight?’

‘Marco!’ Savi yelled out. ‘He’s hopeless, honestly. He dillydallies too much, or he stops for food and forgets he’s still got to get to the gate.’

Lucie snorted with laughter because she knew Savi was right, then she continued, ‘Who is most likely to oversleep during race week?’

‘Savannah again. Not just during race week, either. That girl can be out like a light for a month straight, given half the chance.’

‘Shut up, I was up early for a run every day in Monaco,’ Savi scowled. ‘You were the one making a fuss about it, Mr “I go for a run every morning”, didn’t see you run once in Wyoming except for when you were running away from the cows.’

Marco feigned shock at her unapologetic exposure of his secret fear of the massive creatures her family kept on the ranch. ‘They were making weird noises, I didn’t trust them.’

‘Speaking of big scary animals, who is most likely to survive in the wild?’ Lucie smiled at them, and Savi knew she and Mars were in the middle of creating some stellar content for the Revolution Racing social platforms.

‘Me,’ Savi cut in before Marco could even say her name. ‘I think that has been established. Mars got himself all the cowboy attire while he was in Wyoming with me and hiked and rode a horse, but he wouldn’t last an hour in the actual wilderness.’

‘She’s not wrong,’ Marco huffed. ‘Next one, and try to make it a question that works in my favour, yeah Luce? She’s brutal.’

‘Most likely to–’ Lucie stopped to laugh. ‘Marco, I’m sorry and I love you, but most likely get the drunkest at a post-race celebration?’

‘Lucie, why would you put that in there?!’ Marco cried out. ‘I hate this game.’

‘Easy, the answer is Marco,’ Savi grinned. ‘Witnessed it first-hand. In fact, that was the first time we hung out properly, at Faith and Julien’s house in Belgium.’

‘Yeah and now look at us, you’re bullying me live on camera.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Wow, I’m a lucky fella. It’s just as well I like you, Cowgirl.’

‘That brings me to the final question actually… Who is the most likely to give the other person a nickname?’ Lucie smiled warmly at them, going all gooey-eyed as she glanced between them and waited for an answer.

Savi couldn’t stop smiling as she looked up at Marco, who was already grinning down at her with adoration. ‘That would be both of us. He calls me Cowgirl or Savannah, never Savi.’

‘And Savannah calls me Monaco, or she uses Mars like my friends do. Sometimes De Luca, just depends on our moods.’

‘Perfect, thanks guys. I doubt that video will take much editing, but I’ll get it out on socials at some point during the race.’ Lucie flounced off to find Faith, leaving Marco and Savi in their own little bubble, away from the rest of the team.

‘I think Monaco might be my favourite nickname anyone’s ever given me.’

‘Really? I like Mars, it’s cute. Suits you.’

‘I’m not cute, Savannah. Trust me, and you know that. You’ve seen what I can do in the bedroom.’

She felt herself burning up again, but this time she wasn’t fussed about trying to make it stop. He hadn’t flirted with her like this for ages; could he sense that her boundaries were shifting? Was he pushing them knowing that she was becoming more open to it? ‘We should go back to the others…’

‘Agreed,’ Marco said, but his eyes flashed with desire. She wasn’t making this up; this was not just a friendship. Savi wanted this, in some capacity. She wanted to see that side of him.

‘Look what they gave me!’ Brett yelled as they got closer, and they saw him holding a t-shirt cannon and aiming it at the grandstands opposite the pits.

They watched him shoot rolled up navy IEC shirts at the fans as the crowds erupted in screams of joy, and waited for Gabriel to announce over the speakers that it was time to get in their cars.

‘Savi, Julien…’ Jasper joined them. ‘Ready to get us started?’

‘Yep, aren’t we, Sav?’

‘We are,’ she nodded. The anxiety had dissipated, and now the excitement and adrenaline were building as the entire grid came to a standstill.

The planes flew over, unleashing red, white and blue smoke over the pit straight.

She felt euphoric, and this was just the beginning.

She had twenty-four hours of this ahead of her.

‘Right, we all need to clear off. The army guy is about to deliver the flag, and then the official countdown will start,’ Faith explained to Savi more than anyone else, then she kissed Julien goodbye. ‘Good luck, everyone.’

Savi’s family crowded around her, wishing her luck and telling her how proud they were of her.

It didn’t matter how often she heard them say it, she would never tire of it.

Everyone was starting to leave the grid in preparation, Savi and Julien heading over to their cars which sat side by side, ruby red paintwork glistening in the sun.

Climbing into the cockpit, Savi took one final deep breath and gripped the steering wheel, mentally preparing herself for the next three hours before she switched out with Kodie.

It was a long twenty-four hours, she knew that from watching it and talking at length with the team.

But she was ready: to enjoy it, to fight and to do her teammates proud.

‘I’m going to be in your garage while you’re in the car, not mine,’ Marco crouched down by the car, ‘I want to be with your family, so I can explain stats and things to them. I’ll be third in our car, so I’ll be there when you get out, but I’ll leave you be when you join them.’

‘You don’t have to leave me be, Monaco. Ever.

I want you there, in fact, I’d prefer it if you were.

If you can be, obviously. If you hadn’t pulled me off the grid when you did and sat with me in that garage, I might not have made it back out here.

You’ve been a huge support for me so far this season, and I know we’re only just halfway through, but I’ve grown so much as a driver and a person.

You’ve played such a big part in that. So please, don’t leave me be.

’ She held his eye, hoping he understood what she was fighting so hard not to say aloud.

‘Okay,’ he nodded, pausing when Gabriel’s voice interrupted them, letting the drivers know it was time to get in position. Marco kept looking at her, waiting for who knew what.

‘What’s wrong?’ she frowned, her helmet stopping him from seeing anything except her eyes. ‘You’ve got seconds, Monaco.’

‘I know,’ he sighed. ‘I just… I’m so fucking proud of you, Cowgirl.’ He reached for her glove-covered hand, removed it from the steering wheel and peeled her glove back just enough that he could place a gentle kiss on the inside of her wrist. ‘See you on the flip side.’